ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Business Related Discussion profit??

did we all make a profit or atleast breakeven in 2004

we lost our a in 2004

We had a small profit in 2004. It should've been a better year, but we had several invoices that were due December that did not get paid to us in time. It will make for a good start to '05 though.

EE,
Interesting accounting methods there!

Just because you have completed work and not been paid does not mean you have less profit. You still have the recievables.

Golf Junkie,

We don't book the sale until the check is recieved. We also don't book the expenses until they are paid. There are 2 main types of accounting, Cash and Accrual. The method we use is the cash method. What if someone stiffs us for $10,000 that we already booked? It all washes in the end.

Made a nice profit. Also watched costs go up. Gas, insurance cell phone use etc. Looking at all the numbers and based on my anticipated workload, (looking great) I am going from $78.00 an hour for myself to $85.00. Also, material markup will be closer to 40% rather than 30%. I am giving myself a raise and covering more costs, one of which is non billable hours. Anticipating an awesome year.

[This message has been edited by Electricmanscott (edited 01-01-2005).]

The accoutant said one problem with the accural is you would have to pay taxes on money you have not recieved yet. I too have a lot of recievables and I'm glad I don't have to send the tax money in for it yet.

I don't have any finel numbers yet but I'm not going to be happy. Material prices skyrockting after jobs bid out and a slower spring / summer hurt. Just have to charge more next year.

Tom

I had a good year. Could have been better. The biggest price increases I saw this past year were copper and steel. I allow for a rollercoaster ride with copper but steel was a little more than I anticipated. EMT prices were all over the place and ended up with a 42% increase averaged out over the year. I will have to adjust for that this year. The 2005 work schedule is already filling up and is booked right now up to the end of April. Here we go again!

I had my best year with a small profit, and a substancial increase in salary (sometimes it's good to be the boss).

I use the cash method also, but my understanding is that the accrual method is better for playing with the numbers and letting you know how your business is doing.

Dave

Cash or Accrual

http://www.toolkit.cch.com/text/P06_1340.asp