Business of all sizes have a problem: How do you know-in real time-whether you are earning the
profit you need to grow or even just stay in business? And which products or services are doing
the heavy lifting in contributing to profit? Financial statements tell only part of the story.
They are backward looking for one thing and they generally show results only in the
aggregate. Worse they never seem to reflect the hard work you're doing on a daily basis. As
one manager said If I'm adding 25% profit to every job why am I getting barely 5% net profit
at the end of the year? Improving Profit: Using Contribution Metrics to Boost the Bottom Line
solves this dilemma. As this book shows Contribution-Based Activity (CBA) measures focus on
two key levers that are fundamental to the operation of any business: financial contribution
and units of activity. Knowing how to use these levers gets your company off the treadmill and
on your way to stellar profitability. And as the 21 case studies show CBA is surprisingly easy
to apply to businesses of all types and all sizes. What is financial contribution? Simply the
amount above and beyond the cost of goods or materials sold that contributes to covering
overhead and creating profit. As entrepreneur business consultant and professor Keith Cleland
shows few managers actually know the financial contribution their products and services make
nor how to amplify that contribution by incremental adjustments to one or both levers. As
you'll learn the financial tool Cleland created TARI (Target Average Rate Index) provides
insight into each product's value. You'll not only learn which products are contributing the
most to the bottom line but how to unlock the profit potential in run-of-the-mill products or
services. Improving Profit will help you: Restore and boost profit levels for your entire
operation Relate your dailyefforts to a transaction's actual profitability Focus on the two key
performance indicators that can help you identify and solve problems affecting finance and
productivity Help everyone in the company-from CEO to janitor-understand how their activities
help or hinder the company's fortunes Make effective financial decisions If you've ever
wondered why your results don't match your hard work hopes and dreams read this book. As the
case studies make clear identifying and applying TARI results in a significant-and often
dramatic-boost to the bottom-line.
