Every winter, like clockwork, most of us sit down and build a budget. It's part forecasting, part tradition and part gut feel. We estimate revenue based on booked work, layer in what we hope to sell and do our best to plan labour, overhead and margins. Come spring, the trucks roll out and that neat spreadsheet starts to collect dust.

By August, many owners and managers are so buried in daily tasks that they don’t stop to ask the one question that matters: Are we actually performing to plan?

Busy does not equal profitable

I’ve certainly learned this lesson the hard way. It's that moment when you realize your crews are booked solid, but margins are shrinking, or you're working 12-hour days and still missing cash flow targets.

A packed schedule can give the illusion of success, but without checking in on actual numbers — revenue, labour costs and gross margin — you might be running hard in the wrong direction. And if you only realize this at year-end, it's too late.

What to review and when

Over the years, I've found that scheduling mid-season financial check-ins, even if informal at first, can be a game-changer. You don’t need a finance degree or a dedicated analyst, just a habit of stopping long enough to compare what’s actually happening against what you planned.

Here’s what’s worked for us, and what I’ve picked up from fellow LeanScapers along the way:

• Monthly revenue vs. budget: Are we ahead or behind? Which divisions are pulling weight and which need attention?
• Labour hours and cost: Especially on install jobs — are we tracking to our estimates?
• Gross profit by service area: Maintenance might look stable overall, but is snow carrying more than its fair share? Are enhancements eating up margins?
• Overhead burn: Is our fixed overhead tracking to budget, or are we outpacing revenue?

Even a quick monthly snapshot can highlight trends early enough to make adjustments. This approach is also a key principle of the LeanScaper operating system: diagnose issues early, not after the season is lost.

Mid-season clarity matters

Late summer or early fall is a truly pivotal time. There’s still time to catch underperforming jobs, review pricing or rebalance crew hours. You might shift higher-margin work to your A-team, coach a crew leader who’s struggling or flag a client that’s stretching scope without a matching contract change.

Remember, not all revenue is good revenue. A smart mid-season pivot might mean focusing on your highest margin or highest revenue-per-hour clients, rather than chasing low-profit work just to stay busy.

On the flip side, you might find you’re ahead of projections, which is equally valuable. Maybe it’s time to invest in that long-postponed piece of equipment or add to your recruiting budget before fall cleanup begins.

Keep it simple and share

Financials don’t need to be locked away in the back office. In our experience, sharing relevant numbers with team leaders in the right way can help build ownership and collaboration. If a dedicated crew leader understands they’re behind target, they can course-correct in real time. If sales staff see the pipeline or backlog trending short, they can push proposals more urgently. This creates alignment, not stress.

We’ve also found the simpler the review, the more likely we’ll stick to it. A few key KPIs on a whiteboard, reviewed bi-weekly, can be more useful than a 12-tab spreadsheet nobody reads.

Your 90-minute tune-up

If you haven’t looked at your numbers in a while, do yourself a favour and block 90 minutes. Pull your year-to-date financials to compare to your budget and highlight any gaps. Don’t aim for perfection, look for patterns.
Then ask: “What’s one adjustment I can make this month that could tighten the gap?”

Maybe it’s repricing or re-evaluating those fall projects. Maybe it’s realigning crew leaders. Maybe it’s as simple as reviewing job costing more consistently going forward.

Build the habit

I’m certainly not writing this as someone who always gets it right. Like many of you, I’ve had seasons in the past where we coasted through the chaos and only realized way too late that the numbers told a much different story. The hard lesson learned? Build the habit. Not once a year, but every few weeks. It’s less about analysis and more about awareness. Remember, staying busy is easy, but staying profitable takes intention.

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