Build your Profit Engine
Most business owners are making decent money and still have nothing left at the end of the month — not because they're doing anything wrong, but because they do not have a system that protects profit and their own pay before the business spends the money.
What is a Profit Engine?
A Profit Engine is a repeatable way of systematically and automatically making more profit and cash in your business. Most people do not have a system for making profit, and most businesses do not have one either. As a result, profit comes last and owners pay themselves last. That forces business owners to make spending decisions before profit, tax and owner pay have been protected.
A Profit Engine is powered by Profit First. Traditional accounting follows Sales − Expenses = Profit, leaving profit as whatever survives. Profit First turns that around: Sales − Profit = Expenses. Profit is protected first, then the business works with what remains.
A filter for every big financial decision
Your Profit Engine tells you when the business can afford its next move. It helps you decide when to hire the next person, when you can afford that hire, when to invest in growth, when to move premises, whether to buy or rent a new office and whether the business can afford a new van. Instead of deciding from instinct or the current bank balance, the Profit Engine becomes the filter at the centre of every financial decision in your business.
The Profit Plan is what you get
The Profit Engine is the system we are building. The Profit Plan is the personalised deliverable showing how to build it in your business: where every pound goes now, where it should go and the 18-month order for closing the gap.
The initial 30-minute call is free. Its purpose is to understand your situation, your business and its context, then assess whether you qualify for us to build your Profit Plan. We only build plans where we are confident there is enough money on the table to make the work worthwhile. We do not build the plan on the call itself.
A paid Profit Plan, scoped for your business
If you qualify, Stephen explains his recommendation, the scope and the fee on the call. There is no obligation to go ahead and no requirement to become a client afterwards.
We compare your real numbers with Profit First targets, showing the difference in percentages and pounds across profit, owner pay, tax and running costs. You then receive a practical 18-month roadmap with manageable steps for building your Profit Engine.
The plan is yours whoever runs it. There is no monthly contract. If it is not worth what we charged, you decide what our work was worth — even if that is nothing.
What could change
The page's worked examples show the extra annual profit already inside the business. For a business at £500,000 real revenue we would typically be looking to move around 10% into profit and cash — roughly £50,000 a year — plus the £5,000–£10,000 a proper tax review typically finds.
Nathan came to us working every hour and still couldn't pay his VAT; eighteen months on his profit is up £41,204 a year. A jeweller with two shops cleared over £100,000 of debt in his first twelve months. A painter and decorator now has his VAT and corporation tax set aside before he can touch them.
We've served over a thousand businesses. Gro Profit First Accountants is rated 4.9 from 54 Google reviews. Stephen Edwards FCCA has 25 years in the industry, is a Certified Profit First Professional, and was named UK Profit First Accountant of the Year 2022.
Frequently asked questions
What is a Profit Engine?
A Profit Engine is a repeatable system for making more profit and cash automatically. Powered by Profit First, it protects profit, tax and the owner's pay before the rest of the business spends the money. The Profit Plan is the personalised roadmap showing how to build that system in your business.
Do you build the Profit Plan on the free call?
No. The free 30-minute call is to understand your situation, your business and its context, then assess whether you qualify for us to build your Profit Plan. We only build plans where we are confident there is enough money on the table to make the work worthwhile. If you qualify, we'll explain what we recommend, the scope and the fee on the call.
How is this different from what my accountant already does?
Most accountants are paid to record what happened and file it accurately. That's a real job and most do it well. A Profit Plan is about what happens next — where the profit is, in what order to go after it, and what to change while the year is still running. Very few firms in the UK are certified to implement Profit First; we're one of them.
Do I have to change accountants?
No. The plan is yours whoever runs it, and plenty of people take it back to their existing accountant. If you'd like us to run it with you afterwards, that's a separate conversation with no pressure either way.
What if I want you to be my accountant?
Yes, absolutely. We can be your accountant and do as much as you want us to. Many of our clients ask us to help them implement Profit First to maximise their chances of success — and that's where the real results can kick in.
What do you need from me?
Access to your bookkeeping and your last set of accounts. It doesn't need to be perfect — if the numbers themselves turn out to be the problem, that becomes item one on your roadmap.
How much of my time does it take?
Almost nothing up front. If you go on to run the system, most owners spend around 20 minutes a week on allocations and an hour or two a quarter reviewing.
Does it work for my industry?
Yes — trades, consultants, e-commerce, hospitality and more. The percentages change; the system doesn't.
Does the Profit Plan include a Tax Diagnostic?
The Profit Plan reviews your tax position against our 33 legitimate, HMRC-compliant ways to save tax and identifies whether we believe a separate Tax Diagnostic should go on your roadmap. The full diagnostic is not included in the Profit Plan. When it is relevant, our Tax Diagnostics usually save clients between £5,000 and £10,000.
What exactly is the guarantee?
If you don't think the plan was worth what you paid, tell us what it was worth to you. That's what you'll pay — even if you decide it was worth nothing.