406 Consulting Group

10/22/2026

Adding your kids to your house deed to avoid probate might be the most expensive
"free" thing you ever do.

Here's the trap nobody explains at the kitchen table:

When your kids INHERIT your home, the tax basis resets to its value on the day
you pass. They can sell it and owe little or nothing in capital-gains tax.

When you add them to the deed while you're alive, that's a gift — and they
inherit your ORIGINAL cost basis. On a home that's appreciated for 30 years,
that can mean a six-figure capital-gains bill the day they sell.

Same house. Same kids. Same probate avoided. The only difference is a deed
signed too early — and it can cost the family $75,000 to $120,000+.

The frustrating part? You can avoid probate AND keep the tax break — with a
living trust, a transfer-on-death deed, or even a plain will. The deed shortcut
is the one option that throws the break away.

Before you sign anything, run the numbers. We'll do it with you and coordinate
with your estate attorney.

Full breakdown (with the math): https://406consultinggroup.com/articles/adding-kids-to-house-deed-tax-trap

Adding your kids to your house deed to dodge probate can wipe out their stepped-up basis and trigger a six-figure capital-gains tax. The trap, the math, and the fix.

10/17/2026

MORE REVENUE.
LESS PROFIT.
MORE STRESS.
Getting bigger isn’t always growing.

GETTING BIGGER
$4.0M revenue × 5% margin
= $200K profit

ACTUALLY GROWING
$2.5M revenue × 14% margin
= $350K profit

That’s $150K more profit—with less revenue.

Track more than sales:

Profit by job • Cash flow • Owner hours
Revenue is a starting point—not the whole scorecard.
Small footer: Illustrative figures only—not client results.

More sales can mean more payroll, more pressure, and less cash left over. The real question isn’t just how much you bring in—it’s how much you keep.

Watch the short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2EXyV18JLk

Read the full article: https://406consultinggroup.com/articles/growing-or-just-getting-bigger

10/16/2026

More revenue. More payroll. More stress. Less money left in the bank.

If your business is getting bigger but you’re not feeling the payoff, you may be growing in size—not in profit, cash, or freedom.

Watch this short video to see what to track instead of revenue alone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2EXyV18JLk

Then read the full article: https://406consultinggroup.com/articles/growing-or-just-getting-bigger

Illustrative figures only—not client results.

Is your business growing—or just getting bigger? Revenue alone does...

09/21/2026

Think every load leaves full?

One trucking company did too—until the data told a different story.

One of our trucking clients hauls chips and sawdust for sawmills. The team was confident that every truck was leaving full.

But when we looked at the data, we found a more complete picture.

The company was paid by weight per load. Different wood species have different densities, so the material behind each load mattered—not just how full the trailer appeared.

That insight eventually became part of the company’s contract language.
What is one thing in your business everyone assumes is always true?

Watch the short case study:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/hpd6Xhrf6iU

This is a real client outcome. Client identity, financial information, and contract language are confidential. Video visuals are representative.

One of our trucking clients hauls chips and sawdust for sawmills. T...

09/18/2026

S-Corp savings can be real—but they’re not the whole story.
Payroll costs, filing obligations, compliance, and cash flow all affect whether the numbers actually work.

Watch the short video:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/K7WZaKp4Npk

09/17/2026

Thinking about an S-corp election?

Potential tax savings can be real. But they’re not the whole decision.

Payroll costs, filing obligations, compliance, and cash flow all belong in the calculation. An S corp can be a smart move for the right business—but it is not automatically right for every owner.

Watch the video, then use our LLC vs. S-Corp Calculator in the first comment to look at the full picture.

General information only. Consult a qualified tax professional regarding your specific situation.

09/03/2026

Quick gut-check: if you disappeared for two weeks — phone off — would your business run without you?

For a lot of owners, the honest answer is no. And it lands hard, because the thing you built for freedom quietly became the thing you can never leave.

Here's what I've learned in a career a little obsessed with process: businesses that scale don't run on heroes. They run on processes — repeatable ways of doing the recurring work, so quality doesn't depend on who's having a good day.

And this isn't theory. A recent client did it the right way — they hired good people, didn't cut corners, brought us in to develop the processes, and then actually adopted them. The owner went from 50+ hours a week to about 10. The business runs on autopilot. Same company. Same people. Different systems.

You don't need a Six Sigma black belt. You don't need to boil the ocean. Pick the ONE process costing you the most — for a lot of you that's invoicing — and fix just that. One clean win builds the next.

Wrote up how to think about it (Dave's Plumbing makes a few cameos): https://406consultinggroup.com/articles/processes-not-heroes

What's the one process in your business that would break first if you stepped away?

We're not just your accountant — we're the financial team behind your next stage of growth. 406 Consulting Group delivers bookkeeping, tax strategy, controller services, and fractional CFO advisory for established businesses ready to level up.

09/01/2026

Your banker may like you. They may want to see your business succeed. But when it’s time to approve a loan, they aren’t the only person making the decision—and they aren’t working for you.
The person who may ultimately determine the outcome is someone you’ll probably never meet: the commercial underwriter.

Their job isn’t to fund your growth. It’s to protect the bank by determining whether your business can repay the debt—even when things don’t go according to plan. They’re looking beyond revenue and the relationship you have with your banker. They’re evaluating cash flow, debt capacity, collateral, financial trends, and the risks your numbers may reveal.

With experience reviewing more than 300 commercial loan packages, Carrie Anderson understands how lenders evaluate those risks. She knows what happens behind the scenes, why a successful business can still receive a surprising “no,” and what underwriters see in your financials before anyone calls you back.

If your next move depends on financing, it pays to understand how the bank is reading your business—and what you can do to become the kind of borrower it wants to finance.

Read Carrie’s full breakdown: https://406consultinggroup.com/articles/whose-side-is-your-banker-on

08/20/2026

Parts 1 and 2 hit hard. A lot of you said "I know exactly who this is."

So here's what to actually do about it:

STEP 1: Document the pattern.
Not one bad day. The pattern. Every time they said yes and did nothing. Every time access was blocked. Every missed deadline. Put it in writing. Emails after every meeting with action items and deadlines.

STEP 2: Talk to your other employees privately.
Ask them directly: "Is there anything making your job harder that I should know about?" You'll hear what you've been avoiding.

STEP 3: Set clear expectations IN WRITING.
Specific deliverables. Specific deadlines. No room for "I didn't know" or "I thought you meant something else." Send it in email. Have them confirm.

STEP 4: Give it 30 days.
Not 6 months. Not "let's see how it goes." 30 days. Either the behavior changes or it doesn't.

STEP 5: If nothing changes in 30 days, it won't change in 30 months.
Act. Have the conversation. Make the change. Your business, your other employees, and your sanity are worth more than one person's comfort zone.

THE HARD TRUTH:
If you're afraid to manage one employee — you don't have a team. You have a hostage situation.

And hostage situations don't end well for the hostage.

Your business is worth more than avoiding one uncomfortable conversation.

https://406consultinggroup.com/services

We're not just your accountant — we're the financial team behind your next stage of growth. 406 Consulting Group delivers bookkeeping, tax strategy, controller services, and fractional CFO advisory for established businesses ready to level up.

08/20/2026

The first number you check in the morning says everything about you.

Before coffee. Before email. There's one number you reach for.

Bank balance. Pipeline. Payroll. Or nothing at all.

You think it's a habit. It's a tell.

→ Bank balance — "will I run out?" Survival. And you're steering off a number that's lying to you; a good chunk of what's in there isn't yours.

→ Pipeline — "will the work keep coming?" Scarcity. You can feel the growth. You can't see the margin.

→ Payroll — "can I cover the people counting on me?" The heavy one. You carry the whole team in your gut before 7am.

→ Nothing at all — the interesting one, because it means one of two opposite things. Either you're too scared to look… or your system already told you and you don't need to.

Same habit. Opposite people.

The number you reach for isn't a routine. It's a readout of the fear running your business. And the fix for the morning knot isn't discipline — it's building something that answers the real question, so the number stops being something you flinch at and becomes something you use.

https://406consultinggroup.com/articles/first-number-you-check