Make Your Numbers Makes Cents

Julie Bonner

You had the business idea. You created the business. And somewhere along the way the money stopped making sense — leaking out where you can't see it, a profitable year that left nothing in the bank, a tax bill that came out of nowhere. The numbers aren't the problem. They're the scoreboard, and the game was already played by the time you're reading them. What decides whether your business makes money — and whether it's worth anything the day you go to sell it — is the financial system underneath it. The one you were never taught to build. Make Your Numbers Make Cents is about building that system on purpose. Every episode takes something that's quietly costing you — pricing, cash flow, a 1099 mess, a leak you didn't know was there — and traces it back to the decision underneath, so you fix the cause instead of mopping up the effect month after month. No jargon. No lectures. No pretending this is harder than it is. Just the financial thinking the big players have always had — and the rest of us were left to figure out on our own. Hosted by Julie Bonner. More at coeurbridge.com.

  1. 10/29/2025

    How to Get Steady Clients Through Referral Partners

    The cheapest, most reliable marketing for a service business isn't ads — it's people who send you clients. This is how you build a steady stream of them, on purpose. Start with your natural referral partners: people who already work with your ideal client but don't do what you do. For a bookkeeper, that's CPAs, enrolled agents, tax pros, financial planners, and solo CFOs — they all have clients who need bookkeeping and usually don't want to do it themselves. Bankers too: someone turned down for a loan over messy books is exactly who you can help. Find them on LinkedIn, in your network and just outside it, and ask for a short conversation. Most people say yes. The conversation is low-key — half an hour, often over Zoom. You're not pitching; you're introducing yourself: here's who I help, and if you ever hear someone frustrated with the financial side of their business, send them my way. Hand them your one-page handout so they've got something to pass along. Keep your antenna up, do them consistently — one a week if you're introverted, more if you're not — and reward the people who send you business with a thank-you gift or a credit. I'm highly introverted, and this still works because it's one person at a time, and you believe in what you do. Be sure to update your documents! Budget/Cash Flow: https://coeurbridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Sample-Cash-Flow-Forecast.xlsx Business Plan: https://coeurbridge.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/SCORE-Startup-Business-Plan-Template.docx Need our assistance? https://calendly.com/coeurbridge Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

    14 min
  2. 10/16/2025

    How to Get an EIN for Your Business

    Getting a federal EIN — your employer identification number — is one of the first setup steps, and it's free straight from the IRS. The real question most new owners have is just whether they need one, and how to do it without paying a service to do it for them. You're required to have one the moment you run payroll. But even as a sole proprietor with no employees, two reasons make it worth getting: it keeps you from handing your Social Security number out all over town, which matters in an age of identity theft, and most banks want an EIN before they'll open a business account. You can apply online in a few minutes, or mail in Form SS-4 — either way, it costs nothing, and the IRS has a short questionnaire that tells you whether you even need one. One order-of-operations tip that saves a headache: reserve your business name with the Secretary of State first. I've watched owners get the EIN, then change the name — and now they're redoing the federal paperwork too. Name first, then EIN. Snail Mail Fillable PDF: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fss4.pdf  Applying online: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/get-an-employer-identification-number Do you need an EIN: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/employer-identification-number#whoneedsanein Need help doing this for your business? Find a local bookkeeper or use our service: https://calendly.com/coeurbridge If you prefer to learn by video: https://youtu.be/dOxmvkiww1k Hosted by Julie Bonner. Bookkeeping and financial help for business owners — https://coeurbridge.com

    6 min

About

You had the business idea. You created the business. And somewhere along the way the money stopped making sense — leaking out where you can't see it, a profitable year that left nothing in the bank, a tax bill that came out of nowhere. The numbers aren't the problem. They're the scoreboard, and the game was already played by the time you're reading them. What decides whether your business makes money — and whether it's worth anything the day you go to sell it — is the financial system underneath it. The one you were never taught to build. Make Your Numbers Make Cents is about building that system on purpose. Every episode takes something that's quietly costing you — pricing, cash flow, a 1099 mess, a leak you didn't know was there — and traces it back to the decision underneath, so you fix the cause instead of mopping up the effect month after month. No jargon. No lectures. No pretending this is harder than it is. Just the financial thinking the big players have always had — and the rest of us were left to figure out on our own. Hosted by Julie Bonner. More at coeurbridge.com.