03/09/2026
"If I made $180,000 profit, where is it?"
Probably the question I'm asked most often.
Profit and your bank balance measure two completely different things, and the gap between them usually lives in four places:
Stock and work in progress — money's gone out, the job isn't invoiced yet.
Debtors — invoiced, not paid.
Asset purchases — the new ute doesn't hit your profit all at once, but it certainly left your bank account all at once.
Tax and loan principal — real cash out the door, not an expense.
Profit tells you whether the business model works. Cashflow tells you whether you can pay wages on Thursday. You need to watch both, and they'll rarely agree.
If your own accounts don't make sense to you, that isn't a you problem. Ask.
