Pilot Management Group

PROFIT ≠ CASH

I’ve had a lot of conversations like this lately: “If I made a profit… why does my bank account say otherwise?”

The short answer?
Profit and cash are not the same thing.

You might be showing a profit on your P&L, but that number doesn’t reflect:
• Unpaid invoices
• Equipment or software you bought outright
• Loan payments
• Money you’ve pulled out of the business to pay yourself

If this has ever happened to you, you’re not alone, and you’re not doing anything wrong. But you deserve a clear picture of what’s actually happening in your business.

I wrote about this here: www.pilotmg.com/blog/profit-vs-cash-flow

Let me know if it resonates. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Your tax return holds more insight than most people realize.

Now that tax season is winding down, I’ve been thinking about how many business owners never really get a chance to read their returns, beyond asking whether they owe or are getting a refund.

But a return is more than just a form; it’s a financial story. And sometimes that story isn’t complete.

I’ve seen so many situations this year where expenses didn’t make it into the books—because someone used a personal card, didn’t get a receipt, or thought the purchase was too small to bother with.

But those small things add up. Every penny tells part of the story.

If your numbers didn’t feel quite right this year or you want to better understand how your tax return relates to your actual business performance, I’d love to help.

We spent a lot of time over the last two years determining whether businesses qualified for the Employee Retention Credit. There was a lot of false information constantly thrown at business owners by scammers. For those who applied for the credit, please double-check that your business qualified. The IRS is allowing businesses to withdraw inaccurate claims for the credit.

IRS announces withdrawal process for Employee Retention Credit claims; special initiative aimed at helping businesses concerned about an ineligible claim amid aggressive marketing, scams | Internal Revenue Service IR-2023-193, Oct. 19, 2023 — As part of a larger effort to protect small businesses and organizations from scams, the IRS today announced the details of a special withdrawal process to help those who filed an Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claim and are concerned about its accuracy.