It’s been a big push, but you’ve finally gotten everyone to account for their time. Your people are reporting their hours every week, charging them to their various projects or to overhead, and from their time sheets it looks like they’re all reasonably productive. Now what? How do you determine whether you’re making any money on their work?

If your company operates in an industry in which advance payments are the norm, your need for outside working capital may be reduced. But in business, as in personal life, spending money before you earn it can have unfortunate consequences.