Business Bank Psychology. The Five-Bucket System That Fixed My Margins
How a five-account cash map, turns chaos into compounding margins. A riff on the Profit First model, tailored for modern entrepreneurs
Quick promise: this isn’t a motivational piece. It’s an owner-tested cash system with complex numbers, specific 2025 tax updates, and allocation math you can copy today. It riffs on Profit First, but adapts for today’s realities—instant payouts, ACH rails, higher money-market yields, and the tax law you’ll file under for 2025.
Why bank-account psychology beats “perfect” spreadsheets
Cash flow stress is a thinking problem before it’s a math problem. Most owners run one operating account and a catch-all savings account. Every deposit looks like “spendable” money. That’s why even otherwise healthy companies skate on thin ice: JPMorgan Chase Institute found the median small business sits on ~27 days of cash, restaurants around 16 days, and real estate closer to 47. Separate buckets change behavior before you change budgets.
2025 makes psychology even more valuable, because the rules have changed:
Section 179 immediate expensing limits were raised to $2.5M (phase-out starting at $4M of purchases). That’s rocket fuel for equipment-heavy shops—but it also makes it easy to overspend.
Bonus depreciation is back at 100% for short-lived investments (post-TCJA phase-down is gone), altering both cash and tax timing.
The QBI (199A) deduction for pass-throughs is now permanent at 20%, with wider phase-in ranges—great, but it doesn’t replace margins. Your operating discipline still sets your real take-home.
1099-K reporting snapped back to the older $20,000 + 200 transactions standard, lowering surprise-form risk for many operators who got whiplash from transitional thresholds. Plan for the paperwork you’ll receive.
The 5-Account System (2025 edition)
I run exactly five external bank accounts (with a few “virtual sub-envelopes” inside Opex). The names matter—labels shape behavior.