Your Bank Balance Is Not a Weekly Business Report.

You check the bank account and see money. That tells you what is in the account at that moment. It does not, by itself, tell you which loads remain unbilled, what bills are approaching or whether last week’s work covered its costs.

A useful weekly review connects the money to the work. You do not need a wall of charts to begin. You need consistent definitions, current records and five questions someone can answer.

1. What work did we complete?

List completed loads for a defined week. Keep the load reference, agreed revenue and any unresolved adjustment together. Do not mix quoted opportunities, booked loads and completed loads into one revenue number.

If a charge is still disputed or unsupported, mark it as unresolved. That preserves the difference between what you hope to collect and what the records currently support.

2. What has actually been billed?

Compare delivered loads with submitted invoices. For anything not submitted, name the missing item, assigned person and next action. Keep submission evidence and any rejection notice with the record.

Our delivered-to-billed guide explains why “delivered,” “ready to bill,” “submitted” and “paid” should remain separate milestones.

3. What money arrived, and what does it relate to?

Match receipts to the related records. Keep financing proceeds, owner contributions and transfers distinct from customer receipts so a deposit total does not become a misleading sales figure. Have the person responsible for the books resolve uncertain classifications.

The IRS explains that supporting documents provide the information recorded in business books and that the recordkeeping system should clearly show income and expenses. An attractive dashboard cannot replace those source records.

4. What is due next?

Review the obligations approaching their due dates: equipment payments, insurance, payroll or contractor amounts where applicable, operating bills and planned maintenance. Include the payment owner and the source used to confirm the amount.

A cash schedule and a profit report answer different questions. Ask your bookkeeper or accountant to help reconcile them rather than treating every cash movement as an operating expense or every incoming deposit as profit.

5. What needs my decision?

End with an exception list, not another pile of numbers. Which overdue invoice needs a call? Which expense has no supporting document? Which load has a disputed amount? Which decision is waiting on you?

For each item, write one next action, one responsible person and a follow-up date. Review whether last week’s items were resolved before creating a new list.

Keep the weekly view small enough to use

A practical first version can show completed loads, unbilled loads, submitted invoices awaiting payment, upcoming obligations and open exceptions. Put the reporting period and last update beside the figures. Link back to the records used to calculate them.

These are THS operating recommendations, not a substitute for your formal financial statements. The aim is to make your next business conversation more precise.

Bring a recent week’s records to a discussion about THS accounting support. If the information is scattered before it reaches the books, also review TMS management and the administrative handoff.

Get the complimentary THS book Enter your email, phone and area of interest to access it.

Reference: IRS recordkeeping guidance.