Business By The Numbers

Thanks to our partner Promotive

It’s time to hire a superstar for your business; what a grind you have in front of you. Introducing Promotive, a full-service staffing solution for your shop. Promotive has over 40 years of recruiting and automotive experience. If you need qualified technicians and service advisors and want to offload the heavy lifting, visit www.gopromotive.com.

Paar Melis and Associates – Accountants Specializing in ...

Thanks to our partner Promotive

In this final episode of our Benchmark Report series, Hunt Demarest, CPA with Paar Melis and Associates, uncovers what truly separates the top shops from the rest—productivity, profit margins, and owner involvement.

Key takeaways:

• Top-performing shops average 55%+ productivity, while bottom-tier shops hover around 41%.
• That 15-point gap translates to $13,000 more sales per technician and $12,000 more...

Thanks to our partner Promotive

In this second part of our 2025 Benchmark series, Hunt Demarest, CPA, with Paar Melis and Associates, breaks down performance trends by region, shop size, and shop type, using real-world data from auto repair businesses across the U.S.

Key points:

• Regional profit trends with the West leading and the Southeast lagging
• Why higher productivity—not labor rate—drives better profits
• How overhead impacts sma...

Thanks to our partner Promotive

Welcome to Part 1 of our annual Benchmark Report—hosted by Hunt Demarest, CPA, from Paar Melis & Associates. We dig into real financial data from hundreds of auto repair shops across the U.S., based on actual bookkeeping, not surveys.

Download your free 2024 Automotive Industry Benchmark Report: https://info.paarmelis.com/2024-automotive-industry-benchmark-report

Key Takeaways:

• Average monthly sa...

Thanks to our partner Promotive

Planning for taxes shouldn’t feel like rolling the dice. In this episode of Business by the Numbers, Hunt walks through how smart shop owners use real data, not hope, to forecast and manage their tax obligations all year long.

• Why Q2 and Q3 are the real moneymakers for accurate tax forecasting
• When it actually makes sense to buy that truck for the write-off
• How and when to adjust your tax estimates (...

Thanks to our partner Promotive

Expanding your auto repair business is an exciting venture, but it brings forth critical decisions, especially regarding entity formation. In this episode of Business by the Numbers, Hunt Demarest, CPA at Paar Melis and Associates, delves into the complexities of creating a new entity for your business expansion.

Key Topics Covered:

• Ownership Implications: Understanding how different owner...

Thanks to our partner Promotive

In this episode of Business by the Numbers, Hunt Demarest answers three key listener questions that auto repair shop owners face all too often. From handling warranty job accounting to navigating the financial fallout of divorce, Hunt gives practical, no-nonsense advice.

​In this episode, you'll learn: 

• The right way to book internal and pa...

Thanks to our partner Promotive

Are you charging enough for labor at your shop? In this week’s Business by the Numbers, Hunt Demarest of Paar Melis and Associates tackles one of the most misunderstood metrics in autorepair profitability—your labor rate. Spoiler...

Thank You To Our Partners The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound

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In our Episode Today:

Our host Craig O’Neill welcomes friend and newly minted Certified Speaking Professional - Jimmy Lea to talk about his journey!

The NSA Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation is a notable achievement that involves many phases of approval.  This is a hard earned achievement, which to o...

Thanks to our partner Promotive

In this episode of Business by the Numbers, Hunt Demarest, CPA of Paar Melis and Associates, explores the details behind what former President Trump is calling the "largest tax cut in U.S. history." What’s actually in the proposed bill? Will any of it pass Congress? And most importantly, what could it mean for auto repair shop owners and other small business operators?

Hunt unpacks what ...

Thanks to our partner Promotive

Credit card fees are eating into shop owners' profits — but should you be passing those costs onto customers? In this episode of Business By The Numbers, Hunt revisits the hot-button topic and shares what’s changed since&nbs...

Thank You To Our Partners The Institute, AutoFlow, AutoLeap, Shop Dog Marketing, In-Bound

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In our episode today, we welcome guest Hunt Demarest, CPA ABV.

Hunt is the host of Business by the Numbers and, as our host Craig O’Neill will tell you… Hunt uses words really well for a numbers man!

This episode came to be after Craig found himself on a walk and listening to one of Hunts recent episodes, Episode 163 - Whe...

Thanks to our partners, NAPA TRACS and Promotive

In this week's episode of Business by the Numbers, Hunt Demarest, CPA at Paar Melis & Associates, tells a jaw-dropping real-world story: how one automotive repair shop owner — and his wife — ended up spending days in jail over mishandled sales tax payments.

If you're an auto repair shop owner, this episode is a must-listen. Sales tax isn’t income tax — it’s trust money&nb...

Thanks to our partners, NAPA TRACS and Promotive

April 15th is behind us — but your tax strategy shouldn’t stop there. In this episode, Hunt Demarest, CPA at Paar Melis, shares exactly what auto repair shop owners need to be doing based on how their t...

Thanks to our partners, NAPA TRACS and Promotive

Tariffs might sound like a foreign concept—until they hit home. In this episode of Business by the Numbers, Hunt breaks down the real-world impact tariffs can have on your auto repair shop, using a powerful shop-vs-shop analogy to explain rising costs, disappearing jobs, and economic ripple effects. Whether you're in the weeds of part pricing or just trying to make sense of the n...

Thanks to our partners, NAPA TRACS and Promotive

What if your auto repair shop is losing money every single day — and you don’t even know it? In this episode, Hunt sits down with Alex Saladna, CEO of Wicked File, to talk about the hidden financial leaks happening in shops just like yours and how AI is helping owners plug those holes fast. From missed parts and uncredited returns to unauthorized purchases, we dive deep into how ...

Thanks to our partners, NAPA TRACS and Promotive

“Do I have enough to retire?”

It’s the question every business owner eventually asks—but most never answer. In this episode, Hunt breaks down why your retirement isn’t about hitting a number… it’s about building a life you don’t need to escape from.

What You'll Learn:

• Why there’s no universal retirement number (and what to focus on instead)
• The simple formula to es...

Thanks to our partners, NAPA TRACS and Promotive

Is your shop struggling with fewer repair orders and dropping sales? It may not be about losing customers—your clients could just be driving less. In this episode of Business by the Numbers, Hunt Demarest, CPA, walks you through a real-life example of how customer driving behavior (and simple mileage tracking) revealed critical insights for a struggling $2M shop. Learn how to use...

Thanks to our partners, NAPA TRACS and Promotive

In this episode of Business by the Numbers, Hunt Demarest, CPA, dives into a major economic issue that could impact your auto repair shop: stagflation. With inflation staying high and economic growth slowing, what does this mean for your business? Should you be concerned about a recession, and how can you prepare? Hunt breaks it all down with real-world insights and historical co...