Many contractors think bookkeeping is just data entry — reconciling bank accounts, categorizing expenses, and printing a few reports. That’s why it’s tempting to go cheap or DIY. But if your books aren’t accurate, timely, or useful, they’re not just useless — they’re dangerous.

Bad books can lead to underbilling, missed deductions, bad tax estimates, and poor decision-making. Worst case? You overpay taxes or underprice jobs based on fake profitability.

Real World Mistake & Lesson: A contractor once brought me in to fix their cash flow issues. The books showed a 17% net profit, but there was no money in the bank. Turns out, the bookkeeper was incorrectly coding job costs as overhead, inflating profitability and making the owner think they had more room than they really did. Once we corrected the books and retrained their team, we got an accurate picture — and made better decisions.

 Pick up your free copy of my new book, “The 7 Minute Conversation-How to Hear the Story Your Small Business Financial Statements Are Telling You-CONTRACTOR EDITION”.  Go to www.7MinuteConversationBook.com

Ready to find out where your cash and profits are really going? Book your free 15-minute Profit and Cash Flow Call with me. No pressure. Just real clarity. I’ll help you see where your money’s hiding — and what to do about it. Schedule at www.CashFlowCallWithLarry.com