> In fact, it seems that many of them don't even know if their business is profitable or not, since they have no records of expenses and COGS necessary to calcu

> In fact, it seems that many of them don't even know if their business is profitable or not, since they have no records of expenses and COGS necessary to calculate that. That's the part that always puzzles me. In my limited experience with folks who've run these types of small businesses, they seem to always have enough cash flow that in the short term, profit doesn't matter. Putting food on the table tonight matters. So if that's the case, why bother with the expense of accounting?