CFO-first bookkeeping for auto and trades
We handle your books and deliver CFO-level insight without the cost of a full-time hire. Every month, you’ll know what each job earns, where your cash goes, and what’s holding your business back from growth.
Built for
Example shop · October close
ReconciledThe problem
You price off what the parts and labor cost, but nobody's counting labor burden, overhead, the storage unit, or the fuel it took to get there. So you can't tell which jobs paid you and which ones you paid for.
The reframe
A pricing sheet is only as good as the costs behind it. Every month real books get put off, the cleanup gets bigger, and some owners end up reconciling eight years back instead of building it right from day one.
Your guide
I worked the parts counter, turned wrenches, and worked the service drive long before I ever closed a set of books. Since then I’ve spent 13 years in accounting: running a company’s books on my own, rebuilding an accounting department from the ground up, and leading finance as a VP. I know what a comeback costs, what a slow month feels like, and why “the accountant says we’re fine” isn’t a plan.
Matt Lemons, Founder
The plan
Nine questions. One honest score on where your profit is leaking.
Show us where it hurts.
We get your books clean, current, and closed by the 15th of every month. Then you get real reports, a cash forecast, and a monthly sit-down on what to fix next.
Take the Profit Leak AssessmentBook Your Free Health Checkup
Services
Essential keeps your books right. Improve shows you the patterns. Grow puts a CFO in your corner every month.
Monthly Bookkeeping
Starting at $525/mo
Monthly categorization and transaction clarifications, reconciliation of every bank and credit card account, and a monthly Balance Sheet and P&L.
Best for: Owners who need books that are right, current, and tax-ready, and who are done doing it themselves.
Bookkeeping + Profit Analysis
Monthly bookkeeping plus analysis that spots the patterns in your numbers: margin by service line, creeping costs, and trends hiding in your P&L.
Best for: Owners whose books are current but who don't know what the numbers are telling them.
Fractional CFO
Everything in Improve, plus a monthly CFO sit-down, a rolling 13-week cash forecast, job and service-line costing, labor rate and pricing rebuilds, and a receivables follow-up system.
Best for: Owners making real decisions (hiring, pricing, a new truck, a second location) who want someone in their corner every month.
Need a cleanup first? Bookkeeping Cleanup and Catch-Up separates personal from business, rebuilds accurate history, and gets you current before monthly work starts.
Free Business Health Checkup
Take the 2-minute Profit Leak Assessment and see your estimated range right now. If it’s worth a closer look, book a free Business Health Checkup. We go through your actual books, not a template, and hand you back the specific things sitting in them:
What you walk away with is tangible, shown to you specifically and explained clearly, whether you sign with us or not.
Take the Profit Leak AssessmentBook Your Free Health Checkup
Proof
Different trades, same story. The money was there the whole time. Nobody could see it.
I’ve been working with Zitronen Consulting for the last year and a half, and their accounting work has been instrumental in helping me save my business. I own a German car repair shop that has been in operation for 10 years. Unfortunately, my previous CPA and Accountant completely destroyed and butchered my accounting and taxes. I had no idea that my numbers were SO far off, which required us to go all the way back to 2016 to reconcile the books. Matt and his team have been patiently, strategically and accurately chipping away at my books and we are currently on track to have everything corrected by June of this year. I am more than happy to recommend this consulting firm for any and all accounting needs you might have. Very professional and very easy to work with. Thanks so much for all you guys do.
Case study names changed. Each figure is that client's result, not a promise of yours.
Profit Leak Assessment
Take the Profit Leak Assessment and get The Trades Profit Playbook, the six systems we use to find and plug profit leaks in trade businesses.
FAQ
Yes. We don't prepare tax returns. We hand your tax preparer clean, closed books and stay in the loop with them.
No. Automotive is where I came from, but the same leaks show up in every trade. If you send out trucks or open bay doors, we speak your language.
Probably not. Solo operators have the same leaks as bigger shops, just smaller. If money comes in and goes out, the problem applies.
Yes. Everything runs through cloud accounting and a secure client portal, so we can work with you wherever you are.
With a cleanup. We separate personal from business, rebuild what’s wrong, and get you current. Then monthly work keeps it that way.
It’s a 30-minute call. We go through your actual books, not a template, and hand you back the specific things sitting in them. What you walk away with is tangible, shown to you specifically and explained clearly, whether you sign with us or not.
Flat monthly fees based on your tier and the volume and complexity of your books, with one-time pricing for cleanups. No hourly billing surprises.
If you can’t answer “what did that job make?” or “what will cash look like in eight weeks?” your books aren’t doing their job. Clean books are the minimum. Using them to run the business is the point.
Let's find out how much. Book a free Business Health Checkup and leave with a clear next step, whether you hire us or not.
We're only taking on 5 Business Health Checkups a month. Every one gets a real review, not a skim. Once the month's spots are gone, they're gone.