What’s Your Financial Literacy?

April is Financial Literacy Month! Most people aren’t as excited as I am to talk about money. In fact, discussing finances is something many people avoid. 


Patrice Washington, a well-renowned speaker and author who focuses on helping women recognize their worth and grow their wealth, has partnered with Robinhood to produce a video series on how women earn, spend, save and invest. My favorite question she asks is “What is your relationship with money?” The reply is very telling on whether someone spends or saves their money. 


Ready for some feel-good finance? Check out My Money Moves on YouTube.


One of the easiest ways to teach your kids (or anyone) about basic finances is to use the PIGS method. My kids were weaned on this method and would roll their eyes if they read this post, but it works. It’s an easy formula to follow that will help you budget every dollar. It even works for businesses, too! You can play with the percentages to see what fits your lifestyle or goals.

P – Pay Yourself First

This portion pays your rent and living expenses. It can be anywhere between 40% to 70%. The choice is yours—either don’t buy Starbucks every day, or put that into your ‘pay-yourself-first’ budget. Since you and your family are top priority, this category is first.

I – Invest

Invest every time you get paid. There are many studies that show consistent investing will benefit you by growing your wealth without your sweat equity. Warren Buffett once said it well: “Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” 


Plant your tree and keep feeding it. This percentage should be 10-20%.

G – Give

This is an area people leave out most often, and it’s the only one in which the percentage is set at 10%. Give 10% to charities, religious organizations, civic organizations, or causes that help others. When you give for the good of others, the payback is immeasurable.

S – Save. SAVE. SAVE. SAVE. 

I can’t stress this enough. Money guru Dave Ramsey is famous for telling people to save 20% of their paychecks. He also suggests allocating three to six months of expenses to a fully funded emergency fund. This can feel like a lofty goal, but you’ll be thankful you saved when something unexpected happens—like when your two-year-old refrigerator dies or your car needs to be repaired immediately. 


Try saving between 10%-20% of all money that comes in.


Ready to talk more about finance? Money is the second most discussed topic between parents and teens (after COVID). Last year, half of all states proposed bills requiring personal finance courses in high school. Early money management skills lead to better credit scores, lower debts and higher savings—and this benefits everyone. Empower yourself and those around you by investing in financial literacy. 


Want to learn more about how we help small businesses simplify, organize and gain insight into their financials? Reach out to me at alisa@firststepsfinancial.com and let’s have a fun conversation about finances!

Our Latest Insight

​Cash vs Accrual Accounting For Contractors

By Alisa McCabe • October 26, 2026
Selecting an accounting method is one of the most critical structural decisions a construction business will make. While cash accounting offers simplicity and direct visibility into liquidity, accrual accounting provides a far more accurate reflection of long-term operational health by matching revenues directly with the expenses incurred to earn them. Given the prevalence of progress billings, subcontractor payables, and inventory costs in construction, transitioning from cash to accrual (or managing a hybrid model) often becomes mandatory as revenue grows. This guide breaks down the key mechanics of cash vs. accrual accounting for contractors, IRS eligibility rules, and how each method impacts your financial reporting and bottom line. Understanding Cash vs Accrual Accounting At its core, the difference between cash and accrual accounting comes down to timing : specifically, when your business officially recognizes income and expenses on its financial statements. ​Cash Basis Accounting: Driven by Money Flow Under cash basis accounting , financial transactions are recorded only when actual money changes hands: Revenue is recognized when a client's payment lands in your bank account. Expenses are recognized when cash leaves your account to pay a supplier, subcontractor, or bill. Example: You complete a framing job in October and send a $15,000 invoice. The client pays you in December. Under cash accounting, that $15,000 counts as December revenue—it does not exist on your income statement in October or November. For small trade contractors or solo operators, cash accounting is attractive because of its simplicity. It gives a direct, real-time picture of how much spendable cash is in your bank account today. Accrual Basis Accounting: Driven by Activity & Earnings Under accrual basis accounting , transactions are recorded when they are earned or incurred , regardless of when money actually moves. This method follows the matching principle , pairing project revenues with the exact expenses required to generate them.  Revenue is recognized as soon as you complete work or issue an invoice (Accounts Receivable). Expenses are recognized as soon as you receive a subcontractor bill or order materials (Accounts Payable). Example: Using the same framing job above, the $15,000 is recognized as October revenue because that is when the work was performed and billed, even though the cash won't arrive until December. While accrual accounting requires closer tracking of receivables and payables, it delivers a much clearer picture of your company's true profitability and operational health.

Growth Impacts: Why This Relationship Breaks Down at $2M to $15M (And What It Costs You)

By Alisa McCabe • October 15, 2026
​There is a frustrating stage of growth when the business makes more money and becomes harder to run. You expected growth to create leverage. Instead, your calendar is fuller and decisions take longer. Projects compete for the same people. Expenses become harder to explain. Accounting needs more information from Operations. Operations needs more information from Accounting. And the accounting systems that carried you to $2 million were not built for $15 million. Nothing necessarily looks broken. That is what makes this stage so deceptive. The processes that got you here may still work. Your people may still be good. Your customers may still be buying. What changed is the weight your existing structure is being asked to carry. At $2 million, you can still personally compensate for the gaps. Somewhere on the road to $5 million, $10 million, or $15 million, that stops being possible. The business did not suddenly become dysfunctional. It outgrew its dependence on informal coordination.  Part 5 of a 5-part series on the COO-Accounting relationship

Fixing It: How to Build the COO-Accounting Relationship Your Business Is Missing

By Alisa McCabe • October 12, 2026
If Article 3 felt a little too familiar, your first instinct may be to call a meeting. You tell Operations and Accounting they need to communicate better. That will not fix it. The five warning signs were never personality problems. They were signs that your accounting systems and routines were never intentionally built around how these two functions work together. People cannot follow a structure that does not exist. Accounting cannot inform decisions they do not know are being considered. Your COO cannot use financial information they cannot access in time. The fix is not complicated. That does not mean it happens naturally. Most of what you need to build will feel almost obvious. Recurring conversations. Clear handoffs. Shared definitions. Access to the right information. This is not glamorous work. That is probably one reason it gets overlooked. For the first few months, you may have to follow up constantly. People will forget. Meetings will get moved. Someone will make a decision and skip the handoff. Then something starts to change. The follow-up becomes unnecessary. Information moves without you. Problems get caught earlier. Eventually the results look effortless from the outside. They were not. You built the relationship that made them possible. ​ Part 4 of a 5-part series on the COO-Accounting relationship