#profit-margins

Profit Margins

Calculate, benchmark, and improve profit margins across your business

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August 29, 202612 min read

Tesla Q2 2026 Earnings: 480K Deliveries Could Not Save the Operating Margin

Tesla's Q2 2026 revenue rose 25.5% to $28.24 billion on 480,450 deliveries and a record 13.5 GWh of energy storage, yet operating income fell 57% to $398 million as R&D rose 49%, SG&A rose 45%, and regulatory-credit revenue dropped 67% to $146 million. A $1.0 billion unrealized gain on Tesla's SpaceX stake then lifted net income to $1.13 billion, nearly triple the operating result. Full income statement, balance sheet and FY2021-Q2 2026 history in a public Beancount ledger.

Mike Thrift

financial-reportingfinancial-analysisfinancial-statements

August 22, 202617 min read

Palantir FY2026 Q2 Earnings: 93% Growth and 149% U.S. Commercial Surge Force an 82% Full-Year Guide

Palantir's FY2026 Q2 revenue surged 93% to $1.935 billion as U.S. commercial revenue jumped 149% to $764 million, lifting GAAP operating margin to 47% and forcing full-year guidance to $8.15 billion (+82% YoY) — the second straight quarter of accelerating hypergrowth at software's most debated valuation.

Mike Thrift

financial-reportingfinancial-analysisbeancount

August 21, 202617 min read

Auto Repair Shop Bookkeeping: How to Track Parts, Labor, and Comebacks Without Losing Your Margin

A chart-of-accounts and KPI framework for auto repair shops that separates parts and labor profit, tracks effective labor rate against posted door rate, and books comebacks and warranty work as visible costs instead of hidden losses.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingauto-repairinventory

August 21, 202616 min read

Paint-Your-Own Pottery Studio Bookkeeping: Firing Fees, Greenware Breakage, and Deposits

How to keep a paint-your-own pottery studio's books honest — allocate firing costs to COGS (roughly $1.32–$2.39 per piece), write down 5–10% greenware and kiln breakage monthly, and treat party deposits and gift cards as deferred revenue until the event is delivered.

Mike Thrift

creative-industriessmall-businessbookkeeping

August 21, 202615 min read

Sign Shop Bookkeeping: Monthly Books vs. Year-End Cleanup

A sign shop bookkeeping guide covering monthly close, job-level costing for materials/labor/overhead, deposit accounting, sales tax on signage, and Section 179 equipment deductions for 2026.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessjob-costing

August 21, 202610 min read

USPS Dimensional Weight Just Got 19% More Expensive: What Every E-Commerce Shipper Needs to Know

USPS cut its dimensional-weight divisor from 166 to 139 on July 12, 2026, raising DIM weight roughly 19.4% on bulky-but-light parcels and adding a $3 per-parcel fee for missing or inaccurate dimensions on commercial manifests.

Mike Thrift

e-commercecost-of-goods-soldinventory

August 17, 202615 min read

Cleaning Business Bookkeeping: Job Costing, Payroll, and Supply Inventory

A contract-level bookkeeping system for cleaning and janitorial businesses—job costing by contract, a payroll-to-revenue dial that says when you can hire, and a 10-minute supply inventory method—so you can bid with real numbers and spot losing contracts before they drag the quarter.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businesspayroll

August 17, 202617 min read

Print-on-Demand Bookkeeping: Why Your Printful Bill Is COGS, Not an Expense

Printful and Printify fulfillment charges typically run 45-55% of retail price and belong in Schedule C Part III as cost of goods sold, not in general expenses. This guide separates the two print-on-demand models, shows why a 50% COGS ratio means a $30 sale yields about $6 of contribution after ads and processing, and lays out a chart of accounts and monthly reconciliation that keep margins and taxes correct.

Mike Thrift

print-on-demandcost-of-goods-solde-commerce

August 14, 202615 min read

Amazon's 2026 FBA Fee Overhaul: How the Fuel Surcharge, Price Bands, and Low-Inventory Fees Change Your Per-Unit Margin Math

Amazon's 2026 FBA fee overhaul restructured US fulfillment fees into price bands (under $10, $10–$50, over $50), layered on a 3.5% fuel surcharge that is excluded from the published rate card, and moved the low-inventory fee to the per-SKU level — changes that quietly reshape per-unit margin math for FBA sellers.

Mike Thrift

amazone-commerceprofit-margins

August 13, 202613 min read

Appliance Repair Bookkeeping: Per-Job Parts Costing, Truck Stock, and the Warranty vs. Retail Split That Decides Your Real Margin

Customer-pay appliance repair calls earn roughly $200 in profit versus about $75 for warranty calls, and parts carry 30-100% markup — books that track parts cost per job, truck stock as real inventory, and the warranty-retail mix reveal which calls actually make money.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessjob-costing

August 6, 202610 min read

Why Your Daycare's Attendance-Based Subsidy Reimbursement Is Drowning You in Cash Flow Problems

Childcare centers face a structural cash flow crisis as attendance-based subsidy reimbursement returns. Learn how to structure your books to survive volatile enrollment and delayed payments.

Mike Thrift

accountingbookkeepingsmall-business

August 5, 202611 min read

Mobile Detailing Bookkeeping: How to Track True Job Costs and Profit Margins

Solo mobile detailers can hit 60-80% gross margins, but only by tracking job-level costs — consumables, water, van depreciation, and labor — categories a generic "Supplies" bucket obscures.

Mike Thrift

bookkeepingsmall-businessself-employment

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