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Under the Hood CPAs gives automotive repair shop owners practical insight into what’s really happening in their businesses—before problems show up in the bank account.…
More from Under The Hood CPA Podcast
The Hidden Costs Draining Your Auto Repair Shop with Lucas Underwood - Ep. 7
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 is with Lucas to break down the financial and operational challenges behind a slow start to the year and ongoing cash flow pressure. Using the shop’s profit and loss statement, they explain why revenue does not always translate into cash and how car count, average repair order, gross profit percentage, and vehicle throughput affect profitability.The conversation also covers warranty expenses, policy creep, quality control, staffing, marketing costs, and the importance of matching advertising to the shop’s capacity. Lucas and Eric share how to work backward from financial goals to set realistic sales targets and build a practical plan for improving cash flow and profitability.Timestamps:00:00 Perfect Storm Slowdown00:40 Clean Books Reality Check02:47 Reverse Engineering Targets06:43 Why Sales Aren’t Cash07:25 Parts Margin Squeeze10:41 Labor vs. Parts Mix13:13 Debt Service Blind Spot15:01 Car Count vs. Throughput19:19 Warranty Policy Creep21:12 Marketing Costs and Location23:17 Availability and Pricing Psychology24:07 Onboarding Capacity Crunch25:13 Scaling Ads Without Overload27:00 Year to Date Profit Trends29:27 Expense Control Reality Check30:19 Reverse Engineering Targets35:15 Warranty Drag and Fixes36:54 Parts Optimizer Gotcha38:51 Three Month Action Plan40:34 Using AI in the Shop44:12 Wrap Up and Next Steps
Hiring Isn’t the Problem. Your Process Might Be. | Sara Fraser and Bill Haas - Ep. 6
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 is with Bill and Sara from Auto Ignite Management about hiring, retention, and building stronger teams in the automotive repair industry. They discuss why shops struggle to hire and keep good employees, including unclear job descriptions, poor communication, missed promises, and weak onboarding. Bill and Sara explain how their recruiting process helps shops define the right role, evaluate candidates, and find people who fit the shop’s culture, motivation, and expectations.The conversation also breaks down the real cost of technician turnover, including lost gross profit, longer vacancies, onboarding time, and added pressure on the rest of the team. They share practical ways shop owners can improve hiring, retention, delegation, and team development.Timestamps:00:00 Job Hopping Reality00:42 Podcast Cold Open01:10 What’s Good Icebreaker04:49 Family and Work Balance08:24 Why Start Recruiting12:20 How Their Hiring Process Works15:20 Pay Transparency and Offers19:25 Retention and Shop Culture24:40 Productivity Gaps and Fairness28:17 Role Mapping Tool30:38 Maslow’s Hiring Angle33:08 PTO Flex and Fit34:57 Turnover Cost Math40:17 Onboarding for Retention43:07 Recruiting Process Deep Dive46:07 Delegate What You Lack48:40 One Thing to Do50:27 Events and Networking57:14 Wrap Up and Thanks
More Revenue Doesn’t Always Mean More Profit - Ep. 5
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 Investment00:40 Show Intro and Setup01:10 Audio Glitches and Banter05:48 Efficiency and Turnover09:37 Pay Plans and Comebacks11:30 Tech Tiering and Dispatch15:20 DVI and New Tools20:28 Define Efficiency Metrics24:53 Cost of Inefficiency Math26:02 Productivity Hits Profit27:20 True Technician Costing30:25 Calculating Loaded Cost34:45 Rates vs. Efficiency35:39 Costing Tool and Setup38:39 Complexity and Training Edge40:01 Tools as Retention Strategy44:41 Turnover and Tax Benefits48:16 Wrap Up and Productivity Playbook51:39 Final Takeaways and Outro
The Deal Looks Good… But Are You Missing Something? with Aaron Woods - Ep 4
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. Reward00:42 Show Intro01:06 From Music to Auto02:26 Early Work Roots04:18 Starting the Shop06:17 First Shop Reality08:12 Exit Strategy Mindset13:52 Approaching Owners16:13 Funding the Buyout18:16 Legacy and Trust23:54 Structuring Win Wins28:18 Evaluating the Deal30:20 Bank Valuation Rule30:53 Upside and Payback32:40 Funding Strategy and OPM35:31 Owner Financing Tradeoffs39:00 Deal Risk Red Flags41:41 Integration and Culture Fit49:18 Cash vs. Sweat Equity52:31 Institute Role and Resources56:49 Final Takeaways and Outro