The FY27 Recovery Worksheet for Auckland Owner-Operators
- sp8002
- 12 hours ago
- 8 min read
This is the recovery worksheet I take Auckland owners through in the first session of an engagement. Six numbers. One decision. Designed for an owner who has trading data for the last 12 months, an hour of quiet on a Tuesday evening, and the willingness to write the answers down rather than think them through. It is not a financial model. It is a forcing function — the questions that prevent another year of "we'll deal with it after Christmas."
In short: Six numbers most Auckland $500k–$50m owners can calculate inside an hour from their accounting software: revenue split (top customer concentration), gross margin by line, fixed overhead trend, owner drawings vs PAYE-equivalent, working capital cycle, and forward order book. The worksheet is built around what to do once those six numbers are in front of you — the recovery decision is rarely about more revenue. It is about which lever to pull first. Work through the eight sections below tonight. Email the answers to steve@strategize.co.nz if you want a 30-minute response. No pitch. Just the read.
How to use this worksheet
Read each section. Write the number on a piece of paper or in your phone notes app. Do not look it up later — pull the number now while you are reading. The point of the exercise is to surface the gap between what you think the number is and what it actually is. About 60% of the value of this worksheet shows up in the difference between those two answers.
If you have your management accounts open in another tab, the whole thing takes 45 minutes. If you do not have your management accounts open, the whole thing takes ten. Both versions are useful — just be honest about which one you did.
When you finish, you have six numbers and an answer to a single question at the end. The question is the work. The numbers are the inputs.
Section 1 — Revenue concentration
Last 12 months of revenue. List the top five customers (or top five product lines if you are a retailer with no named-customer concentration).
Write down:
Customer / line 1 — % of revenue
Customer / line 2 — % of revenue
Customer / line 3 — % of revenue
Customer / line 4 — % of revenue
Customer / line 5 — % of revenue
Top 5 total — % of revenue
The threshold to watch: If your top customer is more than 25% of revenue, you have customer concentration risk that should be addressed in FY27. If your top 5 is more than 70%, you have a concentrated book regardless of the individual numbers. Concentration is not always bad — but it is always strategic. Knowing it is the first decision.
Section 2 — Gross margin by line
Most owner-operators look at the headline gross margin number on the P&L. That number is a blend. The decision is in the lines, not the blend.
Write down for your top three revenue lines (product, service category, or job type):
Line 1 — gross margin %
Line 2 — gross margin %
Line 3 — gross margin %
Headline blended gross margin % (from your P&L)
The threshold to watch: If one of your top three lines has a materially lower gross margin than the headline blend (more than 10 percentage points lower), that line is subsidising the rest of the business. The recovery question is whether the line earns its place (strategic reasons — customer relationship, pipeline feeder) or quietly drains margin. About half of Auckland trades and manufacturing businesses we work with have at least one line where the answer is "quietly drains margin."
Section 3 — Fixed overhead trend
Pull total operating overhead from the same trading month last year. Compare to the same trading month this year.
Write down:
Total overhead, same month FY25 ($)
Total overhead, same month FY26 ($)
Growth % (FY26 over FY25)
Revenue growth %, same comparison
Gap between overhead growth and revenue growth
The threshold to watch: If overhead has grown faster than revenue by more than 5 percentage points, you are running an overhead problem regardless of what the revenue line looks like. This is the most common recovery trigger we see in 2026 — overhead grew quietly through 2024–2025 as businesses staffed up against inflation, and now the revenue line is not catching up.
Section 4 — Owner drawings vs PAYE-equivalent
This one is uncomfortable for many owners, which is exactly why it belongs on the worksheet.
Write down:
Your owner drawings or owner salary, last 12 months ($)
What you would pay a salaried general manager to do your job (NZ market rate for an Auckland $500k–$50m business GM, typically $130k–$200k depending on size and complexity)
Difference — under-paid, over-paid, or roughly market
The threshold to watch: If you are under-paying yourself by $50k+ compared to the GM rate, your business is not actually as profitable as the P&L suggests — it is profitable because you are subsidising it with your own time. The recovery question is whether the path to genuine profitability is more revenue (carry the gap longer) or restructuring (close the gap). Both are valid. Pretending the gap does not exist is not.
Section 5 — Working capital cycle
Working capital is the silent killer of $1m–$10m owner-operator businesses. The textbook number is "days to convert a sale into received funds."
Write down:
Average debtor days (how long customers take to pay you)
Average creditor days (how long you take to pay suppliers)
Average stock days (if applicable; 0 if you do not carry stock)
Working capital cycle = debtor days + stock days − creditor days
The threshold to watch: A working capital cycle of more than 45 days for a services business, more than 60 days for a stocked business, or more than 90 days for a long-lead manufacturer is worth a structured conversation. Every 10 days of working capital cycle in a $1m business is roughly $27k of working capital tied up. In a $5m business it is $137k. The recovery question is whether the cycle can be tightened by 15–20 days through invoicing discipline, deposit terms, or supplier terms renegotiation. The answer is almost always yes.
Section 6 — Forward order book
Look at confirmed work, deposits paid, and signed contracts as of today.
Write down:
Confirmed forward revenue for next 3 months ($)
Confirmed forward revenue for next 6 months ($)
Trailing average monthly revenue, last 3 months ($)
Coverage ratio — confirmed 3-month forward ÷ trailing monthly average
The threshold to watch: A coverage ratio below 1.0 (less than one month of forward work in the bank for every month you are currently trading) is a recovery red flag. A coverage ratio above 3.0 is structurally healthy. Most $500k–$5m Auckland service businesses we work with sit between 0.7 and 1.5 — which means the pipeline is the most fragile part of the operation, not the operations themselves.
Section 7 — The recovery decision
You now have six numbers. Look at them together. Pick the ONE that is most off — the most concerning gap, the worst threshold breach, the most uncomfortable answer.
Write down — in one sentence: The biggest single lever I need to pull to put FY27 on a recovery footing is __________.
The answer is usually one of:
Address customer concentration (Section 1)
Repair the underperforming revenue line (Section 2)
Cut or restructure overhead (Section 3)
Close the owner-pay gap or grow into it (Section 4)
Tighten the working capital cycle (Section 5)
Rebuild the forward order book (Section 6)
For about 60% of Auckland owners doing this worksheet, the answer is Section 3 (overhead) or Section 5 (working capital). For another 25% it is Section 2 (a specific underperforming line). The remainder split across the other three.
Section 8 — The next move
Once you have the answer to Section 7, the next move is usually one of three things:
A. You already know what to do. The worksheet just confirmed it. The work this quarter is to actually do it — assign the action to a specific person on a specific date, and track it weekly. Most owners do not need a strategic advisor for this scenario. They need the discipline.
B. You know what the problem is but not the right move. The worksheet surfaces the lever; the right next move requires diagnostic work. Examples: "Overhead is too high but I do not know which line item to cut without breaking the operation." "Working capital is too long but my customers do not pay deposits in this industry." "My best line is the lowest margin but I am scared to put the price up." This is exactly where a structured advisory engagement helps. The 52-week Strategize Auckland programme starts here.
C. The worksheet revealed something you did not expect. Numbers came out worse (or better) than your gut said. This is the most useful outcome — your mental model of the business is now updated. Sleep on it for a week. Then decide whether the gap warrants a structured conversation.
Book a 15-minute call to talk through your worksheet: strategizeauckland.info/book-online · 027 737 2858 · steve@strategize.co.nz
I read every emailed worksheet personally. Response inside two business days. No pitch unless you ask. Just an honest read of the six numbers and a view on which lever to pull first.
What this worksheet does not do
It does not produce a forecast. That is the next step, and it requires sitting in front of your accounting software with a structured framework, not a worksheet.
It does not solve the underlying issue. The diagnosis is the easier half. The implementation is the year of work.
It does not replace your accountant. Your accountant is the right person for tax structuring, statutory reporting, and compliance. The worksheet is for the commercial decisions your accountant typically does not get into.
It does not guarantee that pulling the identified lever will fix the business. About 80% of the time it will. The other 20% surface a deeper structural issue that needs a different lens.
For the 20% case, the answer is: book the introductory call. There is no charge for that conversation, no commitment, and it runs for 15 minutes. If the issue is structural, we both find out in the first five minutes.
Frequently asked questions
How long should the worksheet take? With management accounts open in another tab, 45 minutes. From memory and gut, 10 minutes. Both are useful — the gap between the two answers is usually the most valuable output.
Do I need to share the worksheet with Strategize to get the response? Only if you want a structured response. If you just want to use it for your own thinking, that is the right way to use it too. The worksheet is the gift; the conversation is optional.
Is the recovery decision usually the same for all Auckland SMEs? No. It varies by sector and corridor. North Shore professional services firms most commonly land on Section 5 (working capital cycle) or Section 2 (line-level margin). East and South Auckland manufacturers most commonly land on Section 1 (customer concentration) or Section 3 (overhead). West Auckland trades businesses most commonly land on Section 5 or Section 6 (forward order book). Auckland Central professional services and creative agencies most commonly land on Section 3 (overhead) or Section 4 (owner-pay gap).
Can I do the worksheet with my accountant? Yes — and it is often better that way. Print it, sit down for 60 minutes with your accountant, work through each section. Your accountant has the numbers. You have the operational context. The worksheet structures the conversation.
What is the difference between this worksheet and a strategic review? The worksheet is six numbers and one decision. A strategic review is a 30-day structured diagnostic, covering competitive position, pricing, team structure, customer mix, capital structure and exit readiness. The worksheet surfaces the immediate recovery lever. The strategic review designs the multi-year position.
Book a 15-minute call: strategizeauckland.info/book-online · 027 737 2858 · steve@strategize.co.nz · Strategize Auckland · Level 1, 55 Corinthian Drive, Albany 0632 · RBP-accredited · Auckland-only senior business advisory
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