Draft
Catering price review
Proposed month
- Sales
- $24,000
- Ingredients
- −$9,000
- Direct labor
- −$6,000
Remaining after these costs$9,000
37.5% of sales. Before delivery, overhead, taxes, and other costs. Not net profit.
Your clients have plans.
Help them get there
Connect the owner’s goal, the numbers, and your next question.
See a client review
Riverbend CoffeeIndianapolis, IN · Coffee shop
Should we expand office catering?
SalesDirect costsKitchen capacity
The decision gives them direction.
Hire one shift leadReview the full employer cost.
Grow revenue by 20%Review margin and capacity.
Prepare for a $250,000 loanReview the repayment assumptions.
Less chasing.
More useful review.
Follow one catering proposal from the owner’s question to the review that changes the decision.
01 · The owner’s question
Riverbend CoffeeIndianapolis, IN · Coffee shop
Is catering the right next move?
Grow revenue by 20%
A goal, not a forecast.
02 · Prepared for review
03 · Your judgment
JamieAccountant
JamieAccountantInclude delivery and kitchen capacity before deciding on the price.
The next step
Price the delivery cost and confirm the kitchen schedule. Morgan decides whether to launch the offer.
Prepared, not approved or sent.
The owner controls access. SMB organizes the context. You keep the professional judgment and required sign-off.
See what an owner can preparePreparation is shared.
Responsibility is not.
SMB can help organize the business context. It does not take over the accounting engagement.
ParticipantWhat stays with them
Owner
Business facts, authorization, choice of professional, and consequential decisions.
Accountant
Agreed work, reconciliations, conclusions, professional standards, and review or signatures required by the engagement.
SMB
Business context, source preparation, and open questions—not an audit opinion, tax filing, or independent professional judgment.
The right records.
The right access.
A client relationship is not blanket access. Agree on the business, period, purpose, and people before sharing private records.
Start with owner authorization
Use the scope the owner and engagement allow. Public information is not permission to view private financials. Review access with the owner before starting the engagement.
Keep advice separate from action
A proposed adjustment, an edited plan, an approved decision, and a completed external action are different states. Do not treat a prepared note as permission to submit, pay, file, or contact someone.
Leave a deliberate handoff
Agree on file ownership, secure sharing, retention, exports, unresolved work, correction, and access removal. Removing access does not undo records someone already received or statutory retention duties.
Keep the method.
Respect each relationship.
Use a consistent review approach across your team while keeping each client’s information, responsibilities, and permissions separate.
Explore the practice modelRC
Riverbend CoffeeCatering price review
NP
Northside PlumbingHiring budget review
Shared method. Separate client work.
Before working together.
Agree on the work, the records, and your professional responsibilities.
Is SMB replacing my accounting software?
No. Keep source records, reconciliations, and the authoritative books in your accounting system. Use SMB to connect that financial context to the owner’s goal and next decision. Check which records a connection includes before relying on it.
What about fees and referrals?
Your accounting engagement and the owner’s SMB plan are separate. Make your fees, scope, referral compensation, conflicts, and any software or lender relationships clear. Using SMB does not create an endorsement, partnership, or referral agreement.
Does a client need to share everything?
No engagement should begin with an assumption of unrestricted access. Agree on the records and period required. Share only what the engagement needs, and review access with the owner.
Can I use this for tax preparation or assurance?
Preparation is not a tax return, audit, review, compilation, or assurance engagement. Apply the relevant professional requirements, evidence, judgment, authorization, and review for the service you provide.
U.S. references · checked September 10, 2026IRS: recordkeepingIRS: qualifications and representationNASBA: state boardsQuestions about SMB
Start with one owner.
One business. One question worth answering.
Working on the monthly close? Explore SMB for bookkeepers Looking for an accountant? Prepare as an owner