Want to know what your auto repair shop is worth, whether you’re charging enough for labor, or where profits may be leaking? Kaizen CPAs + Advisors offers five free, easy-to-use tools for shop owners—just enter your numbers and get practical answers at kaizencpas.com.

In this episode of Under the Hood CPA, Eric and Clay discuss why increasing revenue does not always lead to higher profit or cash flow.

They break down technician efficiency, productivity, pay plans, job tiering, shop processes, and the hidden costs of interruptions, comebacks, and turnover. They also explain how tools, training, DVIs, and AI can help shops keep up with increasingly complex vehicles.

The conversation highlights the importance of knowing each technician’s true loaded labor cost and using that number to make better decisions about staffing, pricing, and productivity. The goal is simple: fix the process, not the person.

Timestamps:

00:00 Complexity Needs Investment
00:40 Show Intro and Setup
01:10 Audio Glitches and Banter
05:48 Efficiency and Turnover
09:37 Pay Plans and Comebacks
11:30 Tech Tiering and Dispatch
15:20 DVI and New Tools
20:28 Define Efficiency Metrics
24:53 Cost of Inefficiency Math
26:02 Productivity Hits Profit
27:20 True Technician Costing
30:25 Calculating Loaded Cost
34:45 Rates vs. Efficiency
35:39 Costing Tool and Setup
38:39 Complexity and Training Edge
40:01 Tools as Retention Strategy
44:41 Turnover and Tax Benefits
48:16 Wrap Up and Productivity Playbook
51:39 Final Takeaways and Outro

Want to know what your auto repair shop is worth, whether you’re charging enough for labor, or where profits may be leaking? Kaizen CPAs + Advisors offers five free, easy-to-use tools for shop owners—just enter your numbers and get practical answers at kaizencpas.com.

In this episode of Under the Hood CPA, Eric sits down with Aaron to discuss buying, selling, and transitioning into an auto repair shop.

Aaron shares his journey from music and dealership service advising to opening Extra Mile Auto Care and explains why exit planning should start long before you are ready to leave. They discuss valuation, negotiation, funding, owner financing, working capital, and different paths to shop ownership. The conversation also covers succession planning, key employees, due diligence, owner dependence, culture, and the risks that can affect a deal. The goal is to understand the risk, plan ahead, and build a deal that works for everyone.

Timestamps:

00:00 Risk vs. Reward
00:42 Show Intro
01:06 From Music to Auto
02:26 Early Work Roots
04:18 Starting the Shop
06:17 First Shop Reality
08:12 Exit Strategy Mindset
13:52 Approaching Owners
16:13 Funding the Buyout
18:16 Legacy and Trust
23:54 Structuring Win Wins
28:18 Evaluating the Deal
30:20 Bank Valuation Rule
30:53 Upside and Payback
32:40 Funding Strategy and OPM
35:31 Owner Financing Tradeoffs
39:00 Deal Risk Red Flags
41:41 Integration and Culture Fit
49:18 Cash vs. Sweat Equity
52:31 Institute Role and Resources
56:49 Final Takeaways and Outro

Want to know what your auto repair shop is worth, whether you’re charging enough for labor, or where profits may be leaking? Kaizen CPAs + Advisors offers five free, easy-to-use tools for shop owners—just enter your numbers and get practical answers at kaizencpas.com.

In this episode, Eric and Mike Allen discuss the realities of building, buying, and selling an automotive repair business.

They cover succession planning, family ownership, private equity, buying out employees, and the financial mistakes that can create major problems. The conversation also dives into revenue vs. profit vs. cash, IRS issues, EINs, bookkeeping, entity structure, shop software, and tax planning. The big takeaway is simple: understanding the numbers is critical to making better business decisions.

Timestamps:

00:00 Hard Truths on Ownership
00:36 Show Intro and Whiskey Banter
01:36 Ads and Paying the Bills
02:22 Hockey and Home Teams
03:35 Concert Tickets Sticker Shock
04:40 Final Four Box Story
06:25 Why Shops Fail to Scale
09:58 Third Generation Shop Roots
12:47 Buying In and Succession Plan
15:09 Succession vs. Private Equity
21:31 Deferred Comp for Managers
22:55 Buying a Shop for Cash
24:57 IRS Trouble and Asset Deals
27:59 EINs and Legal Shields
30:23 One EIN vs. Many Costs
32:08 Selling Stores and Reorgs
33:32 S Corp Basis Traps
34:22 Podcast Ownership Structures
36:33 AI and Better Bookkeeping
37:47 Charts of Accounts and Peer Groups
39:10 Coaching Groups and Profit Talk
41:26 Tekmetric and QBO Debate
43:54 Desktop Legacy and Old Systems
46:54 Kaizen Pricing and Risk
48:38 Aggressive but Legal Tax Planning
49:59 Race Cars and Complacency
52:18 Giving Value and Closing Thoughts