Every container ties up more cash. Know the real cost.
Follow one kitchen brand from launch to exit: its first container of utensil sets, its first wholesale PO, and the books a lender, and one day a buyer, reads. Futureproof shows you what each unit cost to land and whether the next container fits your cash.
Six stages, from the first container to the books being read
- 1The container lands
The freight bill came in the container's first weeks of sales, and your unit cost is still the factory price.
- 2Payouts and the books
Amazon deposits less than it says you sold, and your first month is still with the bookkeeper.
- 3The next container
The factory wants a deposit on the next container before this one has sold through.
- 4Which channel pays
Your own store sells beside Amazon, and you cannot say which channel makes money.
- 5First wholesale PO
A buyer has sent a PO, and you will pay for the goods long before it pays you.
- 6Someone reads the books
A lender, your CPA or an investor has asked to see the books.
The container lands
The freight bill came in the container's first weeks of sales, and your unit cost is still the factory price.
Each utensil set carries the freight, duty and tariff of the container it came in, so you price on what it cost to land, not on the factory price.
Amazon pays. The books fall behind
The container is checked in and selling.
Amazon deposits less than it says you sold, and your first month is still with the bookkeeper.
Each Amazon payout breaks into sales, refunds and fees behind the deposit, so the month matches your bank.
Each month comes to you as it ends, matching the bank, and you approve it.
Can you afford the next container?
The first container is half sold.
The factory wants a deposit on the next container before this one has sold through.
With the next container's PO placed, the factory deposit and balance sit in their weeks against your minimum cash, and a week below it is marked before the deposit leaves.
Which channel makes money?
Ad spend is now the biggest bill.
Your own store sells beside Amazon, and you cannot say which channel makes money.
The utensil set on Amazon and on your own store each go from gross sales to what they kept after fees and ad spend, with each ad account counted against the channel you choose.
The first wholesale PO comes in
Independent kitchen stores have been asking for samples.
A buyer has sent a PO, and you will pay for the goods long before it pays you.
Each kitchen store's invoice sits in your books with what it owes and when it is due, and your cash forecast puts its payment in the week it is expected.
Someone outside reads the books
Kitchen store orders now need a credit line behind them.
A lender, your CPA or an investor has asked to see the books.
They read the months you approved, including what the utensil set kept on Amazon and on your own store, from the same orders and fees as your P&L.
If you sell the brand one day, the buyer reads these same closed months.
What Home & Kitchen CEOs ask
Yes. Your books start at the stage your brand is at today, with your QuickBooks history brought across up to the date you switch, so every stage ahead runs on one set of books.
Yes. Brands that use a co-packer follow the same stages from the first payouts on, and a co-packed brand checks the next run against its cash once the run's PO is placed.
No. Futureproof keeps the books day to day, and your fractional CFO still leads the finance side. You or your fractional CFO approve each month.
You are live in weeks, not months. Your QuickBooks history comes across into the same books as your new months, and your store, your marketplaces and your 3PL stay where they are.
See the full platform in one walkthrough.
The demo is an overview of the whole platform, then a talk about how you run your month.