Signal · Owner

Drawings vs profit

Owner drawings compared with a net-profit proxy over the window. Sustained drawings above profit erodes the cash buffer.

Owner

What the signal measures

Owner drawings compared with a net-profit proxy over the window. Sustained drawings above profit erodes the cash buffer.

Why it matters

For an owner-operator, drawings that exceed the net-profit proxy do not show up as a P&L problem — they show up as a slowly-shrinking cash balance that surprises the owner six months in. This signal tracks owner drawings against a net-profit proxy over the scan window and flags the gap. It is deliberately framed as informational: nobody knows your household needs better than you.

How to act on it

The drafted output is a short prompt — "your drawings ran £Xk above the profit proxy for the last three months; is that intended, and if so, what covers the shortfall?" It is a nudge to have the conversation with yourself or your accountant, not a scolding email to your bookkeeper.

Worked example — fixture consultancy

Meridian has a Owner Drawings equity account (a-500) plus a modest bill-and-overhead cost base. Over the scan window, drawings materially outpace the deterministic profit proxy — Compass surfaces the number and links to the runway metric so the owner can see how many months of runway that pattern would burn if unchanged.