As year-end approaches, it’s tempting to glance at your bank balance and declare victory. (It sure beats the opposite)

But in today’s world of rising labor costs, tighter margins, and unpredictable demand, the simple approach won’t cut it.

To steer confidently into 2026, you need a deeper analysis of your numbers.

Go Beyond the Obvious

Most owners review:

• sales performance,
• revenue vs. budget by division,
• profit before and after depreciation.

The deeper insights come when you connect those numbers to how work actually gets done:

• Were you staffed correctly, or did overtime eat away at margin?
• Did estimating and production systems hold up, or did job costs fade?
• Did each Division perform to their potential?

These discussions lead to richer discussions focused on why results happened.

The Financial Benchmarks That Matter

To help with this analysis, gather the right benchmarks. Here are some of them:

Start by reviewing how your gross margins held up and whether labor efficiency improved or slipped. If pricing was strong but margins were weak, dig into overtime, scheduling, and crew utilization.

Look at Divisional Profitability, showing whether each line of business is engineered to make money; and don’t forget Days to Cash, which highlights how well receivables are managed and contracts are written.

As the owner-investor, track Return on Equity or Return on Assets to measure how effectively your resources are being put to work. If returns are slipping, your company may be growing without creating value.

Lastly look at Net-to-Owner, which combines salary, perks, and profit to reveal your true return on ownership.

Don’t Forget About Sales and Marketing

It’s about more than just sales by salesperson. Keep an eye on Backlog Weeks to ensure your pipeline supports steady revenue and cash flow.

Monitor customer health through Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), Lifetime Value (LTV), and Net Promoter Score (NPS)—they show whether your marketing and client experience investments are paying off.

Ensure Apples-to-Apples Comparisons

Meaningful comparisons between companies—or divisions—require normalization.

This means adjusting for materials and subcontractors, using consistent definitions, and focusing on trends over time.

Then take a larger look, comparing overhead to labor to show how efficiently you’re deploying resources in your company compared to others.

That’s the process we use in our Financial Master Class, helping you benchmark with confidence and focus on what truly drives profit.

Your Challenge: Make the Most of Your Year-End Review.

Remember, “Data without action is just noise.”

So as you gather your team to review your data, always compare your results both to budget and last year.

Make sure to debate your assumptions––and it’s good to disagree––but end up with agreement on the handful of metrics and “key results” that will matter most next year.

Look for a mix of quick wins with long-term shifts.

Strategically, make sure to think about growth goals as follows:

• Build a healthier balance of revenue streams.
• Drive growth organically and through acquisition.
• Maintain profitable growth, aiming for an average net profit of 20% in residential work and 15% in commercial.

To achieve these stretch goals, the best in our industry rely on solid data and useful benchmarking.

To learn the exact benchmarks and formats we recommend, join our upcoming Financial Master Class where we will supply a comprehensive Benchmarking Toolkit.

— Jeffrey Scott!

P.S. The Early Bird Ends Soon! Save $200 per ticket when you register by Nov 21st. You have just 2.5 weeks left to register and save.