The moment I realized I'd been padding my invoices wrong for 12 years

When my accountant pointed out that I'd been charging a flat 10% for materials markup instead of the standard 25-35% in my area, and I had to go back through 3 years of invoices to recalculate what I'd lost, I finally understood why my profit margins felt so thin.

3 comments

3 Comments

charlie19816d ago

This reminds me of the time I realized I'd been claiming the wrong mileage rate for like 4 years straight. My accountant just stared at me and said "you've been doing what now?

sean4816d ago

Feel for you man, that's a brutal realization. Accountants are worth their weight in gold for catching stuff like that, but it still stings to see the numbers laid out like that. I'd be kicking myself for years if I left that much money on the table, especially if times were tight. Glad you caught it now though, better late than never. At least you can adjust going forward and hopefully make up some ground with the proper markup. Just don't beat yourself up too much, we all learn the hard way sometimes lol.

jana50916d ago

Oh man, nothing like paying your accountant just to find out you've been accidentally running a charity for your customers!