Most landscape business owners know their bank account balance.. When you're in the field all day and handling everything else after hours, "Is there enough cash to cover this bill that's due?" is the financial system.
The problem is, it works… Until it doesn't.
Chris Winkler, owner of Coastal Scapes, built his business from the ground up with real grit: saved aggressively, built on the side, and didn't quit his day job until the timing was right. He had the drive and the vision. But he lacked the financial infrastructure to match his business ambitions.
When Winkler reached out to McFarlin Stanford’s Chris Psencik about hiring a new team member, he wasn't looking for financial help. Psencik offered an honest evaluation of his business situation – you can't hire your way out of a financial blind spot. You have to fix the foundation first.
That's when Winkler started working with McFarlin Stanford’s Outsourced Accounting team — a group of experts who don't just keep the books clean, they become embedded partners in the business. Within a month, Coastal Scapes had accurate financials, an industry-specific chart of accounts and monthly financial review calls with people who understood Coastal Scapes’ business. For the first time, Winkler could see what was coming, not just counting on whether he had cash in his bank account.
That clarity became a competitive advantage — and eventually, a safeguard. When Coastal Scapes hit a peak growth period, the P&L looked strong but cash was tight. Rapid expansion meant significant equipment financing, and some of that debt carried high interest rates from short-term lenders, quietly eating into cash reserves even as revenue climbed. McFarlin Stanford's accounting team caught it through monthly reporting and advised Winkler directly: come to us before signing on new financing. Together they worked through which growth was actually building the business versus straining it. The decision to pull back on revenue growth and focus on paying down debt has since produced more cash in the bank than the highest-revenue years ever did.
Today, Winkler’s sole focus is running Coastal Scapes. Informed by accurate finances, he knows when to hire, when to take on debt, and how to price.
If you're running your business on “bank account balance accounting,” it's worth asking: what decisions are you making — or avoiding — because you don't have the full picture?