Sample data — modelled business, not a client

Sample data — modelled business, not a client. Every dollar figure is projected from the model's recommendations.

Worked example · Margin dashboard

What a job-costing diagnostic actually finds

The owner draws $80,000 and calls it profit. Nothing in his software is looking for the difference.

What the owner sees

$80,000

The draw he calls profit.

What the business returns

−$30,391

True owner return — a loss, once every cost is booked.

Projected after three changes

+$110,645

Three pricing changes. No new hires, no lost customers — a $141,036 projected improvement.

This is a demonstration built on a modelled business, not a report from a past client. Every dollar figure on this page is projected from the model's recommendations — nothing here is a client result.

Explore the three findings The $1,500 diagnostic

The modelled business

The business

Trade
Residential landscaping
Northern New Jersey
Revenue
~$700K
Three years in
Crew
5 employees
Stable crew, repeat customers
Work mix
60/40
Recurring maintenance / project work
The model covers
45 jobs
One April–October season
Season modelled
$116,943
of revenue at a 37.6% gross margin

Healthy on the surface. A 37.6% gross margin looks like a business that works. The problem is entirely at the job level — where nobody had ever measured.

What the analysis surfaces

Three findings

Three findings, three pricing changes. Each pairs what the analysis surfaces with what I'd recommend — every number below comes from the worked model.

Every maintenance visit loses money

What the analysis surfaces

True crew cost is $122.32/hour once overhead and equipment are loaded in — so a 0.75-hour mow costs $91.74 to deliver and bills at $70–$75. The maintenance book runs at a −12.3% gross margin. Across ~$420,000 of annual maintenance revenue, that is $51,660 of gross losses a year. Prices haven't moved in 2–3 years; costs have.

A standard mow, per visit — bars start at zero
Billed today $70–$75
True cost to deliver $91.74

Every visit goes out the door below its own cost.

What I'd recommend

Raise maintenance prices 35–50% at the next renewal — target $105/visit for a standard mow, up from $70–$75. Even with 20% customer attrition, the maintenance book swings from −$52K to +$89K in gross profit.

Maintenance gross profit, projected — zero at center
Today — a loss −$52K
After repricing, with 20% attrition — a gain +$89K

Projected from the model — not value already recovered.

One HOA contract is the single worst account

What the analysis surfaces

Each visit is priced at $150 for a job that costs $244.64 to deliver — a loss of $94.64 per visit, −63.1%. At 3 visits a month, year-round, that is $3,407 a year paid for the privilege of showing up.

The HOA visit — bars start at zero
Priced at $150
Costs to deliver $244.64

Priced as a volume deal; the math fails at any volume.

What I'd recommend

Reprice or exit. Breakeven is $245/visit; the target is $310. If the HOA accepts repricing, the account becomes profitable. If not, walk away — the contract is costing $3,407/year.

The reprice path, per visit — bars start at zero
Today $150
Breakeven $245
Target $310

The owner's own hours are invisible

What the analysis surfaces

He draws $80,000 and assumes that is his profit. But 624 hours of his own field work were never charged to any job — $21,840 at the $35/hr market foreman rate. The true owner return is −$30,391. That single unbooked line is most of the gap between perceived and actual: $110,391.

Owner return, perceived vs. actual — zero at center
The draw he calls profit $80,000
True owner return — a loss −$30,391

What I'd recommend

Track owner field hours and charge them to jobs at $35/hr, so every job carries its real labor. And fix lighting pricing: fixture markup should increase from 17.5% to 28–30%, moving lighting gross margin from 26.5% to approximately 35%. Together these close the two largest sources of unrecovered cost.

Added up

The bottom line

True owner return

From −$30,391 to +$110,645

A $141,036 projected swing from three pricing changes — same five-person crew, no new hires, no operational restructuring.

Projected from the model's recommendations — not value already recovered.

The next step

Your numbers

This dashboard is what the $1,500 diagnostic produces — from your numbers instead of a model's. The engagement builds a custom job-costing model on your actual cost structure, an analysis memo that turns every finding into a specific recommendation, and a one-page owner summary written for a non-financial reader. Data collection to final deliverables: about two weeks. $1,500 fixed — not hourly, no surprises.

See the $1,500 diagnostic Read the full worked example (PDF) Try the three-minute self-check

This page is a demonstration built on a modelled business, not a report from a past client. Every dollar figure is projected from the model's recommendations.

I do job costing and pricing analysis. I am not an accountant, and this is not an audit, a review, or an opinion on your financial statements. If you need those, I'll point you to a CPA.