Run it with less chaos · Every business
The Five Numbers That Tell You Whether This Was a Good Year
A busy year and a good year are different things, and five numbers that any owner can pull from a bank statement and a booking system show which one this was.
At a glance
- Five numbers (revenue growth, profit after owner pay, cash buffer days, the share of revenue from returning customers and average revenue per visit or job) give an owner-run service business a complete picture of the year on one page.
- Only about 46% of small employer firms reported operating at a profit in the Federal Reserve's 2024 Small Business Credit Survey, so a full calendar is no guarantee of a good year.
- For an illustrative cleaning company, revenue grew 4.7% but the business ended the year with about 20 days of cash, below the 27-day median found in research on 597,000 small businesses.
The number and where it comes from
The Federal Reserve Banks' Small Business Credit Survey asked 7,653 employer firms about their 2024 finances, and fewer than half, about 46%, reported operating at a profit; 75% named rising costs of goods, services or wages as a financial challenge, and 51% named uneven cash flow. Those figures describe businesses that were open, serving customers and, in many cases, busy.
The owner's first measure of the year is usually a feeling: We were slammed all year, so we must have done well. The five numbers below replace the feeling with figures, and the third of them, cash buffer days, comes from a JPMorgan Chase Institute study of 597,000 small businesses that found the median firm held 27 days of cash outflows in the bank, while a quarter held fewer than 13.
| Number | How to calculate it | Compare it with |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growth | (This year's revenue − last year's) ÷ last year's | Your own price increases, and the rising costs 75% of surveyed firms named as a challenge |
| Profit after owner pay | (Revenue − all costs, including a fair wage for the owner) ÷ revenue | About 46% of small employer firms operated at a profit in 2024 |
| Cash buffer days | Cash in the bank ÷ (total cash paid out in the year ÷ 365) | Median of 27 days; 21 for personal services and 18 for repair and maintenance |
| Revenue from returning customers | Revenue from customers who bought before ÷ total revenue | Your own figure last year |
| Average revenue per visit or job | Revenue ÷ number of visits or jobs | Your own figure last year, and your price increases |
The worked calculation
| Revenue this year (Assumption) | $180,000 |
|---|---|
| Revenue last year (Assumption) | $172,000 |
| Revenue growth (Calculated) | 4.7% |
| Total cash paid out, including owner pay (Assumption) | $165,600 |
| Profit after owner pay (Calculated) | $14,400 (8% of revenue) |
| Cash in the bank at year-end (Assumption) | $9,000 |
| Cash buffer days (Calculated ($9,000 ÷ ($165,600 ÷ 365))) | 19.8 days |
| Cash needed to reach the 27-day median (Calculated (27 × $165,600 ÷ 365)) | $12,250 (about $3,250 more) |
| Revenue from returning customers (Assumption) | 70% |
| Jobs this year (Assumption) | 1,200 |
| Average revenue per job (Calculated ($180,000 ÷ 1,200)) | $150 |
Illustrative example; replace every assumption with your own numbers.
Read together, the five numbers tell a story that no single one tells alone. This company grew and made a profit, and most of its revenue came from returning clients, but an 8% margin and less than three weeks of cash mean one slow month or one large repair could force the owner to borrow or skip a paycheck, so the first goal for the new year is a larger cushion, through a modest price increase, a weekly transfer to savings or both.
The widget on the site: two sliders, one for cash in the bank and one for monthly cash paid out, with one result: "Your business holds X days of cash," shown against the 27-day median and the industry figures in Exhibit 1.
How you compare
- Profit: a positive margin after paying the owner a fair wage puts a business among the roughly 46% of small employer firms that reported a profit in 2024.
- Cash cushion: above 27 days is above the median in the JPMorgan Chase Institute study; below 13 is in the thinnest quarter.
- Your own baseline: write the five numbers on one page, date it and keep it; the most useful comparison next year is with this page.
Pull last year's and this year's revenue from the bank or bookkeeping app today, then work through the five numbers in the order shown in Exhibit 1.
Sources
- Federal Reserve Banks. 2025 Report on Employer Firms: Findings from the 2024 Small Business Credit Survey. 2025. 7,653 employer firms.
- JPMorgan Chase Institute. Cash Is King: Flows, Balances, and Buffer Days. 2016. 597,000 small businesses.
Related reading: A One-Hour Year-End Review for Small Business Owners · How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers, Based on the Research · What Messy Books Cost at Tax Time
Work with osNOVA on the numbers that run your business
We help owner-run service businesses set up a simple one-page scorecard of the five numbers, then build the habits behind them, such as rebooking, regular price reviews and a weekly transfer to savings, so the business ends next year with fuller weeks, more regulars and steadier cash.
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