A Comprehensive Business Toolkit for Financial and Operational Excellence

Understanding the Chart of Accounts

A Chart of Accounts (COA) is a list of a company’s financial accounts (and their reference numbers). It forms part of a business's general ledger.

A well-structured COA supports meaningful financial statements for better decision-making. By having all account-related information in one place, you can accurately understand your business’s financial position and conduct stronger analyses. 

Our Recommended Chart of Accounts for integrators is formatted in a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet and will help you answer “Where is my company making or losing money?”.

Our white paper and template will empower you to:

• Avoid overly generic or excessively detailed account structures
• Learn to segregate costs into categories like Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) and Overhead
• Understand how job costing impacts profitability

Labour Costs and Employee Productivity

To be a profitable business, you need to make more than you spend. One major cost is labour. So, if you employ Smart Home Professionals, our white paper will help you understand the cost of having employees.

We explain how to calculate the true cost of labour, including wages and additional burdens (e.g. insurance, taxes and paid time off).

Knowing your wage bill is one thing. Understanding the value you’re getting is another. We also highlight the importance of tracking employee productivity for accurate job costs. How much billable work will employees be able to do? Although no employee will be 100% billable, we also outline how to improve employee utilisation.

The white paper and its accompanying labour burden calculator will help you:

• Calculate fully burdened labour rates to set accurate billing rates
• Improve labour utilisation to boost profitability
• Balance productive hours with non-billable time

Mastering Breakeven Analysis

Confused by breakeven analysis? In our white paper, we explain the concept. Put simply, breakeven is the point where gross profit equals overhead costs. 

The CEDIA Breakeven Analysis worksheet is pre-filled with Microsoft Excel® formulas that will help you calculate required revenue and analyse financial scenarios. 

Reading the white paper and exploring the worksheet will help you understand how to:

• Use gross margin calculations to identify profitability thresholds
• Adjust strategies based on "what-if" scenarios, like margin slippage or increased overhead
• Learn to set realistic profit goals based on financial analysis

Effective Change Order Management

Things change. You need to prepare for this to stay profitable. 

Our guide explores how to handle project changes effectively to maintain profitability. We cover tips on setting client expectations, revising budgets and tracking costs. Plus, we’ve put together a CEDIA Change Order Analysis worksheet.

Our white paper will explain how to:

• Charge appropriately for administrative and project management costs associated with changes
• Train employees to handle out-of-scope client requests professionally
• Use change orders as opportunities to enhance profit margins

Building a Financial Dashboard

Our Creating a Financial Dashboard white paper and worksheet provide a framework for tracking key business metrics, including cash flow, job profitability and accounts receivable. 

In the white paper, we explain the key sections of a financial dashboard: the Balance Sheet and Profit & Loss (P&L).

Our guide will help you:

• Combine Balance Sheet and P&L data for holistic tracking
• Monitor current ratio and debt-to-equity ratios to measure financial health
• Use visual trends and percentages for easier interpretation of financial data

Pricing with Markup and Margin

Markup refers to the percentage of cost, while margin is the percentage of sales price. Our white paper clarifies the difference.

Combined with our worksheet, these resources will provide you with actionable formulas to set accurate prices and achieve desired profit margins.

The white paper will ensure you can:

• Avoid common errors like confusing margin with markup
• Determine appropriate markup and margin goals tailored to your business model
• Benchmark gross margins to ensure pricing covers overhead, slippage and net profit