Blog: Insights From the Fastlane

Starting Your Firearms Instructor Business
(From a CPA/CFO Who Doesn’t Trust “We’ll Figure It Out”)

Thinking about starting a firearms instructor business? Solid move. You get to teach an important skill, build a real income stream, and spend quality time explaining to grown adults that muzzle discipline is not a “suggestion.”

I’m coming at this as an accounting/tax/CFO guy, which means I’ve seen what happens when someone starts a business on vibes, duct tape, and optimism. If you want your instructor business to last (and not turn into a liability bonfire), you need more than great training. You need a clean business foundation.

This guide walks you through the real-world steps to launch professionally, protect yourself, and actually make money.

The Big Beautiful Bill brings significant tax law changes impacting real estate buyers, property owners, and real estate professionals. To help you navigate these updates, here's an in-depth overview of key provisions, who they affect, and practical examples that clarify their real-world implications.

“Zero-trust” sounds like something dreamed up by an IT team that drinks too much cold brew. In reality, it’s a finance concept wearing a tech hoodie.

At its core, zero-trust simply means this: no one gets access to money, data, or systems unless they continuously prove they should have it. Not once. Every time.

If that sounds familiar, it should. CFOs have been doing this for decades.

Download: CFO Zero-Trust Checklist & Scorecard

Zero-Trust Is Just Internal Controls, Modernized

What lenders actually read, the ratios that matter, and how to pre-negotiate terms

A bank package is not a document dump. It’s a curated, lender-ready narrative backed by numbers that survive scrutiny. Tight packages move through credit faster, earn cleaner covenants, and avoid the "please resend page 42" purgatory.

At Sharp CFO™, we build packages that speak banker. Mike, our founder, simultaneously ran a CPA firm, served as a CFO, and operated as a California real estate broker originating and underwriting mortgages. Translation: we’ve worked both sides of the table—corporate credit and the personal "global cash flow" lens lenders actually use.

Most businesses run on hope and yesterday’s P&L… Cute!

The companies that don’t panic on Thursdays run a 13-week cash flow. It’s simple, relentless, and unfairly effective at keeping you solvent while everyone else is guessing.

When an S-corp nets $150,000 to $250,000 before owner salary, the reflex is to crank up wages “to be safe.” That’s not always necessary. Our firm applies an effort vs. capitalization framework that pegs wages to the owner’s actual labor and credits a fair return to capital and systems.

Used correctly, this approach can support a $50,000 W-2 wage for the owner while keeping the rest available for distributions, cash reserves, and growth.

The Rule, In Plain English

An S-corporation must pay shareholder-employees a reasonable salary for the services they perform before distributing remaining profits. This isn’t folklore; it comes from how the Internal Revenue Code treats compensation and payroll tax:

Let’s be honest: we toss around “SWOT” a lot. CFOs love it, consultants swear by it, and half the time it’s a slide that gets skimmed between coffee refills. But do you actually know why it matters, or how to use it so it changes decisions and dollars, not just meeting minutes? Let’s review, simply and practically.

Not every business can afford a full-time CFO—but every business deserves CFO-level insight. Here are five simple tips that our clients use to get control of their numbers and strengthen their bottom line.

🚨 California Expands Retirement Plan Mandate 🚨

California has expanded its retirement mandate to the smallest employers. If you have even one W-2 employee (other than the owner or owner’s spouse) and do not sponsor a qualified plan, you must either (a) adopt a private plan (e.g., 401(k), SIMPLE IRA) or (b) register for CalSavers by December 31, 2025.

Action required by December 31, 2025.