You know that moment when your Stripe or bank notification hits and you think, “Yes, we are finally gaining traction,” only to check your balance two days later and wonder where it all went? That gap between what you think you are making and what actually stays in your account is where most business owners get stuck. On paper, the business looks successful. In reality, it feels like you are one unexpected bill, one slow week, or one extra payroll cycle away from panic mode.

Here is the truth your numbers have been trying to tell you: until you know what it really costs to run your business each month, you are guessing. And guessing creates pressure, shame spirals, and late-night “should I even be doing this” thoughts that come from exhaustion, not failure. It is time to turn the fog of expenses into the clean, simple roadmap your CEO role requires.

What Monthly Costs Really Mean

Most entrepreneurs celebrate revenue but forget that revenue without context is misleading. Your operating costs include more than payroll and rent. They include every subscription, tool, contractor, fee, insurance payment, tax obligation, and every tiny operational detail it takes to keep your doors open.

It is often the small, invisible expenses that create the biggest leaks. When you do not know your real costs, your business runs on memory rather than data. And we both know memory is unreliable. Forgetfulness destroys cash reserves. It also destroys your ability to grow with confidence.

Break Even Keeps You Broke

There is a dangerous trap many entrepreneurs unintentionally build their entire business around. They aim for break even. But one of my favorite sayings is “break even equals broke even.” Another is “break even keeps you broke even.”

When your operating costs match your revenue goals, you create a business that survives but never grows. You maintain, but you do not build wealth. You stay afloat, but you never get ahead. The moment a slow month hits or an annual bill lands, you feel underwater again.

A business built only to cover costs will never create freedom.

The Real Cost Breakdown

Understanding your full cost structure is foundational to your financial leadership. Your business has layers:

• Labor, which includes wages, payroll taxes, your leadership time, and the emotional cost of managing people
• Overhead such as rent, software, systems, and administrative support
• Direct costs including materials or tools required to deliver your service
• Taxes, insurance, and licensing, which often surprise entrepreneurs
• Your salary, which must be part of the operating cost instead of a leftover afterthought

The EPI Formula simplifies this truth:
Expenses + Profit = Income.
Your pricing must reflect what your business requires, not what you hope will magically work out.

Why Clarity Changes Everything

When you understand your true monthly cost, you stop:

• undercharging
• waiting for momentum that never arrives
• hoping a launch will fix everything
• feeling blindsided by normal fluctuations

Clarity makes you a confident leader. It stops the financial whack a mole and gives you a strategy you can trust. The EPI formula is the foundation of The STOP Method: every dollar assigned, every cost understood, every decision intentional.

How to Start Even If Numbers Are Not Your Strength

You do not need to be an accountant. You need a mindset shift. You are brilliant with numbers; you simply do not want to deal with them at a micro level. That is exactly why the EPI Formula exists. It keeps your focus on the big picture and helps you set a top-line revenue target that includes both expenses and profit.

This is how you protect your financial health, your emotional well-being, and the long-term vision you are building.

Final Thoughts from Your Favorite Accountant 🧡

Every entrepreneur feels the pain of running a business at break even. It is mentally and emotionally exhausting. The blood, sweat, ideas, hope, and resilience you pour into your business should show up in your bank account and in your paycheck. Yet for so many business owners, it does not. Not because you are careless but because no one taught you how to calculate the true cost of being in business…or how to build income goals that support your current operations and their future scalability.

If you are tired of working this hard to only feel this frustrated, then this is your moment to try something different.

✅ Hire My CFO for done for you bookkeeping
👩‍💻 Join my Financial Leadership Events for budgeting, forecasting, and CEO decision making
📚 DIY budgeting with my book and STOP Method workbook

👉 Because at the end of the day, cash flow isn’t luck, it’s strategy.