Documentation

Everything you need
to get running.

Setup guides, database reference, troubleshooting, and answers to common questions — all in one place.

🚀
Setup Guide

MarginKit lives entirely in Notion. After duplicating the workspace into your account, follow these steps to get your first real numbers in under 15 minutes.

01
Duplicate into your Notion account

Use the link from your purchase email. Notion will open and show a "Duplicate" button in the top-right corner. Click it — the workspace copies into your account instantly.

02
Read the Start Here page

Open the 👋 Start Here page first. It's short and tells you exactly what order to do things. Don't skip it — it'll save you time.

03
Customize Categories

Open ⚙️ Categories and replace the sample categories with your own. Think: your income types (Labor, Materials, Consulting) and expense types (Supplies, Subcontractors, Software). Everything flows from here.

04
Add your Vendors

Open 🏪 Vendors and enter your recurring suppliers, subcontractors, and platforms you pay. You'll link expenses to vendors as you log them.

05
Create your first Job

Open 💼 Jobs/Projects and create a real current job. Give it a name, status (Active), and a Reporting Month. This is the anchor that income and expenses link to.

06
Log one Income and one Expense entry

Open 💵 Income — add an invoice payment. Open 💸 Expenses — add a direct cost. Link both to your job. Watch the margin compute automatically in the Jobs database.

07
Open the Owner Dashboard

Open 📊 Owner Dashboard. Your MTD numbers, active job board, and margin percentages are now live. This is what you open every morning.

Tip: The 20 seed rows that ship with MarginKit are example data. Delete them once you've added your own real entries — or keep them as reference for how to fill fields correctly.
🗄️
The Databases

MarginKit is 10 relational databases wired together. Every database has a callout explaining its fields — this is the bird's-eye view of what each one does and how they connect.

Database
What it does
💸 Expenses
Every cost you incur. Mark as Direct Cost to link it to a job and include it in margin calculation. Indirect costs (rent, software) stay unlinked.
💵 Income
Every payment received. Link to a Job, a Customer, a Channel, and a Product/Service. Revenue rolls up to the Job automatically.
💼 Jobs / Projects
The core profitability unit. Revenue, Direct Costs, Gross Margin, and Margin % all compute here from linked Income and Expense records.
🧾 Receipts
Incoming receipts and invoices. Log them here first — they sit in the inbox until you create a matching Expense record.
📈 Reporting Months
One row per calendar month. All income and expenses for that month roll up here — P&L, net, and margin % computed automatically.
🛍 Products / Services
Your service lines and product types. Revenue by product rolls up here so you can see which offerings are most profitable.
👤 Customers
Your client list. Revenue by customer rolls up here over time.
🏪 Vendors
Suppliers, subcontractors, platforms. Link expenses to vendors for spend tracking.
📡 Channels
Where your revenue comes from — referral, direct, agency, online. Revenue by channel rolls up here.
⚙️ Categories
Income and expense category taxonomy. Customize this to match your business before entering real data.
🔄
Daily Workflow

MarginKit works best when you log transactions as they happen rather than doing a big data-entry session once a month. Here's the minimal daily habit that keeps it accurate.

Got paid? Log it in Income

Amount, date, customer, channel, product/service, job. Takes 90 seconds. The job margin updates immediately.

Spent money? Log it in Expenses

If it's a direct cost for a job — link it. If it's overhead — leave the job field blank. Category and vendor are optional but useful.

Got a receipt? Drop it in Receipts first

Receipt Inbox is the holding area. Log the receipt, then create a matching Expense. Once they're matched, mark the receipt as Processed.

Check the dashboard once a day

Open 📊 Owner Dashboard. MTD revenue, margin %, active jobs — all current. Takes 30 seconds to know where you stand.

Important: Margin only computes correctly when expenses are marked as Direct Cost and linked to a job. Overhead expenses that aren't linked to a specific job don't affect job margins — they appear in the monthly P&L but not in individual job profitability.
🗓
Month-End Close

The Month-End Close system is a 30-minute checklist that walks you through reconciling the month so your P&L numbers are accurate before you close it out.

Open the 🗓 Month-End Close page and work top to bottom. Each step links to a filtered view that shows you exactly what still needs attention.

01
Process all receipts in the inbox

Open the Receipts Inbox view. Every unprocessed receipt should have a matching Expense. Create any missing ones, then mark receipts as Processed.

02
Categorize all uncategorized expenses

The filtered view shows expenses with no category assigned. Tag them before closing the month.

03
Confirm all income is logged

Cross-check against your invoicing system or bank. Every payment received this month should have an Income row.

04
Review the Reporting Month rollup

Open the Reporting Months database. The month's row should show accurate Revenue, Expenses, Net, and Margin %. If numbers look off, find the missing or miscategorized entry.

05
Mark the month as Reconciled

Click the ✓ Mark Reconciled button in the Reporting Month row. This locks the month visually — you can still edit entries but the flag tells you it's been reviewed.

🧮
Pricing Calculator

The Pricing Calculator answers: "If I want to hit a 60% margin on this job, what do I need to charge?"

Open the 🧮 Pricing Calculator page. Enter your estimated direct costs and your target margin percentage. The required sale price computes automatically.

The formula: Required Price = Direct Costs ÷ (1 − Target Margin)

Use it before quoting a job. Enter what you think the job will cost you, set your minimum acceptable margin, and use the output as your quote floor — not your quote. Price above it.

Example: Direct costs estimated at $2,400. Target margin 65%. Required price = $2,400 ÷ (1 − 0.65) = $6,857. Quote $7,500 and you're above floor with room for scope creep.
Frequently Asked
Does MarginKit sync with my bank or QuickBooks? +
No — and that's intentional. MarginKit is manual. You log transactions yourself. This keeps it simple, private, and free of integrations that break. It's not a replacement for QuickBooks — it's the operational profitability layer that QuickBooks doesn't give you.
Do I need a paid Notion plan? +
The free Notion plan works for solo users. If you need to share the workspace with team members, Notion Plus ($10/user/month) supports multi-member workspaces. MarginKit itself has no ongoing cost — it's yours forever.
Why isn't my job margin calculating correctly? +
The most common cause: expenses aren't marked as Direct Cost, or they're not linked to the job. Check the expense row — the "Direct Cost" toggle must be on, and the job relation field must be populated. Overhead expenses that aren't linked to a job don't affect job-level margins.
Can I use this for multiple businesses? +
Yes. Duplicate the workspace once per business. Each copy is fully independent. Your one-time purchase covers all your own use.
My Reporting Month P&L looks wrong. What do I check? +
First check that all income and expense entries are linked to the correct Reporting Month. The month field on each entry drives what rolls up where. If an entry has no month set, it won't appear in any monthly rollup. Second, check that income entries are linked to the right reporting month — the month a payment was received, not invoiced.
Can I add more databases or customize the schema? +
Yes — it's your Notion workspace. You can add fields, create new views, or add additional databases. Be careful modifying existing rollup and formula fields as those are the core of the margin calculation system. Adding new fields or views won't break anything.
How is this different from a spreadsheet template? +
Spreadsheet templates don't have relational data. When you link an expense to a job in MarginKit, the job's margin recalculates automatically and permanently. Spreadsheet formulas break when you insert rows, reorganize, or share with collaborators. MarginKit's relations are structural — they can't break from normal use.
Can I delete the sample seed data? +
Yes — delete it whenever you're ready. The 20 seed rows exist so the workspace looks populated and all the views and rollups are demonstrably working when you first open it. Once you've added your own real data, select all the seed rows and delete them.
✉️
Get Help

If something isn't working or you have a question not covered here, email us. We respond within 24 hours on business days.

MarginKit comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee. If it's not working for you, email the address below and you'll get a full refund the same day — no questions asked.

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