Free Tool - Mini CFO Dashboard

Does every part of your business clear the bar?
Find the segment dragging you down.

Split your business into up to 3 segments, set your overhead and profit target, and see which segments clear your margin target and which ones drag. First pass takes about 10 minutes.

About 10 minutes No signup needed Works on mobile
The numbers loaded are a generic example, not industry data. Replace them with yours.

Step 1: Set your targets

10%
Your margin target: 32%
Why this number? Your overhead eats a share of every revenue dollar, and your profit target needs its share too. Add those 2 shares together and you get the margin every segment (and every job) has to clear before the business actually makes money.

Step 2: Your segments

A segment is any slice you run as its own line of work: remodels vs service calls, residential vs commercial, crew 1 vs crew 2. Using fewer than 3? Set the extras to 0.

Contribution margin is the bookkeeper name for what each segment kicks in toward overhead and profit: revenue minus direct costs. We just call it "what this segment kicks in" below.

Step 3: The margin target bar

Target 32%
0%30%35%45%60%

Step 4: The whole company

Total revenue per month
$0
Total kicked in toward overhead + profit
$0
All segments combined, after direct costs.
Overhead per month
$0
Operating profit
$0
Keep this where you can see it every month.
Get your dashboard as a PDF, with your target, your segments, and the read on each.
Methodology and sources

This tool makes no industry claims, so there is nothing to cite. Every number on this page is either yours (revenue, direct costs, overhead, income target) or part of the generic example loaded at the start, which is tagged on screen and is not industry data.

The math: gross margin = revenue minus direct costs, shown in dollars and as a percent of revenue. What a segment kicks in toward overhead and profit (contribution margin) = revenue minus direct costs. Your margin target = overhead as a percent of total revenue, plus your income target percent. A segment clears the bar when its gross margin percent meets or beats that target.

The colored zones on the bar are the framework we teach on Behind the Books: under 30% will not cover overhead for most trades, 30 to 35% is fragile, 35 to 45% is the healthy range, 45% and up is strong. Your own target line is the bar that matters; the zones are context.

From Behind the Books · The show

See your numbers the way a CFO does.

Joe builds the margin target on Behind the Books — overhead rate plus income target — then checks each segment of the business against it to find what is carrying the company and what is quietly dragging it.

Watch on YouTube →
Behind the Books YouTube

Companion toolkit

Keep your margin target on the desk.

This dashboard sets your target and grades your segments live. The free Mini CFO Dashboard workbook is the Excel version — set your overhead and income target once, drop in each segment, and watch which ones clear the bar and which ones drag.

  • ■ Mini CFO Dashboard (Excel) — margin-target formula, up to 3 segments, and the clears-or-drags read on each