Bookkeeping for manufacturers.
FigureWise gives small manufacturers books where cost of goods is real: raw materials, work in process, and finished goods tracked as inventory, overhead allocated into product costs, and margin visible by product line.
The numbers to watch.
| # | Metric | |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Gross margin by product lineThe number that should drive pricing, sales focus, and discontinuation decisions. Company-wide margin hides the line that has quietly stopped earning its floor space. | The number that should drive pricing, sales focus, and discontinuation decisions. Company-wide margin hides the line that has quietly stopped earning its floor space. |
| 02 | Inventory turnsHow fast materials become sold goods and cash again. Slow turns mean capital sleeping on the shop floor and rising obsolescence risk. | How fast materials become sold goods and cash again. Slow turns mean capital sleeping on the shop floor and rising obsolescence risk. |
| 03 | Cash conversion cycleDays from paying suppliers to collecting from customers. It tells you exactly how much working capital growth will consume before you take the next big order. | Days from paying suppliers to collecting from customers. It tells you exactly how much working capital growth will consume before you take the next big order. |
| 04 | Scrap and rework costWaste tracked in dollars, not anecdotes. Making it a monthly number turns quality problems into something management can prioritize and measure. | Waste tracked in dollars, not anecdotes. Making it a monthly number turns quality problems into something management can prioritize and measure. |
Where manufacturers books go wrong.
01
Three kinds of inventory, one blurry number
Raw materials, work in process, and finished goods each behave differently, and collapsing them into one balance means cost of goods sold is wrong in ways that swing your margin randomly month to month.
02
Overhead that never makes it into product costs
Rent, utilities, equipment depreciation, and indirect labor are part of what your product costs to make. Leave them out of costing and every unit looks more profitable than it is, which quietly corrupts pricing decisions.
03
Margins invisible below the company level
One product line can subsidize another for years without anyone noticing. Without revenue and cost tracked by line, decisions about what to push, reprice, or discontinue run on instinct.
04
Cash locked in the production cycle
You pay for materials months before customers pay for finished goods, and large customers often demand long payment terms. That cycle consumes working capital exactly when orders grow, which is why booming manufacturers go cash-broke.
What we put in place.
- Inventory tracked through its stages, raw materials to WIP to finished goods, so cost of goods sold reflects what actually shipped.
- An overhead allocation method sized to your operation, so product costs include the whole cost of making them.
- Product-line P&L visibility, giving pricing and discontinuation decisions a factual basis.
- AP and purchasing volume categorized by AI with price-variance flags; a human bookkeeper reviews exceptions before the close.
- A cash conversion view alongside the P&L, so you see what growth will demand in working capital before you commit to it.
Manufacturers, answered.
Better decisions start here.
A free, no-commitment review of your manufacturers books.