Farmer's Office, Second Edition

Julia Shanks brings a broad range of professional experience to her clients; from pilot, to chef, to serial entrepreneur, she combines the practicality of an accountant with the creativity of a chef. Julia’s career started at the FAA as an aviation analyst, and quickly took a turn into the culinary arts. Julia worked as a chef for 15 years, launching several food businesses. After earning an MBA in entrepreneurship, she taught graduate and undergraduate accounting at Babson College. As a business consultant and coach, she supports owners of small- and medium- sized food and agricultural businesses to achieve and maintain financial and operational sustainability. Together with Brett Grohsgal, she co-authored The Farmers Market Cookbook. Julia lives in Cambridge, MA.

Filled with excellent, real-life examples, this is the best book I've seen on the business side of running a small farm. Written by someone who clearly has first-hand experience and understands how market farmers think, The Farmer's Office clearly illustrates the ups and downs and ins and outs of making the dream financially sustainable. This is a great book for both farmers just starting out, and experienced farmers looking to improve their businesses.—Josh Volk, Slow Hand FarmThis book will guide you from setting up your farm, to how to make tough business decisions when things aren't going so great, and to scaling up when things take off again. Whether you love spreadsheets or barely tolerate them, you should read The Farmer's Office!—Dan Brisebois, the Farmer Spreadsheet Academy, host, The Seed Growers Podcast, farmer, Tourne-Sol Co-operative Farm Every farmer aspiring to sharpen their business management skills should have this book in their toolbox. This latest edition offers a comprehensive overview of what to track, how to use data to make decisions and, most importantly, how to move forward with a minimum of pain and anxiety. All of which is illustrated with updated case studies of real farmers confronting real business challenges and figuring it out.—Mary L. Peabody, business coach, University of Vermont Extension professor emeritusThis comprehensive guide, filled with detailwwed graphs, spreadsheets, and charts, offers a clear pathway to mastering your finances and truly comprehending your farming enterprise. This isn't just another business book, it's a farming financial masterclass.—Michael Kilpatrick, farmer, The Farm on Central, educator, Growing FarmersIf you're dreaming of starting a farm, then The Farmer's Office just became your first official "must read." I wish this book had existed thirty years ago when I started farming. —Forrest Pritchard, NYT bestselling author, Gaining Ground Julia's second edition is even better than the first. In addition to all its critically important and usable information, and its many new chapters, she's added an easy-to-use guide to help you decide what chapters are most important for where your business is now.—Dorothy Suput, founder, The Carrot ProjectWhenever I encounter a struggling farmer, I send them off to read Julia Shanks's book. This is a must-read for anyone working in agriculture.—Lennie Larkin, author, Flower Farming For Profit Farmers of every level of experience will find valuable ideas in this book.—Ellen Polishuk, Plant to Profit, author, Start Your Farm Julia Shanks's new edition of The Farmer's Office gives us vital tools that can help new as well as old and experienced farmers survive, evolve, and hopefully thrive!—Brett Grohsgal, owner/farmer, Even' Star Farm, co-author, The Farmers Market Cookbook

• ForewordGratitudePrefaceDisclaimerHow to Use This Book Chapter 1: Introduction—Why BotherUnderstand What Makes You Money (and Why) Invest in Your BusinessPlan for GrowthPlan for Slow Periods Avoid Out-of-Control DebtWeather Covid-Like Pivots and Other DisruptionsKeep Your Eye on the PrizeChapter 2: Building the Foundation: The Financial Statements and Basic AccountingThe Income Statement—A Summary of the OperationsThe Balance Sheet—What You Have and How You Got ItThe Statement of Cash Flows—Where Cash Rules the RoostTying It All TogetherUnderlying PrinciplesChapter 3: Planning Your New VentureChapter 4: The Business Planning ProcessGetting StartedThe Business Planning ProcessBusiness Plan Writing GuideCreating Financial ProjectionsChapter 5: Financing Your New VentureSave MoneyBorrow from Friends and Family Outside OrganizationsFinancing SourcesPreparing for InvestorsChapter 6: Setting up a Bookkeeping System (and QuickBooks)QuickBooks (and Bookkeeping) Best Practices Choosing a Bookkeeping SoftwareThe Initial SetupQuickBooks: An Overview of Things You'll Do Reports in QuickBooks QuickBooks TerminologyChapter 7: Day to Day: Using QuickBooks for Cash ManagementCreate Your Annual Budget by Month The Bank FeedRegular Bookkeeping—Every Day-ish (10 minutes) Review, Refine, and Stay on Target—Every Month (1 hour)Big Picture Planning - Year End (1 to 2 hours, plus cleanup)QuickBooks Quick TipsChapter 8: Digging into the Numbers and BeyondSection 1: Calculating the Cost of ProductionSection 2: Allocating General Production Costs and Enterprise AnalysisSection 3: Marketing and Pricing Strategies Section 4: BenchmarkingMeasuring Success: Keep Your Eye on the PrizeChapter 9: Stabilizing Your Business Managing the HoleShould You Stop or Persevere?Key Takeaways Chapter 10: Growing Your Business Establish Goals Is "Growth" the Right Strategy? Deciding How to Grow Growing Your TeamMarketingKey Success FactorsChapter 11: Building Resiliency into Your Business ModelThe Process to PivotShifts vs. PivotsBuilding Resiliency into Your SystemChapter 12: Cultivating the Entrepreneurial MindsetThe Entrepreneurial MindsetGetting Comfortable with the Uncomfortable Money ShameMental Models Time ManagementBeing the Employer of ChoiceDecision-Making In SummaryEpilogue:Final Words of WisdomAppendix 1: Sample Income Statement AccountsAppendix 2: Sample Balance Sheet AccountsAppendix 3: The Business Plan Appendix 4: Suggested Accounts for Chart of AccountsGlossaryEndnotesIndex About the Author About New Society Publishers