Spring Cleaning Your P&L

Have you ever heard the phrase “death by a thousand cuts?”

That’s exactly what hit me after reviewing our 2025 profit and loss statement.

It wasn’t one catastrophic decision that wrecked profitability. It was the tiny ones. The “small” purchases. The delayed follow-up. The extra subscription we forgot about. The tools we bought again because nobody could find them. The overtime caused by a scheduling bottleneck. The lead we didn’t call back fast enough.

None of it felt like a big deal at the moment, but stacked together it ate profit and it stole momentum.

So, I’m doing something different this spring. I’m spring cleaning the P&L.

Let’s walk through the P&L and identify the thousand cuts that quietly cost us the most.

Revenue Revelations: The Leads Were There, We Just Didn’t Capture Them

When I look at our revenue from last year, I see three things:

• Growth in some areas.

• Stagnation in others.

• And decline where we shouldn’t have declined.

And here’s what I learned:

The areas we didn’t grow in weren’t because the market was bad. It was because we didn’t focus on those services consistently. We didn’t lead them. We didn’t train them. We didn’t talk about them enough. We didn’t prioritize them.

But the most frustrating part?

We had opportunities that came straight to us and we still didn’t maximize them.

We had customers call for service, and we didn’t get to them fast enough.

And we all know what happens next: people have options.

We also had customers allow us into their homes and we didn’t capitalize on the opportunity once we were there.

That almost always comes down to one of two things:

• Training gaps.

• Not setting technicians up for success with clear processes and support.

I’m proud of what we accomplished last year, and I’m honored by the number of customers who trusted us, but going into this year, I’m treating every single call like it matters, because it does.

Cost of Goods Sold (COGS): The Most Expensive Tools Are the Ones You Buy Twice

How many times have you seen someone buy something that is already in the truck but hidden under a pile of stuff or sitting in a drawer? That’s not a tool problem. That’s a discipline problem, and discipline is expensive when you don’t enforce it. COGS will quietly wreck your bottom line through:

• Duplicate tools.

• Unused inventory.

• Extra parts ordered “just in case.”

• Small add-on items technicians think they need but don’t.

• Overtime caused by inefficient scheduling.

• Time wasted at supply houses because techs weren’t stocked correctly.

These are real things happening in companies every day. 

And here’s the uncomfortable truth: people get a high from spending money. 

Especially when it isn’t their money. 

That doesn’t mean your team wants you to lose. Most people genuinely want the company to win, but if you don’t have tight systems and accountability spending becomes emotional, convenient and impulsive. 

Here’s what changed my mindset: 

Make it hard to buy things. Even for yourself. 

Put a tool program in place. Put a purchasing program in place. Create a system where spending has friction. 

One of the biggest changes you can make? Put one person in charge of purchasing. 

When spending is centralized and tracked, your bottom line changes fast. I guarantee it. 

Expenses: Your P&L Is Full of Quiet Monthly Leaks 

If COGS is death by tools and overtime, expenses are death by subscriptions, members, and “we’ve always done it that way.” 

This is where you go line by line and ask:

• What subscriptions are we paying for and not using?
• Which consulting groups are we paying for but not fully leveraging?
• Where are our marketing dollars really going?
• What supplies are being reordered unnecessarily?
• What are we paying for because nobody ever questions it?

Every time I comb through our expenses, I find cuts. 

In 2025 alone: 

• I found subscriptions we weren’t using and saved over $500 per month. That ads up quickly. 
• I reviewed consulting memberships and realized that if we weren’t taking full advantage of what we were paying for, we needed to adjust. We reduced membership levels and saved thousands. 
• And one of the biggest wins? Credit card fees. We made changes that will safe us $00,000 to the bottom line in 2026. 

That’s not “saving pennies.” That’s saving real money. 

Don’t Wait Until December to Get Disciplined 

Finances can feel like a taboo topic but they don’t have to be. 

If you comb through your P&L every month this year, you will save drastically. 

Cut what doesn’t serve you. Invest in what a truly moves the needle. Put systems in place that protect profitability even when you’re busy. 

Because spring isn’t just a season to get ready for summer. 

Spring is the season where you decide how profitable your year is going to be. 

Alyssa Rogers is vice president of Rogers Heating & Cooling, an HVAC, electrical, and plumbing company she runs alongside her husband, Joey Rogers. With a background in marketing, Alyssa has played a pivotal role in growing their family business in South Boston, Virginia, from three employees to a team of over 36. In addition to her business leadership, Alyssa hosts The Rogers Radio Podcast, a weekly show focused on community outreach.