The SBA draw cleared. Or the equipment loan. Or the line of credit you tapped to cover a slow March.

Fifty thousand in checking. Bank feed says deposit. Someone hit Income. Sales just “grew” by fifty grand for signing paperwork.

That is the loan trap. Trades owners feel it hard: borrowed money feels like a win because the balance jumped. It is not a customer paying you. It is cash you have to pay back — with interest chewing the edges.

On cash-basis books, the deposit is real cash in the bank. You can see it. Spend it carefully if you must. But booking it as revenue makes every P&L lie about how the business is actually selling. Free cash went up. Sales did not.

You do not need a debt schedule sermon. You need books that separate money customers paid from money the bank lent — so when you ask “how are we doing,” you are reading sales, not a loan.

If loan deposits and income are tangled in your QuickBooks, that is exactly what monthly bookkeeping is for. Want it sorted? Get in touch.

— Jake
Wenonah Bookkeeping