Are your financial reports giving you the full picture, or hiding costly mistakes?

In this episode of Getting to the Bottom Line, host Stephanie Smith of New Light Financial Solutions is joined by her husband and business partner, Kris Smith, to unpack the most common bookkeeping cleanup issues they see when working with high-earning entrepreneurs.

If you’ve ever fallen behind on your books, categorized expenses “close enough,” or wondered why your profit doesn’t match your bank balance, this episode is for you.

Stephanie and Kris break down two of the biggest financial clarity killers:
→ Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) being miscategorized
→ Payroll entries recorded incorrectly

When these items aren’t properly structured on your Profit & Loss statement, your margins become distorted, your gross profit is misleading, and your decision-making suffers. You may think you're profitable — but the numbers could be telling a different story.

They explain:
• What cost of goods actually includes (and how to know if it applies to your business)
• Why service businesses often overlook COGS
• How misplacing COGS impacts your gross profit percentage
• Why recording payroll as “net pay” is a major bookkeeping mistake
• The difference between employer vs. employee payroll taxes
• How liabilities from payroll affect your balance sheet

If you want accurate financial reports, clean books, and better business decisions, this conversation will help you understand where clarity begins.

Because at the end of the day, good decisions require good data.

We want to hear from you! Send us a message.

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My name is Stephanie Smith, owner of New Light Financial Solutions, and we help business owners walk the one clear path to generating more cash in their business. To learn more, visit us online at https://newlightfs.com/

Sign up for our newsletter for more great tips on how to keep the cash flowing in your business: https://newlightfs.com/newsletter/

Need help generating more cash in your business? Book a right fit call with us today: https://newlightfs.com/rightfit

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Want to be a guest on Getting to the Bottom Line: Conversations to help business owners maximize revenue, profit, and cash flow? Send Stephanie Smith a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/newlightfs

Looking to be on more podcasts this year? Check out PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/newlightfs

What happens when your business crosses $1 million in revenue… but you can’t afford your mortgage?

In this powerful Cash Flow Confessions episode of Getting to the Bottom Line, host Stephanie Smith sits down with profitability expert Leanne Ozaine to unpack the painful, and surprisingly common, reality of being “profitable” on paper but broke in real life.

Leanne shares the dark moment that changed everything: running a million-dollar software company, speaking in 30 cities a year, growing fast… and quietly accumulating six figures of debt. The turning point? A simple, humbling exercise with a stack of bank statements and a highlighter.

This episode dives into:
→ Why revenue growth doesn’t guarantee cash flow
→ The dangerous “it takes money to make money” mindset
→ The difference between profitable investment and waste
→ Why most entrepreneurs avoid looking at their bank accounts
→ A practical “Heartbeat Audit” you can implement immediately

If you’re a high-earning entrepreneur who feels like money slips through your fingers even though sales are strong, this conversation will give you clarity, courage, and actionable next steps.

This is not about shame. It’s about awareness, ownership, and building a business that actually pays you back.

Listen now to learn how to stop chasing revenue and start keeping more of what you make.

Connect with Leanne:

• Website: https://profitwithleanne.com
• Free Heartbeat Audit Guide: https://gift.profitwithleanne.com

We want to hear from you! Send us a message.

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My name is Stephanie Smith, owner of New Light Financial Solutions, and we help business owners walk the one clear path to generating more cash in their business. To learn more, visit us online at https://newlightfs.com/

Sign up for our newsletter for more great tips on how to keep the cash flowing in your business: https://newlightfs.com/newsletter/

Need help generating more cash in your business? Book a right fit call with us today: https://newlightfs.com/rightfit

---

Want to be a guest on Getting to the Bottom Line: Conversations to help business owners maximize revenue, profit, and cash flow? Send Stephanie Smith a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/newlightfs

Looking to be on more podcasts this year? Check out PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/newlightfs

What if the fastest way to grow your revenue, profit, and cash flow wasn’t working harder, but letting go?

In this episode of Getting to the Bottom Line, host Stephanie Smith, owner of New Light Financial Solutions, sits down with Renee Hastings, President and CEO of Executive Help Now, for a powerful conversation about delegation, trust, and reclaiming your time as a business owner.

Renee shares her incredible journey from growing up in an Amish community in Wisconsin to becoming a trusted right-hand partner for founders, executives, and content creators worldwide. With over 20 years of experience supporting C-suite leaders, she explains how letting go of low-value tasks can dramatically improve not just business performance, but quality of life.

You’ll hear real-world stories of how outsourcing email management, scheduling, operations, and even podcast production freed founders to focus on revenue-generating activities, and sparked massive business growth. This episode tackles the emotional side of delegation, including trust, fear, and control, and reframes support as self-care, not weakness.

If you’re overwhelmed, stretched too thin, or stuck doing work you’ve outgrown, this episode will help you rethink how you use your time and how that choice directly impacts your bottom line.

Connect with Renee:
→ https://executivehelpnow.org/
→ https://www.instagram.com/executivehelpnow/
→ https://www.linkedin.com/company/executive-help-now/
→ https://www.facebook.com/ExecutiveHelpNow
→ https://www.tiktok.com/@executivehelpnow

Watch more podcast episodes here: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL5WTE9D35Qv2n46vqCoM7nW3EHd-ZuD5Z&si=ovaqJ3OsW-o3GGvv

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Want to be a guest on Getting to the Bottom Line: Conversations to help business owners maximize revenue, profit, and cash flow? Send Stephanie Smith a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/newlightfs

Looking to be on more podcasts this year? Check out PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/newlightfs

We want to hear from you! Send us a message.

---

My name is Stephanie Smith, owner of New Light Financial Solutions, and we help business owners walk the one clear path to generating more cash in their business. To learn more, visit us online at https://newlightfs.com/

Sign up for our newsletter for more great tips on how to keep the cash flowing in your business: https://newlightfs.com/newsletter/

Need help generating more cash in your business? Book a right fit call with us today: https://newlightfs.com/rightfit

---

Want to be a guest on Getting to the Bottom Line: Conversations to help business owners maximize revenue, profit, and cash flow? Send Stephanie Smith a message on PodMatch, here: https://www.podmatch.com/hostdetailpreview/newlightfs

Looking to be on more podcasts this year? Check out PodMatch: https://www.joinpodmatch.com/newlightfs