9 May 2026
Reading a P&L like an operator
Accountants close. Operators decide. The same statement serves both jobs only if you refuse to read it as a novel with a happy ending called ‘net profit’.
Start at revenue, then immediately distrust it. Ask which invoices are deposits, which are variations not yet priced, which are courtesy credits dressed as sales. Then drop to the lines that move with work and the lines that do not. If those two families are mashed into ‘cost of sales’ because the file is old, stop. The intensive will not bless a mashed file.
Circle mix before you circle overhead
Overhead is a favourite villain because it is visible. Mix is quieter. A P&L that cannot show job families or sites will send you to cut the wrong thing — usually the quiet weekday shift that was actually funding the theatrical Saturday.
Board-Ready Profit Reviews exist for this reason: directors argue about what they can see. If mix is in an appendix, they will argue about the coffee machine.
Four numbers for the Friday you will actually keep
Pick contribution by family, overtime hours, rework or returns, and cash timing. That set is not universal. It is a starting spine. Operator Cadence for Owners is ninety minutes on those numbers, not a second close.
If your P&L still needs a translator every month, the document is winning. Change the document.