Project tracking
A few months ago, I started working with a small creative studio that was booked solid. From the outside, everything looked great - steady clients, full calendar, and a busy team.
However, when I asked, how they were tracking profitability of specific projects, there was a long pause.
They were tracking total income and expenses, but nothing by project. Every deposit went into one account, every payment came out of another, and that was the end of it. They had no way to see which work actually brought in profit and which just kept them busy.
Without project-level tracking, everything blended together. The business looked successful, but the owner couldn’t tell:
Which clients or services generated the most income
Which projects consistently went over budget
Where time and money were quietly slipping away
Relying on the bank balance instead of clear, project-based data is a common challenge for small businesses.
We restructured their bookkeeping to track income and expenses by project. Every invoice, payment, and cost was linked to a specific client or job.
Within weeks, the story changed:
Projects that seemed profitable were actually breaking even once expenses were allocated
Smaller jobs often produced higher margins
Some client relationships weren’t sustainable once true costs were visible
With clear project reports, they could finally make confident decisions:
Raised prices on low-margin services
Focused on the types of projects with the best return
Built realistic budgets based on past data
Within three months, profitability improved and for the first time, the owner could see exactly where their money was coming from.
This type of categorization can be especially useful for freelancers, photographers, coaches, facilitators,… that need to tie expenses to specific clients or projects for reimbursement or just to help track profitability to inform future pricing decisions.
If you fall into any of these categories, are you tracking this way? If not, feel free to reach out for a discovery call to see if it’s something that would work well for your business.