Make yourself at home
Start, buy, run, or hand over a business. Work through the decisions with guides, worksheets, and software you can use yourself.
Free guides & worksheets · Paid software available
Choose the work in front of you
Each path below starts with a free guide or worksheet. No account needed.
Describe your idea and choose a small customer test.
Use the idea worksheetSet out the work, budget, and boundaries that would fit.
Make a buyer briefReview the week and decide what needs attention next.
Open the weekly reviewTalk through contributions, responsibilities, and decisions.
Read the partnership guidePrepare the records and responsibilities someone else will need.
Read the handover guideFrom a question to something you can keep
Use a tool, download an editable copy, and reopen it when you’re ready to continue.
Free browser tools need no account.
Try it with a real tool · Free
The Cash Timing Planner brings expected receipts and payments into one view. Keep the editable file and revisit the figures as dates change.
Open the Cash Timing PlannerMake progress. Keep it.
A conversation, a new idea, a change in the business. Come back with what you’ve learned and build on the thinking you’ve already done.
Go to My workContinue with an editable file you’ve already downloaded.
When you need another perspective
A mentor, an accountant, or a specialist can help with different parts of the work. Use the guidance and help-brief builder to describe your situation and prepare the questions to ask.
Prepare to find the right helpFree guidance · Help-brief builder · Places to look
Brass Charter · Your information
How information is handled when you browse, work through a tool, or buy a download.
Effective 2 October 2026
Questions about your information01
This notice covers the Brass Charter website, its free browser tools, and information we receive when you contact us or purchase our products. It explains the current service; it does not describe account features that have not launched.
Brass Charter is operated by Silver Gonzo Studios LLC.
Paid downloads may keep information on your device differently from the free website tools. Read the saving instructions supplied with the product you use. Other websites linked from Brass Charter have their own privacy practices.
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Where data-protection law requires a lawful basis, the proposed bases are fulfilling a purchase or service request, legitimate interests in operating and protecting the service and answering enquiries, and meeting applicable legal obligations. If a particular use requires your consent, that consent must be requested separately and can be withdrawn.
This is a notice about information handling. Reading it is not consent to marketing or optional tracking.
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Free-tool work stays in the open browser session unless you keep an editable download. Opening a supported file brings it into the browser so you can continue. Closing or refreshing a page can lose work you have not saved.
You choose where to store downloaded files and whether to share them. A cloud-synced folder, shared computer or email service may make a separate copy under that service’s rules. Deleting a file from your device does not delete purchase or support records held elsewhere.
We cannot retrieve a file that exists only on your device. Before sending a file for help, remove customer, employee or other confidential details that are not needed to explain the issue.
How to keep your work04
The current public website does not include embedded advertising or audience-analytics scripts. Its fonts and tool scripts are served with the website. Gumroad’s checkout is a separate service and uses its own cookies and similar technologies.
Browser storage is different from an editable file you download. The website contains storage support for edition preferences and earlier saved work; account-related storage is not active while account saving is unavailable. Your browser’s site-data controls let you review or remove stored website data. Keep needed copies first.
The current public website does not change tool behavior in response to a browser’s Do Not Track signal. It does not currently include cross-site advertising trackers. Any future optional tracking needs a new assessment and appropriate choices before it is introduced.
See Gumroad’s privacy notice for its checkout and platform practices.
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Information may also need to be provided to an appropriate authority or professional adviser to meet a legal obligation or resolve a dispute. Any such disclosure should be limited to what is needed for that purpose.
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Files you download remain wherever you save them until you remove them. Browser data follows the browser’s settings and any clearing you perform.
For information held by Brass Charter, retention should be limited by the purpose: answering and resolving support requests, administering purchases and refunds, meeting record-keeping obligations, and handling legitimate disputes. Information should be removed or anonymized when no longer needed for those purposes.
Providers may retain their own records under their policies and legal obligations. A deletion request does not necessarily remove transaction records that must be retained by law.
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You can use free tools without creating an account. You control the local files you keep and share, and can use your browser’s settings to manage website data.
Depending on the law that applies and the information involved, you may have rights to:
Objecting to a use of your information: identify the use you object to and the information involved when you contact us. A request will need to be assessed under the law that applies.
Requests may require proportionate identity checks. Legal retention requirements and other applicable exceptions can affect what can be deleted. Please do not send passwords, payment-card details or identity documents with an initial request.
For information held by Gumroad, its privacy-request guidance explains how to contact the platform. That is separate from a request about information Brass Charter holds.
Privacy contact08
Brass Charter operates from the United States and the website is hosted there. If you use it from another country, technical information and information you send may be processed in the United States or in locations used by the relevant service provider.
The US English content edition does not remove privacy rights that otherwise apply to you. Required notices, transfer safeguards and any representative arrangements depend on the services offered, the data involved and the applicable law.
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For a privacy question, tell us the website or product involved and the request you would like us to consider. Include only enough information to help identify the relevant record.
Silver Gonzo Studios LLC
Changes to information handling should be reflected in this notice with a revised date. Material changes may require additional notice or a new choice before the changed use begins. Private account saving will need updated information before it launches.
Back to the topBrass Charter · Using our resources
Using our tools, keeping your work, and knowing what comes with a purchase.
Effective 2 October 2026
Read the product license01
These terms describe use of Brass Charter’s website, free worksheets and guides, and paid software and template downloads. Each product’s offer, supplied instructions and applicable license also explain that product’s scope.
Brass Charter is operated by Silver Gonzo Studios LLC.
Brass Charter provides resources for planning and organizing business work. Website access does not create an advisory, lending or professional-client relationship. Private website accounts and account-based saving are planned and are not currently available.
These terms do not change the terms of an existing purchase. Any agreement required for a purchase or future service must be presented at the appropriate step.
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Free tools and guides help you work through a question, compare assumptions or prepare a next step. You can use the public tools without a Brass Charter account. Follow the instructions for entering information and keeping the result.
Paid products have different requirements. Some are HTML applications opened in a browser; others use document, spreadsheet or PDF software. Check the product’s requirements and included files before purchasing. Software or services used to carry out a project are separate unless the offer specifically includes them.
The AI Automation Proposal Kit, for example, supplies scoping and proposal resources for client projects. It does not build the automation or send a proposal for you. A separate working copy for each client is part of its existing instructions.
Explore the tools03
You retain the rights you already hold in the information, figures and original content you bring to a tool. You remain responsible for having permission to use and share information belonging to someone else.
Use it in your work. Keep what you create.
This standard license describes paid software and template downloads. One purchaser or organization, including its team. Paid client work included.
Your purchase covers your personal use or the use of one purchasing business or organization. That business’s employees and contractors may use the files for its work, including work it performs for clients, with no separate per-client fee. There is no device, seat or project-count limit within that scope. People helping with your own household or estate matter may assist with that work too.
You may keep backup and working copies and adapt the supplied templates for your projects. You may share the completed reports, proposals, plans, letters and other outputs you prepare with the people who need them. Where a product is designed to create an editable client document, you may give your client that completed document. Your existing rights in your information and original contributions remain yours.
Sharing completed work does not grant another person independent reuse of the underlying application, blank templates or kit. This standard license does not include reselling or giving away those reusable product files, publicly hosting the applications, or rebranding and distributing them as your own product. Those uses require a separate written permission from Brass Charter unless applicable law or a separate license already permits them. Keep required third-party notices and licenses intact.
The refund and update promises in your product’s offer continue to apply. This license does not reduce permissions already granted with an earlier purchase or rights that applicable law gives you. A later website update does not automatically replace the terms of an earlier purchase.
Team-use permission does not add shared saving or automatic data transfer. Follow each product’s operating and backup instructions; a printed PDF or copied summary may be a reading copy rather than a file the application can reopen.
How to keep your work04
The product page and checkout identify the item, price, payment currency and included files. Review the final total and any tax shown before paying. The current catalog offers one-time purchases; a standalone item and a package can contain overlapping products.
Check package contents before buying a separate tool. The Verified Acquisition System includes Buyer OS and seven companion applications. Buying Buyer OS alone does not include those seven companions.
Gumroad provides checkout and digital delivery under its own platform terms. Keep your receipt and delivery link. Brass Charter’s product descriptions and commitments still matter alongside that separate checkout service.
A download contains the files listed in its offer. Services such as personal consulting, implementation or a hosted workspace are included only when the offer expressly says so.
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The refund and update promises made for your product at purchase continue to apply. Several current products include a 30-day full-refund promise and free updates. Refer to the specific offer and your receipt for the wording and request instructions.
For example, the LOI & Offer Builder, Due-Diligence Deal Room and Acquisition Loan Package Builder include those promises in their supplied instructions. This page does not replace them with a different refund period or reduce their scope.
If a download is missing, damaged or different from what was described, use the support details in your receipt or product instructions. Identify the product, purchase reference and problem; do not send payment-card details.
Any refund promise is additional to rights that applicable law gives you. Digital-content cancellation and other consumer rights can depend on your location and the purchase process. A download alone should not be treated as a blanket waiver of those rights.
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Calculators, checklists and templates organize the information you enter. They do not independently verify a seller’s records, establish a business’s value, approve financing or confirm that a transaction is safe to complete.
Review inputs, assumptions, reference dates and sample content before relying on an output. A model’s estimate is not a promise of revenue, savings, lender approval or another outcome. An illustrative business or scenario is not a verified customer result.
These resources do not replace legal, financial, tax, accounting or lending advice tailored to your situation. Have an appropriate professional review a legal document before sending or signing it, and confirm current lending requirements with the lender involved.
These limits explain what the products do. They do not excuse a defective or misdescribed product or remove rights you have under applicable law.
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Use the website and downloads lawfully and respect other people’s rights. In particular:
If you find a problem, report what you observed without accessing another person’s data or causing disruption.
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The website may need maintenance, corrections or changes as the resources develop. Online access depends on the website and your connection. Downloaded products follow their own operating requirements and saving instructions.
The availability of a web page does not establish that an account feature or future product has launched. New features need their own accurate description and, where appropriate, additional terms before you choose to use them.
Revisions to these terms should show a revised date and explain material changes. Changes affecting a purchase must respect the commitments and rights that apply to that purchase; a later website edit does not by itself rewrite them.
Information about personal data, browser storage and providers is set out in the Privacy notice.
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Applicable law may give you rights relating to digital products, services, refunds and remedies. Nothing in these terms is intended to take away rights that cannot lawfully be excluded.
The US English edition describes the current website content. Visitors and customers elsewhere may have protections under the law that applies to them.
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Start with the guide for the tool you are using. For a purchase issue, use the support instructions in your purchase receipt or supplied product guide. Include the product name, the action you were taking and a clear description of the issue.
Help with your toolsSilver Gonzo Studios LLC
Brass Charter · Your purchase
Finding your download, getting help, and understanding the promise that came with your purchase.
Effective 2 October 2026
How to request a refund01
Brass Charter’s current paid products are digital downloads. Check the product’s included files, software requirements and refund wording, then review the price, currency and any tax in checkout.
A package and an individual tool can overlap. The Verified Acquisition System includes Buyer OS and seven companion applications; package owners do not need to buy an included application again. Buying Buyer OS alone does not include those seven companions.
A download includes the resources listed in its offer. Personal advice, implementation and a hosted workspace are separate unless specifically included.
Check the tools and packages02
After a completed purchase, use the content or download button in your Gumroad receipt. Its wording can vary by product. If the download page asks for an email address, use the address entered at checkout.
You can also use your Gumroad Library if the purchase is associated with your Gumroad account. That account is separate from Brass Charter; private account saving on this website is not currently active.
Keep the receipt and a copy of the original downloaded package so you can find the purchase and its instructions again.
Gumroad’s purchase-access guide03
Search for the Gumroad receipt and check spam. A payment wallet may have supplied a different email address.
Use Gumroad’s receipt-recovery instructions if the receipt is missing. If you have it but cannot open the download, follow the purchase-access guide above.
Reply to the receipt with the product name, file involved and what happened. A screenshot can help; remove unrelated personal or business information first.
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If the download is a ZIP, extract it and follow its README or Start Here instructions. Keep files together when the product requires that. HTML applications, spreadsheets, documents and PDFs have different opening and saving requirements.
Make a separate working copy where instructed. Save editable exports when supported, and check that you can reopen them. A PDF report can preserve a result without restoring an editable worksheet. Browser-saved work is different from a separate file you keep.
Keep and reopen your work05
The promise made with your purchase continues to apply. Current examples include:
For these and other products, use the wording in your specific offer and purchase instructions. This page does not shorten an existing promise or create a different period for the rest of the catalog.
Missing, damaged or misdescribed files can also involve legal rights. A product’s voluntary refund period does not replace rights that apply by law.
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Reply to the Gumroad receipt email or use the seller contact shown on it. That keeps the request connected to the right order.
State that you are requesting a refund, help accessing the files, or help with a product. Include the product name and purchase reference if they are not already in the message.
If you are reporting a problem, describe the file and action involved. Send only what is needed; do not include a full card number, password or confidential worksheet.
If you cannot reach the seller through your receipt, Gumroad’s purchase-issue guide explains its support route.
Gumroad’s purchase-issue guideThese are instructions for contacting support. Reading this page does not submit a request.
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Gumroad sends confirmation after a refund is issued. An issued refund and the money appearing in your account are separate steps; timing depends on the payment method and provider. Follow the confirmation and Gumroad’s current guidance if it has not appeared.
Gumroad states that a full refund removes access to the purchased content and its updates through the platform. A partial refund can work differently. The confirmation should identify what was refunded.
Where your product includes free updates, that promise remains. It does not by itself specify a release schedule or include a separate future product. Follow the product’s update instructions, and preserve your work before replacing application files.
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Consumer remedies and cancellation rights depend on the law that applies to your purchase. Downloading a file does not by itself establish that you waived a right. Any required consent and acknowledgement for immediate digital delivery belong in the purchase process.
Nothing here is intended to remove rights that cannot lawfully be excluded. See our Terms of use for the wider use of our resources and our Privacy notice for purchase and support information.
Help with your tools Back to the topBrass Charter · Access & assistance
Using the website and its tools, finding practical help, and telling us when something gets in the way.
Effective 2 October 2026
Help with an access barrier01
People should be able to read, navigate and work with Brass Charter’s resources, including when they use a keyboard, magnification or assistive technology. This page explains the help available and the limits of the review so far.
The current design review uses the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2, Level AA, as a reference for checking and improving access. A reference standard is not a claim that every page or product already meets it.
Assessment status: a complete conformance assessment of the website, checkout journey and downloadable products has not been completed. Brass Charter does not claim full or partial WCAG conformance.
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Free worksheets run in the browser. Use the tool’s instructions and named controls, and keep an editable download before closing or refreshing work you need. The help center explains how to save and reopen supported files.
Purchased files may be HTML applications, spreadsheets, documents or PDFs. Check the software requirements and supplied instructions. Accessibility can differ by file format and the application used to open it; testing a web page does not establish that its exported PDF or a separate product is accessible.
If one supplied format is difficult to use, check whether your purchase includes another format. An alternative format is not necessarily equivalent, and its accessibility has to be assessed separately. Tell us the information or task you need access to when asking for help.
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Checks on this local website draft include the policy pages’ headings, links, keyboard operation, visible focus and narrow-screen layouts. The shared skip link and page focus are checked after navigation. The Cash Timing Planner has been checked for named controls, field instructions and errors, entry removal and Undo, result descriptions, and keyboard use of its preview and confirmation dialogs. Its layouts were also checked at widths down to 320 CSS pixels. The other 25 free browser tools have now had representative entry, result, download and saved-file reopening checks. Their tested workspaces fit at 320 CSS pixels. These checks also covered visible field labels, selected required-field errors and keyboard focus in results and dialogs; they do not cover every feature or workflow.
These are limited checks in the desktop review browser. They do not establish compatibility with every browser, device or assistive technology.
The items above identify gaps in assessment, not a claim that every listed feature is broken. Verified barriers and useful workarounds should be recorded here as the review develops.
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For a purchased product, reply to your Gumroad receipt or use its seller contact details. Our delivery and refunds page explains that route and how to recover a missing receipt.
Purchase help and receipt recoveryUseful details for an accessibility request include:
You do not need to disclose a diagnosis or medical history to describe a barrier. Remove passwords, payment details and unrelated confidential information from screenshots or example files.
Silver Gonzo Studios LLC
Our Privacy notice explains the handling of information sent for help.
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As checks and fixes are completed, this page should reflect the actual results, remaining barriers and available assistance. Changes to tools, downloads or checkout also need review.
Back to the topBrass Charter · Here to help
Questions about a tool, help with a purchase, or something you want us to know.
Updated 2 October 2026
Help with a purchaseContact Brass Charter
For general questions, tool support, privacy requests or an accessibility barrier.
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For a Brass Charter product bought through Gumroad, reply to your purchase receipt email to contact the seller about the order. Include the product name and a short description of the issue.
Your receipt is also the starting point for accessing your purchased files. If a download is missing, will not open, or differs from what you expected, describe which file is affected and what happens when you try to use it.
If the seller does not respond, Gumroad’s guide explains how to contact Gumroad for help. For a missing receipt, the Delivery & refunds page includes recovery guidance.
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The help library covers Brass Charter’s browser tools, editable downloads and saved copies. These guides are available whenever you want to use them.
A short description is a useful starting point. Only share a screenshot or sample file if it helps explain the issue; remove confidential business information and other people’s details first. Keep your original working file.
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The public contact at the top of this page is intended for these requests too, including from people who have not bought anything.
For a privacy question, describe the information or interaction your request concerns. For an access barrier, include the page or file, the task you were trying to complete, and what would help you use it.
You do not need to share a diagnosis or medical history to describe an accessibility problem. Do not send passwords, full payment-card details or identity documents with an initial request.
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Brass Charter provides practical business tools and guides. Read about Brass Charter.
Silver Gonzo Studios LLC
No office visits, telephone service or live chat are offered.
Brass Charter · Understanding your results
Know what a result can tell you, what depends on your inputs, and what to check before you act.
Updated 2 October 2026
Before you use a result01
Brass Charter’s tools and guides help you organize information, explore assumptions, compare scenarios and prepare for a conversation or next step. Each tool’s instructions explain the task it supports and the information it needs.
Calculations describe the entries and assumptions supplied to the tool. A complete-looking report can still contain estimates, omissions or information that has changed. Review the underlying information alongside the result.
These resources provide general educational and planning support. They do not provide individualized legal, tax, accounting, investment or lending advice. For decisions in those areas, take the relevant records and questions to a suitably qualified professional familiar with your circumstances and jurisdiction.
Permissions to use the software and templates, purchases and your rights are covered separately in the Terms of use and the applicable product’s offer and instructions.
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Cash Timing Planner uses the dates and amounts you enter. Expected money can move, so the timing matters as well as the total.
Illustrative weekly example · invented amounts in USD
If the receipt moves to next week: this week’s modeled closing cash becomes $500, with the same opening cash and planned payments.
The example demonstrates a timing assumption. It is not a forecast for your business or a complete assessment of cash needs. Review the low point as well as the ending balance, and revisit expected receipts when circumstances change.
How Cash Timing Planner works04
For other resources, use the instructions supplied with that particular tool or download. A capability or permission described for one product does not automatically apply to another.
Find help for your tool05
Worked examples use illustrative names, figures and circumstances to explain a workflow. Sample rates, valuations and reference thresholds need to be checked before using them in your own work. People and scenes in the website artwork are illustrative.
Check a resource’s stated date, version and linked source when provided. The date on a saved report identifies that copy; it does not establish that outside requirements or market figures have been checked again.
Product instructions and current information from the relevant authority, adviser or provider should inform your review. Requirements can vary by place and change over time. If a guide and its source appear to disagree, keep a note of both and seek clarification before relying on the disputed point.
The date at the top records when this page was last updated. It is not a review date for every tool, guide or external source.
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If an output seems wrong or guidance appears out of date, keep your original file and identify the page, tool, version if shown, and the steps or source involved. Describe what you expected and what you saw. A short example with invented figures can help explain a calculation issue.
Remove passwords, payment details and confidential business information from any screenshot or sample you choose to share.
Back to the topWelcome to Brass Charter
Tools to put to work. Ideas to spend time with. People to learn from.
The library brings together practical guides, examples, and questions for starting, buying, working together, running, and moving on from a business. Explore the library →
Use free tools to prepare an idea, follow customer work, understand costs, or organize everyday responsibilities. Each has a clear job and a result you can keep. Find a useful tool →
Work out what help you need, prepare a clear brief, and ask useful questions of mentors, experienced owners, and specialists. Prepare for the conversation →
Use the free tools without an account. Keep an editable download to continue later; choose PDF or text for a reading copy. Learn how to keep and reopen your work →
The Brass Charter house represents this online home for your life in business. The people and scenes are illustrative.
Planned software / Not yet released
Organize the conversations before you go into business together.
The existing app helps partners organize their decisions and assumptions. It produces a printable snapshot and a term-sheet agenda for a conversation with counsel.
For an earlier conversation, use the free Partnership Discussion Planner to record expectations, responsibilities, open questions, and next actions.
Open the free discussion plannerThe Partnership Prenup Builder is not available to use or purchase here. The free discussion planner above is ready to use without an account.
A little help, when you need it
Clear steps for using the tools, keeping what you make, and picking it up again.
Use a task, a tool name, or a file type.
32 help pages
Try a shorter phrase such as “invoice” or “reopen”, or clear the search to browse every guide.
Help when something goes wrong Find a tool for your situationEveryday help
Check a Brass Charter editable file and continue in the right tool.
Everyday help
Know what stays in this tab, what a download keeps, and how to move to another device.
Everyday help
Editable JSON, PDF, text, CSV, and calendar copies each do a different job.
Everyday help
Choose what the other person needs and review it before sharing.
Everyday help
See which connections exist, what moves, and what still needs review.
Everyday help
Find a safe next step for a file, download, or worksheet problem.
Start, keep, reopen, and understand the limits of each tool.
Understand what a customer job took and what to change in the next quote.
Keep essential equipment available, cared for and ready for the work depending on it.
Know what is physically present, usable, promised to jobs, and still expected.
Prepare essential work, arrange cover, check alternatives, and practice a disruption.
Turn an idea into a small first test.
Look back, make room for the week ahead, and keep the next actions you chose.
Prepare a personal brief before searching for a business.
Build repeatable steps and keep the progress of a particular run.
Prepare a useful customer conversation and separate what you heard from what you assume.
Compare alternatives using evidence, priorities, and unanswered questions.
Explain the help you need so a useful conversation can begin.
Make expectations and unresolved questions visible before treating them as agreement.
Help someone understand the work, access, responsibilities, and unfinished commitments.
Understand the costs, effort, and assumptions behind a price.
See when money may arrive or leave across an eight-week period.
Keep customer commitments, waiting responses, and next actions visible.
Prepare a clear scope and price for a customer to review.
Prepare invoices, record received payments, and see what remains due.
Separate costs, payments, recurring commitments, and money personally covered.
Turn agreed work into steps, requirements, and a realistic view of remaining effort.
Keep obligations, preparation, dates, and confirmations together.
Know which records you have, where they are, and what is missing for a purpose.
Write instructions people can follow, then keep versions, runs, and exceptions distinct.
Follow possible customer work from the first inquiry to an agreed next commitment.
Keep supplier commitments, receipts, bill checks, and job supply understandable.
Review selected working files together and choose the actions that need your attention.
Help / A useful way forward
Check a Brass Charter editable file and continue in the right tool.
The original file stays unchanged. Checking a file does not replace any open work.
Choose a JSON file downloaded from a supported tool. The largest supported file is an Owner Overview at 96 MB; each tool has its own smaller limit where applicable.
Checked on this device
Continue in the tool to review any replacement prompt. Your selected file will be passed straight to that tool; you will not need to select it again.
Those copies have different purposes. A PDF or text report cannot restore a full book, and changing the extension does not convert it. Keep the file you have while looking for the editable JSON download.
Find out which copy you needThis file checker reads the selected file locally in your browser. It does not upload the file or save it to an account. Its preview can show entered titles and counts, so use a private screen for sensitive work. Clearing the selection releases the checker’s copy; work already opened in a tool remains there until you replace it or close the page.
Help / A useful way forward
Know what stays in this tab, what a download keeps, and how to move to another device.
The tools keep their open work in memory while you move between pages inside the site. A refresh, closed tab, browser crash, or a different device can lose work that has not been downloaded. A leave-page warning is an extra prompt, not a backup.
My work helps you reopen an editable download and find the right tool. No sign-in is needed. Private accounts and online saving are planned; your files do not currently sync between devices or tabs.
Look in browser Downloads, your chosen save folder, and any location where you moved the file. Sorting by download time can help locate candidates, but does not prove the business data is current. The opener shows entered dates where present; it does not invent a last-saved date.
If no editable copy exists and the tab is gone, Brass Charter cannot recover work that was never downloaded. Keep any PDF or text copy as a reference for re-entering the information.
Help / A useful way forward
Editable JSON, PDF, text, CSV, and calendar copies each do a different job.
| Copy | Useful for | Keep in view |
|---|---|---|
| Editable / reusable JSON (.json) | Reopening and continuing work in its Brass Charter tool. | Can contain the complete book, private notes, history, and related records. Keep a copy for yourself. |
| PDF (.pdf) | A fixed reading or sharing document. | Check the selected report and every page. It does not restore editable tool fields. |
| Text (.txt) | Reading, copying, or adapting words elsewhere. | Formatting is simple. It is not a full backup. |
| CSV (.csv) | A selected table for spreadsheet work; supported mapping imports in specific tools. | Relationships and history are not fully preserved. Import rules depend on the destination tool. |
| Calendar (.ics) | Selected dated items from Deadlines & Renewals. | A one-time copy, not live reminders or a restorable register. Reimporting can duplicate events. |
That can be normal for JSON: it is an editable data file for the tool. Return to Open saved work and select it there. You do not need to edit the code or change which desktop application opens JSON.
Check an editable fileCheck the browser’s Downloads list and any save prompt first. Look for a blocked or failed download and the actual file extension. If the page is still open, you can prepare the download again. A similar filename with “(1)” is usually a separate browser-created copy; review which one you need.
Help / A useful way forward
Choose what the other person needs and review it before sharing.
A complete invoice book can include multiple customers; an Owner Overview includes its accepted source copies. Records and purchasing books may include internal locations, costs, and history. Share the entire editable JSON only when the recipient needs that information and is authorized to have it.
If two people edit separate files, their changes do not automatically merge. Agree who is maintaining the current copy, exchange dated copies, and review changes deliberately. Reopening a book replaces the currently open book after the tool’s confirmation; it does not merge two books.
Draft, issued, agreed, received, paid, and complete describe different events. Review the status and evidence. A polished PDF does not turn a draft into an agreement, payment, or completed obligation.
Choose the right downloadHelp / A useful way forward
See which connections exist, what moves, and what still needs review.
| Connection | What to review |
|---|---|
| Quote & Scope → Invoices | Selected quote details become an invoice draft to review. Check dates, reference, amounts, payment details, and issue status. |
| Quote & Scope → Delivery | Selected scope descriptions become a job draft. Prices, private notes, and customer acceptance do not transfer. |
| Checklist → Delivery / Renewals / Routines | Fresh job steps, preparation steps, or a draft procedure. Earlier ticks, people, and dates do not establish new completion. |
| Follow-ups / Conversation / contact CSV → Opportunities | Selected information goes through the destination’s review and matching steps. Inspect duplicates and customer links before accepting. |
| Opportunities → Quote / Delivery | A selected quote or delivery draft is downloaded. Delivery preparation requires the opportunity’s agreement step; review the destination draft. |
| Purchasing → Spending | Reviewed bill costs become spending drafts. Payments are not assumed, and a prepayment should not be counted as a second cost. |
| Purchasing → Delivery | Review selected supply requirements against an existing delivery book and job. Readiness is only confirmed through the review. |
| Purchasing → Records / Renewals | Selected record references or new obligations. Document files do not transfer; obligation dates remain to be confirmed. |
| Purchasing → Checklist / Routines | A fresh checklist or draft receiving procedure. Original completion is not carried over. |
| Supported business files → Owner Overview | Reviewed source copies used for findings and your action plan. Updating overview actions does not update the originals. |
Open saved work reopens a file in its own tool. To bring selected information into a different tool, use that destination’s import control or the source tool’s specific transfer flow. The central opener does not guess a conversion or silently merge records.
Review goods from a Purchasing file with an explicit stock-unit conversion. Check existing receipts, counts, usage, and job reservations first. Expected supply stays separate from available stock. CSV count imports create draft counts for review. Selected reservations can update an existing Job & Delivery requirement; selected replenishment recommendations create purchasing requirements to review. Handling instructions become fresh checklist steps or a draft routine. Save the resulting files and reopen them in the receiving tool.
Business Continuity can review selected responsibilities and contacts from Handover and selected locations from Business Records. Imported arrangements need checking for the continuity plan. Selected actions export as a fresh Checklist Builder file with every step unchecked. Its editable plan can also be reviewed as an Owner Overview source.
For each source, review what business or work it covers and its entered date, imported date, and checked date. These dates mean different things. Refresh a changed source deliberately and inspect possible duplicates or overlapping records before treating totals as complete.
Help / A useful way forward
Find a safe next step for a file, download, or worksheet problem.
Read the reason. Choose the original editable JSON from the tool, not a PDF or renamed document. Empty, damaged, unsupported-version, or oversized files cannot be safely restored. Keep the original and try another copy.
Check the entered review date and the actual records. Look for later downloads or another device’s copy. The checker cannot tell whether this is the latest business information.
Cancel the replacement prompt, download the current editable work, and then reopen the other file. The two copies are not automatically merged.
Finish the entry or cancel that dialog first. Canceling a form can discard the unkept form entry; keep it in the tool if needed, then download the book.
Follow the message beside the field or at the form’s start. Check required fields and valid dates or amounts. Gray example text is a hint, not entered data.
Check the review date, currency, included records, filters, entered assumptions, and excluded or canceled entries. A status reflects the entered records; it is not a live bank or customer confirmation.
Keep it as a reference. Look for the separate JSON download. This build cannot reliably recreate all fields, relationships, and history from a reading copy.
Check browser Downloads, any save dialog, blocked downloads, and your chosen folder. If the page is still open, try the download again before refreshing.
Look for a previous editable download and reopen it. If there is none, keep any reading copies for re-entry. Work that was only in the closed tab cannot be recovered here.
Allow a large file check to finish, or cancel the check. Keep any work you can download before reloading. A refresh can discard work that exists only in the tab.
Use the tool’s own new run, correction, exclusion, or fresh-copy action as appropriate. Reopening a file continues its existing states; it does not automatically reset every record.
If you want help investigating, describe the action and what happened. This makes a copyable summary for you to review and share yourself; it does not send a support request.
No records, filenames, account details, or worksheet answers are added automatically. Check any details you typed yourself.
Help / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Job Cost & Profit Review work.
Understand what a customer job took and what to change in the next quote.
Open Job Cost & Profit ReviewThe job review JSON retains jobs, time, costs, shared allocations, value and payment entries, running cost allowances, reviewed sources, lessons, snapshots and history.
PDFs are internal reading copies with costs and rates. CSV contains the selected table, including private fields. Review selected source files before carrying figures; changed sources require reconciliation. A new Pricing draft uses reviewed grouped assumptions. Owner Overview can read this book.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Equipment & Maintenance Planner work.
Keep essential equipment available, cared for and ready for the work depending on it.
Open Equipment & Maintenance PlannerThe equipment JSON keeps equipment, kits, reservations, custody, care, readings, service records, costs, references and change history.
Saved sources are reviewed copies. Equipment owns its care schedule. Dated actions, draft routines, purchasing requirements and backup dependencies need review in their destination tools. Owner Overview can read a saved equipment book.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Stock & Supplies Planner work.
Know what is physically present, usable, promised to jobs, and still expected.
Open Stock & Supplies PlannerThe editable JSON preserves items, quantities, movements, counts, reservations, expected supplies, source references, and review history. PDFs and CSV are separate reading or table copies.
Purchasing imports require an explicit item and unit mapping and a check for goods already counted or used. Repeated source lines are blocked; changed sources need reconciliation. Job readiness is reviewed manually. Checklist exports start unchecked, routines start as drafts, and Owner Overview reads a selected file copy. Files do not synchronize.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Business Continuity & Owner Backup Planner work.
Prepare essential work, arrange cover, check alternatives, and practice a disruption.
Open Business Continuity & Owner Backup PlannerThe editable JSON keeps arrangements, source references, practice and disruption snapshots, results, and review history. PDF and text are reading copies.
A named person does not establish agreement or authority. Practice results belong to that session and plan revision. Selected-person briefings contain only chosen fields plus identifying plan details. Reviewed Handover and Records imports, fresh checklist exports, and an Owner Overview source connection are available; files do not synchronize.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Give your idea a next step work.
Turn an idea into a small first test.
Open Give your idea a next stepThe editable file includes answers and review notes, including unanswered fields in an unfinished worksheet. Completed plans retain their names. Use the central file opener to return without an account; nothing is filled in on your behalf.
A PDF or text result is useful to read but cannot restore the review notes as editable fields. Download the editable JSON to keep the answers and review notes for next time.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Weekly business review work.
Look back, make room for the week ahead, and keep the next actions you chose.
Open Weekly business reviewThe editable download keeps every worksheet answer, including an unfinished review. Reopening restores the worksheet; make the result again after editing.
A review point is a note to yourself. This tool does not create a calendar reminder or automatically move actions into Owner Overview.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Buyer preparation work.
Prepare a personal brief before searching for a business.
Open Buyer preparationThe JSON file keeps all eight answers. Reopen it as a worksheet, revise what has changed, and make a fresh result.
This is your preparation, not an assessment of a business for sale. Keep questions that need independent evidence or specialist advice visible.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Checklist Builder work.
Build repeatable steps and keep the progress of a particular run.
Open Checklist BuilderThe reusable JSON copy keeps groups, instructions, and checked states. Open it here to continue that copy.
Bringing a checklist into Delivery, Renewals, or Routines creates fresh steps. Previous ticks do not prove the new work has been completed.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Customer Conversation Planner work.
Prepare a useful customer conversation and separate what you heard from what you assume.
Open Customer Conversation PlannerThe editable conversation file can be reopened here. A fresh conversation should have its own notes and copy.
One conversation is evidence from one person, not proof of demand. Customer Opportunities can bring in selected conversation information after review; it does not create a live connection.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Compare Your Options work.
Compare alternatives using evidence, priorities, and unanswered questions.
Open Compare Your OptionsThe JSON file keeps the options, criteria, evidence, and decision notes. PDF and text are reading copies.
The current tool supports two to four options and up to eight criteria per comparison. Priorities organize your thinking; they do not establish objective truth or replace missing evidence.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Help Brief Builder work.
Explain the help you need so a useful conversation can begin.
Open Help Brief BuilderThe reusable JSON keeps the brief and question selections. Review every included detail before sharing.
Writing a brief does not hire anyone, confirm fees, or send a message. Agree responsibilities and terms with the person separately.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Partnership Discussion Planner work.
Make expectations and unresolved questions visible before treating them as agreement.
Open Partnership Discussion PlannerThe editable discussion keeps people, topic notes, statuses, and actions for your next meeting.
A recorded view is not another person’s consent, and the planner does not create a signed partnership agreement. Keep disagreements and questions visible.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Business Handover Planner work.
Help someone understand the work, access, responsibilities, and unfinished commitments.
Open Business Handover PlannerThe handover JSON keeps the working record. Update it as the walkthrough reveals gaps.
Naming someone does not transfer authority or confirm their agreement. Describe how authorized access will be arranged; do not put passwords or recovery codes in the handover.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Cost & Pricing Explorer work.
Understand the costs, effort, and assumptions behind a price.
Open Cost & Pricing ExplorerThe editable exploration keeps the base and any alternative. Reopen it to change assumptions and recalculate.
Blank and zero are different. A result based on entered costs cannot confirm that you included every cost, tax, or hour. This is planning, not a market-price guarantee.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Cash Timing Planner work.
See when money may arrive or leave across an eight-week period.
Open Cash Timing PlannerThe JSON keeps the entered plan and alternative. Reopening does not refresh payment information from a bank or another tool.
Expected receipts are not confirmed money. Use the dates and amounts you can justify, and revisit the plan when circumstances change.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Customer Follow-up Planner work.
Keep customer commitments, waiting responses, and next actions visible.
Open Customer Follow-up PlannerThe editable plan keeps the items and recorded updates. Reopening continues that plan.
Dates do not trigger messages or notifications. Customer Opportunities can review selected follow-ups for import, while Owner Overview can review a copy as a source.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Quote & Scope Builder work.
Prepare a clear scope and price for a customer to review.
Open Quote & Scope BuilderThe JSON draft keeps editable quote details. An Invoice or Delivery import starts a separate reviewed draft from selected information.
A quote draft is not proof that the customer accepted it. Correct or clarify terms before treating the work as agreed.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Invoice & Payment Tracker work.
Prepare invoices, record received payments, and see what remains due.
Open Invoice & Payment TrackerThe book JSON keeps invoice records and payment history. A single invoice PDF is a document to share, not a backup of the book.
The tracker does not collect money or connect to a bank. Excluding an incorrect payment entry changes the record, not the movement of money. Review recipient, amounts, payment details, and local requirements before sharing.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Business Spending & Commitments work.
Separate costs, payments, recurring commitments, and money personally covered.
Open Business Spending & CommitmentsThe JSON keeps the whole spending book. Summaries and individual cost records contain only their chosen views.
A supplier bill, payment, and owner repayment are different records. Expected occurrences do not establish that a bill was received or paid.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Customer Job & Delivery Planner work.
Turn agreed work into steps, requirements, and a realistic view of remaining effort.
Open Customer Job & Delivery PlannerThe book keeps jobs, steps, requirements, changes, and history. Quote imports bring scope descriptions, not prices, private notes, or customer acceptance.
A completed step does not by itself confirm the customer accepted the whole job. A checklist import supplies fresh steps rather than previous progress.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Business Deadlines & Renewals Planner work.
Keep obligations, preparation, dates, and confirmations together.
Open Business Deadlines & Renewals PlannerJSON restores the register. An ICS calendar file contains selected all-day entries only and cannot restore the register.
Calendar exports are copies, not a subscription. Repeated imports can create duplicates. Notifications depend on the calendar you use, and legal or contractual dates need confirmation from the relevant source.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Business Records & Evidence Organizer work.
Know which records you have, where they are, and what is missing for a purpose.
Open Business Records & Evidence OrganizerThe JSON restores the index, version descriptions, locations, requests, and collections. It does not contain the underlying document files.
A location or link is not proof that the recipient can access a record. Check access separately and share only what is needed; the organizer does not grant access to external files.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Business Procedures & Routines work.
Write instructions people can follow, then keep versions, runs, and exceptions distinct.
Open Business Procedures & RoutinesThe JSON keeps procedures, versions, runs, and issues. Checklist imports create a draft procedure with fresh steps.
Changing a draft does not rewrite a past run. A released procedure still needs review when the work changes; follow unresolved exceptions through.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Customer Inquiries & Opportunities work.
Follow possible customer work from the first inquiry to an agreed next commitment.
Open Customer Inquiries & OpportunitiesThe JSON restores the customer book. A CSV export is a selected table for reading or working elsewhere, not a complete restorable book.
Import matching requires review. The tool does not contact customers. A delivery draft needs an agreement recorded for the opportunity; it does not establish agreement by itself.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsHelp / A useful way forward
How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Supplier & Purchasing Planner work.
Keep supplier commitments, receipts, bill checks, and job supply understandable.
Open Supplier & Purchasing PlannerThe book JSON keeps relationships and history. Selected CSV or supplier-facing documents are separate exports.
A prepared purchase order has not been sent, and a bill has not been paid merely because it is recorded. Transfers create reviewed copies; they do not update your original destination file.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
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How to start, keep, reopen, and use your Owner Overview work.
Review selected working files together and choose the actions that need your attention.
Open Owner OverviewThe overview JSON includes the accepted source copies and action plan. It can contain substantial private business detail.
The overview is a reviewed snapshot. Completing an overview action does not mark an invoice paid, finish a source job, or change the original source file. Refresh sources deliberately.
If the file will not open, leave the original unchanged and read the error. A reading copy cannot substitute for the editable JSON. If you reopened an older copy, look for a later download; do not overwrite the current work while checking.
Find a safe next stepThese tools may help with the next task. A link alone does not transfer your information.
See the actual file connectionsBrass Charter / Start here
A useful place to begin
Find a next step for the question, responsibility, or possibility on your mind.
Use your own words. You don’t need to know a tool’s name.
What is taking most of your attention? Choose an area to see its situations. You can change direction at any time.
30 situations to explore
No situation matches this search and these filters. Try a simpler phrase, choose All chapters, or clear the search and filters.
Explore people & guidance Browse all toolsYou may have a rough possibility, a side project, or a new offer for an existing business. Give it enough shape to decide what to learn next.
Work towards: A clear description of the idea, one important unknown, and a small next action.
Use this when you want to understand a customer problem, improve an offer, or learn why people choose another option.
Work towards: A conversation plan, observations kept separate from assumptions, and a useful question or test to pursue.
Compare a purchase, opportunity, service, location, or change using the considerations that matter to you.
Work towards: A comparison of known details, trade-offs, assumptions, and the questions to resolve before choosing.
Consider a new offer, another market, a different way of working, or more demand than your current capacity can handle.
Work towards: A defined change, its important assumptions, and a practical test or comparison before committing further.
A new inquiry, referral, repeat request, or possible piece of work needs a clear next conversation.
Work towards: A record of the request, what is known, what needs checking, and the next commitment.
Put a proposed job or supply of work into a clear offer, including what is included and what still needs agreement.
Work towards: A customer-facing quote draft and an editable record of its scope, prices, and expectations.
Organize an accepted job, a product-related service, or ongoing customer work, including changes and dependencies.
Work towards: A practical delivery plan with responsibilities, remaining work, blockers, and acceptance checks.
Keep a promise, unanswered question, expected response, or useful follow-up from slipping through the cracks.
Work towards: A working follow-up list with context, a next action, and a place to record what happened.
Turn a workflow request into an opportunity assessment, effort estimate and defined proposal.
Work towards: A client offer with deliverables, exclusions, acceptance tests and a clear next step.
Explore the price of a product or service, review a current offer, or consider a change in costs, time, or fees.
Work towards: A price scenario with visible assumptions, cost coverage, and questions to check.
Prepare a new invoice, record a partial payment, or find the next action on an outstanding amount.
Work towards: A clear invoice or updated payment record showing what remains due and what to follow up.
Look at the timing of expected money in and out, including delayed customer payments and upcoming commitments.
Work towards: An eight-week cash timeline, visible assumptions, and a scenario to review.
Bring supplier bills, recurring services, job-related costs, and costs you covered personally into a clearer working record.
Work towards: A spending book showing commitments, due amounts, and decisions that need review.
Review the time, costs and agreed value, then decide what changes in the next quote.
Work towards: An understandable job review and a useful next decision.
Build a regular habit for recording payments, costs and a planned reserve.
Work towards: A selected-year cash record with monthly totals and your own set-aside rule.
Work through requirements, supplier offers, an order in progress, or a problem with a delivery, return, or bill.
Work towards: A purchasing record with the current position, outstanding questions, and the next action.
Take stock when your attention is split between customer work, money, promises, and the rest of life. Begin with the information you actually have.
Work towards: A manageable set of next actions with reasons, responsibilities, and room for the work.
Make a recurring task easier to follow, explain to someone else, and improve after use.
Work towards: A reusable checklist or procedure with clear instructions, checks, and a way to handle exceptions.
Find and organize the information behind a decision, obligation, customer job, or handover.
Work towards: A records index showing locations, versions, missing evidence, and next checks.
Prepare for a renewal, notice period, filing, inspection, or other dated commitment before the final day arrives.
Work towards: A register of confirmed or unconfirmed dates, preparation work, responsibilities, and follow-up.
Prepare for an absence, outage, or interruption with practical arrangements someone can find and use.
Work towards: A continuity plan, a way to practice it, clear gaps to arrange, and useful reading copies.
Count what is present, separate what is usable, and keep customer commitments and expected deliveries in view.
Work towards: A checked stock position and practical next actions for shortages, counts, and replenishment.
Check equipment availability, care, custody and unresolved faults before the next promise.
Work towards: An equipment book and practical next actions to protect the work ahead.
Find a function, understand its arguments, and adapt an example to your own cells.
Work towards: A formula pattern to try, with a printable reference beside your work.
Discuss a new partnership or revisit how existing business partners want to work together.
Work towards: A discussion record covering expectations, contributions, responsibilities, unresolved issues, and next actions.
Work out whether you need practical assistance, a sounding board, specialist advice, or help with a specific decision.
Work towards: A clearer description of the help needed, the result you want, and questions to ask before working together.
Begin with the work and business that could fit your life, or move directly to organizing questions about a particular opportunity.
Work towards: A buyer brief with preferences, boundaries, and questions, or a clearer evidence review for a specific business.
Prepare for time away, delegation, a role change, or a transition so another person can understand the work they are taking on.
Work towards: A practical handover covering responsibilities, records, contacts, commitments, and matters to check together.
You may need temporary cover, a gradual succession, a sale, a partnership change, or a closure. These call for different preparation.
Work towards: A clearer transition intention, a practical preparation step, and questions for the people who need to help.
Keep the records, claims, correspondence, and questions together while the estate is being administered.
Work towards: A working record and a specific agenda for the next conversation with counsel.
Start here / Ideas & decisions
Starting a business / Running a business
You may have a rough possibility, a side project, or a new offer for an existing business. Give it enough shape to decide what to learn next.
A useful first step
Describe who this might help and the problem you think it could solve. Choose a question worth answering before making a larger commitment.
Open Give your idea a next stepFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Ideas & decisions
Starting a business / Running a business
Use this when you want to understand a customer problem, improve an offer, or learn why people choose another option.
A useful first step
Ask about situations people have actually experienced, what they do now, and what is difficult. Record what you heard separately from your interpretation.
Open Customer Conversation PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Customers & agreed work
Starting a business / Running a business
A new inquiry, referral, repeat request, or possible piece of work needs a clear next conversation.
A useful first step
Capture the customer's situation and the next agreed action before preparing an offer that may not fit.
Open Customer Inquiries & OpportunitiesFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Money & commitments
Starting a business / Running a business
Explore the price of a product or service, review a current offer, or consider a change in costs, time, or fees.
A useful first step
Start with one offering. Include the costs, time, and fees that matter, then compare a possible change.
Open Cost & Pricing ExplorerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Customers & agreed work
Starting a business / Running a business
Put a proposed job or supply of work into a clear offer, including what is included and what still needs agreement.
A useful first step
State the work, boundaries, itemized prices, responsibilities, and proposed terms so the customer can review the same understanding.
Open Quote & Scope BuilderFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Customers & agreed work
Starting a business / Running a business / Going into business together
Organize an accepted job, a product-related service, or ongoing customer work, including changes and dependencies.
A useful first step
Begin with the agreed outcome and break the remaining work into actions. Record what needs approval or another person's input.
Open Customer Job & Delivery PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Money & commitments
Starting a business / Running a business / Moving on
Prepare a new invoice, record a partial payment, or find the next action on an outstanding amount.
A useful first step
Check the agreed billing basis, amounts, and dates. Keep invoices, recorded payments, and the remaining balance distinct.
Open Invoice & Payment TrackerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Money & commitments
Starting a business / Buying a business / Running a business / Moving on
Look at the timing of expected money in and out, including delayed customer payments and upcoming commitments.
A useful first step
Put dates beside expected receipts and payments. Review the lowest expected balance and compare a change in timing.
Open Cash Timing PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Money & commitments
Starting a business / Running a business / Moving on
Bring supplier bills, recurring services, job-related costs, and costs you covered personally into a clearer working record.
A useful first step
Identify the commitment, who paid or needs to pay, the date, and the business purpose. Keep estimates separate from confirmed bills.
Open Business Spending & CommitmentsFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Everyday work
Starting a business / Running a business
Work through requirements, supplier offers, an order in progress, or a problem with a delivery, return, or bill.
A useful first step
Start at the relevant point: compare offers, record an order, check received items or services, or follow an unresolved issue.
Open Supplier & Purchasing PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Customers & agreed work
Starting a business / Running a business / Moving on
Keep a promise, unanswered question, expected response, or useful follow-up from slipping through the cracks.
A useful first step
Record why contact is needed and the specific next action. Keep waiting responses visible without treating them as completed.
Open Customer Follow-up PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Everyday work
Starting a business / Running a business / Going into business together / Moving on
Take stock when your attention is split between customer work, money, promises, and the rest of life. Begin with the information you actually have.
A useful first step
Use a weekly review to name what moved forward, what needs attention, and the actions you have room to take. You can begin without importing anything.
Open Weekly business reviewFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Everyday work
Starting a business / Running a business / Going into business together / Moving on
Make a recurring task easier to follow, explain to someone else, and improve after use.
A useful first step
Begin with a checklist when the job is straightforward and someone already understands how to do it. Write the checks in the order the work requires.
Open Checklist BuilderFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Everyday work
Starting a business / Buying a business / Going into business together / Running a business / Moving on
Find and organize the information behind a decision, obligation, customer job, or handover.
A useful first step
Record where important material lives, which version matters, who needs access, and what remains missing.
Open Business Records & Evidence OrganizerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Everyday work
Starting a business / Buying a business / Going into business together / Running a business / Moving on
Prepare for a renewal, notice period, filing, inspection, or other dated commitment before the final day arrives.
A useful first step
Record the source of the date and work backwards to the preparation needed. Keep uncertain dates marked for confirmation.
Open Business Deadlines & Renewals PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Ideas & decisions
Starting a business / Buying a business / Going into business together / Running a business / Moving on
Compare a purchase, opportunity, service, location, or change using the considerations that matter to you.
A useful first step
Choose meaningful criteria before comparing options. Keep missing evidence visible instead of filling gaps with guesses.
Open Compare Your OptionsFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / People & working together
Starting a business / Going into business together / Running a business
Discuss a new partnership or revisit how existing business partners want to work together.
A useful first step
Make room for each person's view. Discuss contributions, decision-making, money, working expectations, disagreements, and change.
Open Partnership Discussion PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Buying, handovers & moving on
Buying a business
Begin with the work and business that could fit your life, or move directly to organizing questions about a particular opportunity.
A useful first step
Clarify the kind of work you want to take on, your boundaries, and the questions that will shape your search.
Open Buyer preparationFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Buying, handovers & moving on
Going into business together / Running a business / Moving on
Prepare for time away, delegation, a role change, or a transition so another person can understand the work they are taking on.
A useful first step
Explain the responsibilities and open work from the recipient's point of view. Include where information lives and what still needs checking.
Open Business Handover PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Buying, handovers & moving on
Running a business / Moving on / Going into business together
You may need temporary cover, a gradual succession, a sale, a partnership change, or a closure. These call for different preparation.
A useful first step
Explore the moving-on chapter and identify what kind of change you are considering before choosing the next resource.
Open Moving onFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / People & working together
Starting a business / Buying a business / Going into business together / Running a business / Moving on
Work out whether you need practical assistance, a sounding board, specialist advice, or help with a specific decision.
A useful first step
Identify the task and the kind of experience or qualification it calls for. Use that to assess fit and prepare a useful conversation.
Open People & guidanceFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Ideas & decisions
Starting a business / Running a business / Going into business together
Consider a new offer, another market, a different way of working, or more demand than your current capacity can handle.
A useful first step
Describe the proposed change and the question you need answered. Choose a manageable next step before treating the whole change as settled.
Open Give your idea a next stepFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Everyday work
Starting a business / Running a business / Going into business together / Moving on
Prepare for an absence, outage, or interruption with practical arrangements someone can find and use.
A useful first step
Choose essential work, arrange appropriate cover, and examine what the alternatives depend on.
Open Business Continuity & Owner Backup PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Everyday work
Starting a business / Running a business
Count what is present, separate what is usable, and keep customer commitments and expected deliveries in view.
A useful first step
Begin with one item, its counting unit, a location, and an actual opening count.
Open Stock & Supplies PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Everyday work
Running a business
Check equipment availability, care, custody and unresolved faults before the next promise.
A useful first step
Begin with one essential item and its actual condition.
Open Equipment & Maintenance PlannerFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Money & commitments
Running a business
Review the time, costs and agreed value, then decide what changes in the next quote.
A useful first step
Start with one customer job and the original scope, time and cost assumptions.
Open Job Cost & Profit ReviewFree to use in your browser. No account needed.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Buying, handovers & moving on
Moving on
Keep the records, claims, correspondence, and questions together while the estate is being administered.
A useful first step
Explore the standalone $9 Executor’s Deal Room and its illustrated claim-to-meeting walkthrough.
Open Executor’s Deal Room$9 one-time purchase. Downloadable offline application.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Customers & agreed work
Starting a business / Running a business
Turn a workflow request into an opportunity assessment, effort estimate and defined proposal.
A useful first step
Explore the $19 toolkit and follow the agency example from a request to an agreed scope.
Open AI Automation Proposal Kit$19 one-time purchase. Downloadable templates and workbook.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Money & commitments
Starting a business / Running a business
Build a regular habit for recording payments, costs and a planned reserve.
A useful first step
Explore the $3 workbook and follow two months of cash through the logs and dashboard.
Open Freelancer Money Tracker$3 one-time purchase. Downloadable XLSX workbook.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Start here / Everyday work
Starting a business / Running a business
Find a function, understand its arguments, and adapt an example to your own cells.
A useful first step
Explore the $3 combined Lab and Cheat Sheet, then follow a paid-invoice example from question to checked result.
Open Formula Lab + Cheat Sheet$3 one-time purchase. Offline HTML Lab + printable PDF + opening guide.
Begin at the point that matches your situation. There is no required sequence.
Use another resource when it helps the work in front of you. You can stop when you have the result you need.
Bookmark this page to return to the same path. Use each tool’s save or download options to keep your work.
Brass Charter / My work
A place to pick things up again.
Your plans, working figures, decisions and next steps. Keep the detail behind them, and return when there is something to update.
Your plans
Keep your questions, assumptions and next steps together. Return after a conversation or small test and add what you learned.
Explore the idea worksheetYour working figures
Keep the dates and assumptions behind your cash plan. Revisit them when a payment moves or a commitment changes.
Explore the cash plannerYour next steps
Record what matters this week. Come back to review what moved forward and choose where your attention goes next.
Explore the weekly reviewAn editable download keeps the working details so you can continue later. Choose a Brass Charter file below and we’ll guide you to the tool that can reopen it.
That is a reading or sharing copy. Look for the separate editable JSON to continue working in the tool.
Choose the right download →Move your editable file to that device, then open it here. Keep track of which copy is current; changes do not automatically sync between devices or tabs.
Keeping and moving your work →Purchased downloads have their own saving options. Follow the instructions supplied with each product; they are not automatically saved in My Work.
Private accounts / planned
Private accounts are planned to let you keep supported work online and return to it on another device. Use editable downloads to keep your work in the meantime.
Checking your account…
The guides and worksheets are free to use without an account.
Your plans belong to your account. Sign in on another device to pick up where you left off.
Loading your plans…
Nothing saved yet.
Work through the idea worksheet, give your plan a name, and save it here. It will be waiting when you return.
The example opens as an unsaved draft you can edit.Choose a Brass Charter idea-plan backup (.json). It opens as a separate draft for review; your saved plans are kept.
My work currently saves idea plans. Weekly reviews and buyer briefs are next in this build.
It is still here while this page stays open.
These plans came from the earlier working build on this browser. Download a backup to keep them. They will only be added to your account if you open a backup, review it, and choose Save.
Brass Charter / Tools
A little help. Something you can use.
Start with a question, make something useful, and keep the result. Free tools for a focused task. Software for a larger job.
Search by name or what you need to do. Your chapter filter also applies.
41 tools and resources
No tools match this search and chapter. Try fewer words, choose All, or clear the search and filters.
Find a starting point for your situation →Running / Job review
Bring time, costs and the agreed work together. See what changed, what still needs checking, and what to carry into the next job.
You keep: an editable job book, estimate comparisons, internal PDF reviews, and practical lessons for your next quote.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Running / Equipment & maintenance
Know what is available, who has it, and what needs attention. Connect equipment care and repair decisions to the work you have promised.
You keep: an editable equipment book, use and service history, practical PDFs, and reviewed connections to your other tools.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting & running / Stock & supplies
Keep quantities, locations, job promises, and expected deliveries clear. Find shortages, check the count, and plan replenishment around the work ahead.
You keep: an editable stock book, movement history, reviewed counts, useful PDFs, and connections to purchasing and delivery.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Running & moving on / Continuity & owner backup
Prepare for an absence or interruption. Arrange cover, check what the alternatives depend on, and practice the response before it is needed.
You keep: an editable continuity plan, quick-action PDFs, selected-person briefings, and separate practice and disruption records.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Running a business / Owner Overview
See what needs attention across your selected tool files, connect related work, and make a plan that fits the time you have.
You keep: a dated overview, a practical action plan, the source copies behind it, and your review history.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting a business / Idea worksheet
For an early idea that needs a clearer question and a first practical test.
You keep: a plan naming who you want to help, what to learn, and what to try.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting or running a business / Conversation Planner
For a new idea, an existing service, or a customer decision you want to understand. Prepare questions and capture what you learn.
You keep: questions, notes, reflections, and a manageable next action.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting & running / Supplier purchasing
Compare supplier offers, organize purchases, and keep partial deliveries, service milestones, returns and next actions clear before they hold up customer work.
You keep: an editable purchasing book, supplier documents, accepted-supply records and reviewed connections to your other business tools.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting & running / Customer opportunities
Organize inquiries, customer relationships, possible work, and the promises that move them forward. Keep offers and decisions clear before beginning delivery.
You keep: a reusable customer book, separate opportunities, retained quote revisions, action lists, and reviewed handover copies.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting, working together, running & moving on / Procedures & Routines
Turn everyday knowledge into instructions someone can follow. Test a procedure, keep each run separate, and give unfinished work and improvements a next step.
You keep: an editable playbook, versioned instructions, individual run records, and practical action lists.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting, buying, running & moving on / Records & Evidence
Keep document locations, versions, checks, and missing information understandable. Prepare the relevant records around a customer request, an accountant’s questions, or a handover.
You keep: an editable register, a missing-records action list, and selected lists with the fields you choose.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting, running & moving on / Deadlines & Renewals
Keep obligations, early notice dates, preparation, and pending confirmations clear. Prepare the next occurrence while preserving unfinished work.
You keep: an editable register, a practical action list, and selected calendar entries.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Buying a business / Preparation worksheet
For someone considering a purchase and deciding what they want to investigate.
You keep: a personal buyer brief with your working preferences, limits, and unanswered questions.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Running a business / Weekly review
For a week with loose ends, competing priorities, and only so much room to do the work.
You keep: your review and one to three priorities, each with a concrete next action.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Running a business / Checklist Builder
For everyday work you want to repeat or explain to someone else. Start with an example or build your own.
You keep: a reusable checklist with grouped steps, instructions, and clear finish checks.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting or running a business / Compare Your Options
For suppliers, service ideas, or practical improvements you are deciding between. Compare two to four options on your own criteria.
You keep: a comparison showing the differences, uncertainties, and reasoning behind your next step.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
For every chapter / Help Brief Builder
Describe where you are stuck, what you would like help to achieve, and what you need to ask before working together.
You keep: an editable brief with your scope, working needs, and conversation questions.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Going into business together / Discussion Planner
For people exploring a business together or revisiting an existing arrangement. Record contributions, responsibilities, and the questions that need more discussion.
You keep: each person's perspective, discussion notes, and next actions in an editable record.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Moving on / Business Handover Planner
For sharing a responsibility, taking time away, or preparing for a new owner. Keep the everyday knowledge and unfinished commitments together.
You keep: an editable handover with responsibilities, references, walkthrough notes, and next actions.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting or running a business / Cost & Pricing Explorer
For one product, visit, or job. Explore the costs and time, compare a change, and check what the numbers leave open.
You keep: starting figures, a comparison, explained results, and questions to investigate.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting or running a business / Cash Timing Planner
For the receipts and payments ahead. Map eight weeks, see where cash may run short, and compare a change in timing.
You keep: a cash timeline, both versions, and the assumptions and next actions behind them.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting or running a business / Customer Follow-up Planner
For requests, quotes, and commitments you need to return to. See what is due, keep waiting responses visible, and record the outcome.
You keep: your working list, next actions, and recorded updates in a file you can reopen.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting or running a business / Quote & Scope Builder
Turn a customer request into a clear quote draft. Describe the included work, separate optional items, and explain the timing and next step.
You keep: a customer-facing text or PDF draft and a reusable file with your working notes.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting or running a business / Invoice & Payment Tracker
For your first invoice or a growing list of customers. Prepare clear invoices and record actual receipts without losing the original amounts.
You keep: an invoice book, customer PDFs, payment histories, and an outstanding view by currency.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting or running a business / Business Spending & Commitments
For the first order that needs materials, the costs you covered personally, and the recurring charges worth reviewing. Keep the money movements and next decisions clear.
You keep: a spending book, owner-payment history, renewal reviews, and customer-job funding timelines.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Starting or running a business / Customer Job & Delivery Planner
For your first customer order or several jobs at once. See what can move, what needs an approval, and how much time the remaining work will need.
You keep: a delivery book, workload review, scope-change decisions, and customer progress drafts.
FreeUse in your browser
No account needed
Working in a spreadsheet
Search 40 formula cards, choose the example for your app, and keep a printable reference beside your work.
Take away: Offline formula finder, one-page PDF, and opening guide.
$3 onceBoth resources together
Explore the combined offerManaging freelance money
Log payments and costs, review the year by month, and plan a reserve using your own percentage.
Take away: One editable five-tab workbook with 500 rows per log.
$3 onceDownloadable workbook
Explore the trackerOffering automation services
Qualify a client opportunity, estimate effort, and prepare a proposal with clear boundaries and acceptance tests.
Take away: Editable templates, a pricing workbook, and two filled proposals.
$19 onceDownloadable toolkit
Explore the kitBuying a business / Screen a particular deal
When you have a business and numbers to test: explore the cash needed, debt payments, and what remains for your income and a cushion.
Includes: Three earnings scenarios, funding checks, and a copyable deal memo.
$5 one-timeDownloadable calculator
Also in the complete acquisition package
For a business you are already examining
Buying a business / Work out an offer range
When you have earnings and seller adjustments to examine: explore a value range and an opening offer using the assumptions you choose.
Includes: Adjusted earnings, low and high values, asking-price comparison, and a valuation summary.
$5 one-timeDownloadable calculator
Also in the complete acquisition package
For the assumptions behind your offer
Buying a business / Set a purchase ceiling
When you need a price limit from your own requirements: work backward from earnings, income, debt coverage, and financing assumptions.
Includes: A calculated ceiling, required down payment cash, the limiting constraint, and a summary to keep.
$3 one-timeDownloadable calculator
Also in the complete acquisition package
For the limit you take into negotiation
Buying a business / Explore financing terms
When the purchase involves bank debt and a seller note: compare payments, the cash left for your income and cushion, and balances due later.
Includes: Combined debt service, purchase-funding checks, separate balloon amounts and dates, and a financing summary.
$5 one-timeDownloadable calculator
Also in the complete acquisition package
For the terms you discuss before agreeing
Buying a business / Write the proposed offer
When you are ready to put the terms in writing: prepare an LOI draft and term sheet for review and discussion.
Includes: Guided terms, offer checks, printable documents, and editable offer export and import.
$7 one-timeDownloadable application
Also in the complete acquisition package
For a concrete proposal to review
Buying a business / Investigate before closing
When records arrive and questions multiply: track what is missing, what you have reviewed, and which findings need resolution.
Includes: 92 checks, notes and status tracking, three printable reports, and editable deal export and import.
$9 one-timeDownloadable application
Also in the complete acquisition package
For the investigation behind the deal
Buying a business / Prepare a lender discussion
When you have a deal to finance: connect the project costs, funding sources, and repayment plan in a clear loan request.
Includes: Sources and uses, debt schedules, coverage and stress cases, a printable package, and editable deal export and import.
$7 one-timeDownloadable application
Also in the complete acquisition package
For the conversation with your lender
Buying a business / Guided application
When you want a path through the whole purchase: understand the next decision and keep your deal notes, questions, and reasoning together.
Includes: Nine stages, a deal journal, decision log, and printable summary.
$9 one-timeDownloadable Buyer OS
Also in the $29 complete package
Guidance for your whole purchase
Buying a business / Downloadable software
For a specific opportunity: organize the investigation, explore assumptions, and prepare records for the next conversation.
Includes: Buyer OS, four calculation tools, and three document and diligence tools.
$29 one-timeBuyer OS + all seven tools
Purchase through Gumroad
Explore the contents and file requirements
Moving on / Considering a business sale
Explore value assumptions and what a sale could leave after costs, debt, and a tax reserve. Separate available cash from escrow and seller financing.
Includes: Value and proceeds scenarios, driver sensitivities, an Exit Snapshot, and editable JSON backups.
$7 one-timeStandalone downloadable planner
For the owner considering a sale
Before an absence or loss / Preparing your people
Help family and trusted contacts find the records and practical details you usually carry in your head.
Includes: Twelve guided sections, fifteen priority prompts, three letters, a printable binder, and encrypted editable backups.
$7 one-timeStandalone downloadable application
For the people who may need to step in
After a loss / Estate administration
Keep assets, claims, cash, correspondence, and questions organized between adviser meetings.
Includes: 42 task prompts, 26 document prompts, three registers, letters, an attorney packet, and encrypted editable backups.
$9 one-timeStandalone downloadable application
For the person keeping an estate organized
The free tools include examples and practical guidance. You can start with what you know and name what you still need to learn.
The free tools need no purchase and no account. Download an editable or reusable JSON file to continue later. Choose a PDF or text copy for reading or sharing. See how to keep and reopen your work →
Use the free buyer brief when you are deciding what kind of business and working life to explore. Look at the acquisition system when you have a particular opportunity and want to understand the included investigation and calculation tools.
Both have a different job. The free brief stands on its own.
The free tools open here on the website. The acquisition product is a ZIP of HTML applications you extract and open on your own computer. Its overview explains the files, separate records, and available ways to keep your work.
No. Your entries stay in the open tab as you move around the site. Download an editable or reusable JSON copy before closing or refreshing. Reopen that file through My work next time, and download a new copy after changes. A PDF or text copy cannot restore the complete editable work.
The downloadable acquisition apps have different storage and export features. Browser storage and a separate backup file are different things; the product overview describes both.
Tools / Buying a business
Product overview / Buyer OS + seven tools
Keep the buying process in view, and open the right tool for each decision. Buyer OS connects the journey; seven companion applications help you work through the numbers, offer, diligence, and financing.
Buy the complete system — $29 ↗One-time purchase · All eight applications · No subscription
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
ZIP download · Runs offline in a desktop browser.
30-day money-back guarantee. Free updates.
For the guided application on its own, explore Buyer OS — $9. You can also start with the free Buyer Brief.
Know what you are getting.
Choose an application to see the job it supports, the information it needs, and how you can keep its output. All eight are included in the package.
The guided workspace
Work through the decision stages and record the questions, evidence, and decisions around a particular opportunity.
This is a guide to the package contents. The purchased applications are separate files, not embedded demos here.
The package helps you organize information and examine your assumptions. Its calculations depend on the information you enter. A generated document or result still needs appropriate review before you act on it.
Start with the free buyer-preparation worksheet. It helps you describe the work, boundaries, and questions that will shape your search.
Checkout and the ZIP download are provided through Gumroad. Keep your purchase receipt for access to your download and support. This package includes free updates and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Reply to your Gumroad receipt to request help or a refund.
Read the delivery and refund details, or visit Contact & Support for help finding your receipt.
Extract the whole ZIP. Inside the main-street-buyer-os folder, open product-15-buyer-operating-system.html. Keep that file, README.txt, and the tools folder together. The included tools open as separate local applications.
The applications run offline without Excel, installation, a product login, or a cloud account. Use a modern desktop browser; the downloaded Buyer OS opens all seven companion tools from the extracted folder.
No. Buyer OS links to the included tools, but each application keeps its own entries where storage is supported. There is no automatic exchange of deal data between the apps and no shared cloud workspace.
Buyer OS provides a copyable deal summary and printable reports. Deal Sizer, Payment Lab, Max Purchase Price, and Valuation & Offer Builder provide copyable summaries or memos; they do not keep browser-local deal files.
Loan Package Builder, Due-Diligence Deal Room, and LOI & Offer Builder provide JSON export/import and print controls. Export includes a download link and selectable JSON text if automatic downloading is blocked. Keep an exported file for restoring work in the same application. Moving files, changing browsers, or clearing browser data can make browser-local entries unavailable.
All seven tools and Buyer OS are included in this $29 package. They are also offered individually. If you buy the complete system, you do not need to purchase any of these eight applications again.
Tools / Running a business
Checklist Builder / Free to use
Turn a task you know into steps you can follow, share, and improve. Start with one small job. Bring the experience you already have.
Read the checklist guideThese are editable examples for ordinary business tasks. Change the steps to fit how you work.
Open its checklist file to continue editing or pick up a run.
Your checklist
Keep one action per step. Add instructions where they help.
Tools / Starting & running a business
Customer Conversation Planner / Free
Prepare a useful conversation, make room to listen, and choose what to learn next. For a first idea, an existing service, or a question you keep coming back to.
Read the conversation guideUse a starting example or make your own. Each file holds one conversation; you can reuse the questions for another.
Open the reusable file to bring back your questions, notes, and next step.
01 / Prepare
Short answers are enough. Use questions as a guide and follow up on what the person tells you.
Agree on taking notes. Ask separately before recording. They can skip a question or stop.
Ask about something that happened. Keep the wording open so there is room for an unexpected answer.
You have 20 questions. Keep the ones that help with your focus.
02 / Capture
Record their experience beside each question. You can leave questions unanswered and follow a useful unexpected thread.
Use a label you will recognize. Keep notes focused on the experience; personal contact details are not needed here.
03 / Reflect
A conversation gives you something to explore. Include details that surprised you or challenged your original idea.
Record a specific experience. Use quotation marks only for words you captured accurately.
This is your interpretation. Consider another explanation that might also fit.
One experience does not show how common a problem is or establish that someone would buy a proposed solution.
04 / Next step
You might ask a follow-up, hear a different experience, try a small change, or pause to learn more.
Tools / Starting & running a business
Compare Your Options / Free
Put your options beside what matters to you. Make the differences clearer, keep questions in view, and leave with reasoning you can return to.
Compare two to four options. Make your own comparison or explore a fictional example you can adapt.
Open the reusable file to bring back your options, notes, and decision.
01 / Set up
Include the options you could realistically take. Keeping things as they are can be an option too.
Give each a distinct name. Add a short description if it helps.
Four options are ready to compare.
A criterion is simply something you want to compare, such as cost, timing, or flexibility. Mark what matters most and put it first.
You have eight criteria. Keep the ones that help with this decision.
02 / Compare
Work through one criterion at a time. Compare like with like, such as the same order size or time period.
For known details, include where the information came from. A blank entry means you have not recorded it yet.
Read across each criterion. Return to “Work through a criterion” to edit these details.
03 / My decision
You can make a choice, lean toward an option, or keep learning. Record what fits your situation and what could change your view.
Brass Charter / People & guidance
People & guidance
You do not need all the answers to ask a useful question.
Whether you are exploring an idea, taking on a business, or improving familiar work, start with what you would like help to change.
Build my help brief01 / Understand the help
These are starting points, not fixed job titles. Someone may offer more than one kind of help; ask which part they would actually take on.
You have a piece of work in mind and need time, skills, or an extra pair of hands to complete it.
For exampleA clearer booking process, a better spreadsheet, or help organizing a handover.
Make clear: what should be delivered and how you will use it.
You would like a useful sounding board, another perspective, or help building your own skills.
For exampleTalking with an experienced owner or mentor about what to test next.
Make clear: the question you want to explore and the experience that would help.
You need relevant expertise to investigate, explain, or review a particular issue.
For exampleAn accountant reviewing business figures or a lawyer explaining an agreement.
Make clear: the specific issue, relevant location, and qualifications the work needs.
It may be a mix. You can begin by asking someone to help define the problem, then agree a separate piece of work.
02 / Prepare the conversation
A first conversation can help you understand what someone offers before you decide on a piece of work.
Background reading: SBA’s guidance on finding a business mentor.
What similar work have you done? What would be different in my situation? Can you explain your approach in terms I understand?
What would I receive? What would you need from me? Who would do the work, and what would fall outside it?
How would you charge? What could cost extra? When could you begin, and how would we agree any changes?
What relevant qualifications or registration can I check? Does your experience fit this work and its location?
When would we check progress? What would show that this piece of work is complete? How would questions be handled afterward?
From a broad worry to a useful request
A fictional example
“Our administration is a mess.”
“Booking details arrive in two places. Could you help us walk through the process and try one clearer way to hand a booking over?”
The second request gives someone a place to begin. A conversation can then establish what a sensible first piece of work would include.
03 / Places to look
Use a resource relevant to your location. Ask the service about eligibility, availability, and any fees before arranging support.
United States / Official resource
Find business-support resources in your area, including Small Business Development Centers and SCORE mentoring.
Explore SBA supportUnited States / Official resource
Explore SCORE mentoring, Small Business Development Centers, and support for veteran-owned and women-owned businesses through the SBA’s resource partners.
Explore SBA resource partnersFor a specialist question, check the relevant state licensing authority or professional body. These external resources are starting points, not Brass Charter appointments or endorsements.
The brief structure, conversation questions, practical exercises, and fictional examples are original Brass Charter material. Background on finding business mentors comes from the U.S. Small Business Administration. The support resources above link to U.S. SBA services and its resource partner network. Links checked September 28, 2026.
This page helps you prepare a discussion. For a legal, tax, financial, or other regulated question, seek the appropriately qualified professional for your location and circumstances.
Tools / Help Brief Builder
Help Brief Builder / Free
Bring the situation, the result you want, and the questions you need to ask into one clear brief. Use what you know. Leave room for the conversation.
A brief is a short explanation of the help you are looking for. Make your own, or explore a fictional example.
Open the reusable file to restore your brief and questions.
01 / The situation
A few plain sentences can explain a lot. Only the brief’s name, situation, and desired result are needed to make a text or PDF copy.
02 / The help
Describe what you need now. You can discuss the details and agree the work later.
03 / Questions
Edit the suggested questions so they sound like you. Untick any you do not need in the brief; the words will stay here if you change your mind.
04 / My brief
Read it as the person you are asking for help. Use the earlier steps to change anything, and check what you want to share before downloading.
Tools / Going into business together
Partnership Discussion Planner / Free
Explore what working together could mean. Put expectations, everyday responsibilities, open questions, and next actions somewhere you can return to.
For a first conversation or a fresh look at an existing arrangement. This is a discussion record, not a partnership contract.
Work with two to six people. Prepare your own thoughts first, or take notes together. Leave another person’s view open until they have had a chance to explain it.
Open a reusable discussion file to restore the people, topics, and next actions.
01 / The people
A name or a label such as Person A is enough. Write each person’s own perspective, including what is undecided. A blank field stays open.
Six people are included in this discussion.
02 / The conversation
Choose a topic. Capture different views in the notes and keep questions visible. You can skip a topic and return to it later.
A working view is a note to review together. It does not confirm everyone’s agreement.
03 / Next actions
Choose small, concrete actions. Confirm with anyone you name before treating a task as theirs.
Eight next actions are included. Keep the ones that matter for the next conversation.
04 / Our record
Check that the notes reflect what each person actually said. Different views and untouched topics remain visible. Use the earlier steps to make changes.
Tools / Moving on
Business Handover Planner / Free
Make the work easier to pick up. Bring responsibilities, useful records, unfinished commitments, and the next conversation into one handover.
For sharing a task, taking time away, stepping back, or preparing for a new owner. Start small and add what matters.
You do not need every answer. Begin with one responsibility, or explore a filled example. Leave questions open where the arrangements still need discussion.
Open a reusable handover file to restore its entries and walkthrough notes.
01 / The change
Describe the piece of work being handed over. A single task is a useful place to begin. Only the handover name is needed to make a first record.
Confirm responsibilities and permission with the people involved. These notes do not transfer ownership or authority.
02 / The work
Choose the responsibilities that matter for this change. Include the timing, the people, and what to do when the ordinary routine does not fit. All details can begin as questions.
Twelve responsibilities are included. You can keep another handover for a separate area of work.
03 / People & records
Record who can help, where useful information lives, and how the right person can get access. Use locations and approved contact routes; keep passwords and access codes out of the handover.
Who needs an introduction, and what could someone ask them about?
Eight contacts are included.
A location helps. Trying it with the next person helps you find missing permissions or an out-of-date copy.
Twelve records and resources are included.
04 / Loose ends
Separate work that is already promised from the actions needed to prepare this handover. Confirm the owner and timing with anyone you name.
A customer waiting for an answer, a delivery due, or a piece of work already underway.
Twelve commitments are included.
A walkthrough, an introduction, an access check, or a question to put to someone.
Ten next actions are included.
05 / My handover
Review the details with the next person. Missing entries and walkthroughs still to do are gathered near the top. They reflect what you entered, rather than a complete assessment of the business.
Tools / Starting & running a business
Cost & Pricing Explorer / Free
Explore one product, visit, or piece of work. Account for the time and costs, try a change, and see what is left to cover the rest.
Start with what you know. Keep estimates visible, and use the results to decide what to investigate next.
What if the job takes longer? What if supplies cost more? What happens at a lower price? Read a worked example, or start with your own figures in an empty form.
Reopen your starting figures, comparison, and notes. Results are recalculated from the entries.
Two versions, one question
Your starting figures.
01 / The offering
Keep the same unit throughout: one item, visit, order, or defined job. If you sell a batch, divide the costs across its saleable units first, or treat the whole batch as one sale.
The offering description, currency, and learning notes apply to both versions. Prices, costs, time, and monthly assumptions belong to the selected version.
All amounts use two decimal places. Changing the label does not convert them.
Use the price before sales tax, VAT, or GST collected from the customer. This tool does not calculate taxes. Enter plain numbers with a decimal point, such as 150.00.
02 / Costs & time
Enter costs for one sale. Mark an estimate as an estimate. Add only what applies, and avoid counting the same cost in both a line below and monthly overhead.
Parts, packaging, delivery, consumables, or another cost that arises with this sale. Include costs you actually bear; ask your adviser if you are unsure how to treat tax on purchases.
Eight cost lines are included. Combine related costs with a clear note if needed.
Include preparation, travel, making or delivery, and follow-up. Your own time can have a planning allowance even when it is not a separate wage payment.
Eight time entries are included.
For paid labor, use an hourly cost that includes the employment costs you need to cover. Avoid adding a monthly wage again if it is already here.
The percentage below applies to the entered selling price, plus a fixed amount for each sale. Enter your actual fees, or 0 if none apply.
One sale must match the fee basis. If fees apply per order, per payment, or to a tax-inclusive total, work out the appropriate allowance first. Do not also include these fees in a cost line.
Assign the monthly costs this offering needs to cover, then enter a realistic number of sales. This assumes the same price, time, and costs for every sale. Leave both amounts blank to explore one sale only.
A share of rent, insurance, software, or other fixed costs. Use 0 only if you intend to include none.
An assumption to investigate, not a demand forecast.
Add the relevant people's available hours. This checks total time only; skills, equipment, and scheduling can limit capacity further.
03 / Explore the numbers
Only the selected version changes. Costs and time stay as entered.
04 / Keep the learning
A cost calculation cannot tell you what someone will buy. Keep the reasoning and the questions alongside the figures, then choose a small way to learn more.
Tools / Starting & running a business
Cash Timing Planner / Free
See when money is expected to arrive, when payments need to leave, and where a gap may need attention.
Start with eight weeks. Keep your starting plan, try a change beside it, and leave with a next step you can act on.
Enter your own figures in an empty form, or read a worked example first. Examples are separate illustrations; they never fill your fields.
Reopen both versions and your notes. Results are recalculated from the entries.
Keep your starting plan. Try a change.
01 / The starting point
Choose the cash you want to track together. Your starting figure is the amount available immediately before the first day's receipts and payments.
Choose your start date. Each week is seven days from this date.
One currency throughout. Changing the label does not convert amounts.
Enter 0 for none. A negative starting balance is allowed. Unused credit is not cash; enter borrowing only when money is expected to arrive.
A level you choose to watch, not a recommended reserve.
The title, dates, currency, and next-step notes apply to both versions. Each version has its own starting cash, chosen cash level, receipts, payments, and assumptions.
02 / Money in & out
Use the date money is expected to move, rather than the invoice or job date. Include the full amount received or paid, including any tax in that payment.
Forty entries are included per version. Use repeating entries for regular amounts.
Entry removed. You can restore it before making another change.
03 / The weeks ahead
04 / What needs attention
Choose a date or assumption to check. Record the action, who can help, and when you will return to the plan.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / Starting & running a business
Customer Follow-up Planner / Free
Keep customer requests, the actions you owe, and the responses you are waiting for in one useful view.
Start with one conversation. Give it a next step, return to it, and keep a short record of what happened.
Start an empty plan, or read an example first. Examples are separate illustrations and never fill your fields.
Reopen your follow-ups and recorded updates. Check the review date when returning to an older plan.
Your working list
Choose a view, open a follow-up, and keep its next action clear.
Choose a valid review date to update the views.
Views overlap: a waiting item can also be due today. Dates organize this list against the review date above.
One customer request or commitment
You can leave a record unfinished and return to it. Download your plan to keep your work when closing the page.
Without a date, this remains visible in “Needs a date”. Waiting still needs a next check.
Record the outcome, then choose the next action, wait for a response, or finish this follow-up.
Keep what happened in your own words. You can correct a note without changing the next action it recorded.
This follow-up has twenty recorded updates. Download the history and begin another follow-up to continue it.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / Starting & running a business
Quote & Scope Builder / Free
Put the work, the price, and the expectations in one place.
For your first paid job or the next request on your desk. Shape a quote draft a customer can understand, then keep a copy you can return to.
Read the quoting guide ↗Begin with empty fields, or read a worked example first. Examples open separately and leave your own draft untouched.
Reopen the reusable file with its items, scope, and working notes.
01 / The people
Give the job a recognizable name and identify the business and customer. Add the details you want the customer to see.
Dates and revision labels are yours to choose. Download a separate copy before changing a version you have shared.
02 / The scope
Help the customer see the result, the boundaries, and what needs to happen for the work to go well. These fields appear in the customer draft.
Use terms appropriate to your work and location. The builder does not create legal terms for you.
03 / The price
Enter the selling price for each item. Use the Pricing Explorer if you still need to work through the costs behind it.
Changing this label does not convert amounts. Check every price if you change currency.
Twenty items are included. Combine related work in a clearly described line if needed.
Use the treatment you have checked for this work. The added rate applies to all included items; tax already included is not broken out. Mixed rates and other tax rules need a separate calculation.
Line amounts round to two decimal places before adding. Any added tax rounds once on the included subtotal. Optional items stay outside the total.
04 / Review & keep
Check the scope, prices, and expectations together. Your export is labeled as a draft for review and discussion.
These notes are excluded from customer text and PDF copies. They are included in your reusable file.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / Starting & running a business
Invoice & Payment Tracker / Free
From the first invoice to the payment that completes it.
Prepare a clear invoice. Record what actually arrives. Return to one book to see what is unpaid, partly paid, or overdue.
Read the invoicing guide ↗Begin with empty fields, or explore an example separately. Your own book stays untouched.
A 600 invoice, a 200 payment, and 400 still to collect.
Two receipts complete one invoice without changing its original amount.
Keep an overpayment visible so it can be checked and resolved.
Choose the .json file previously downloaded from this tool. It restores your invoices, payment entries, corrections, and business defaults.
Editable book (.json): reopen this file in this tool to continue working. Customer copy (.pdf): open an invoice, choose its PDF preview, then select Download PDF. Keep the editable book for yourself; it contains customer details and private notes. Download after changes and before closing. This draft does not automatically save your book to an account. Files are not password protected.
Review what needs attention, then open an invoice to record a payment or check its history.
Payments after this date are left out. Corrections use the current corrected history.
Enter business details you reuse. They are copied only into new blank invoices; existing invoices stay as they are. Tax choices are reviewed separately for each invoice.
Choose the items to bring into a new invoice draft. Review the actual work, price, tax, and payment arrangements before issuing.
Up to 50 invoices per book. Currency totals stay separate; amounts are never converted.
Changing currency changes the label, not the entered amounts. Check prices again if you change it.
Up to 20 lines. Quantities allow three decimal places; unit prices allow two. A zero price is a deliberate no-charge item.
One confirmed tax rate for all lines. The tool does not determine your tax treatment or handle mixed rates, item exemptions, or credit notes.
Check the customer, supply details, quantities, price, tax, due date, and payment instructions. Add the business and tax details required for your location before using the invoice.
Recording as issued keeps the invoice details unchanged in this book and enables payments. It does not send the invoice. A draft can be downloaded in the book while unfinished.
Payments and their corrections are recorded separately. Use a copy for new work; this invoice’s customer details and amounts stay unchanged.
Record money actually received and applied to this invoice. A promised payment belongs in your follow-up or cash plan. A prior deposit can be entered with its actual receipt date.
Cancel only an unpaid invoice entered in error. Real refunds, credit notes, disputes, and write-offs need their own accounting records.
Kept in the reusable book, excluded from customer invoices and payment summaries.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / Starting & running a business
Business Spending & Commitments / Free
The supplier bill. The money you covered yourself. The job that pays later.
Keep the records straight and the next decision visible. For a first customer order, a side business taking shape, or the everyday commitments of an established business.
Read the business-spending guide ↗Explore a worked example separately, or start your own book with empty fields. Your records stay untouched when you read examples.
Materials cost 600 before the customer’s 900 balance arrives. See the gap while there is still time to discuss it.
An owner pays 200 toward a 600 bill. The business returns 50. Keep the supplier balance and owner balance separate.
A 29 monthly commitment costs 348 a year. Review use and benefit before the next renewal.
The JSON book restores entries and history here. PDF and text copies are for reading.
Reopen the JSON file here to continue. Download after changes and before closing; this working draft does not automatically save to an account. Reports and files may contain private details and are not password protected.
A useful next action
Start with the dates, questions, and commitments that affect the coming week. Amounts do not decide payment priorities for you; use the context and agreed terms.
Shows recorded payments through this date, using current corrected history. Actions and recurring reviews use your latest notes.
Keep the supplier’s full cost once. Payments show how it was settled; reimbursements show money returned to the owner.
An owner paying a supplier reduces that supplier’s balance. Returning money to the owner does not create another cost. Keep reimbursement intentions and undecided amounts visible.
These are working intentions. Whether money is a reimbursement, owner contribution, or another accounting category depends on your business and circumstances. Confirm that treatment in your accounting records.
Put the annualized cost beside actual use and intended benefit. Review notice deadlines before another charge becomes a surprise.
Annualized figures assume the current rate continues: 52 weekly, 12 monthly, 4 quarterly, or 1 annual charge. They are comparisons, not bills or money already paid.
A customer order can be worthwhile and still need cash before the balance arrives. Link its costs, enter customer receipts, and examine the dates together.
Use the full amount payable, including tax and delivery that belong to this bill. This tool follows amounts and timing; it does not calculate tax deductions or profit. Leave an unknown proposed amount empty.
Confirm only a real bill or purchase. A proposed amount is kept outside supplier balances. A purchase already paid still needs its actual payment recorded in the next step.
Record actual payments only. Choose Business funds or An owner personally paid. Split a mixed payment into its actual parts. Money received from customers belongs in Jobs & timing or the invoice tracker.
Use the reimbursement action beside the original owner payment. These returns of money do not reduce the supplier balance again.
Corrections fix recording mistakes and retain the previous entry. Genuine refunds, credits, and debt write-offs need their own accounting records.
A query does not erase the supplier balance. Record what needs checking and the conversation or evidence needed to resolve it. Review dates stay visible until you update or clear them after the review.
Opening cash means business cash set aside immediately before the first day. Include earlier movements in that starting figure. The window can cover up to 366 days. This is a job-specific plan, not the whole business’s bank balance.
Keep expected receipts distinct from money actually received. When an expected receipt arrives, replace that entry with its actual amount and date so it is counted once. For a partial receipt, record the received portion and add a separate expectation for the unpaid remainder.
The report includes confirmed costs and explicitly shows a separate proposed-purchase comparison when selected. Same-day movements are combined; check payment order if receipts must arrive first.
Choosing Review or Intend to stop records your decision. It does not cancel a service. Enter a stop date only when you have confirmed when future charges cease. Existing bills remain in your book.
Scheduled charges are expectations. Create a cost draft for a date, check the actual bill, and confirm it before recording payments. Nothing is automatically charged or marked paid.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / Starting & running a business
Customer Job & Delivery Planner / Free
The order you won. The approval you need. The time you actually have.
Keep agreed work, next steps, and changing expectations clear—from your first customer job to a full week of commitments.
Read the delivery-planning guide ↗Begin with empty fields, bring in a quote for review, or explore a separate example.
A customer’s approval holds up production. Identify the conversation that will release the next step.
Twelve available hours, four already reserved, and nine needed for customer work. See the one-hour shortfall.
Keep an extra request outside the agreed work while you check the price, effort, and delivery date.
Restores jobs, people, decisions, and history. Download a new copy after changes.
Choose the relevant quoted items and review the scope. Importing does not record customer agreement.
Work stays in this open page until you download it. Reopen the JSON book to continue on another visit; account saving is not connected in this working draft. Files may contain private business and customer details.
Flags dates through the next seven days, using current job status and notes.
Choose a window, then enter each person’s available work hours and hours reserved for other commitments. Include administration, other jobs, and responsibilities that reduce time available here.
Up to 31 calendar days. Availability belongs to this exact window; recheck it whenever the dates change. These names represent working roles, not user accounts or invitations.
Uses remaining effort on the entered work dates. Unfinished work dated before the window carries into it. Blocked and paused work still reserves time; work after the window is listed separately. This checks total capacity, not the order of work within a day.
Use the agreed scope and a specific delivery date. Before agreement, the date is a planning assumption. Keep completion observable: what will be supplied, checked, or handed over?
Recording an agreement preserves the original details. It does not send the quote, obtain a signature, or confirm a payment. Later requested extras belong under Requested changes.
List the requirements first, then link them to the steps they hold up. A customer approval can block production without blocking preparation.
Adds steps to this job after review. Existing checkmarks are cleared; people, dates, effort, and dependencies need checking.
Describe the request and its effect on price, extra effort, and delivery. Approved changes remain in the record. Create their work step deliberately so the extra effort appears in the workload.
An approved change records what you entered; it does not revise an external quote or invoice. Record a further agreed change if the arrangement changes again.
Keep the details before recording delivery or closing the job. Delivery, customer confirmation, invoicing, and payment are separate events. This book does not issue an invoice or verify payment.
Review the customer progress copy before sharing. It includes the job scope, step names and status, approved changes, and your customer update. Private capacity, internal next actions, and history are excluded.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / Starting, running & handing over a business
Business Deadlines & Renewals / Free
Before a contract renews. Before a certificate expires. Before a small task becomes an urgent one.
Keep the dates, preparation, people, and evidence together. Start with one obligation; build a register that reflects your business.
Read the deadlines & renewals guide ↗Insurance, licenses, permits, leases, contracts, domains, subscriptions, maintenance, inspections, certifications, training, filings, supplier conditions, seasonal work, and your own categories.
Restores your obligations, occurrences, dates, preparation, and history.
These separate fictional examples leave your register untouched.
Keep a downloaded copy after changes and before closing. Account saving is not connected in this working draft. PDF, text, and calendar files are separate reading or calendar copies.
Add each relevant preparation, decision, notice, submission, payment, expiry, renewal, or custom date. Mark it as an action or a reference milestone. Confirm dates against their actual source.
Include documents to gather, approvals, checks, bookings, and decisions. Link the steps that truly depend on other work.
Adds the wording after review. Earlier checkmarks, dates, and completed work do not carry over.
A submission or cancellation request stays open while confirmation is outstanding. Completing or renewing requires the action dates and preparation to be resolved. A confirmed cancellation or “no longer applicable” ends this occurrence without marking unfinished steps as completed. Closing stops its attention and calendar entries.
Choose a fixed schedule, an interval after actual completion, individually reviewed dates, or a one-off obligation. Fixed schedules preserve missed periods. Preparation can repeat while earlier work remains open.
The next cycle’s proposed date needs verification. Existing date descriptions and preparation steps copy over; other dates and checkmarks clear. Nothing is renewed, submitted, canceled, or paid automatically.
Updates preserve the previous entry and your explanation. Earlier occurrences remain available in the selector above.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / The everyday work of business
Customer Inquiries & Opportunities / Free
Know the customer. Understand the work. Keep the next promise.
Bring inquiries, possible jobs, and customer commitments into view. Keep each buying decision separate, remember what was discussed, and carry agreed work into delivery.
Read the customer opportunities guide ↗Your first inquiry, a requested estimate, a possible repeat order, or a customer waiting for an answer. Start with what you know and make the next action clear.
Download after changes and before closing. Reopen that file to continue. Account saving is not connected in this working draft; entered names describe responsibility and do not send assignments.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / The everyday work of business
Supplier & Purchasing Planner / Free
From a first purchase to the last unresolved delivery.
Compare what suppliers offer, keep orders clear, and follow goods or services through to acceptance. Know what is still missing before it holds up your customers.
Read the purchasing guide ↗Materials, stock, equipment, outside help, or an order already placed. Start where the work actually stands. You can leave uncertain prices and dates open while you find out more.
Keep a downloaded copy after changes and before closing. Reopen it to continue. This working draft keeps your entries in this open page; account saving is not connected.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / The everyday work of business
Owner Overview / Free
A clearer view of the business—and room to act.
Bring together the work that needs your attention. See the promises, missing pieces and decisions behind it, then choose a plan that fits the time you have.
Read the owner review guide ↗Use your downloaded Brass Charter tool files, or begin with one decision you need to make. You choose what belongs in this overview. A first business and a busy established one can both start small.
Examples are separate fictional work. A new overview starts empty.
Keep a downloaded copy before closing. Your selected files and actions stay in this open page; account saving is not connected. Source files are snapshots and do not update automatically.
Tools / Keeping the business going
Business Continuity & Owner Backup / Free
If you couldn’t work tomorrow, what would need to happen?
Find the work that matters, arrange the help it needs, and try the plan together. Start where you are. Leave room for what you still need to find out.
Read the practical continuity guide ↗Begin with one activity you would need someone to help with. A solo business can plan how to keep customers informed and pause work responsibly.
Examples are separate working plans with deliberate gaps to explore. Your own plan starts empty.
Fictional example. The unresolved arrangements are intentional; choose Start my continuity plan for your own blank work.
Your changes stay in this open page. Download the editable plan before leaving so you can return to it. Reading copies can be kept and used away from the website.
Tools / Stock & supplies
Stock & Supplies Planner / Free
The right supplies, ready for the work ahead.
Keep products, parts, materials, and everyday supplies in view. Check what is usable, what is promised, and what still needs to arrive—from one shelf to the places your business works.
Read the practical stock guide ↗Add an item, name its location, and check the opening quantity. You can build the rest as you go.
Choose an example deliberately. Your own stock book starts empty.
Changes stay in this open page until you download them. Keep the editable file to return to your stock, counts and history. Connected files are reviewed copies, with their source dates retained.
Tools / Job cost & profit
Job Cost & Profit Review / Free
A clearer result. A better next job.
Bring the price, time, and costs together. See what changed, what still needs checking, and what to carry into your next quote. For repairs, projects, installations, services, and small customer orders.
Read the practical job review guide ↗Tools / Equipment & maintenance
Equipment & Maintenance Planner / Free
Keep essential equipment useful, available, and cared for.
For the owner with one important machine, the team sharing tools, and the business preparing for its next job. Know what can go, what needs attention, and who will take the next step.
Read the practical equipment guide ↗Add what you know. Care plans, shared kits, readings, and service history can follow when you need them.
The example is separate from your work. Your own book starts empty.
Keep the editable download to return to your work. Changes stay in this open page until downloaded. Connected files are reviewed copies. Dates and availability depend on the information you record.
Tools / The everyday work of business
Business Procedures & Routines / Free
Explain the work. Try it together. Keep what happened.
Build practical instructions for recurring work, follow each run separately, and bring the unfinished pieces back into view. Begin with one task you know.
Read the procedures & routines guide ↗Welcoming a customer. Preparing a delivery. Reviewing supplier paperwork. Covering the work while you are away. Describe the work that matters to your business, in words the next person can understand.
These fictional situations open separately from your own entries.
Download after changes and before closing. Account saving is not connected in this working draft. Named people and reviews describe your entries; they do not grant access or send assignments.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Tools / Records for the work of business
Business Records & Evidence / Free
The agreement you need. The copy that applies. The missing piece to follow through.
Keep document references, versions, access checks, and requests together. Build a collection for a particular job, then choose exactly what goes into its records list.
Read the records & evidence guide ↗An agreement, registration, certificate, receipt, warranty, procedure, or decision. A customer request, an accountant’s questions, or a handover. Use the categories that fit your business and add your own.
Restores the references, versions, requests, collections, and history. Original documents stay in their existing locations.
Separate fictional examples; your entries stay untouched.
Download after changes and before closing. Account saving is not connected in this working draft. Names and access notes describe your arrangements; they do not grant permissions.
Bring this work into your wider business review. Open Owner Overview ↗ Download this tool’s editable file, then choose Add a source file in your overview.
Brass Charter / The Library
For the question in front of you.
You might be exploring an idea, taking on a business, or finding a better way to do familiar work. Find something useful for where you are today.
Choose what fits. There is no required order.
A clearer question, a useful conversation, and one manageable test.
Explore this chapterA personal buyer brief and better questions for your next conversation.
Explore this chapterA clearer discussion, open questions, and next actions you can return to together.
Explore this chapterA workable week, a clearer next action, and a first repeatable process.
Explore this chapterA practical handover with responsibilities, useful references, and next steps to check together.
Explore this chapterFree guides, examples, and worksheets.
Explain the help you need, the result you want, and the questions to ask before working together.
Take away: A clear brief and conversation questions you can download, reopen, and edit.
Understand different kinds of help, prepare a useful first conversation, and find official support resources.
Take away: A starting point for describing your needs and exploring who could help.
Turn an early idea into a clear question and a first practical test.
Take away: An idea plan you can download.
Describe the work, boundaries, and unanswered questions that shape your search.
Take away: A personal buyer brief you can download.
Look back, take stock, and choose the few priorities that matter next.
Take away: A weekly plan you can download.
Prepare questions, capture someone’s experience, and choose what to learn next. For a new idea or an existing service.
Take away: Questions, conversation notes, reflections, and a next action you can reopen and edit.
Put two to four options beside what matters to you. Keep facts, assumptions, and questions distinct while you decide.
Take away: A reusable comparison with your choice, reasoning, and next steps.
Make everyday work easier to repeat. Group steps, add instructions, and work through a run.
Take away: A reusable checklist you can edit, use, and download.
Make room for each person's expectations, contributions, and working needs. Keep discussion notes, open questions, and next actions together.
Take away: An editable discussion record with each person's perspective and topics to revisit.
Help someone pick up the work. Gather responsibilities, contacts, records, unfinished commitments, and walkthrough notes.
Take away: An editable handover, with open questions and next actions to check together.
Explore the costs and time behind one product or service. Compare prices and assumptions, with an optional monthly cost and capacity check.
Take away: Two sets of figures, explained results, assumptions, and a useful next step you can keep.
Map eight weeks of expected receipts and payments, notice cash gaps, and compare a change in timing.
Take away: An eight-week outlook, a separate comparison, and the figures and next actions to keep.
Keep customer promises, next actions, waiting responses, and recorded outcomes together.
Take away: A dated working list, a short history for each request, and a reusable copy to continue later.
Turn a customer request into a clear scope, itemized price, and customer-facing draft you can keep.
Take away: A quote draft with included work, boundaries, priced items, timing, and a reusable file for further editing.
Prepare invoices, record partial payments, and return to a clear view of what remains due.
Take away: A reusable invoice book, customer invoices, payment summaries, and a view of outstanding amounts by currency.
Follow supplier bills, personally covered costs, recurring commitments, and the money a customer job needs before it pays.
Take away: A reusable spending book with payment history, owner balances, renewal reviews, and job funding timelines.
Turn agreed customer work into clear steps, resolve blockers, review available time, and finish the job with the next action understood.
Take away: A reusable delivery book, workload review, recorded scope decisions, and a customer progress draft.
See what needs attention across selected business tool files, connect related work, and choose practical next actions.
Take away: A dated overview, an action plan, and the source copies behind your decisions.
Know what you need, what the supplier promised, what arrived, and what still needs resolving.
Take away: An editable purchasing book with clear orders, accepted supply and practical next actions.
Keep the relationship, the possible work, and the next commitment clear—from a first inquiry to a repeat order.
Take away: A customer record, a distinct opportunity, and the next commitment you can act on.
Explain recurring work, try the instructions, keep separate runs, and follow exceptions and improvements through.
Take away: An editable business playbook, versioned instructions, individual run records, and follow-up lists.
Find the right copy, check its location and purpose, follow missing information through, and prepare selected records lists.
Take away: An editable records register, request action list, private summaries, and selected records lists.
Keep obligations, earlier decision dates, preparation, pending confirmations, and recurring occurrences in a register you can return to.
Take away: An editable obligations register, a practical attention list, and selected calendar entries.
Arrange cover for essential work, check alternatives, practice a disruption, and keep a plan someone else can use.
Take away: An editable continuity plan, scenario references, selected-person briefings, and separate practice and disruption records.
Count, reserve, move, and replenish the goods and supplies your work depends on.
Take away: An editable stock book, clear quantities, movement history, reviewed counts, and practical replenishment actions.
Keep essential equipment available, cared for, and ready for the work depending on it.
Take away: An editable equipment book, clear use and return records, service history, practical reading copies and reviewed connections.
Compare job estimates with recorded time and costs, keep payments distinct, and improve the next quote.
Take away: An editable job book, useful internal reviews, and practical next steps.
Ask about an experience someone has actually had, then leave yourself a better question to investigate.
Take away: A short conversation outline and a way to separate what you heard from what you assumed.
Choose something you need to learn, then try a small way to find out before making a larger commitment.
Take away: One question to investigate, a test with clear limits, and a point to review what you learned.
Use a conversation about ordinary work to understand what you might actually be taking on.
Take away: Questions about daily work, interruptions, responsibilities, and the things you still need to observe.
Make a useful record of what you have heard, what you have seen, and what still needs checking.
Take away: A simple evidence note you can take into a conversation with the seller or an appropriate adviser.
Make an unfinished task specific enough that someone can act on it and know what happened next.
Take away: A task with an owner, a concrete action, a completion signal, and a review point.
Capture one recurring task clearly enough that the next person can follow it and improve it.
Take away: A checklist that explains when to begin, what to do, how to check it, and when to ask for help.
Explore the business and working life each person has in mind, then leave with a useful next conversation to have.
Take away: A record of perspectives, working views, unanswered questions, and next actions to confirm.
Make the everyday work easier for someone else to pick up, one responsibility and one conversation at a time.
Take away: A clearer picture of the work, what someone needs to learn, and what to check before responsibility changes.
Give the work, costs, and customer decision their own place before choosing a price.
Take away: A clearer cost picture, a useful comparison, and a question to investigate before relying on the figures.
Put dates beside receipts and payments so you can see the gaps that totals alone can miss.
Take away: A dated cash plan, a useful change to compare, and a payment or assumption to investigate.
Give each request a clear next action, keep the promise in view, and record what happens.
Take away: A practical way to return to customer requests and keep useful context beside the next action.
Explain the work, the price, and the expectations so your customer can understand the offer.
Take away: A draft that puts the customer request, scope, prices, and next conversation together.
Give every invoice a clear identity, record what arrives, and know which balance needs attention.
Take away: A repeatable way to prepare an invoice and follow its remaining balance.
Give each cost a purpose, keep money movements clear, and see which commitment or conversation needs attention next.
Take away: A practical way to review what the business owes, what you have covered, and what the spending is meant to achieve.
Plan the work you agreed, make dependencies visible, and keep changes and completion understandable.
Take away: A practical way to see what can move, what is waiting, and what needs a customer decision.
Bring the moving parts of your business into view without losing the promises, evidence and people behind them.
Take away: A practical review of what needs attention and a next step you can take.
Make supplier choices, orders, deliveries and unfinished promises easier to follow—from a first purchase to repeat business.
Take away: A clear requirement, a traceable supplier agreement, and a way to follow the purchase through.
Keep the relationship, the possible work, and the next commitment clear—from a first inquiry to a repeat order.
Take away: A customer record, a distinct opportunity, and the next commitment you can act on.
Turn practical business knowledge into instructions someone can use. Try them, keep each run separate, and learn from the work.
Take away: A procedure you can try, an individual run you can review, and a clear next action for anything unfinished.
Make important records findable, distinguish versions, resolve missing information, and prepare the right details for a particular job.
Take away: A practical way to find, check, request, and prepare the records your work needs.
Give each business obligation an owner, meaningful dates, practical preparation, and evidence of what actually happened.
Take away: A repeatable way to prepare, act, confirm the outcome, and keep the next occurrence visible.
Prepare for an absence or interruption with arrangements people can find, understand, and try.
Take away: A clearer view of essential work, the arrangements behind it, and the next thing to check.
Keep usable stock, customer commitments, and expected deliveries clear enough to act on.
Take away: A checked stock position and a practical way to keep it useful.
Bring the item, its care and the job depending on it into the same picture.
Take away: Know what needs attention before equipment is promised or used.
Review one customer job with clear costs, honest gaps and a better next decision.
Take away: A job review that explains the result and helps improve your next estimate.
Try a broader word or clear the filters to explore the full Library.
The Library / Starting a business
Starting a business
Begin with the person you want to help, the question you need to answer, and a small way to learn. You can start before you have everything worked out.
Follow the path, or jump to the question you have.
Prepare a conversation about someone's real experience.
Open this resourceAdapt questions, record a conversation, and decide what to investigate next.
Open this resourceGive costs, time, and the customer decision their own place before choosing a price.
Open this resourceCompare the costs and time behind one offering, with an optional monthly view and a record you can keep.
Open this resourcePut dates beside receipts and payments, and notice what totals alone can miss.
Open this resourceKeep an expected cash timeline, compare a change, and choose a useful next action.
Open this resourceKeep the promise, the next action, and what happened together.
Open this resourceReview dated actions and waiting responses, then record the outcome and next step.
Open this resourcePrepare itemized prices, scope boundaries, and a customer-facing draft to review and keep.
Open this resourceGive invoices a clear identity and keep actual receipts separate from what remains due.
Open this resourceKeep a reusable invoice book with customer documents, payment records, and an outstanding view.
Open this resourceSeparate the cost, who paid, and the next decision before another commitment comes due.
Open this resourceKeep bills, owner payments, recurring reviews, and customer-job timing in one reusable book.
Open this resourceMake customer expectations, dependencies, effort, and changes understandable.
Open this resourceBuild a reusable delivery book with work steps, blockers, workload reviews, and clear completion.
Open this resourceCheck the evidence, connect related work, and choose a realistic next step.
Open this resourceUse selected tool files and your own decisions to build an owner overview and action plan.
Open this resourceUnderstand supplier choices, agreement, receipt and acceptance.
Open this resourceKeep requirements, offers, orders, deliveries and unfinished promises connected.
Open this resourceSeparate the customer, the possible work, and the next commitment.
Open this resourceKeep requests, offers, decisions, and commitments clear from first contact to delivery handover.
Open this resourceExplain, try, and improve the instructions your business relies on.
Open this resourceKeep versioned procedures, separate runs, exceptions, and improvements in an editable playbook.
Open this resourceKeep versions, access checks, missing evidence, and the purpose of the record clear.
Open this resourcePrepare a reusable register and a selected records list for a specific job.
Open this resourceFind the earlier action, prepare the work, and keep evidence of the outcome.
Open this resourceOrganize obligations, dated actions, preparation, and recurring occurrences in a reusable register.
Open this resourceIdentify essential work, arrange practical cover, and check the alternatives before they are needed.
Open this resourceBuild a continuity plan, practice a scenario, and keep clear instructions for the people involved.
Open this resourceDistinguish counted, usable, promised, and expected quantities.
Open this resourceCount, receive, move, reserve, and replenish the goods your work depends on.
Open this resourceThe Library / Buying a business
Buying a business
Explore what you want to own, what the everyday work involves, and what you still need to find out. Keep your preferences and the evidence in view together.
Follow the path, or jump to the question you have.
Put your working preferences, boundaries, and questions into a brief.
Open this resourceLook beyond opening hours to the work behind the business.
Open this resourceSeparate what you have been told from what you have checked.
Open this resourceKeep versions, access checks, missing evidence, and the purpose of the record clear.
Open this resourcePrepare a reusable register and a selected records list for a specific job.
Open this resourceThe Library / Going into business together
Going into business together
You might be exploring an idea with a friend, considering a purchase with others, or revisiting how an existing business works. Start with what each person wants, what the work involves, and the questions you need to discuss.
Follow the path, or jump to the question you have.
Give each person room to explain their expectations, and keep questions separate from decisions.
Open this resourceRecord the people, six practical topics, differences to explore, and next actions. Start with a filled example or your own situation.
Open this resourceTurn an unresolved question into a brief for a relevant adviser or specialist.
Open this resourceCompare possible approaches using the same criteria, keeping assumptions and unanswered questions visible.
Open this resourceExplain, try, and improve the instructions your business relies on.
Open this resourceKeep versioned procedures, separate runs, exceptions, and improvements in an editable playbook.
Open this resourceIdentify essential work, arrange practical cover, and check the alternatives before they are needed.
Open this resourceBuild a continuity plan, practice a scenario, and keep clear instructions for the people involved.
Open this resourceThe Library / Running a business
Running a business
Notice what needs attention, make the next action clear, and make recurring work easier to repeat. A little structure can start with one task and one week.
Follow the path, or jump to the question you have.
Look back and choose one to three priorities you have room to act on.
Open this resourceGive an unfinished task an owner, an outcome, and a review point.
Open this resourceMake a small checklist for work you expect to do again.
Open this resourceTurn the task into a checklist, try a run, and keep an editable copy.
Open this resourceGive costs, time, and the customer decision their own place before choosing a price.
Open this resourceCompare the costs and time behind one offering, with an optional monthly view and a record you can keep.
Open this resourcePut dates beside receipts and payments, and notice what totals alone can miss.
Open this resourceKeep an expected cash timeline, compare a change, and choose a useful next action.
Open this resourceKeep the promise, the next action, and what happened together.
Open this resourceReview dated actions and waiting responses, then record the outcome and next step.
Open this resourcePrepare itemized prices, scope boundaries, and a customer-facing draft to review and keep.
Open this resourceGive invoices a clear identity and keep actual receipts separate from what remains due.
Open this resourceKeep a reusable invoice book with customer documents, payment records, and an outstanding view.
Open this resourceSeparate the cost, who paid, and the next decision before another commitment comes due.
Open this resourceKeep bills, owner payments, recurring reviews, and customer-job timing in one reusable book.
Open this resourceMake customer expectations, dependencies, effort, and changes understandable.
Open this resourceBuild a reusable delivery book with work steps, blockers, workload reviews, and clear completion.
Open this resourceCheck the evidence, connect related work, and choose a realistic next step.
Open this resourceUse selected tool files and your own decisions to build an owner overview and action plan.
Open this resourceUnderstand supplier choices, agreement, receipt and acceptance.
Open this resourceKeep requirements, offers, orders, deliveries and unfinished promises connected.
Open this resourceSeparate the customer, the possible work, and the next commitment.
Open this resourceKeep requests, offers, decisions, and commitments clear from first contact to delivery handover.
Open this resourceExplain, try, and improve the instructions your business relies on.
Open this resourceKeep versioned procedures, separate runs, exceptions, and improvements in an editable playbook.
Open this resourceKeep versions, access checks, missing evidence, and the purpose of the record clear.
Open this resourcePrepare a reusable register and a selected records list for a specific job.
Open this resourceFind the earlier action, prepare the work, and keep evidence of the outcome.
Open this resourceOrganize obligations, dated actions, preparation, and recurring occurrences in a reusable register.
Open this resourceIdentify essential work, arrange practical cover, and check the alternatives before they are needed.
Open this resourceBuild a continuity plan, practice a scenario, and keep clear instructions for the people involved.
Open this resourceDistinguish counted, usable, promised, and expected quantities.
Open this resourceCount, receive, move, reserve, and replenish the goods your work depends on.
Open this resourceBring use, care, faults and alternatives into one working picture.
Open this resourceCheck availability, arrange care, and follow repairs and returns through.
Open this resourceCompare the plan, entered costs and assumptions before the next quote.
Open this resourceKeep time, shared costs, value, payments and practical lessons clear.
Open this resourceThe Library / Moving on
Moving on
You might be sharing a responsibility, taking time away, stepping back, or preparing for someone else to take over. Begin with the work, the people, and what needs to keep happening.
Follow the path, or jump to the question you have.
Find the knowledge, timing, and everyday decisions that someone else will need. Leave room to practice and ask questions.
Open this resourceMap responsibilities, record useful contacts and records, gather unfinished commitments, and plan the next actions.
Open this resourceGive a particular job clear steps and a finish check that someone else can try.
Open this resourcePrepare the context and questions for a conversation about the help you need.
Open this resourceExplain, try, and improve the instructions your business relies on.
Open this resourceKeep versioned procedures, separate runs, exceptions, and improvements in an editable playbook.
Open this resourceKeep versions, access checks, missing evidence, and the purpose of the record clear.
Open this resourcePrepare a reusable register and a selected records list for a specific job.
Open this resourceFind the earlier action, prepare the work, and keep evidence of the outcome.
Open this resourceOrganize obligations, dated actions, preparation, and recurring occurrences in a reusable register.
Open this resourceIdentify essential work, arrange practical cover, and check the alternatives before they are needed.
Open this resourceBuild a continuity plan, practice a scenario, and keep clear instructions for the people involved.
Open this resourceThe Library / Starting a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Ask about an experience someone has actually had, then leave yourself a better question to investigate.
Choose one situation your idea is meant to help with. Instead of trying to explain your whole business, write the question that made you curious: what happens, who is involved, and where does it become difficult?
Digital.gov’s interview model uses open questions and asks about a recent experience. For this exercise, ask about a real occasion before asking someone to react to your proposed solution.
Background: Digital.gov: How to conduct an interview
Introduce yourself, explain what you are trying to learn, and ask whether the person is comfortable talking. Agree before recording. A few notes may be enough.
Afterward, make two short notes: what the person described, and what you think it might mean. A friendly reaction to an idea is not the same as someone choosing to use or buy it.
Notice disagreements and surprises as well as repeated themes. A small set of conversations gives you leads to investigate; it does not tell you how common an experience is across an entire market.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
An interview model from US federal digital-service research.
The Library / Starting a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Choose something you need to learn, then try a small way to find out before making a larger commitment.
Complete this sentence: for my next step to make sense, I am assuming that ____. You may have several answers. Choose one that affects what you would do next and that you can reasonably investigate.
Build only what you need to investigate that question. For example, a rough booking page can help you observe whether someone understands the proposed steps. Record what the exercise can and cannot tell you before spending more on it.
Background: Digital.gov: How to conduct a usability test
If you are unsure how someone deals with a problem, a conversation or observation may help. If the question is whether your instructions are understandable, ask someone to try a rough version. If you are unsure how long a task takes, rehearse the task and record what happens.
Write what this activity cannot answer. A readable booking page does not establish demand, and an enthusiastic conversation does not establish repeat purchasing.
Choose a practical limit: the time you will spend, the number of sessions you can arrange, or the effort you can afford to use. Then decide when you will stop and review.
At review, keep observations, interpretations, and unanswered questions separate. Your next move can be to continue, change the approach, ask a different question, or put the idea aside. No score is needed to make that note useful.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Background on observing people using a prototype to complete a task.
The Library / Buying a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Use a conversation about ordinary work to understand what you might actually be taking on.
The work that interests you may be only part of the owner's role. Use the questions below to explore an ordinary week, a busy week, and a week when someone is absent.
The U.S. Small Business Administration includes skills, lifestyle, and the business's existing arrangements among the things to consider when exploring a purchase. This guide develops the everyday-work part of that conversation.
Background: U.S. SBA: Buying an existing business
Invite the owner to describe a recent week rather than only an ideal schedule. Ask what happened and who handled it.
Next to each responsibility, note whether you have relevant experience, need to learn, or would depend on someone else. Keep uncertain hours and arrangements marked as questions.
Use that comparison to prepare the next conversation or a suitable observation of the work. An owner's description is a starting point; it does not settle staffing, training, transfer arrangements, or the wider investigation of a purchase.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Background on personal fit and investigating an existing business. The work-map exercise is an original Brass Charter example.
The Library / Buying a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Make a useful record of what you have heard, what you have seen, and what still needs checking.
Start with one statement you might rely on: a description of repeat customers, working hours, a process, or a supplier arrangement. Record what was said and where it came from.
The SBA recommends a thorough investigation of a business and identifies roles for attorneys and accountants. The note structure here helps organize questions for that work; it is not a completed due-diligence review.
Background: U.S. SBA: Investigating an existing business
A document can answer one question while leaving another open. Name the part that it supports rather than marking the whole subject as verified. Avoid collecting customer or employee details you do not need; agree appropriate access with the seller.
Give unresolved items a place in the next conversation. If someone cannot answer a question, record that as unresolved rather than filling the gap with your preferred explanation.
Questions about contracts, financial statements, tax, or the terms of a purchase need the relevant professional review. This guide organizes the discussion; it does not judge a price, recommend a deal, or certify the evidence.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Background on investigating a purchase and obtaining legal and accounting help. The four-column note is a Brass Charter working method.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Make an unfinished task specific enough that someone can act on it and know what happened next.
A note such as ‘quotes’ or ‘supplier’ can remind you of a problem without telling you what to do. Pick one loose end and write the next observable action.
For example: ‘check the two parts prices and send the revised quote’ gives you a starting point. ‘Fix sales’ is still a larger question that needs to be broken down.
If you work alone, you are still the owner, and your available time still matters. If someone else is involved, agree the handoff rather than treating a name on a list as an accepted commitment.
‘Waiting for the supplier’ can stay vague for days. Record what you asked for, when you asked, and when you will check again. Do not mark the whole job complete simply because you sent a message.
During your weekly review, choose what fits alongside existing commitments. Keep work you cannot fit visible as deferred, delegated by agreement, or awaiting a specific response.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Procedure-writing background from an environmental quality context; not a requirement for every business.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Capture one recurring task clearly enough that the next person can follow it and improve it.
Start with a small task that recurs: preparing a routine quote, checking an order before collection, or setting up a meeting. Leave the whole department manual for another day.
Begin with one task that someone can walk through and comment on. Keep the instructions available where the work happens, then revise the unclear steps after trying them. The EPA’s procedure guidance offers background on documenting repeatable work.
Background: EPA: Guidance for Preparing Standard Operating Procedures
Use the names people already use for the work. Put a decision next to the step it affects. If a step only says ‘check everything,’ replace it with what is being checked.
Walk through a normal example with the person who does the task. Notice missing information, unclear language, and exceptions. Ask what should change before asking anyone to rely on it.
Give the checklist a name, a person responsible for keeping it current, and a review point. This simple exercise is for ordinary administrative work; specialist or safety-critical procedures need the relevant expertise and controls.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Procedure-writing background from an environmental quality context; not a requirement for every business.
The Library / Going into business together
Practical guide / Free to read
Explore the business and working life each person has in mind, then leave with a useful next conversation to have.
Before you start dividing tasks, give each person a chance to describe what they want from the business. A flexible week, a full-time job, a small experiment, and a business to grow are different starting points.
Try asking: what would a good ordinary week look like for you? What would you want to protect? What would you need to learn before making a bigger commitment? You can prepare your own answers first, then leave the other person's perspective open until you speak.
Discuss contributions, ownership expectations, roles, decisions, disagreements, and what should happen if someone wants to leave. These are discussion prompts. In the US, the appropriate structure and arrangements depend on the business and the state; use the notes to prepare for advice specific to your situation.
In your notes, separate what someone could contribute from what they would do each week and what they expect in return. A proposed contribution does not, by itself, settle pay, ownership, or decision-making.
Background: SBA: Launch your business
Write down whose view you are recording. ‘We want to grow’ can hide a difference between someone who wants to try one weekend a month and someone hoping to leave their job.
Use a status that reflects the conversation: not discussed, still discussing, a working view, different views, or a need for specialist input. A working view is something to check with everyone. A completed worksheet is not evidence that everyone agrees.
Describe recurring tasks with concrete examples: answering inquiries, preparing quotes, ordering supplies, delivering work, and keeping records. Ask what would happen if the usual person were unavailable.
Leave a place for questions about changes in time, responsibilities, or who is involved. The government's guidance also includes what happens when someone joins or leaves. Your first conversation can identify the questions without choosing a legal mechanism.
Background: SBA: Launch your business
Choose a few actions that could reduce uncertainty: walk through a working week, list existing commitments, prepare a document list, or ask an appropriate specialist a defined question. Name who you will ask to take each action and when you will return to it.
Check the notes with each person before treating a task as theirs. Keep the earlier uncertainty visible when a question is still unresolved. You can revise this record as the conversation develops.
The planner is preparation for discussion. It does not create a contract, allocate ownership, calculate a buyout, or choose a business structure. Take legal, tax, ownership, and other specialist questions to someone appropriately qualified for your situation.
Keep the discussion notes as context for an attorney and any accounting advice you need before finalizing an agreement. Ask how each person’s interests should be represented and which decisions remain unresolved.
Background: SBA: Launch your business
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business structures, registrations, and licensing background.
The Library / Moving on
Practical guide / Free to read
Make the everyday work easier for someone else to pick up, one responsibility and one conversation at a time.
A colleague covering a week away needs a different handover from someone taking on a permanent role. Describe the piece of work, the period involved, and who needs to discuss the arrangements. Include what will stay with the current person.
Begin with one question: what would someone need to understand to pick this up tomorrow? You can prepare a first draft yourself, then check it with the people involved. Naming someone in a plan is a proposal until their responsibility and authority are agreed.
Write down the practical knowledge the next person needs: how the work starts, the steps that matter, useful records, and how to recognize a problem. For an ownership transfer, keep this operational handover alongside the separate sale or succession arrangements.
Choose a recent, ordinary example of the task. Write when it begins, where the information comes from, what needs doing, and how someone knows it is finished. Include the moment when the usual routine no longer fits: a late delivery, missing information, or a request that needs approval.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
A description of the routine will not tell the next person about a customer waiting for an answer. Keep a separate list of commitments already made: what is underway, what has happened, the next step, who needs to follow it through, and the relevant deadline or check-in.
Write uncertain details as questions. ‘Delivery expected Tuesday; needs confirmation’ gives someone a better starting point than a date that looks settled. Ask who needs to hear about the change and who will explain it.
List the contacts, records, and tools needed for the work. Add what each contact can help with and where the current record lives. Use an approved contact directory or a document location where that is enough.
Then try finding the information with the next person. Can they locate the right version and get the permission they need? Keep passwords and access codes in the appropriate protected system; record who can arrange access in the handover. Share only the details needed for the work.
Walk through the task with the person taking it over. Let them try it, notice where the written instructions are unclear, and record questions that still need an answer. A completed document alone does not establish that the handover has worked.
For an everyday task, show an example, let the next person try it, and ask them to explain what they would do if something changed. Record the questions and adjust the instructions. In the planner, a walkthrough status is your record of what happened. Filling in fields does not automatically mark a responsibility as handed over.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Discuss where questions should go, when help will be available, and when you will review the arrangement. Be specific about the end of temporary cover or any follow-up support. Put the first review point somewhere both people can find.
Revisit your notes when the work or the people change. If ownership, employment, contracts, or other formal arrangements are involved, use the practical notes to prepare questions for relevant professional advice; this worksheet does not settle those arrangements.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business management background.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Give the work, costs, and customer decision their own place before choosing a price.
Describe one sale in ordinary words: one visit, a packaged item, a monthly service, or a defined project. Write what is included and what would need a separate discussion. Use that same unit for the price, time, costs, and sales count.
A batch is different from an item, and an order can contain several items. If a fee applies once per order, you need a sensible per-item allowance or an order-sized unit. A calculation with mismatched units can look precise while answering the wrong question.
List what a sale uses: materials, packaging, delivery, and other direct costs. Then consider preparation, travel, messages, delivery, and follow-up. Keep evidence beside the estimate: a recent invoice, time from an actual job, or a question still to check.
List the materials, paid work, your own time, fees, and monthly costs that this offering needs to support. Counting those entries gives you a calculation to review alongside the customer’s decision and the value you intend to deliver.
Background: SBA: Plan your business
In this explorer, paid labor and your own time have separate labels. An allowance for your own time helps you see whether the offering leaves room for the work you put in, even if you do not pay yourself a wage for each job.
Once that allowance is included, it has already been deducted from the amount left. Do not read the remainder as all the money available to pay you. Equally, including an allowance does not mean the cash has actually been paid. This worksheet explores cost coverage; it does not maintain your books or forecast payment dates.
If wages are entered per sale, avoid also including the same wages in monthly overhead. For employees, consider the full hourly employment cost relevant to your situation rather than treating the headline wage as the whole cost.
Some fees are a percentage of the price. Raising the price changes those fees too. The explorer calculates the percentage fee on the price entered, rounds it to the nearest cent, and adds the fixed fee per sale.
Actual providers may use a different fee basis, such as an order total including tax. Check the rule that applies to you. Use prices before taxes collected from the customer, and include purchase costs you actually bear. The explorer does not calculate tax; get help with the treatment if you are unsure.
A markup and a margin describe different ratios. If the relevant cost is 80 and the price is 100, the difference is 20: a 25% markup on cost, or 20% of the selling price. The explorer labels its remainder directly and keeps monthly costs separate, so it is not presenting that remainder as an accounting profit margin.
Rent, insurance, and other recurring costs may need covering across several offerings. Enter only the monthly costs you want this offering to cover, alongside an expected sales count. Record how you chose that allocation.
The SBA's break-even method divides fixed costs by the amount each sale contributes after variable costs. This explorer applies that relationship to the costs and time allowances you enter. A positive contribution is needed to recover positive monthly costs. When each sale has a shortfall, selling more under the same assumptions makes that shortfall larger.
Background: SBA: Plan your business
Twenty sales at three person-hours each need sixty person-hours of the work you have listed. The optional availability field compares that total with the hours available for this offering. Leave room for the other work and commitments that also use people's time.
This is a simple total-hours check. It cannot establish whether the right person, equipment, or appointment slot is available. Use it to identify a question for your schedule, especially when the sales needed to cover costs exceed what the available hours could deliver.
Keep your starting figures and create a separate change. Try an extra hour, a higher material cost, a different price, or lower monthly sales. Begin with one change so you can understand its effect, then explore a combined case if it is useful.
A cost-covering price only covers the entries under the stated assumptions. It does not establish what customers value or will pay. Use a customer conversation or a small test to investigate the offer, while keeping cost assumptions and demand assumptions distinct.
Background: SBA: Plan your business
Choose the assumption that most needs checking. You might time a real job, confirm a supplier's fee, clarify how many revisions an offer includes, or ask customers about how they currently solve the problem.
Download the reusable file so you can return to both versions and revise them when you learn more. The text and PDF copies include the entered figures, calculation results, assumptions, and notes. None of those outputs turns a planning estimate into a verified business result.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business planning background.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Put dates beside receipts and payments so you can see the gaps that totals alone can miss.
Choose the business accounts and cash you want to track together. Find the balance immediately before the first day of the plan. Record what is included and the date you checked it. If a payment is already reflected in that starting figure, do not also enter it as a future movement.
For each day, the planner adds expected receipts to the opening balance and subtracts expected payments. That closing balance becomes the next day’s opening balance. Your chosen start date defines eight consecutive seven-day weeks.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
A completed job, an invoice, and a payment can happen on different dates. Enter the date cash is expected to arrive or leave. If that date is uncertain, label the entry as an estimate and write down what would help confirm it.
A sales total and a cash balance answer different questions. In this planner, put a customer receipt on the day you expect the money to arrive, even if the invoice was issued earlier. Put each payment on its expected date too.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
The planner asks for the full cash receipt or payment. Include tax contained in that amount when it is part of the money moving. Also record tax payments to an authority on the expected payment dates when relevant. The tool does not calculate what tax is owed.
Include other cash commitments that may not look like everyday operating expenses: debt repayments, equipment purchases, and owner withdrawals. Borrowing or an owner contribution is money in only when funds are expected to arrive; it is not customer revenue. Do not count unused credit as starting cash.
Transfers between accounts already combined in your starting cash do not change that combined total. A transfer across the boundary you chose does. Keep the boundary consistent so the same money is not counted twice.
Use a repeat for a regular amount, such as weekly rent or a monthly subscription. Enter the first expected date and, if relevant, the last date that should repeat. The planner includes only occurrences inside the eight-week period.
Monthly repeats keep their original day. A payment anchored to the 31st uses the last day of a shorter month and returns to the 31st in a later month that has one. Weekend and holiday adjustments are not applied. If real payment dates differ, use separate dated entries instead.
If an amount changes, end that repeat and add a new entry. Do not add a separate copy of a payment that is already covered by a repeat. Check the dated movement list to see exactly what has been counted.
A receipt late in the week can restore a balance after an earlier payment creates a gap. The planner therefore shows each day's closing balance and each week's lowest starting or day-end balance, as well as the week-end total.
You can enter a cash level you want to watch. The result shows the first crossing below it and the largest gap to it. That level is your own planning choice; the tool does not select a reserve or assess what is sufficient for your business.
Movements on the same day are combined. A positive day-end balance does not establish that a morning payment can clear before an afternoon receipt. Check the order of any tight same-day commitments separately.
Copy your starting plan into the comparison, then change one assumption. Move a customer receipt later, enter a different amount, or test a payment schedule you want to discuss. Each version keeps its own entries and starting balance.
The two-week delay button moves the selected receipt in the comparison only. For repeating receipts it moves the first date and any last repeat date too. Inspect monthly dates after a move because the new first date becomes the monthly anchor.
If an entry has no occurrence inside the window, it stays visible as an excluded entry. A receipt moved past the end has not disappeared from the business; it simply contributes no cash inside these eight weeks. An unchanged final balance can also conceal a very different low point.
Use a bill, payment agreement, recent pattern, or customer confirmation as the basis for an entry. Mark what you have checked and keep the source in a note. Checked and estimated entries are both included at their full amounts; the planner does not assign probabilities.
Keep estimates identifiable. Use the comparison to explore an uncertain date or amount, and update the plan as you learn more. The result is a forecast based on your entries, not a verified bank balance.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Choose the date or assumption that matters most. You might confirm a receipt, check the terms of a supplier bill, identify a missing commitment, or prepare a cash question for someone who helps with your finances. Record who to speak with and when to return.
Download the reusable file to keep both versions. Text and PDF copies provide a readable record of the weekly balances, entries, assumptions, and next steps. When moving the start date forward later, check the opening cash again; this tool does not reconcile actual bank activity automatically.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business management background.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Give each request a clear next action, keep the promise in view, and record what happens.
A follow-up begins when a conversation leaves something to do, confirm, or return to. Keep the customer, the request, and your next action together so you can pick up the thread without reconstructing the conversation.
Use a name or reference that lets you find the right context. Keep only the details needed to do the work. Record the useful parts of the interaction and any feedback you need to follow through on.
Background: Digital.gov: How to conduct an interview
What the customer expects and what you need to do next are often different. A customer may expect a repair price by Friday; your next action may be to check a part price with a supplier on Thursday. Record both so the internal task does not hide the promise.
Write an action you can recognize as done: check the supplier response, answer the outstanding question, or confirm the agreed delivery window. A broad intention such as ‘look after this customer’ gives less help when you return to the list.
Name the response, information, or person you are waiting for. Then decide what you will do next and when you will check again. You may need to update the customer even when the answer has not arrived.
The Waiting view keeps these dependencies visible. A waiting item can also be overdue or due today. The views overlap because they answer different questions: where the work stands and when you planned to return to it.
Today and Overdue use the ‘Reviewing as of’ date shown above the list. This week means Monday through Sunday around that date, so it can include an earlier overdue action. Needs a date keeps undated actions visible.
When you reopen an older file, check its review date. Use ‘Use today’ to bring the views forward. Dates organize the list; the planner does not send notifications or contact customers. Decide when you will actually return to review it.
After a conversation, a response, or a useful change, record the date and what happened. Distinguish an attempt from an outcome: leaving a message is different from receiving an answer. Choose another action, wait with a next check, or finish the request.
Connect what the customer said with what you have agreed to do. Keep their experience separate from your interpretation when the reason behind it is still unclear. Record the response and the next commitment together.
Background: Digital.gov: How to conduct an interview
Each recorded update keeps your note with the action and status before and after it. You can correct the note or its date without rewriting those recorded actions. Direct edits to the working fields are not added to this history; use ‘Record an update’ when you want to keep what happened.
Finishing a follow-up means that this request needs no further action. It does not mean a sale was made. Completed items retain their updates, and you can reopen one by recording an update with a new next action.
One plan holds up to fifty follow-ups, with twenty recorded updates per follow-up. Keep a downloaded copy before starting another plan or continuing a longer history in a new record.
Begin with overdue actions and today's commitments. Check waiting responses, then look for items that still need a date or more detail. Choose a realistic action and owner for the work you can move forward.
Keep agreed communication preferences in mind when deciding how and when to contact someone. A useful follow-up serves the request; repeated contact without a reason does not improve the record.
Download the reusable file before closing the page. It keeps unfinished records and history so you can continue later. Text and PDF copies include the whole plan, including items hidden by the current view or search. Use the Weekly Review to choose which commitments fit alongside your other work.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
An interview model from US federal digital-service research.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Explain the work, the price, and the expectations so your customer can understand the offer.
Write down the result the customer wants. Then describe what you are offering to supply or do. A short description of the request gives the priced items a purpose: someone reading the document can see how the proposed work responds to their need.
Use the draft to connect the customer’s goal with the work offered, itemized prices, dates, and payment arrangements. Before sending it, check the business and document details appropriate to your work and location in the United States.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Name the deliverables, quantities, visits, revision rounds, or other limits that define this job. Explain likely expectations that fall outside it. For a flyer, that might mean one layout and one revision round, with printing and additional formats excluded.
Record dependencies separately: information from the customer, access to the site, approvals, or materials you need to confirm. If something changes the work or the price, give it a place in the conversation before it becomes a surprise.
Check that you understand the requested work and have the resources and availability to deliver it. Make likely extras visible as exclusions or optional items so the customer can see the boundary of the offered scope.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Use the customer's selling price for each item. Keep your internal cost calculation in the Pricing Explorer or your own records. A customer line might be one installation, three visits, or a quantity of goods; choose a unit that makes the quantity understandable.
The builder multiplies each quantity by its unit price and rounds that line to two decimal places. It then adds the included lines. Quantities can have up to three decimal places, while unit prices have up to two. An empty quantity or price stays unfinished; a zero price is a deliberate no-charge item.
Use one currency for the draft. Changing the currency label does not convert the amounts. Check the actual prices if you change the currency, and keep delivery or other charges visible as their own described lines where appropriate.
An optional line gives the customer something extra to discuss. The builder lists it separately and leaves it out of the draft total. If that work becomes part of the offer, change the line to Included and review the scope and total again.
Optional items are not an alternatives engine. If the customer is choosing between two complete approaches, prepare separate drafts with clear references so that quantities and totals cannot be mistaken for one combined offer.
Choose the treatment you have confirmed for the job. The builder can leave entered prices unchanged with no added tax, treat the prices as already containing tax, or add one named rate to the included subtotal. It does not decide which treatment applies.
For an added rate, the tax amount is rounded once on the subtotal and then added to it. Optional amounts remain outside that calculation. The tax-included choice does not extract or display a separate tax component. If your document needs that breakdown, mixed rates, exemptions by item, or other treatment, resolve the calculation and document requirements separately.
State a workable schedule or explain what must happen before timing can be confirmed. Put customer responsibilities beside the assumptions. Add the payment arrangements you intend to discuss, and use terms you have reviewed for your work and location.
Make the next step specific: confirm a delivery address, review the proposed scope, supply the final artwork, or agree a booking date. The Customer Follow-up Planner can help you return to that commitment; opening it does not send or copy this quote automatically.
Preview the document as the customer will see it. Check names, scope, quantities, prices, dates, and the total. The review page points out common missing details, but filled fields are not proof that the information is correct.
This builder labels its output as a draft for review and discussion. It does not issue the document or record customer acceptance. Review the scope, tax choices, and terms against the actual arrangement and applicable US state and local requirements before using the draft commercially.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
The customer text and PDF contain the entered offer, including any terms you supplied. Working notes for yourself are excluded from both. The reusable file contains all fields, including those notes and unfinished entries, so keep it for your own use.
Download a reusable copy before closing. If you change an offer you have already shared, keep the earlier file separately and give the new draft a clear revision label. The builder edits one draft at a time and does not maintain an issued-version archive.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business management background.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Give every invoice a clear identity, record what arrives, and know which balance needs attention.
An invoice explains what is being charged, who should pay, and how to do so. Check the recipient, the work supplied, the reference, the dates, and the payment instructions before using it. A purchase-order reference or supply period may help the customer match it to their records.
Review the business and customer details, the work supplied, amounts, payment arrangements, and the record you will keep. The tracker supplies fields and calculations for your review; it does not determine US federal, state, or local tax treatment or guarantee a legally sufficient invoice.
Background: IRS: What kind of records should I keep?
Give each issued invoice its own reference. This book prevents reuse of an issued reference, even after cancellation; it cannot check other books or outside systems. Choose a sequence you can manage across all your records.
The invoice date identifies the document. The supply date or period describes when the goods or work were provided. The due date tells the customer when payment is expected. Check the details needed for your business, customer agreement, and applicable tax requirements before sending it.
Recording as issued fixes the customer-facing details in this book. It does not send the document or prove that the customer received it. Use the original-invoice preview to download the copy you intend to deliver.
Background: IRS: What kind of records should I keep?
Open a reusable Quote & Scope file and choose the lines that actually belong on the invoice. Included quote items begin selected; optional ones do not. Check that the customer agreed to the work being billed and that the quantities and prices still apply.
The new invoice reference and dates start empty. Private quote notes are not imported. The quoted payment wording is a starting point: replace proposal-stage wording with the actual instructions for this invoice. If quoted prices contain tax, confirm the tax name and rate again because the quote file does not supply a verified tax breakdown.
Each quantity is multiplied by its unit price and rounded to two decimal places. The tool adds these rounded lines. For an added tax, it rounds the tax once on that subtotal. For tax-inclusive prices, it extracts the tax component from the inclusive total and subtracts it to show the amount before tax.
One rate applies to all lines. Use the confirmed treatment appropriate to the transaction. Mixed rates, item exemptions, multiple taxes, credits, and jurisdiction-specific rounding rules need separate handling. Choosing no added tax does not establish that a transaction is exempt.
Each invoice uses one currency. The book groups balances by currency and does not convert or combine them. The invoice limit is 1 billion currency units, with up to 20 item lines; empty numeric fields remain unfinished rather than silently becoming zero.
When money arrives, record the amount applied to this invoice, its actual date, and a useful method or reference. Check it against your payment records. A promised payment is still expected cash, not a receipt. A deposit already received can be entered with its original receipt date.
A 600 invoice with a 200 payment is still a 600 invoice. The separate payment summary shows 200 recorded and 400 remaining. A second 400 receipt completes the balance. If receipts exceed the invoice, the extra amount remains visible as an overpayment to resolve; the tool does not quietly turn it into income or a refund.
For a transfer covering several invoices, allocate the correct portion to each invoice and reuse the transfer reference so you can reconcile it. Do not enter the entire transfer against every invoice. This working book does not connect to your bank or reconcile transactions automatically.
The review date controls which receipts count toward the displayed balance. An invoice dated after that date is excluded. The due date itself is shown as due today; an unpaid balance becomes overdue on the following day. Drafts and canceled invoices do not contribute to outstanding totals.
The overdue view helps you find a next action. First check whether payment arrived, whether the customer received the correct invoice, and whether a query needs answering. Keep the conversation in the Customer Follow-up Planner and expected timing in the Cash Timing Planner. Opening either tool leaves this book intact but does not copy entries.
A past review date uses the current corrected entries, not a snapshot of what you knew at that time. A corrected receipt therefore changes past-date calculations. The status history uses dates; multiple changes on one date resolve to the final status for that date.
If you typed the wrong payment amount or date, use Correct this entry. The old entry stays visible as excluded, alongside your reason, and the replacement is counted once. If a receipt was duplicated or never happened, exclude the erroneous entry with an explanation.
These actions correct records; they do not represent money leaving the business. Keep real refunds, credits, write-offs, disputed amounts, and their supporting documents in the appropriate accounting records. Do not remove a genuine receipt to make an invoice look unpaid.
An unpaid invoice entered in error can be marked canceled with a reason. Its original details remain and its reference cannot be reused. An invoice with current payment entries cannot be canceled here. If the cancellation itself was a mistake, restore the same invoice with a reason.
Keep business defaults in the book to fill new blank invoices. Existing drafts and issued invoices do not change when defaults change. Copy an invoice for repeat work: it retains the customer and items, while clearing the reference, dates, supply period, order reference, private notes, and payment history. Review any copied description or terms for the new work.
Download the reusable book after changes. It contains unfinished drafts, issued records, receipts, corrections, status history, and private notes. Reopen it here to continue. Customer invoice and payment-summary PDFs exclude private notes; a PDF alone cannot restore the working book.
The book holds up to 50 invoices and 50 payment entries per invoice, including excluded entries. It is a manually kept working record, not an account-backed or tamper-proof ledger. Keep the latest reusable file somewhere you can find and back it up. Avoid editing multiple copies at once, because reopening a file replaces this tab's book rather than merging changes.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Federal tax recordkeeping background; supporting documents and organized records.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Give each cost a purpose, keep money movements clear, and see which commitment or conversation needs attention next.
You may be paying for a first order before its customer pays you. You may have covered materials from your own account, inherited a collection of monthly charges, or have several supplier bills and limited cash. Begin with the situation that needs a decision; you do not need a complete financial system before recording one useful piece of it.
The tool connects five views: the coming week, bills and proposed spending, personally covered costs, recurring commitments, and customer-job timing. Add what you know, leave unknown amounts blank, and give unresolved questions a next action.
Record the full business amount once, including charges and taxes that belong to that bill. For a mixed personal and business receipt, enter only the business portion you have identified. Keep the original document separately and put a useful reference here; the tool does not store receipt images.
A proposed purchase is something you are considering. A confirmed cost is a real supplier bill or purchase. Confirming it does not pay it. Record actual payments separately, including a purchase that was paid immediately. A 600 bill paid in two parts is one 600 cost, not two expenses and an extra bill.
Amounts use one currency per record and remain grouped by currency. The tool follows full payable amounts and cash timing; it does not decide deductible expenses, tax treatment, depreciation, or profit.
Record who actually paid the supplier. A purchase paid personally by the owner is different from money that has left the business account. Keep the expense and any later reimbursement separately identifiable in the book.
If you personally pay 200 toward a 600 bill, the supplier has 400 remaining. If reimbursement is intended and the business later returns 50 to you, the intended owner balance is 150. The original cost remains 600; the 50 return is a separate business cash movement.
Name the person for each personal payment. Record reimbursement intended, contribution intended, or undecided. These labels express a working intention, not a verified accounting classification. Confirm the appropriate treatment for your business. Link each reimbursement to its original owner payment so multiple owners or part payments remain understandable.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Bring together the dates for this particular job: customer deposits or balances, supplier payments, remaining bills, and intended owner reimbursements. Review the timing before assuming the customer’s eventual payment will cover an earlier cash need.
Enter business cash set aside immediately before the first day of the plan. Earlier actual movements belong in that opening amount and are not counted again. Still-unpaid expectations dated before the start appear on the first day with a warning to confirm their timing.
The lowest projected day-end balance shows when this entered plan needs more funding. It is not a promise that the job is affordable: missing costs, uncertain receipts, other business demands, and payment order within a day can change the result. Personally covered supplier payments do not leave business cash; reimbursements do. Proposed purchases stay outside the baseline, with a separate comparison available.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Use expected receipts for planned customer payments and actually received for money that has arrived. When a full expected receipt arrives, replace that entry with its real date and amount. The previous expectation remains in the history and is excluded from the calculation.
If 300 of an expected 900 arrives, replace the expectation with the actual 300 receipt and add a separate expectation for the remaining 600 on its revised date. Leaving the original 900 expectation in place as well would count money twice.
Customer invoices and job timing are separate working tools. A link lets you move between them while keeping this open book, but entries are not copied or synchronized. Check the source invoice and payment records when entering a receipt.
Put each ongoing charge alongside the result it should support and the use you are actually getting. An inexpensive service can still be wasted money; a larger charge may support work that matters. Record what to keep, change, discuss, or cancel after reviewing the arrangement.
Enter a first charge date and frequency. Monthly dates follow the original day, clamped to the last day of shorter months; a January 31 anchor therefore returns to March 31 after February. Annualized comparisons use 52 weekly, 12 monthly, 4 quarterly, or 1 annual charge at the current rate. They are not the exact charges for every calendar year.
Keep the renewal date, notice deadline, and your own review date distinct. An intention to stop does not cancel a contract. Enter a confirmed stop date only after checking when charges cease. A scheduled occurrence creates a proposed cost draft; check its actual amount and document before confirming it. Changing the schedule never rewrites existing bills.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
The weekly view flags overdue or soon-due supplier balances, owner funding questions, reimbursement plans, review dates, and renewal deadlines. It does not choose who deserves payment first. Check the terms, consequences, service needs, and arrangements for your situation.
A query or dispute remains attached to the bill without erasing its balance. Write what needs checking, who will act, and when to return. A concrete step such as checking the delivery record or asking about an incorrect charge is more useful than a general note to sort it out.
Give discretionary spending an intended result and a review date. Later, record what happened: did the tool save time, did the materials support the order, did the experiment answer the question? Update or clear completed review dates so the coming-week view stays useful.
Confirmed bill details are protected from casual edits. Correct recorded details keeps the old values and an explanation. Correcting a transaction retains the old entry as excluded and counts its replacement once. Exclude entry mistake is for duplicates or incorrect entries, not genuine refunds.
A reimbursed owner payment cannot be casually removed or replaced while current reimbursements depend on it. Resolve recording mistakes in the linked entries first. Genuine refunds, credits, write-offs, loans, and accounting adjustments need the appropriate accounting records; this tool does not fabricate those movements.
The review date controls which transaction dates count. Past reviews use the current corrected history, not a snapshot of what you knew then. Status changes on the same day resolve to that day's final recorded status. Job timing uses the current payments and expectations across its chosen window.
Download editable book (.json) keeps the entries, links, notes, corrections, and unfinished recurring edits. Reopen that JSON file here to continue. Download after changes and before closing: this working draft does not automatically save to an account. Opening another book replaces the current book after confirmation; books are not merged.
Preview private summary PDF, cost record PDF, or job timing PDF opens a reading preview with a Download PDF action. Text downloads are explicitly labeled .txt. These reading copies do not restore an editable book. All outputs may include private owner and business details; review them before sharing.
A book holds up to 75 costs, 25 jobs, and 40 recurring commitments. Each cost supports 40 supplier-payment entries and 40 reimbursements, including corrections; each job supports 40 receipt entries. Cost and commitment changes have 20-entry history limits. Individual amounts support up to 1 billion currency units with two decimal places. A job timeline can span up to 366 days.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business management background.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Plan the work you agreed, make dependencies visible, and keep changes and completion understandable.
A job can be a first paid service, a repair, a small production order, a creative project, or work for a repeat customer. Start with what the customer expects to receive, the boundaries of that promise, and a specific delivery date agreed for this job.
Agree what completion means for this particular job. What will be supplied, checked, handed over, or confirmed before you call the job delivered? Record that understanding in the planner so it can be checked during the work.
Importing a quote creates a draft to review. It does not establish agreement. Record the actual agreement date, the person who confirmed it, and an evidence reference only after checking the arrangement. Prices and private quote notes are not imported. The original agreement stays in the delivery book.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Use concrete steps such as confirm the finish, prepare the materials, make the order, check the result, and arrange delivery. Choose a person or working role, the day the remaining effort is planned, and an estimate of hours still needed. Hours already spent are not remaining workload.
A person’s name here is a planning label. It does not create an account, notify a colleague, reserve their calendar, or establish a shared workspace. Confirm their availability before relying on the plan.
A Checklist Builder file can add fresh steps. Earlier checkmarks do not carry over; a completed checklist for a previous job is not evidence that this job is done. Review the imported wording, then assign people, dates, effort, and dependencies. Long descriptions are shortened to the planner’s field limits, so check the original file where details matter.
Add materials, customer approval, files, site access, or other requirements. Record who can resolve each one, when it is expected, and when you will follow up. Link each requirement only to the work steps that actually need it.
A missing approval might block production while preparation can continue. A later delivery step can depend on production being completed. The planner rejects circular dependencies and prevents a dependent step being marked done while its linked requirements or preceding work remain unresolved.
Mark a requirement ready with evidence, or no longer required with an explanation. If you discover that a completed dependency was recorded incorrectly, reopen the affected completed steps before changing their prerequisite. The earlier records remain in the history.
Choose a workload window of up to 31 calendar days. For each person, enter total work hours available during those exact dates, then the hours reserved for administration, another job, personal responsibilities, or other commitments not represented by work steps in this book. Avoid subtracting the same job twice.
Available hours minus other commitments minus scheduled remaining work gives unallocated capacity. Twelve available hours, four reserved, and nine hours of remaining customer work produces a one-hour shortfall. Leave unknown hours blank; a blank input is not zero.
Unfinished steps planned before the window carry into it. Steps after the window are listed separately. Missing people, dates, or effort are flagged rather than treated as free time. Blocked and paused jobs still reserve their entered effort because a delay does not make their promise disappear.
Changing the window makes the old availability unconfirmed until you review each person again. Draft jobs can be included in a separate comparison. Approved changes without work steps are flagged as missing work. This is a capacity comparison, not an automatic calendar: it does not check day-by-day working hours, holidays, travel, equipment capacity, or the order of work within a day.
Record a requested addition or change separately from the original scope. Describe it, estimate the additional effort, check the increase or reduction in price, and consider whether the delivery date needs to change. A request remains outside agreed work until its decision is recorded.
Record who confirmed the decision, when, and where the evidence is kept. Approval needs reviewed effort and price treatment; zero hours and no price change are valid when they reflect the arrangement. An approved change stays recorded. Use a further change if the customer later agrees something different.
After approval, create the linked work step, then assign its person and date. One change can create one linked summary step; divide its remaining hours among additional steps deliberately if the work needs more detail, avoiding double counting. To reduce or remove previously planned work, update those steps with an explanation. The tool does not subtract hours automatically or rewrite an external quote or invoice.
Give the customer an update they can act on: what has moved, what needs a decision, and what they can expect next. Keep internal workload notes separate from the message you intend to share.
The customer progress PDF includes the job scope, step names and status, approved changes, and the dedicated customer-update field. It leaves out private capacity, internal next actions, original evidence references, and change history. Review the preview carefully because scope descriptions and work-step names can still contain details you do not want to share.
The tool prepares a draft reading copy. It does not send messages. Keep any customer communication, response, and revised arrangement in the appropriate records and update the planner deliberately.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Before recording delivery, complete or explicitly set aside every work step, resolve requirements, and decide pending scope requests. Each approved change needs its linked work step completed or explained as no longer required. A list of ticked steps alone is not a delivery record.
Keep the actual delivery date and what was handed over, then record delivery. Afterward, capture customer confirmation, unresolved issues, and the invoicing next step. Delivery does not mean the customer has accepted the result, an invoice has been issued, or money has arrived.
To close the job, resolve issues and record either customer confirmation or why acknowledgment is not required. Review whether billing is ready, already recorded elsewhere, or not due under the arrangement. Use the invoice tracker for invoice and payment records. Preserve a practical lesson for the next job.
Reopening retains the previous state and delivery details in history and starts a fresh completion review. Pausing or canceling requires an explanation. These actions describe the working record; they do not notify the customer or cancel a contract.
Download editable book (.json) preserves jobs, people, dependencies, recorded decisions, histories, and unfinished close-out edits. Reopen it here to continue. Download after changes and before closing: account saving is not connected in this working draft. Opening another delivery book replaces the open book after confirmation; it does not merge them.
PDF and text downloads are reading copies. The PDF preview has a clearly labeled Download PDF action. Private job reports include history and internal notes; the customer progress copy contains a smaller, reviewed set of fields. Files are not password protected.
A book holds up to 30 jobs and 20 people or roles. Each job supports 50 work steps, 30 requirements, 20 requested changes, and 160 history entries. Hours support up to two decimal places. Workload results use current corrected records, not a reconstruction of what you knew on a past date.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business management background.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Bring the moving parts of your business into view without losing the promises, evidence and people behind them.
You may have one customer conversation to follow up, or a week full of invoices, jobs and supplier questions. Begin with the work you actually have. A manual action is enough to start; you do not need to fill every tool before using this overview.
Name the business or part of the business you are reviewing. Choose a review date. This date determines which commitments appear due; it does not reconstruct a complete historical business position from today’s source files.
Add editable JSON files from Job Cost & Profit Review, Invoices & Payments, Business Spending, Cash Timing, Customer Follow-ups, Quote & Scope, Customer Opportunities, Job & Delivery, Deadlines & Renewals, Business Records, Business Routines, Suppliers & Purchasing, Business Continuity & Owner Backup, Stock & Supplies, and Equipment & Maintenance. Read the preview before adding a file. The overview stores a selected copy and does not change the original.
Sources & coverage shows the tool areas you included and those still unknown. No findings from a file does not prove that the underlying business has no problems. Missing records, unrecorded payments, and work tracked elsewhere remain outside this view.
The source file’s review date, the import date and the date you actually checked the information are different. Record a checked date only after comparing the copy with current events. Choose a sensible interval for checking it again. Loading the same file again does not make old information fresh.
The overview uses the existing tools’ attention rules and selected additional checks for open invoices, bills, customer commitments and quotes. Each entry explains why it appears, its relevant dates, information basis, source and a suggested next step. An owner still decides its importance.
Use the area, source, date and search filters. The main view includes dates that have passed, today, the next seven days and undated work. Later dates are available separately. Some source tools flag only matters inside their review window, so this is an attention review rather than a complete calendar.
Counts represent source entries, not unique business problems. Several reasons concerning one record are grouped together. The same real-world issue can still appear in different tools. There is no invented business health score.
An unpaid invoice, a supplier bill, a possible sale and an estimated receipt mean different things. The overview keeps their descriptions, currencies and source context. It does not add them into one misleading money figure. Cash Timing findings describe the entered base forecast; they are not a current bank balance.
Read the overview alongside your financial records and the original source tools. This overview is an action aid built from selected working files. It does not replace bookkeeping, a profit-and-loss statement, a balance sheet, or a cash-flow forecast, and it cannot establish that the books are complete.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
A late supplier delivery may block a customer job. A missing document may delay a renewal. Select related findings when creating an action, then explain the dependency in your own words. The overview never assumes two customers, documents or orders are the same because their names look similar.
Choose the decision or result, why it matters, a concrete next step, the responsible person and a date. Link as many relevant findings as the task needs within the working file limits. A linked action does not hide its source findings.
Choose a manageable set of actions for this review. Give each one a practical next step, an owner, and a point to check progress. Decide what belongs in this review, what comes next, and what can wait.
Enter the hours you realistically have and estimate your own effort where you can. The overview compares available hours with actions marked This review and To do. Unknown effort remains visibly unknown. Waiting, delegated and deferred work is retained but excluded from your own planned hours.
Waiting and deferred actions need a reason and a return date. Delegated work also needs a named person. Done and set-aside actions need a dated outcome. These choices describe the overview action; they do not record a payment, finish a customer job or discharge an obligation in another tool.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
Choose Refresh on the source you want to update. Check the preview of new, changed and no-longer-flagged entries before accepting. Stable book identities and overlapping record identities help prevent a second copy being counted again. Files with no book identity require particular care when you choose their replacement.
A refreshed source retains your action plan and highlights changed or missing linked findings. A finding disappearing can mean completion, a changed date, a deleted record or a different scope. Check the outcome instead of assuming the work is done. Excluding a source retains its copy and linked actions while removing its findings from the current review.
Refreshing changed contents clears the previous freshness check. An older numbered revision cannot replace a newer one. Different contents with the same revision produce a warning for your review. Separate files and tools do not synchronize automatically.
Record what moved forward, what you learned and the next review date. Download the editable overview after changes. It includes selected source snapshots, your actions and review history. Reopen it to continue. The working draft holds the open work in this page; account saving remains separate.
Preview and download a PDF or text reading copy of the overview or the action plan. Keep the action plan beside the weekly review worksheet. Review private details before sharing a reading copy or the complete backup.
To change underlying work, download the source copy from Sources & coverage and reopen it in its own tool. Bring the newer file back through Refresh. Each overview supports up to 200 source files and 10,000 actions, subject to a 96 MB backup limit and the source tools’ own limits.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business management background.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Make supplier choices, orders, deliveries and unfinished promises easier to follow—from a first purchase to repeat business.
You might need packaging for your first sale, materials for a customer job, a contractor’s help, replacement equipment, or a better record of an order already placed. Start with that work. A purchase already made does not need an invented quote-request history.
Write what is needed, why, where it will be used, and how you will recognize an acceptable result. Separate what you know from an estimate or unanswered question. The planner lets unknown quantities and dates remain blank.
Price is one part of a supplier decision. NIST’s supplier-selection guidance also considers capabilities, capacity, quality and communication. Use evidence relevant to your particular purchase: a sample, a confirmed specification, a checked reference, or the supplier’s response to a practical question.
Keep usual lead time separate from the date promised for this order. Record minimum quantities and pack sizes explicitly. A supplier can have several contacts or locations, each serving a different purpose.
Background: NIST: Eight ways to improve supplier selection
Retain the supplier’s reference and revision, included work, quantity and unit, price, charges, available date, payment terms, exclusions and open questions. A lower unit price may cover a different pack, specification or service result.
The planner keeps currencies separate and makes no automatic pack conversion. Unknown freight, tax or quantities leave a total incomplete. Enter zero only when the charge is known to be zero. Offer comparisons can include as many entries as the work requires within the stated file limits.
When selecting an offer line for an order, the planner retains its original contents. A later offer revision cannot silently change that selection. You may divide a requirement among suppliers and select partial quantities.
Record the buyer, supplier, reference, goods or services, specifications, quantities, location, required and promised dates, payment terms, and acceptance criteria. For outside services, explain the result or milestone and how it will be reviewed. Keep a reference to the actual agreement rather than treating a draft order as proof of acceptance.
Draft, internal review, actually placed and supplier acknowledged are different positions. A downloaded purchase order is a document; it does not send itself or establish acceptance. Record the actual event date and evidence. A changed arrangement needs its own explanation, while a record correction should be identified as a correction.
Background: SBA: Manage your business
A delivery may be short, damaged, substituted or awaiting inspection. Record the physical quantity that arrived first. Then record what was accepted, rejected or still awaiting a check. ERPNext’s purchasing documentation distinguishes accepted and rejected quantities and supports receipts for part of an order.
Use separate entries for each delivery and separate lines where timing or acceptance criteria differ. For services, the unit might be a milestone, hour or completed result. Submission is not the same as acceptance. Name the reviewer and retain the actual result or evidence.
Excess or substituted goods need an explicit acceptance decision. For hired equipment, keep collection and return condition, the due-back date, actual return and any security deposit issue visible.
Background: ERPNext: Purchase Receipt
An issue needs an affected line, evidence, consequence, requested resolution, supplier response, next action, owner and check date. A defect discovered after acceptance may make previously accepted units unusable; check any customer-job allocations before correcting that supply.
A return request, authorization, dispatch and acknowledgment are separate events. Replacement receipts link back to the original issue and do not increase the original order quantity. ERPNext also treats purchase returns as linked transactions rather than simply deleting the receipt.
Keep a promised credit or refund open until the actual document or receipt is recorded. A credit document and a cash refund are different outcomes. Record any accounting follow-through still needed; this planner does not create accounting adjustments.
Background: ERPNext: Purchase Return
Compare the supplier’s bill with the agreed order and the received or accepted work. Check references, quantities, unit prices, charges and agreed billing milestones. One bill can cover several orders, and an order can have several bills; allocate the amounts explicitly.
Billing before receipt is not automatically a mistake. An agreement can include advance or milestone payments. Odoo’s purchasing documentation distinguishes ordered-quantity and received-quantity billing controls. The appropriate check depends on the actual terms.
Keep the full purchase cost separate from prepayments already made. Applying a prepayment reduces the remaining amount to pay; it does not create another purchase cost. The Spending handoff prepares an unconfirmed full-bill cost draft, and deliberately does not export a prepayment as an extra cost. Review existing entries and record actual payments in Spending.
Background: Odoo: Vendor billing controls (official documentation source)
Allocate accepted quantities to identifiable jobs. The same accepted units cannot be allocated twice. If an acceptance record must be reduced, resolve affected allocations first so the customer plan remains honest.
Review a copy into the existing Job & Delivery book. The receiving requirement stays waiting unless you explicitly review it as ready. A purchase’s arrival alone does not complete the customer job.
Selected receiving instructions can become a fresh checklist or a draft routine. Selected document pointers can become a Records collection, and hire, warranty or notice dates can become unconfirmed Deadlines entries. Each transfer preserves its source reference and needs a review; these files do not synchronize automatically.
Use the attention view for missing next actions, expired offers, missing acknowledgments, overdue or undated supply, pending inspection, supplier issues, bills to review and hire or notice dates. Search by the words, supplier, order, job or owner in the records.
Archiving keeps history and does not erase unfinished promises. Before closing an order, resolve outstanding quantities, inspection and open issues. Use the dated attention reading copy in your weekly review.
Download the complete JSON purchasing book after changes and reopen it to continue. PDF and CSV copies help with reading or sharing; they do not contain the complete editable relationships and history. Review the supplier-facing preview before sharing, including any information you entered into ordinary agreement fields.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Supplier evaluation factors; the planner’s workflow is Brass Charter’s implementation.
US business management background.
Reference workflow for partial receipts, accepted and rejected quantities, and inspection.
Reference workflow for linking returned goods to purchasing records.
Ordered-quantity and received-quantity billing policies are distinct. Product documentation is a workflow benchmark, not a rule for every contract.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Keep the relationship, the possible work, and the next commitment clear—from a first inquiry to a repeat order.
An inquiry may be your first prospective customer, a requested estimate, a sample discussion, or a possible repeat order. Record what the person asked about and one useful next step. You can leave price and decision timing unknown while you find out more.
A useful first result is a recognizable customer, a clearly named request, and a commitment you can return to. Additional detail can develop with the conversation.
One customer can have several potential jobs at the same time. Give each distinct buying decision its own opportunity. Keep later messages about the same request with that opportunity.
A company may involve a buyer, project contact, and adviser. Link the relevant people and roles without making one contact stand in for everyone. HubSpot documents similar relationships among customers, contacts, and deals.
Background: HubSpot: Associate records
Record the desired result, requested timing, location, and questions still unanswered. Preserve what the customer actually said separately from your interpretation.
Use the Customer Conversation Planner to prepare a discussion. You can bring selected findings into an opportunity through a reviewed file import. An imported next-step suggestion remains a note until you create its commitment.
Stages describe where active work stands: understanding requirements, preparing an offer, or waiting for a decision. Adapt their names to your business. A straightforward order can be agreed without visiting every stage.
Record the actual outcome separately. Paused work needs a review position. A customer declining an offer is different from your business withdrawing or finding an inquiry unsuitable. Archiving preserves that distinction and the history.
Describe the action, the person taking it, and when to act or check again. Waiting for somebody still benefits from a next check. More than one promise can be open for an opportunity.
Record an actual outcome when work happens. Completing a contact attempt does not mean a conversation took place. Pipedrive's activity documentation distinguishes planned dates and completion records; Brass Charter asks you to record the actual date and outcome.
Background: Pipedrive: Activities
Review overdue commitments, today's work, waiting responses, inquiries without a next step, passed expected-decision dates, and paused work ready to revisit. Upcoming commitments remain available too.
Closed or archived opportunities can still have unfinished promises. These remain visible until you record their outcome. OnePageCRM's action-centered workspace is a useful benchmark for bringing next actions into daily view.
Background: OnePageCRM: Action Stream
Prepare a quote draft from selected customer and request details, then open the downloaded draft in Quote & Scope Builder. Review and complete its scope, prices, and customer document there.
Bring each shared quote revision back into the opportunity with its actual shared date. Reference and revision identify the retained copy. A later revision does not overwrite an earlier one. Before attaching a quote, check that its named customer belongs to this inquiry.
When recording agreement, describe the agreed scope, actual decision date, and where the agreement can be checked. You can select the agreed items from an earlier retained quote. The amount follows those items and that quote's tax treatment.
For partial quantities or different terms, prepare a revised quote or record a separate agreement with a clear value basis. An agreement entry does not issue an invoice or record payment. Prepare and review a separate delivery draft before beginning the work.
Unknown values stay unknown. Describe what each amount covers: one job, one order, or a specified recurring period. Different currencies and outcomes remain separate in summaries.
A potential-work total is an estimate based on your entries. An agreed-work total describes recorded agreements. Neither is cash received. Expected decision dates are not payment dates. Review the underlying work when amounts cover different periods.
Map contact CSV columns, review each row, and decide whether to create a contact, use a possible existing match, or skip it. Reusing a contact preserves its details and adds the reviewed customer relationship. Original files stay unchanged.
Existing Brass Charter follow-up files can also be reviewed and assigned to opportunities. Their original context and history remain available. Exact repeated files are rejected to avoid duplicate imports; changed files still need review. Completing an imported follow-up does not turn its opportunity into a sale.
Download the editable JSON customer book after changes and before closing. Reopening replaces the current book with that complete file rather than appending its records. PDF, text, and spreadsheet exports are separate reading copies.
Select whether notes, contact details, and history belong in a shared summary. A handover PDF can explain the relationship, agreed scope, and open commitments. Transfers to other tools create independent copies and do not synchronize changes.
Record customer feedback and why work proceeded, stopped, or was postponed. For a genuinely new purchase, create a linked repeat opportunity with fresh commitments and an unknown value.
Meaningful corrections retain an earlier entry. Recovery restores it only when the record has not changed again and related work remains consistent. The practical aim is a record someone can understand when they return.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Benchmark for linking people, organizations, and distinct opportunities; product documentation does not establish customer outcomes.
Scheduled and completed activity are separate facts.
Benchmark for finding dated actions, waiting responses, and relevant customer context.
An interview model from US federal digital-service research.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Turn practical business knowledge into instructions someone can use. Try them, keep each run separate, and learn from the work.
Choose something that happens again: bringing a customer into the business, preparing a delivery, reviewing paperwork, or covering a responsibility while someone is away. Start with the work in front of you. A short routine can be useful long before you have a complete business manual.
A procedure explains the reusable way of working. A run records one occasion when that work happens. A follow-up action records something that needs attention. Keep these three things distinct so improving the instructions does not erase yesterday’s work.
Ask the person who knows the task to explain it while walking through a real or representative situation. Notice the information they look for, decisions they make, things they check, and moments when they ask for help. Write down the useful knowledge that someone else would otherwise have to guess.
Ask someone who performs the task to help write and try the instructions. Make the detail appropriate to the person using them and the consequences of a missed step. Instructions support preparation and experience; they do not establish competence by themselves.
Background: EPA: Guidance for Preparing Standard Operating Procedures
Name what starts the routine, who maintains the instructions, and the result that should be observable at the end. Add the business, location, and situations where the procedure applies. If another situation needs different instructions, say so.
Preparation can include an agreed proposal, access to the right records, ordinary materials, or experience needed for the work. Identify who can provide cover and when to stop and ask for help. Describe where information is available without putting passwords or unnecessary personal details in the playbook.
Use a clear action such as “confirm the appointment” and an observable check such as “the customer’s agreed time and contact person are recorded.” Add explanation where it helps the person doing the task. Group related steps when that makes the work easier to follow.
A conditional step needs a condition that can be checked: “Arrange site access when this service includes a visit.” During the run, record whether that condition applies. A dependency identifies a step that must be resolved first. Required checks should be clearly marked; their purpose is to make the work’s requirements visible.
Run through the instructions and record who tried them, when, the outcome, and where help was needed. A self-test is useful; another person’s walkthrough can reveal knowledge the writer took for granted. The tool records which kind of test occurred.
The EPA’s 2007 procedure guidance recommends review and testing of draft instructions, including testing by people other than the writer. Here, a successful walkthrough belongs to the exact draft tried. Changing the draft requires another walkthrough before that revision can be chosen for use.
Background: EPA: Guidance for Preparing Standard Operating Procedures
Name a run so you can recognize it later: the customer reference, delivery, day, or responsibility being covered. Identify the person doing it and any planned or due date. Starting the run records the actual start; recording a step records what actually happened.
A new run begins unchecked. A completed step needs a result, and a blocked or skipped step needs an explanation. Not applicable is a decision about a conditional step, not a substitute for unfinished work. The summary shows these positions separately.
If a customer has not supplied necessary information, record what is missing, how it affects the work, who will follow it through, and the next action. Pause work where appropriate. A run can close with explicitly recorded exceptions, while its unresolved follow-ups stay visible.
An improvement may be useful even when the run finishes successfully. Record the idea, what you decide, how you try it, and the result. A readiness issue is different: it needs resolution before a draft is selected for use. Names entered here describe your arrangements; the tool does not contact or assign work to those people.
A revision starts as a draft copied from the selected version. Review it, test it, and deliberately choose it for use. New runs use that version. Earlier runs retain their original instructions, results, and change history.
When instructions change during a run, compare the versions and record whether to continue or pause. Replacing an open run preserves it and creates a separate replacement. Review each prior result before recording work in the replacement; completed checks are not carried forward automatically. Process Street’s documentation also treats applying new instructions to active runs as an explicit update operation.
Background: Process Street: What Updates When I Publish My Workflow?
Use the attention view to find blocked work, paused runs, dated follow-ups, and instructions due for review. Search routines and runs by a recognizable name, person, or context. Open actions remain visible even after a related run is closed or replaced.
Timing can be recurring, such as a weekly administrative routine, or triggered by an event, such as an accepted quote. Next-use dates are planning entries. Starting a run does not automatically change them, and this working tool does not send reminders. Review the next date deliberately.
Download the editable JSON playbook after changes and before closing. Reopen that file here to restore routines, versions, runs, and actions. Procedure and run PDFs are readable copies; the editable file is the copy that lets you continue working.
The PDF selection screen lets you choose steps and optional notes, references, and history. Review the preview before sharing. A selected-step document is labeled as a partial copy. A handover summary gathers the purpose, preparation, support, open runs, and unresolved actions for a conversation with the next person.
Import a reusable Brass Charter checklist to create a new draft procedure. Read the preview before importing. Groups, instructions, and completion checks come across; previously checked boxes do not become completed runs. Add the context the routine needs and test the draft.
Records, Deadlines, Delivery, and Handover links help you reach the relevant neighboring tools. Enter related references deliberately. These navigation links do not synchronize entries or grant access to referenced documents.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Procedure-writing background from an environmental quality context; not a requirement for every business.
Product documentation on deliberately applying workflow changes to active runs. Referenced as a workflow benchmark; Brass Charter uses its own retained-version behavior.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Make important records findable, distinguish versions, resolve missing information, and prepare the right details for a particular job.
A first receipt is a useful start. So is a customer asking for proof of insurance, an accountant asking about a purchase, or a colleague taking over a responsibility. Name the record and the purpose it serves. Add the business, period, issuer, reference, related work, and responsible person as you learn them.
Categories are suggestions, not a universal checklist. Add your own. A register can focus on one business or working context; individual records can identify a different business explicitly. Keep sensitive identifiers and unnecessary personal details out of titles.
A purchase can involve an invoice, a payment confirmation, a delivery record, and a warranty. Give each record its own identity, then collect the relevant versions around the job. The same record can support more than one collection.
The IRS explains, in its US tax-recordkeeping guidance, that a combination of supporting documents may establish the details of a purchase or expense. This is a useful example of why a single file may not answer every question. The organizer does not determine tax treatment or whether a record meets a legal requirement.
Background: IRS: What kind of records should I keep?
Availability describes whether a copy is missing, requested, located, received, or unavailable. Review describes whether someone has checked it for a stated purpose or still has questions. Version status describes a draft, issued copy, recorded signature, superseded copy, or withdrawn copy. These are separate facts.
For a review, record the actual person or role, date, purpose, and findings. “Signature recorded” describes what you recorded about a copy; it does not authenticate a signature or establish its legal effect. Review the source and actual document for the decision you need to make.
A location can be an existing web link, folder, paper original, provider portal, or another person’s custody. Record who can arrange access. You may keep multiple locations for one version.
A written location starts as access not checked. After actually opening or locating the copy, record who checked it and when. If a location changes, save it as unchecked before recording the new check. A successful check is a dated observation, not a promise of permanent access.
The organizer stores references and your notes. It does not upload original documents, scan folders, request permissions, or verify links automatically. Entering another person’s name does not give them access.
Give each distinct copy a recognizable label. Add replacements as new versions. Use corrections for mistakes in an existing version’s details. Changes to its label, source, status, or document dates reset its review, while preserving the earlier entry.
Designate a checked, accessible issued copy for a specific purpose and period. A new draft does not take over. Different periods or purposes can point to different versions. A superseded copy can remain part of the history of the time it applied.
Give related records meaningful names and keep their version relationships visible. Select the version you intend to use and retain the relevant history. Possible duplicates are highlighted from matching names or references; compare their context yourself before deciding how to handle them.
Background: IRS: What kind of records should I keep?
Record what is needed, why, who may have it, who is following through, the request date, a next follow-up date, and what would satisfy the request. You can link a request to a record, a collection, or both.
Partial, unsuitable, and unavailable responses remain open. Add response versions as they arrive. To record a requirement as satisfied, select the relevant checked copies and explain how they meet the requirement, with the reviewer and actual date. Record a reason when information is no longer required.
If a selected response later needs review or loses checked access, the request comes back into attention for rechecking. The earlier outcome remains in history. This tool records your follow-through; it does not send a request or contact anyone.
Name a collection for the job: a customer’s requirements, equipment warranty evidence, a bookkeeper’s questions, or a handover. Add each requirement even while its record or version is missing.
Pin each requirement to the specific version you reviewed. Record what it answers and any remaining gap. A replacement elsewhere in the register does not change the collection’s selection. If the selected version’s review or access later becomes uncertain, the collection shows that it needs attention.
Choose entries and optional fields before exporting a selected records list. Titles, purposes, periods, selected version labels, availability, and review position are included. Locations, review findings, and private working notes are separate choices and start unchecked. Preview the complete result before downloading the PDF. Original files are not attached or delivered with the list.
The FTC’s business guidance recommends knowing where information is kept, who can access it, and limiting information to what the business needs. In this organizer, that means recording useful references and deliberately reviewing the details in an export.
A private record PDF includes internal notes and history. A selected records list is built from your selections and has different defaults. Inspect the preview, intended recipient, and any included locations before sharing through your usual method. Access labels here are planning records; actual permissions belong to the system or person holding the original.
Background: FTC: Protecting Personal Information — A Guide for Business
Use Needs attention for missing copies, access checks, review questions, possible duplicates, requests, and collections still being prepared. Record reviews, follow-ups, and retention reviews use the selected review window. Use the record review date to recheck its copies and access; keep retention review separate. Undated gaps and open requests remain visible, including requests connected to archived records.
Keep a retention source and review date if you have an applicable policy, requirement, or advice. The date prompts a review. It does not calculate a legal retention period or delete any original document. Archiving moves a record out of the active view; restoration brings it back with versions and history intact.
Download the editable JSON register after changes and before closing. It restores records, copies, requests, collections, and history. Opening another file replaces the current register after confirmation; it does not merge them. PDF and text are reading copies. Account saving remains deferred in this working draft.
The working file supports 500 records, 100 versions per record, 20 locations per version, 100 purpose designations per record, 1,000 requests, 200 collections, 500 requirements per collection, and 300 entries in each history, within a 20 MB file budget. These are file-handling limits rather than suggested quantities for a business. A rejected change keeps the earlier register unchanged.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US tax-recordkeeping background explaining supporting documents and combinations of evidence. The organizer does not assess tax compliance.
US business guidance on information inventories, necessary information, and access. Actual access protection remains with the original storage system.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Give each business obligation an owner, meaningful dates, practical preparation, and evidence of what actually happened.
You might be preparing your first registration, looking after a shop, delivering client services, or handing responsibility to someone else. Start with one obligation you can identify: a policy, lease, service contract, domain, subscription, inspection, maintenance task, certification, training requirement, filing, supplier condition, or seasonal commitment.
The category list is a starting vocabulary, not a checklist of requirements every business must meet. In the United States, licensing and permit requirements depend on the activity and location. Check the relevant federal, state, and local authorities, and record the actual source for each obligation.
Name the responsible person and an optional backup. Record why the obligation matters, the relevant provider or authority, a reference, and where its actual conditions are recorded. People named here are planning labels; entering a name does not assign a shared account or notify anyone.
Background: SBA: Launch your business
A renewal date may be much later than the last day to give notice. A submission deadline may need documents, a payment, or an appointment well beforehand. Add every relevant date: preparation, decision, notice, submission, payment, expiry, renewal, follow-up, the obligation due date, or a custom date.
Choose whether each date requires action or is a reference milestone. A reference milestone can still need attention—for example, an expiry approaching while confirmation is missing—but it is not automatically treated as an unfinished task or exported as an action.
Keep unknown dates blank. Keep proposed dates marked unconfirmed. A confirmed date requires its source and the date you actually checked it. Record time cutoffs, time zones, delivery methods, and other conditions in the action or source notes where they matter. This planner compares calendar dates; it does not calculate contractual notice rules, holidays, business-day adjustments, or legal entitlements.
Check the actual agreement for notice periods, renewal conditions, payment terms, and the required way to give notice. Keep a traceable reference in the register rather than borrowing a notice period from an example.
Background: SBA: Launch your business
A useful entry says what someone can do next. List documents to gather, information to confirm, people to ask, appointments to arrange, approvals to obtain, and the action that completes the requirement. Assign a person or role and a planned date where you know them.
Link preceding steps only when the work really depends on them. The planner rejects dependency loops and prevents a dependent step being marked done while its prerequisites are unfinished. Completion dates also need to make sense in that order.
A Checklist Builder file can add a repeatable preparation process. Earlier checkmarks do not carry over. Review the imported wording and set dates, people, and dependencies for this occurrence. Long combined instructions are shortened to the field limit, so check the original checklist for details that matter.
Choose a review date and a look-ahead period from 1 to 366 days. The attention view includes earlier unresolved dates, upcoming actions and milestones, waiting responses, missing owners or sources, and dates that still need verification. Filter the list to the question you are dealing with.
A passed date is a prompt to review the record; it is not an automatic finding that a contract ended or a legal requirement was breached. Unconfirmed dates remain explicitly labeled. Current records drive the review, even when you choose a past review date.
Several attention items can belong to one occurrence. An unverified deadline may appear both as approaching and as needing verification. All obligations remains available for searching people, categories, providers, references, open occurrences, and completed records.
Record what was actually done, the date, and its evidence. Submitted, awaiting confirmation, and cancellation requested remain open states. Keep who you are waiting for and the next action together; a missing follow-up date is flagged for review.
Before recording completion or renewal, resolve the action dates and preparation steps. Each can be completed with evidence or explicitly marked no longer required with a reason. Reference milestones do not block completion merely because their date has not arrived.
A confirmed cancellation or no-longer-applicable outcome requires its actual date and evidence. It closes that occurrence without changing unfinished steps into completed ones. Closing stops that occurrence’s attention and calendar entries, so review any remaining responsibilities first. A recorded status describes your records; it does not submit an application, cancel a service, make a payment, or establish a legal outcome.
If a record was wrong, reopen the occurrence and explain why. Earlier outcome details remain in history. Date and preparation edits also preserve the previous entry and the reason for the change.
Use one-off for work that does not repeat. Use a fixed schedule when occurrences stay tied to an original anchor date. Use an interval after actual completion when the next period begins from the work’s actual completion or renewal. Use individually reviewed dates for irregular or separately confirmed occasions.
Fixed schedules always propose the next period after the latest recorded cycle reference. They do not jump over missed periods to reach today. You can prepare the next occurrence while earlier work remains unfinished; both stay visible. Completion-based schedules wait for the latest occurrence to be completed or renewed.
For month and year intervals, choose the rule explicitly. Keeping the anchor day uses the last day only when a month is too short, then returns to the original anchor day. The month-end option uses the final day of each target month. These are planning rules to check against the actual requirement. A changed schedule applies to later proposals and leaves earlier occurrences in place.
Preparing another occurrence is deliberate. It creates a proposed due date, copies the date descriptions and preparation, and clears the other dates, confirmations, evidence, and checkmarks. Verify each new deadline. A confirmed cancellation or no-longer-applicable latest occurrence must be reviewed or reopened before continuing the series.
Useful evidence might be a certificate reference, a provider confirmation, a submitted application receipt, an inspection record, or the location of the checked contract. The register stores references and notes, not uploaded documents. Keep the original evidence in the appropriate place.
An occurrence label can identify the period, equipment check, or renewal. Previous occurrences remain selectable. History records include the earlier entry and your explanation, so a corrected deadline does not silently replace the old one.
For a handover, review the attention list with the next responsible person, confirm they can locate the sources, and agree which actions they are taking. Use Spending for the related cost and payment records. Opening another tool does not automatically transfer obligations or financial entries.
The calendar review offers confirmed, unresolved action dates plus planned preparation and follow-up dates through your review window. Earlier unresolved dates are included. Reference milestones and unverified obligation dates are excluded. Select the entries you actually want before downloading the .ics file.
Entries are all-day markers, labeled by their purpose. They include the obligation, occurrence, action, and responsible person shown in the review. Internal source references, private notes, and provider contact details are excluded. Check any time cutoff separately and choose a suitable calendar before importing business information.
The export follows the iCalendar file format. It creates a copy, not a live connection. Register edits, rescheduling, closure, and later exports do not reliably update or remove entries already imported into your calendar. Review those entries yourself; repeated imports may create duplicates. Notifications are controlled by your calendar application and its settings, not by this planner.
Background: IETF RFC 5545: iCalendar
Download editable register (.json) keeps the obligations, occurrences, dates, preparation, repeat patterns, and history. Reopen it here to continue. Download after changes and before closing; account saving is not connected in this working draft. Opening a register replaces the open one after confirmation rather than merging records.
The PDF preview includes a clearly labeled Download PDF action. PDF and text are reading copies; calendar files contain the selected events. These outputs do not replace the editable register. Private reports may include contacts, notes, and evidence references, so review the intended audience before sharing.
A working register supports 100 obligations, 120 occurrences per obligation, 30 dates and 50 preparation steps per occurrence, and 150 changes in each history. Size checks preserve the earlier register when a record would exceed the working limit. Keep a copy before continuing in another register. These are file-handling limits, not a list of what your business ought to track.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business structures, registrations, and licensing background.
Primary specification for the calendar file format used by the export. Import behavior and notifications depend on the receiving calendar application.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Prepare for an absence or interruption with arrangements people can find, understand, and try.
Imagine you cannot work tomorrow. Think about the first person who would need an answer, the next promise due, and the information someone would need to find. You can start with a single activity. A business with one owner can still make useful arrangements for communication, rescheduling, and a responsible pause.
Write down the business or part of the business your plan covers. Include the locations, people, working hours, and seasonal commitments that could change your priorities. An initial plan can contain open questions; give them a next action as you learn more.
List the products, services, and responsibilities you would need to continue, pause, or restore. For each one, identify the people, information, and practical arrangements it depends on. Ready.gov provides US preparedness resources for developing a broader business continuity plan.
For each activity, describe a minimum workable service. An owner may be unable to complete a specialist job while a trusted person can still explain a delay to the customer. Record how long the activity can wait and your desired recovery time. Those times are your planning assumptions, not guarantees.
Background: Ready.gov: Ready Business
A name in a plan is a starting point. Speak with the person about availability, what they know, and what they are willing and authorized to do. Record the limits. A colleague who can arrange appointments may still need someone else to approve refunds or changed contract terms.
Keep proposed, confirmed, and tested arrangements distinct. A confirmation should explain what was agreed, who checked it, and when. A practical test should say what was tried and what it established. Changing the responsibility means checking whether the earlier arrangement still applies.
If nobody can cover the work yet, leave that visible. Consider whether the next step is an introduction, training, narrower cover, or a pause arrangement.
Map the resources each activity needs: people, equipment, software, information, premises, suppliers, utilities, and specialist services. Then describe an alternative and what must be arranged to use it.
Try a concrete question: if the usual computer is unavailable, can the alternative instructions and customer list still be reached? If the alternate supplier uses the same unavailable delivery route, is it a useful alternative for this scenario? The planner can highlight shared resources you have explicitly linked; it cannot discover unrecorded dependencies.
Compare the time needed to arrange an alternative with the time the activity needs to resume. Leave unknown estimates blank. Zero hours describes an immediate arrangement and should only be used deliberately.
Record where current instructions and business records live, which version matters, who maintains them, and how authorized access is arranged. Keep passwords and recovery secrets in the appropriate secure storage, with a reference to the agreed access process where useful.
NIST’s small-business recovery guidance includes checking the integrity of backed-up information before using it for restoration and identifying who is responsible for recovery. A recorded backup location alone does not establish that the information can be restored and used.
Record an actual access or restoration test, who performed it, and the result. Keep the plan itself somewhere accessible if the usual device or account is unavailable. A printed quick-action copy can help, provided the people involved know where to find it.
Background: NIST: Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 Small Business Quick-Start Guide
Choose who needs an update, who gives it, which facts must be checked, and when another update is due. Prepare a draft in your own voice. Explain the practical effect on the recipient and the next step you can reasonably commit to.
Identify obligations that continue during disruption: customer work, staff pay, rent, supplier commitments, and other relevant dates. Reference the supporting records. Use Cash Timing and Business Spending for detailed financial planning; the continuity plan keeps the interruption-related responsibility and next action clear.
Keep insurance contacts and relevant policy references nearby. Note the questions that need confirmation with the provider. The presence of a policy in this plan does not establish coverage for a particular event.
Choose a realistic scenario and walk through the response. Ask the person helping to find the instructions, identify the first action, and explain when they would need help. Record what they could actually do and which information was missing.
Try the arrangements before relying on them, and revisit them when people, premises, equipment, or responsibilities change. In this tool, a practice session keeps the plan revision it used. Later plan edits do not rewrite what happened during the exercise.
If a check fails or a step is skipped, explain why and create a preparation follow-up. Record the outcome of the follow-up after trying the relevant check again. A completed checklist alone does not confirm the whole business is prepared.
Background: Ready.gov: Ready Business
During an actual disruption, follow relevant existing emergency procedures first where people may be at risk. Use the plan to coordinate business actions, record changed assumptions, and keep affected people informed. The tool is a working record; it does not monitor incidents or contact anyone.
Define observable checks for restoring service. Include the work needed to reconcile temporary notes, confirm the backlog, and prevent missed or duplicated tasks. NIST’s recovery guidance also calls for documenting the incident, response, recovery, and lessons learned.
You can close a session with improvements needed while retaining unfinished work. Keep the resulting preparation actions visible and give them an owner and a review date.
Background: NIST: Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 Small Business Quick-Start Guide
Download the editable JSON plan to reopen the complete working record. Choose a PDF reading copy for the full plan, one scenario, outstanding arrangements, or a selected person. Review the output before sharing it.
The selected-person briefing starts with no fields selected. Choose the individual pieces they need; the preview shows exactly what the briefing contains. The plan name, business, revision, and review date identify the copy. Private notes and other entries are not automatically appended.
Business Handover and Business Records imports create reviewed copies with source references. Changed imported entries are identified for review instead of silently replacing your work. A checklist export creates fresh steps; Owner Overview can review the saved continuity plan as a dated source. These files do not synchronize.
Come back when a person, supplier, system, location, or activity changes, or when a practice reveals something new. The value is in keeping the arrangements usable.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US business preparedness, continuity planning, training, and exercises.
Background for information recovery responsibilities, restoration checks, and lessons after a cyber incident. The Brass Charter tool does not establish compliance or perform technical recovery.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Keep usable stock, customer commitments, and expected deliveries clear enough to act on.
You might keep products for sale, parts for customer jobs, packaging, cleaning supplies, or materials measured by length or volume. Start with the items whose absence, condition, or delay would interrupt the work. A small, checked record is useful immediately.
Give each distinct item or variant a recognizable name and code. Choose the unit you actually count: each, foot, liter, or another clear measure. Record its location, including a van or market stall when relevant. Different sizes or specifications belong in separate item records.
Start with reliable information about what you have, what can be used, what is promised to jobs, and what is still expected. Compare that record with actual demand before deciding what to replenish or investigate as slow-moving stock.
Background: IRS: What kind of records should I keep?
Count what is physically present and separate usable goods from items awaiting inspection, held for review, or damaged. An empty field means that condition has not been counted. Enter zero when you have checked and found none.
Record the actual count date, person, and explanation. Reconcile any movement while counting before applying the result. The planner stops an old count from overwriting movements entered since that count began. A skipped location stays uncounted.
A count establishes the physical position. If fewer usable items exist than jobs require, preserve the jobs and investigate the shortage. Changing the count should not erase a customer commitment.
Background: ERPNext: Stock Reconciliation
Physical stock includes all recorded conditions. Usable stock excludes goods awaiting inspection, held, or damaged. Available stock also excludes usable quantities already covering reservations, entered expired stock, and goods in a transit location.
Incoming supply is a separate expectation. An order confirmation is useful information, but it does not mean the goods have arrived or passed inspection. Record each partial receipt and its actual condition. Link it to the expected supply so the remaining quantity is visible.
The planner requires a checked opening quantity before it allows an issue or transfer. Receipts entered before that count remain recorded movements with an unknown opening balance. This prevents an incomplete starting record from appearing complete.
Record a receipt, sale or use, move between locations, condition change, return, loss, or disposal with its date and reason. For a transfer that takes time, use a transit location. Record arrival of the quantity that actually arrived; the remainder stays in transit.
If an entry was wrong, reverse it with a dated explanation and enter the corrected movement. The original remains in history. Use another checked count to correct a count. This working history helps explain changes; it is not an authenticated audit record.
A customer return needs its own condition assessment. Returning goods does not automatically make them usable or recreate a customer reservation. Review the remaining requirement separately.
Background: ERPNext: Stock Entry
Keep one counting unit for each item. If a supplier sells a carton of twelve, record the conversion explicitly and check it against the supplier’s specification. The movement keeps the conversion used at the time. Later pack changes do not rewrite old quantities.
Use a batch or individual serial reference when the work needs it. Enter expiry or review dates from the relevant source. The planner excludes batches that have reached their entered use-by date from availability; it does not determine product safety or validate the supplier’s date.
Keep handling and checking instructions alongside the item. A location or batch label only helps if the person doing the work can identify it.
Background: ERPNext: Selling in Different UOM
Name the customer job or purpose, item, quantity, location, and needed date. A reservation records demand. It does not change the physical stock count. Issuing part of it reduces the remaining requirement while retaining what was issued.
If a count reveals a shortage, the uncovered commitment stays visible. Review alternatives, expected deliveries, and the customer promise. A completed issue cannot be erased by reducing the reservation below the quantity already issued.
When taking a reservation into Job & Delivery, select the existing material requirement if it already represents this work. Check actual readiness deliberately. The reviewed file transfer does not complete the job or automatically update either original file.
Background: ERPNext: Stock Reservation
Choose a review threshold, target quantity, and supplier lead time. Add a minimum order or order multiple when applicable. Record the basis and any seasonal assumptions. Blank assumptions remain unknown.
The planner compares usable stock, all outstanding entered reservations, and supply expected between the review date and the lead-time date. It rounds an indicated replenishment quantity to the entered order multiple. Overdue, undated, and later deliveries are listed separately. Commitments due before a new order could arrive remain visible.
These are planning suggestions based on your entries. They do not forecast unrecorded demand or guarantee a supplier date. Before ordering, review existing purchase commitments, quantity, lead time, affordability, and what the work actually needs. A replenishment export creates a purchasing requirement for review; it places no order.
Background: IRS: What kind of records should I keep?
A slow-use review can prompt a decision about stock that has not been issued recently. New or incomplete records may simply lack usage history. Distinguish that uncertainty from evidence of poor demand.
Check condition, remaining shelf life, changing specifications, and whether upcoming work still needs the item. Record the decision and next action. Keep optional unit costs dated and supported by their source and exclusions; these references do not produce an accounting stock valuation.
A Purchasing file may already include receipts, returns, pending inspection, and job allocations. Preview the line, choose the stock item and location, and explicitly convert the supplier unit. Decide whether its goods are already represented by your counts or earlier movements before adding anything.
Check whether the goods have since been used, whether a job reservation already exists, and which supply is still outstanding. Repeated imported source lines are blocked. A changed source needs reconciliation against the existing record rather than adding the whole delivery again.
CSV imports create draft physical counts from the provided template. They do not immediately change available stock. Review quantities, dates, and the actual count before applying them. Reviewed files are snapshots; they do not synchronize.
Save the editable stock book as JSON to reopen items, counts, movements, reservations, and history. Use actual PDF reading copies for stock position, replenishment, attention items, movement history, or blank count sheets. The movement CSV is a separate table copy.
Choose handling instructions to create fresh Checklist Builder steps or a draft Business Routine. Include the stock JSON in Owner Overview to review shortages, uncertain quantities, outstanding counts, and supply follow-ups alongside other business work.
Come back when stock moves and when a count, promise, or supplier date changes. The record earns its place by helping someone make the next decision.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Federal tax recordkeeping background; supporting documents and organized records.
Primary product documentation for reconciling physical quantities. Brass Charter uses its own explicit count-review workflow.
Reference for receipts, issues, transfers, and transit handling; the Brass Charter planner implements a narrower small-business workflow.
Reference for explicit conversions between transaction and stock units.
Reference for keeping reserved demand distinct from physical stock.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Bring the item, its care and the job depending on it into the same picture.
This planner is for owners and small teams whose work depends on physical equipment: cleaning machines, trade tools, shop equipment, cameras, event kits and other essential items. Start with one item. Add the detail that helps your actual work.
Give equipment a recognizable name and reference. Record its usual place, responsible person and the work it supports. Owned, leased, hired and borrowed equipment can carry different care and return responsibilities. Keep the relevant terms beside the record.
Location, custody, condition and reservations describe different things. Equipment can be in the workshop but waiting for repair. A complete kit may still be promised to another job.
Reservations use the working time zone set in Book details. Check collection, preparation and return time as part of the reserved window. Competing tentative reservations stay visible. Confirmation is based on recorded information; recheck the actual item before use.
Record actual handovers and each item’s return. Partial kit returns leave the remaining items outstanding. Record missing contents and damaged equipment, then make a separate readiness decision when the problem has been resolved.
Use manufacturer instructions, relevant professional advice, and verified federal, state, and local requirements to establish care and inspection needs. Record the source, person responsible, and work required. OSHA’s recommended practices include checking controls and carrying out preventive maintenance; the planner does not establish an equipment-specific safety schedule.
A care plan can have a first calendar date, a usage threshold, an event trigger or a combination. Record usage in the equipment’s chosen unit. Blank readings remain unknown. After a meter replacement or reset, cumulative usage retains earlier usage and adds the new display reading.
Choose whether future intervals follow original milestones or actual completion. Fixed month intervals clamp to the last valid day while retaining the original anchor. Deferred service does not count as completed service. An event trigger is a prompt to record the event and arrange the appropriate check; the planner cannot detect physical events.
Record the problem, affected work, responsible person and next action. New faults hold the equipment for review. Arrange appropriate service, parts and an alternative for affected jobs.
Keep expected dates separate from actual start and completion. Record the work carried out and its evidence. A completed repair stays held until the appropriate return-to-use check is recorded. This planner records decisions; it does not diagnose equipment or certify safety.
Compare the actual repair history with the next options: repair, replace, hire temporarily, or change how the work is delivered. Check warranty responsibilities, availability of parts and repairers, lead times and the work at risk.
Actual costs and estimates remain separate, as do currencies. Reference the relevant bill or quote line to prevent duplicate cost entries. Recorded service time covers only entered start and completion dates; it does not estimate lost revenue or calculate tax depreciation.
Retire equipment through a recorded outcome. Its history remains, and outstanding reservations still need another arrangement.
Download the editable equipment JSON to reopen the complete book. PDF files are reading copies; CSV files are tables. Preview selected information before sharing, especially with a repairer.
Bring in selected references from saved Delivery, Stock, Purchasing, Spending, Records and Continuity files. Record when you actually checked the information. Repeated imports update their existing reference; they do not add another machine or another cost.
Equipment remains responsible for its maintenance schedule. A dated action in Renewals is a copied occurrence. Routine exports start as drafts. Purchasing and continuity exports are proposals for review. Delivery requirements remain waiting until checked. Owner Overview reads a selected equipment file with its source dates. Other open files do not change automatically.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
US recommended practices for checking controls and preventive maintenance; equipment needs individual assessment.
Primary product documentation informing the distinction between fixed and completion-based time and usage schedules.
Primary product documentation for equipment movements and return workflows.
The Library / Running a business
Practical guide / Free to read
Review one customer job with clear costs, honest gaps and a better next decision.
Choose a customer project, repair, installation, creative commission or small order. For recurring work, set a specific review period so the price and work cover the same dates. Start with what you know; missing information stays visible.
Xero describes comparing estimates with actual project costs and assigning expenses to the work they belong to. Here that becomes a practical record: the original expectation, current agreement, costs recorded and the next action.
Background: Xero: Job costing
Record the original offer and assumptions before revising them. Create a revised plan when work or costs change; approved price additions and reductions stay separate. A quotation is an offer until its agreement has been checked.
A plan row and an actual row are two different views of the work, not two costs to add together. For work in progress, forecast costs include recorded costs, still-outstanding commitments and additional costs to finish. When a commitment becomes a real cost, change or split it so only the remaining part stays outstanding.
Preparation, buying supplies, travel, messages, delivery, revisions and follow-up may all belong to a job. Record hours per person and the number of people; two people working three hours represent six person-hours.
Internal cost rates differ from selling rates. QuickBooks distinguishes estimated hourly labor costs from payroll expenses. Choose a rate-based estimate or mark time as already covered by a recorded cost; counting both would overstate the job cost.
An owner time allowance shows whether the job leaves room for your effort. It is not automatically a wage, a payment or a tax deduction. Historical rates stay with their entries.
Background: Intuit: Hourly labor costs and project profitability
Keep the full cost record and allocate the share used by each job. The unallocated balance stays visible. Payments of a bill and owner reimbursements do not add another cost. A stock purchase covering several jobs should not all be charged to the first one.
Record supplier credits and returns against the relevant cost where possible. Cost figures imported from Spending may include recoverable tax; stock prices may be estimates. Review their basis before relying on the result. Equipment purchases require a considered allocation rather than automatically charging a whole asset to a single job.
Jobber explicitly warns that recording the same amount in item costs and expenses can double count it. Use distinct line references and review existing costs when importing another source.
Background: Jobber: Job costing
Start with the stated job value, then subtract entered direct costs, owner time allowances and shared running cost allowances in separate steps. The tool explains each remainder. It does not present a whole-business profit-and-loss statement.
Current agreed value, net invoices and customer cash are different measures. A deposit is not an extra sale; a refund following a customer credit is not a second reduction in price. Invoice balances include the entered customer tax, while the job review uses its stated net value basis.
Different currencies stay separate. Amounts that are blank remain unknown. Relevant missing rates, unchecked cost bases, outstanding commitments and disagreements between value and billed totals appear as review items.
Choose a fixed amount, a rate per person-hour or a percentage of direct job costs. State what the allowance includes and check it against labor rates and direct entries. The percentage basis and the chosen method are visible in the working record.
A calculation based on incomplete hours or costs is incomplete too. Entering a zero is a deliberate choice; leaving an amount blank is not evidence of no cost.
Compare time, materials, rates, waste, rework and scope changes with the plan. Record the cause only when you have evidence; uncertainty is a useful finding. Choose a specific next action and a person or date when useful.
The next decision may concern scope, preparation, supplier arrangements, process, or price. Carry a specific lesson into the next estimate or quote, while keeping what the customer values separate from what the previous job cost. A job-cost review supports that decision without choosing the price for you.
A Pricing draft groups reviewed costs into fresh assumptions. Owner rates may be rounded for the new estimate and the original allowance stays described. Recheck scope, volume and possible overlap with monthly overhead.
Background: SBA: Plan your business
Choose a saved source file, select an entry and record when you actually checked it. Carry figures only after reviewing their meaning and currency. Repeated source identities are matched; a changed source that already supplied figures creates a reconciliation action. Original financial entries stay available.
A finished review keeps a snapshot. Later changes reopen the job for review while earlier snapshots stay in history. History is a working record, not tamper-proof evidence.
Save editable job book (.json) to reopen the complete record. PDFs are internal reading copies containing costs and rates; private notes are optional. CSV contains the selected table including private fields and retained entries. Review any file before sharing.
Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.
Benchmark for estimates, actual costs and project review.
Distinction between hourly cost estimates and payroll expenses.
Benchmark for labor, expenses, incomplete jobs and duplicate costs.
US business planning background.
Tools / Buying a business
A guided path through buying a business / Downloadable software
Understand the next decision, keep the questions that need answers, and build a record of the business you are considering.
One-time purchase · Offline browser application + opening guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You want more structure than a collection of articles: a place to work through the purchase, record what you have learned, and decide what still needs attention. Start while preparing your search or use it to organize a business you are already examining.
Extract the downloaded ZIP and open product-15-buyer-operating-system.html in your desktop browser. The application works offline without installing software or signing into a product account.
Enter your buyer mission, work through the stages that apply, and keep your deal journal up to date. Copy your summary or print to PDF when you want a record to share.
Entries are saved in that browser where local storage is available. Moving the file, switching browsers, or clearing browser data can make saved entries unavailable. The printable or copied summary is a readable record, not a backup that restores the application.
This is an educational planning tool. Its prompts and scores help organize your review; they do not establish a business’s value, approve a loan, or replace professional due diligence. Check current lending requirements and transaction-specific questions with your lender and advisers.
Tools / Buying a business
Screening a particular business / Downloadable software
Put the asking price, borrowing, cash needed, and your income target into one picture. See where the numbers hold up—and where they need another look.
One-time purchase · Offline browser application + opening guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You have a particular business in mind and some numbers to examine. Before spending more time on an offer, explore whether the proposed borrowing, cash contribution, and earnings leave room for your income and a working cushion.
Use your best available figures and keep unverified seller claims marked as assumptions. Revisit the scenario when better information arrives.
Extract the ZIP and open Small-Business-Deal-Sizer.html in your desktop browser. It works offline without Excel, installation, or a product account. Use Load example to see how it works, then replace the example with your own figures.
This calculator does not save your entries between sessions. Before closing or reloading, use Copy deal memo and paste it into a document you keep. If copying is unavailable, choose Show memo text and select the text yourself. The memo records the inputs and results; it is not an importable application backup.
Results depend on the assumptions you enter. The scores are the tool’s screening rules, not a lender’s decision or a verified valuation. Review the underlying figures and transaction terms with your advisers before relying on them.
Tools / Buying a business
Working out an offer range / Downloadable software
Work through the earnings behind an asking price. Choose your assumptions, compare a value range, and see how an opening offer could be calculated.
One-time purchase · Offline browser application + opening guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You have earnings figures and seller adjustments to examine, and you want to understand what supports an offer range. Try different assumptions before a seller conversation, an adviser review, or preparation of an offer.
You supply the earnings adjustments and valuation multiples. The tool shows their effect; it does not determine which assumptions are justified.
Extract the ZIP and open business-valuation-offer-builder.html in your desktop browser. It works offline without Excel, installation, or a product account. Load example provides fictional figures to try before entering your own.
Entries are not saved between sessions. Use Copy valuation and paste the summary into a document you keep before closing or reloading. Show valuation text gives you a selectable version if automatic copying is unavailable. The summary is a record to read; it cannot be imported to restore the calculator.
A confidence percentage is a scenario input, not evidence that an adjustment is valid. This tool does not supply market comparables, perform an appraisal, or prepare a legal offer document. Have the earnings, multiples, and transaction terms reviewed before relying on the result.
Tools / Buying a business
Setting a purchase ceiling / Downloadable software
Work backward from cash flow, the income you need, and your financing assumptions. See the purchase ceiling those numbers support before you negotiate.
One-time purchase · Offline browser application + opening guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You are preparing to negotiate a particular business and want to set a price limit from your own requirements. Explore how the cash flow, income you need, debt coverage, and borrowing terms affect the ceiling before discussing an offer.
Change the assumptions to see what moves the result and what you need to confirm with the seller or your advisers.
The calculator takes the lower of two debt limits: the amount supported by your DSCR target and the cash flow left after your income target. It then uses your financing rate, term, and down payment percentage to estimate a purchase ceiling.
This simplified scenario does not check your available cash, add closing costs or working capital reserves, or model separate loans and balloon payments. Allow for those alongside this calculation. It models a financed purchase, with a down payment below 100%.
Extract the ZIP and open max-purchase-price-calculator.html in your desktop browser. It works offline without Excel, installation, or a product account. Use Load example to try fictional numbers before entering your own.
Entries are not saved between sessions. Use Copy summary and paste the result into a document you keep before closing or reloading. Show summary text provides a selectable version if automatic copying is unavailable. The summary is a readable record; it cannot be imported to restore the calculator.
The result depends on the figures and terms you enter. It is not a market valuation, lender approval, or confirmation that a purchase is affordable. Review the cash flow, financing, costs, and purchase terms before relying on it.
Tools / Buying a business
Working out financing terms / Downloadable software
Bring both loans into the same calculation. See the monthly payments, what remains after your income, and the balances that could come due later.
One-time purchase · Offline browser application + opening guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You have a particular business and are discussing how the purchase would be financed. The bank and seller may offer different rates, repayment schedules, and dates when the remaining balance becomes due.
Try the proposed terms together. Change one assumption to see its effect before taking questions back to the seller, lender, or your advisers.
Amortization determines the scheduled monthly payment. An earlier balloon date leaves a balance to pay or refinance in that year. A low monthly payment does not remove that obligation.
The tool shows each balloon separately. Their combined balance may span different years; it is not one payment due on a single date. The monthly figures do not include balloon payments or model what replacement financing would cost.
This is a fixed-rate, monthly-amortization scenario for one bank loan and one seller note. Purchase funding excludes closing costs, fees, taxes, and working capital. It does not model interest-only periods, payment holidays, changing rates, or changing earnings over time.
The screening labels use the tool’s stated rules. They are not lender approval or a recommendation to buy. Confirm the figures, omitted costs, and actual financing terms before relying on the results.
Extract the ZIP and open seller-note-bank-loan-payment-lab.html in your desktop browser. It works offline without Excel, installation, or a product account. Load example supplies fictional figures to try first.
Entries are not saved between sessions. Use Copy financing summary and paste it into a document you keep before closing or reloading. Show summary text lets you select and copy manually. The summary cannot be imported to restore the calculator.
Tools / Buying a business
Putting your offer in writing / Downloadable software
Bring the terms into one clear draft. Work through the price, conditions, deadlines, and handover before the next conversation with your advisers and the seller.
One-time purchase · Application + quick-start guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You have a particular business, a proposed price, and terms to discuss. Now the details need to be clear enough for your advisers to review and for both sides to understand what you are proposing.
Work through the offer before spending further time and money on the transaction. The draft gives the next conversation a concrete starting point.
The template describes the proposed acquisition as non-binding with intended binding exceptions, including confidentiality, deposit provisions, and exclusivity when selected. Have your attorney review the complete draft before sending or signing.
The checks flag discussion points. They do not establish a fair price, lender approval, seller acceptance, or enforceability. Confirm financing and standby requirements with your lender and the legal terms with counsel.
Extract the ZIP and open loi-offer-builder.html in a desktop browser. It works offline without Excel, installation, or a product account. Load sample deal shows a fictional offer first.
Browser saving keeps the current offer where storage is available. Use Export (.json) to keep each offer or revision as a separate file; Import restores it. If a download is blocked, Export also reveals selectable backup text that you can save as a .json file. Browser storage is not a permanent backup and does not sync between devices.
Choose LOI letter or Term sheet, then Print / Save PDF for a reading copy. Printed page count depends on your entries and settings. The saved offer date controls the letter and expiration dates; update it when preparing a new offer.
Tools / Buying a business
From LOI to closing / Downloadable software
Know what you have, what is missing, and what needs an answer. Turn the investigation into clear requests, recorded findings, and decisions to work through before closing.
One-time purchase · Application + quick-start guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You are under LOI, or preparing to investigate a specific business. The seller is sharing records, advisers have questions, and your exclusivity window is running. You need to see which requests are outstanding and which findings still need a response.
Use the deal room to coordinate the work and prepare the next conversation with the seller, broker, lender, attorney, or CPA.
These reports reflect the statuses and evidence you record. A cleared checklist is not independent verification or a decision that a deal is safe to close.
The complete Due-Diligence Deal Room HTML application and a quick-start guide in one ZIP. It works offline in a desktop browser without Excel, installation, a subscription, or a product account.
The application organizes requests and findings. Keep the seller’s source documents separately and reference them in your notes; this is not a shared document-storage service.
Extract the ZIP and open due-diligence-deal-room.html. Load sample deal shows a fictional investigation. Export your own work before loading the sample.
Browser saving keeps the current deal where storage is available. Use Export (.json) to keep a separate backup for each deal or revision; Import restores it. Export also provides a download link and selectable JSON text if automatic downloading is blocked. Browser storage does not sync across devices and is not a permanent backup.
Choose a report, then Print / Save PDF for a reading copy. Tailor the requests, interpret findings, and decide how to resolve them with your attorney and CPA.
Tools / Buying a business
Preparing for financing / Downloadable software
Give the financing conversation a clear starting point. Connect the purchase, the funding, and the repayment plan in one loan request package.
One-time purchase · Application + quick-start guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You have a specific acquisition and are preparing to discuss financing. You need to explain the full project cost, where the money will come from, and how the business would service its debt.
Use your proposed terms and the financial information gathered during diligence. As the lender responds, revise the same deal and regenerate the package.
Review three years of modeled cash flow and debt coverage, alongside first-year earnings declines of 10% and 20%. See scheduled debt, balloon warnings, and how much room sits above the 1.25× planning reference.
Planning checks help surface questions. They do not establish loan eligibility, verify earnings, or replace the lender’s underwriting. Confirm the applicable program, eligible contribution, rates, fees, and required documents with your lender.
The package brings six sections together: a cover, executive summary, transaction overview, financial summary, debt structure and repayment, and assumptions with an attachments checklist.
Preview the documents and use Print / Save PDF for a reading copy. Long entries may extend the printed page count. Gather the actual records separately; the checklist does not attach or submit documents.
The complete acquisition-loan-package-builder.html application and a quick-start guide in one ZIP. Extract the ZIP and open the HTML in a desktop browser. It works offline without Excel, installation, a subscription, or a product account.
Load sample deal opens the fictional print-and-sign acquisition shown here. Export your own work before loading the example.
Browser saving keeps the current entries where storage is available. Export deal (.json) prepares a separate editable backup; Import restores it. Export includes a download link and selectable JSON text if automatic downloading is blocked.
Browser storage does not sync across devices and is not a permanent backup. Keep exported JSON files for different deals or revisions; PDF is the reading copy.
Tools / Moving on
Considering a sale / Downloadable software
A sale price is the start of the conversation. Work through the deductions, the money available now, and the amounts you may receive later.
One-time purchase · Application + quick-start guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You own a business and are considering a sale, preparing to speak with advisers, or reviewing an offer. You want to understand how earnings and deal terms connect to the proceeds you could have available.
Begin with what you know. Keep assumptions visible and revise them as your records, adviser estimates, and proposed terms become clearer.
Enter earnings, owner pay already deducted from profit, and up to five add-backs. Choose credit assumptions and assess eight drivers, including owner dependence, customer concentration, the team, and the lease.
Review the earnings-based range and explore individual driver changes. Industry presets and driver effects are planning assumptions; replace them with evidence relevant to your business. The tool does not produce a formal appraisal or decide whether you should sell.
Use the range midpoint or enter an actual proposed price. Add broker or direct-sale costs, legal and preparation expenses, debt payoff, and a tax reserve.
Enter your adviser’s total tax reserve or explore the built-in simplified asset-sale illustration with editable allocation, basis, and rates. Actual tax treatment needs professional review; corporate and stock-sale taxes, recapture limits, and installment timing are outside the simplified calculation.
Escrow and seller financing can leave a large gap between total modeled proceeds and cash available after reserving for tax. See those amounts separately before comparing the offer with your plans.
The planner sets aside the full tax reserve now for planning; it does not claim that amount is due at closing. Escrow release and seller-note collection remain conditional. Note interest and payment schedules are not modeled.
The Exit Snapshot brings together three sections: value assumptions, proceeds and timing, and driver sensitivities with adviser questions. Use Print / Save PDF for a reading copy. Page count depends on your entries and print settings.
Export JSON to keep an editable version for each offer or revision, then import it when you want to continue. A download link and selectable backup text are available if automatic downloading is blocked.
The complete exit-value-planner.html application and quick-start guide in one ZIP. Extract it and open the HTML in a desktop browser. It works offline without Excel, installation, a subscription, or a product account.
Load sample business opens the fictional Juniper Pet Grooming scenario shown here. Browser saving keeps current entries where storage is available; export JSON for a separate backup. Browser storage does not sync between devices.
Tools / Preparing your people
Before an absence or loss / Downloadable software
Help your people find the right person, the right record, and the practical details you usually carry in your head.
One-time purchase · Application + quick-start guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You want to prepare before an illness, absence, or loss leaves someone else trying to piece things together. Who should they call? Where are the documents? What needs care tomorrow?
Use the binder to record real arrangements and open questions. Review it with the people involved so they know where to find their copy and what they have agreed to do.
Fifteen marked prompts help you begin with contacts, record locations, and key practical details. Progress indicators show which fields you have answered; they do not certify that arrangements are complete or legally effective.
Keep credentials separate. Record the authorized contact or secure access arrangement, rather than passwords, PINs, full account numbers, or recovery codes.
Twelve guided sections cover initial instructions; urgent contacts; people and professionals; money; bills; insurance; legal documents; home and pets; digital arrangements; business responsibilities; wishes and three letters; and prompts for your people’s first steps.
The business section gives a coordinator somewhere to begin: who handles the work, where procedures live, and what arrangements need confirmation. For a detailed work handover, use the free Business Handover tool alongside it.
The printed binder includes your entries, ruled lines for unfinished fields, and first-step prompts that reference the contacts and locations you recorded. Use Print / Save PDF, then choose who should hold a secured copy. Printed length depends on your entries and settings.
Your wishes and notes complement formal documents. The binder does not create a will, appoint an executor, grant access, or give someone decision-making authority.
Save encrypted creates a passphrase-protected file you can reopen in the application. Keep the file and passphrase separately; there is no recovery service. A download link and complete copyable backup text are available if your browser blocks the download.
Encryption protects that exported file. Optional browser saving stores unencrypted entries on the device; plain exports, PDFs, and printouts are also unencrypted. Turn browser saving off when you want to work without retaining that browser copy.
The complete emergency-legacy-binder.html application and quick-start guide in one ZIP. Extract the ZIP and open the HTML in a current desktop browser. It works offline without Excel, a subscription, or a product account.
See an example loads Morgan Lee’s fictional household and Willow Lane Flowers notes. Use them to understand the fields, then replace them with your own information. Export before loading an example over existing entries.
Tools / Administering an estate
After a loss / Downloadable software
Keep the records, decisions, and unfinished conversations together while you work through an estate.
One-time purchase · Application + quick-start guide
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
You are helping administer someone’s estate after a death. You need to organize records and questions between calls, institution requests, and adviser meetings—whether or not the estate includes a business.
Begin with the person, court, people involved, and evidence of your authority. Then build the record as information arrives. The organizer supports the work; it does not appoint you or authorize estate actions.
Track 26 document prompts, key dates and custom reminders, and 42 task prompts across six phases. Record where documents are held and what is still requested. The actual sequence and requirements depend on the estate.
Source documents stay in your secured files. The room keeps their locations and references, so you can find what you need.
The inventory records assets, values, liens, and working probate classifications. The claims register separates amounts claimed, approved, and paid. The ledger records cash movements, receipts, and reconciliation.
Related records can be linked, but you reconcile the figures yourself. An inventory value is not cash, and a balance less recorded approved claims is not permission to distribute funds. Export each register as CSV when you need to work with an adviser.
Use nine letter drafting prompts or a custom letter. Record what you sent, how you sent it, the delivery reference, the response, and the next follow-up. Review each draft’s facts and any legal requirements before using it.
The application does not send letters or email. A sent date records an action; it does not establish effective legal service or rejection.
Select from nine attorney-packet sections plus a cover memo. Add your questions alongside the questions drawn from flagged entries, then review the printable packet or status snapshot before sharing.
Ohio is the only included state reference. Twelve dated statutory references offer links and limited illustrations; counsel confirms actual dates, exceptions, and local requirements. The app does not update legal content automatically or create court filings.
Save encrypted prepares a passphrase-protected estate file you can reopen. Keep the passphrase separately; there is no recovery service. A prepared-file link and complete copyable text are available if the browser blocks downloading.
Optional browser saving is unencrypted. Plain JSON/CSV, PDF, and printed copies are also unencrypted. Turn browser saving off to remove that stored copy while keeping the open draft, and export before closing.
The complete executor-deal-room.html application and quick-start guide in one ZIP. Extract it and open the HTML in a current desktop browser. It works offline without Excel, a subscription, or a product account.
The filled Miriam Brooks example shows a medical claim under review, a business ownership question, and a reconciled cash record. It is fictional and can be replaced with your own entries.
Tools / Offering automation services
For automation builders / Downloadable toolkit
Turn a promising client conversation into a defined project—with a scope, a price, and a clear agreement about the work.
One-time purchase · Editable templates + pricing workbook + examples
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
Use the Opportunity Audit to map what happens today: the trigger, repetitive work, decisions, systems, and stopping point. Score the opportunity and record the risks before deciding whether to propose a build, narrow the scope, or investigate further.
The Discovery Call Script helps you confirm the owner, volume, access, constraints, and decisions that need human review.
The six-sheet pricing workbook estimates effort from the workflow and integrations, testing, documentation, and support. Enter your rate and assumptions to explore a project price, payment split, and gross-value comparison.
Package bands and project prices are illustrations. Gross revenue plus valued time is not net profit or cash payback; review the actual client economics separately.
Build the proposal from your discovery notes and estimates. Name deliverables, exclusions, client responsibilities, human approval points, and observable acceptance tests.
Use the Statement of Work after a package is chosen to document the agreed scope, payment schedule, revisions, support, and change requests.
Adapt ten outreach and follow-up scripts, from a first workflow question through discovery recap and proposal follow-up. The objection-handling reference keeps the conversation focused on the work, evidence, and next step.
Two filled proposals show how the pieces fit: Northstar’s service-request workflow and Brightline’s agency onboarding and weekly-status workflow.
One ZIP with ten numbered resources and a README—twelve files in total. Use Word and Excel, or compatible editors, plus a PDF reader. Copy approved facts between the files; they do not synchronize.
The kit supplies the documents and estimating structure. You adapt them to the project and build the automation using your chosen tools. Confirm integration support, permissions, and ongoing software costs before promising a scope.
The Statement of Work is a business template; review its terms for the actual agreement. The kit does not send outreach, deploy workflows, or guarantee sales.
Tools / Managing freelance money
For freelancers / Downloadable workbook
See what came in, what went out, and what you plan to set aside—all in one spreadsheet you own.
One-time purchase · One XLSX workbook · Five connected tabs
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
Record payments received in Income and costs paid in Expenses. Add a date, client or vendor, description, category, and amount. Each log has room for 500 entries.
Editable category lists keep entries consistent. Use a negative amount in the same log for a refund, and keep your source invoices and receipts separately.
Choose a reporting year in Settings. The Dashboard shows recorded income, expenses, their difference, and a twelve-month breakdown for that year.
Entries from other years stay out of those totals. A used row needs a real date and numeric amount; the dashboard flags incomplete entries before showing totals.
Choose your own set-aside percentage. The workbook applies it to each positive monthly cash surplus and adds the results. A loss month contributes zero; it does not undo earlier reserves.
This is a planning rule, not an estimate of tax owed. The separate deductible total reflects expenses you marked Y; it does not determine whether those costs qualify. Confirm your rate and deductions with a qualified professional.
One editable XLSX file. Open in Excel, or import into Google Sheets using the included instructions. No macros or subscription. The workbook uses USD and does not convert currencies.
Add your payments and costs, check the dashboard, and make any reserve transfer yourself. The file does not connect to your bank, reconcile an account, issue invoices, move money, or file taxes.
Keep a backup. For a fresh year, save a clean workbook copy and set the year. Each log includes rows 2–501; entries beyond that range are not counted.
Tools / Working in a spreadsheet
Find it. Understand it. Use it.
Find the formula for the job in front of you—and keep a clear reference beside your spreadsheet.
One-time purchase · Offline formula finder + one-page PDF
Personal or one-organization use. Team and paid client work included; share completed work. Reusable product distribution requires separate permission. Read the product license
Open the Formula Lab in your browser. Search its 40 formula cards by name or purpose, or narrow the results using eight categories: math, logical, lookup, text, dates, statistics, financial, and dynamic arrays.
Each card gives a purpose and a formula pattern to adapt. Some cards also explain related functions or show a worked result.
Choose Excel or Google Sheets before copying. Where the examples differ, the Lab shows the appropriate syntax. If your browser blocks automatic copying, select the formula and copy it manually.
Replace the sample cell ranges and assumptions with your own. The Lab helps you find and understand a formula; your spreadsheet performs the calculation.
The one-page landscape PDF groups the core functions and reminders into a compact reference. Print it or keep it on a second screen while you work.
Use the Lab when you need to search and copy. Use the Cheat Sheet when you want to scan related functions and syntax. Both are included in this one offer.
One ZIP with three files. Extract it, keep the files together, and open the HTML in a modern browser. No installation, account, or subscription is needed for the Lab.
The examples target Excel 2021, Excel 2024, Microsoft 365, and current Google Sheets. Older Excel versions may lack newer functions. English function names and comma separators may need adapting to your locale.
Test the formula on a few known rows. Check dates, data types, matching range sizes, and—for financial formulas—the signs and periods. A reference cannot check those details in your own file.
The Library / Starting a business
Tools, ideas, and people
for your life in business.
From the library · Free guide & worksheet
Put your idea into a few clear sentences. Then choose one thing to learn before you go further.
You can begin with an unfinished idea. The point is to make the next question easier to see.
Picture a particular person in a particular situation. What are they trying to do, and what gets in their way?
“People who cycle to work and struggle to fit a bike repair into their week.”
Pick an assumption that matters to the idea. Write down what you know and what you are still guessing.
“Is getting to a repair shop actually a problem for these people?”
Choose a small action that produces something you can examine: a conversation, an observation, or a simple trial.
“Ask five bike commuters about the last time they needed a repair.”
A short worksheet turns these questions into a plan you can copy and keep.
A fictional worked example
Here is how an early idea can become a specific question and a manageable first action.
Short answers are enough. “I don't know yet” is a useful answer when it points to what you need to learn.
Your answers, organized into a short plan. Come back to the question after you have tried the action.
My idea / first test
My next action
Prepare open questions and keep what you learn in the Customer Conversation Planner.
Keep this going.
A name makes your downloaded plan easier to find later.
Up to 100 characters.
After you try your next step, record what you noticed. These notes stay with this plan.
Changes stay in this tab until you download a copy.
Download the editable plan below to keep your answers and review notes.
The editable JSON includes your answers and review notes. PDF and text are reading copies. Reopen your editable file here without an account.
The Library / Running a business
From the Library / Running a business
Look back at the week, notice what needs attention, and choose a few things to move forward.
Have your calendar, task list, and recent customer notes nearby. A few honest observations are enough to begin.
01 / Look back
Notice something that moved forward and something that got stuck. Look for a useful lesson, including from a quiet or difficult week.
What helped? What took longer than I expected?
02 / Take stock
Check promises, customer follow-ups, and unfinished work. Consider the time and energy you have before taking on more.
Who is waiting on me? What can realistically fit?
03 / Choose next week
Choose one to three priorities. Give each a specific next action, and put other ideas aside for a later review.
“Send two promised quotes on Monday” is a step I can take.
Leave with your review and a short plan for the week ahead.
A fictional worked example
A busy week leaves a few loose ends. Next week has less room, so the owner chooses what to finish and what to leave for later.
Check the parts costs and send both quotes on Monday afternoon.
Confirm the parts delivery on Tuesday, then confirm the two appointments.
Spend 20 minutes turning one completed quote into a reusable checklist.
Parked for later: new flyers and a website redesign.
Next review: Thursday afternoon, before accepting more work.
Choose at least one priority and give it a next action. Other notes are optional. Short answers are enough.
Your notes and chosen next actions, ready to keep and revisit.
My weekly review
My priorities / Next actions
The Library / Buying a business
From the Library / Buying a business
Get clear on the business you want to be part of, the work you want to do, and the questions you need answered.
Start with a few notes about what you want and what you still need to learn. You can revise the brief as your understanding grows.
01 / The work
Think about ordinary days: working with customers, making things, organizing people, or keeping operations moving. Name the work that interests you.
What do I enjoy doing? What would I need to learn?
02 / The fit
Describe the time you can give, where you can work, and the commitments you need to respect. Keep firm boundaries separate from preferences.
What would a workable week look like for me?
03 / The questions
Turn assumptions into questions to investigate. Choose an early conversation or piece of research that helps you understand the work.
What does the owner actually handle in a normal week?
Put your preferences, limits, and questions into one personal brief.
This brief describes your search. Investigating any particular business is a separate step.
A fictional worked example
Riley likes helping customers and organizing work. Before looking at listings, they write down what they want to understand about running a shop.
Firm boundary: keep my existing evening commitments.
Preference: work directly with customers.
Still to clarify: how much cover I would need when I am away.
What does the owner do during a normal week, including outside opening hours?
Who handles production and equipment problems?
How is work covered when the owner is away?
My next step: arrange a conversation with an experienced print-shop operator about the ordinary working week.
My review point: after that conversation, update the brief before narrowing my search.
Four questions are marked required. A short answer is enough, and “not sure yet” can point to something worth learning.
Your own notes, organized into a personal brief. Keep it nearby and revise it as you learn.
My buyer-preparation brief
A starting point for your search. These notes do not assess a particular business.