Want to know what your auto repair shop is worth, whether you’re charging enough for labor, or where profits may be leaking? Kaizen CPAs + Advisors offers five free, easy-to-use tools for shop owners—just enter your numbers and get practical answers at kaizencpas.com.

In the first episode of Under the Hood CPA, Eric Joern sits down with Lucas Underwood and David Roman to expose the financial mistakes quietly putting auto repair shops at risk. They explain why clean-looking financial statements can hide missing cash, unpaid taxes, bad accounting, and even fraud or embezzlement. The conversation explores balance sheets, profit-and-loss statements, shop management systems, internal controls, and the dangers of giving one person too much financial authority. Lucas also reveals why talented technicians can end up earning less after opening their own shops—and why “hope” is never a business strategy. Whether you already own a shop or hope to open one, this episode will help you recognize the warning signs before they become expensive disasters.

Timestamps:
00:00 Someone Took the Money—and No One Sounded the Alarm
00:32 Welcome to Under the Hood CPA
01:13 Why “Hope” Is Not a Business Strategy
03:47 Why “Ask Your CPA” Isn’t Enough
05:18 The Warning Your Accountant May Never Give You
07:16 Stop Waiting for Someone Else to Find the Problem
08:59 Cash Flow vs. Profit: Why the Balance Sheet Matters
10:00 Why QuickBooks Alone Can’t Run an Auto Repair Shop
12:07 Good Data Is the Foundation of a Profitable Shop
14:34 You Can Outsource Bookkeeping—but Not Understanding
17:16 How to Tell Whether Your Books Are Wrong
20:19 When Broken Financials Must Be Rebuilt
23:32 Should You Share Financials With Your Team?
26:23 Why Starting Your Own Shop Could Pay You Less
30:07 How Bad Business Advice Destroys Financial Futures
33:45 Tool Debt, Personal Finance, and Living Beyond Your Means
37:01 What to Expect From Under the Hood CPA
39:41 How Common Are Fraud and Embezzlement?
43:12 The Payroll-Tax Debt You Can’t Escape
45:09 Vendor and Loan Fraud Every Owner Should Understand
47:47 Why Business Owners Must Set Financial Benchmarks
49:23 Internal Controls: Who Can Move or Spend Your Money?
54:15 What Successful Shop Owners Do Differently
57:21 Pop the Hood on Your Business
58:32 Closing

Under the Hood CPAs gives automotive repair shop owners practical insight into what’s really happening in their businesses—before problems show up in the bank account. Hosted by Eric Joern, partner at Kaizen CPAs and advisor to automotive repair shops, the show breaks down financials, tax strategy, productivity, hiring, succession, and wealth building. Each episode will help you build a more profitable shop, a more valuable business, and more options for your future. There’s no fluff and no jargon—just clear answers grounded in one question: What would I do if this were my shop? Subscribe and join us under the hood.