Would you believe me if I told you one of our clients was paying to serve their own client?
On paper, this agency looked like it was scaling. They had just landed a $2,000/month contract, brought on a contractor to help, and were celebrating what seemed like growth. But when we ran their QuickBooks Wellness Check, we uncovered the truth: that “$2,000 client” was actually draining $350 every month.
This story is a powerful reminder that more clients doesn’t always equal more profit and that’s exactly why you need decision-ready books.
The Hidden Problem Inside Their QuickBooks
When this agency came to us at Vegter Financial, the owner felt stuck. Cash flow was tight, they weren’t sure if they could pay themselves consistently, and hiring more help felt risky.
Here’s what we found inside their QuickBooks Online file:
❌ Bank accounts hadn’t been reconciled in three years.
❌ Revenue wasn’t separated by service line.
❌ Labor costs weren’t tracked by client.
Once we cleaned things up, the truth was clear: one service line was being delivered at a loss. The “profitable” $2,000 client was actually costing them money every single month.
Want to see if you have your own mistakes hiding in QuickBooks? Grab our free guide. This free checklist walks you through the most common data errors that lead to inaccurate reports, profit leaks, and tax overpayments, so you can start fixing them today.
The Three Root Causes
So how does a profitable-looking client end up draining cash? Here were the three biggest issues:
- Ignoring the owner’s time
The business owner wasn’t factoring in their own hours. When you don’t include your time as a labor cost, you underprice offers. The day you hire someone else, the math falls apart. - Scope creep
The client was asking for more outside the original agreement. Contractors billed more hours, but none of it was tied back to the client’s revenue. - No client profitability tracking
Without service-line reporting or job costing, the owner had no way of knowing which clients were profitable and which were draining resources.
The Quick Win You Can Apply Today
Here’s one simple step you can take right now:
Start tracking client profitability.
Even if you don’t have a full job-costing setup, you can begin by listing each client, how much they pay you, and estimating how many hours (yours + your team’s) go into serving them. Multiply those hours by a reasonable hourly rate, and you’ll quickly see whether each client is profitable or quietly draining your margins.
This one exercise alone can save you from chasing “growth” that’s really just stress disguised as revenue.
So How Did It End?
After we delivered their QuickBooks Health Check and clean-up, everything changed for this agency:
✔ They could finally see which services were truly profitable.
✔ They re-scoped and re-priced offers that weren’t sustainable.
✔ They set up tracking to prevent growth from eating away at margins.
Most importantly, they stopped chasing “more clients” and started focusing on profitable clients and scalable offers. That’s the power of decision-ready QuickBooks.
Want the Full Breakdown?
If you’ve ever thought, “We’re growing, but I still feel broke,” this is your sign.
📺 Watch the full YouTube video here: The $2,000 Client That Cost Them $350
In it, Brigitte from Vegter Financial walks through the exact mistakes inside this agency’s QuickBooks file and how you can avoid them.
Because more clients should mean more profit, not hidden losses.
Know you need some clarity in your own business? Book your Wellness Check now, and we’ll deep dive to uncover if you have your secret profit-killing client!
