Financial Tools 2025

Logistics

  • Zoom link for all sessions is here. (You have also been added to the Google Calendar invite.)

  • Sessions are held on Tuesday afternoons from 3:00-4:30 PM EST, March 11th until April 1st. The expectation is that all participants are at all sessions. Please contact us in advance if you need to miss a session.

  • We will record each Zoom session and share the links below.

  • Each session will have homework. Please schedule at least 1.5 hrs/week to complete all this essential work.

  • ZOOM Tips:

    • Edit your name to include your company name and pronouns.

    • Mute yourself when not speaking.

    • Use the ‘hand’ icon to let the presenter know you have a question, or you can type a question in the Chat.

Session 1

Building Financial Literacy

  • Agenda

    • Building financial literacy - understanding and telling your financial story

    • Key financial metrics - what we track and why

    • Profit & Loss vs. Balance Sheet

    • Margin vs. Markup

    • Case study exercise

    • Reflection

  • Slides

    • Session 1 Slides

  • Recording

    • Session 1 Recording

  • Resources

  • Homework

Session 2

Building Your Operating Budget

Session 3

Job Cost Accounting

  • Agenda

    • Why bother?

    • 3 Legs of the Stool: estimating, cost tracking, invoicing

    • CSI codes

    • What's possible

    • Job costing analysis

    • Where to start

  • Slides

    • Session 3 Slides

  • Recording

    • Session 3 Video Recording

  • Resources

  • Homework

    • If you’re feeling ready to take your job costing to the next level, review HELM’s sample CSI/Cost Code list (download the file first) and adjust it to match your business and services. This Excel format can then be uploaded to QB. Note, there are 2 tabs in this file, one for the 16 CSI Divisions, the second for the codes HELM uses. The first 2 numbers in each code refer to the CSI Division.)

    • If you’re already doing job costing, review a job cost report from a recently completed project and identify at least 2 things you learned from it that will inform your next estimate.