Budget 2026: what it means for you and your business —
In short
Very few owners know which of their customers, products or jobs actually make money — and most are genuinely surprised when they find out. We analyse profitability line by line, review your pricing and cost structure, benchmark you against your sector, and identify where margin is leaking. It is frequently the highest-return piece of work we do, because the answer usually costs nothing to act on.
Aggregate gross margin hides an enormous amount. Broken down by customer, product, service line or job, the picture is almost always more uneven than expected — and frequently includes work that loses money once you properly allocate the time spent on it.
We rebuild your profitability from the transaction level up, allocating direct costs and, where it matters, the labour actually consumed. The output is a ranked list. It is usually uncomfortable reading, and it is usually actionable immediately.
Often, and by more than you think — but the question is where, not whether.
A 1% price increase typically delivers a far larger percentage increase in profit than a 1% increase in volume, because it drops almost entirely to the bottom line. Yet owners consistently reach for volume first, because it feels safer.
The risk is real but usually overstated: the customers most likely to leave over a price rise are frequently the ones who were least profitable anyway. We model the volume loss you could absorb and still be better off — which reframes the decision considerably.
Scope creep — work done and never invoiced. Discounting — habitual, undocumented, and rarely reviewed. Under-recovered time — service businesses quoting on optimistic hours. Purchasing — supplier prices that have crept up unchallenged for years. Stock — obsolete, over-ordered, or written off quietly. Small customers — where the cost to serve exceeds the margin earned.
Each is dull. Together they are frequently the difference between a good year and a bad one.
We benchmark your key ratios — gross margin, overhead as a percentage of turnover, staff cost ratio, debtor days, stock turn — against sector norms.
Benchmarking is not about being average. It is about spotting the ratio that is materially out of line and asking why. Sometimes there is a good reason. Often there isn’t, and that gap is your opportunity.
Price increases drop almost entirely to the bottom line; volume increases bring costs with them. Yet almost every owner reaches for volume first. Before you chase more work, it’s worth knowing whether the work you have is priced properly.
We rebuild profitability from the transaction level — not from the aggregate.
Uncomfortable, actionable answers — you’ll learn which customers you’d be better off without.
Pricing modelled, not guessed — including how much volume you could afford to lose.
Sector benchmarking — so you know which ratios are genuinely out of line.
Often the highest-return work we do, because acting on it usually costs nothing.
This page provides general information about the 2026/27 UK tax year and is not advice on your particular circumstances. Tax and regulatory rules change frequently. Please contact us before acting, or refraining from acting, on anything set out here. LMJ Group is a firm of Chartered Accountants regulated by the ICAEW. LMJ Group is not a registered auditor and does not provide audit services. Last reviewed: July 2026.
