The Ledger
Notes from the books.
True stories and plain answers about small business bookkeeping in Hawaii, from the books I keep.
Latest
Vacation Rental Taxes in Hawaii
GET, state TAT and county TAT on one stay, and how to keep the full rent.
Read itSales Your Books Are Missing
When a payment app takes its fee first, your books can miss both the sale and the fee.
Read itGET on an All-In Price
If GET is inside your price, here is how much of it is really yours.
Read itPrice or Overhead
A 3 percent price rise and a 10 percent cut, side by side, in dollars.
Read itTen Tests for Your Books
All ten assays on one page, and how often each one is worth running.
Read itThe Day It's Gone
Put a real date on your last debt payment. Then move it closer.
Read itNot Every Sale Is a Good Sale
Your busiest service might be the one making you the least.
Read itPayday for the Owner
Your staff know their payday. You should know yours.
Read itSet Up Before the Doors Open
Give every dollar a job the day it lands, not the day a bill shows up.
Read itFind Your Tightest Week
A 13-week cash forecast, and a free template to start from.
Read itTwo Numbers: Profit and Cash
Profit and cash almost never match. Here's how to see why.
Read itGET Is Not a Sales Tax
Why 4.5 percent leaves you short, and what to add instead.
Read itThe Touchstone
The oldest test for gold still works on your books.
Read itOverdrawn by $700,000. On Paper.
A home care agency’s books said the checking account was $707,000 in the red. The bank said otherwise. What was underneath, and what it took to make the books true.
Read itMore soon. I write when there is something worth saying.
Ink & Crucible
A short note from me, now and then.
Money, books and running a small business in Hawaii, in plain words.
It costs nothing to find out where your books stand.
I go through your QuickBooks and show you what I find, whether or not you hire me. If your books are clean enough, I'll also show you a few quick moves that could put more money in your pocket.