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THE LABS
From practitioner to CEO. Built as a system, not a course.
The Labs is the structured program line at AMS — three engagement tiers and one self-led foundation, all built on the Dual Engine Method. Visibility, structure, and support, sequenced for the place a service business owner actually starts from.
THE METHOD BEHIND EVERY LAB
Two engines. One identity shift.
If any of these stop you mid-scroll, you're in the right place. None of it is a personal failing. All of it has a path forward.
/ ENGINE 01
Build to Lead.
Five operational and financial dimensions for business independence. The mechanics of running a service business that is not dependent on the owner's heroics.
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Financial visibility · the numbers, plainly
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Pricing & leverage · what the hour is actually worth
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Accounting relationships · who does what, when
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Owner pay & entity structure
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Delegation & team architecture
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Tax strategy across the year
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The 90-day CEO plan
/ ENGINE 02
Lead to Build.
IPEC Energy Leadership coaching. The behavioral layer underneath financial decisions — the patterns that show up in the books before they show up anywhere else.
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Pricing avoidance & what it's protecting
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Financial shame · naming, releasing, replacing
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Decision-making from the bank balance
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The "numbers are someone else's job" pattern
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Identity past the practitioner role
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Energy leadership across the seven levels
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Owner independence as a felt experience
THE JOURNEY
One Relationship. A path that meets you where you are.
Most clients don't start at the top tier. They start with clarity, build the foundation, and grow into the engagement that fits them.
STEP 01
Business Clarity Assessment
Free · 7 minutes
Scored across five dimensions. Immediate personalized results. The entry point to everything else.
STEP 02
Foundation Lab
$797 · one-time
Self-led, lifetime access. Six modules + the Foundation Lab Financial Dashboard. For where most service business owners actually are.
IF NEEDED
Cleanup Engagement
$2,250–$8,500 · scoped
Books behind. Taxes unfiled. Systems to rebuild. Runs in parallel or independently. No judgment, specific path forward.
STEP 03
Ascent Lab
$1,250–2,400 / month
Done-with-you, 6-month minimum. Full bookkeeping, year-round tax strategy, quarterly review, tax preparation. Selective engagement.
STEP 04
Breakthrough Lab
$2,500–5,000 / month
High-touch. For owners building toward scale, full owner independence, or a planned exit. Available on request.
THE LABS
Foundation Lab --the financial foundation for service businesses, built to be used.
Six self-led modules. A connected Excel dashboard you actually open on Mondays. Lifetime access. Built for the place most service business owners are — not the place they wish they were.
One-time investment
$797 · lifetime access
Included · Foundation Lab Financial Dashboard
One workbook. The five views you actually need.
A connected Excel dashboard with live links between income, expenses, owner pay, quarterly estimates, and runway. No new software to learn
Monthly net +$14,820 on track
Q3 estimated tax $6,210 due Sep 15
Owner pay · YTD $72,400 on plan
Runway 5.4 months healthy
SIX MODULES
01 Financial visibility
Where the money is, where it goes, what it means.
02 Accounting relationships
How to actually work with — not avoid — your numbers and the people who keep them.
03 Pricing & leverage
What you charge, why, and what raising it actually changes.
04 Delegation
The first three roles that pull you out of the practitioner chair.
05 Cash & Taxes
Quarterly estimates, owner pay, and the tax surprise that doesn't have to be one.
06 Your 90-day CEO plan
A short, specific plan you actually carry out — not a binder you put on a shelf.
PARALLEL PATHWAY
Cleanup Engagement
A. Books in disarray
Months or years of unreconciled data rebuilt into a usable system. Chart of accounts restructured to match how the business actually runs.
B. Years of unfiled taxes
Records reconstruction, back-year preparation, EA representation, penalty abatement and installment requests where appropriate.
. Runs parallel
Most clients run cleanup alongside Foundation Lab, then move into Ascent. Sequenced this way it's one continuous arc, not a stack of products.
The mess is the reason to start, not the reason to wait. Scoped, flat fee, no judgment.
$2,250–$8,500 · flat
/scoped per situation · 2–12 weeks · IRS POA when needed
DONE WITH YOU
Ascent Lab.
The relationship Foundation Lab points towards -- someone inside the business with you, every month, every quarter, every decision
$1,250–$2,400 / month
/ 6-month minimum · one or two entities · selective
01
Full Bookkeeping
Monthly close, reconciled accounts, decision-grade financials. Payroll. Controller-level oversight on top of the books.
02
Year-round tax strategy
Quarterly estimates against current-year income. Entity decisions, owner pay, retirement vehicles — the work tax compliance is not.
03
Quarterly business review
A 90-minute working session every quarter. Numbers, leadership patterns, the next 90 days.
04
Management hire support
When it's time for the first real hire — operations, ops manager, fractional COO — we scope the role, the comp, and the books around it.
05
Exit readiness tracking
Quiet readiness from day one. Owner independence as a metric, even when there's no exit on the calendar.
SELECTIVE · HIGH-TOUCH · ON REQUEST
Breakthrough Lab
Everything in Ascent
Plus the deeper work: multi-entity structure, acquisition or partnership readiness, board-level reporting, succession planning.
Strategic cadence
Bi-weekly working sessions during active builds. Continuous quarterly review. The relationship runs as close as the work requires.
Exit & independence
Owner independence as a deliverable: documented, measured, and tracked against the timeline you set.
By application
Most engagements come from existing Ascent clients. New engagements begin with a longer discovery and mutual fit conversation.
For the owner building toward scale, independence, or a planned exit. Available by application.
$2,500–$5,000 / month
/ on request · high-touch · multi-entity · scoped
Not sure which Lab fits? Start with the assessment.
Seven minutes. Five dimensions. Immediate scored results and a recommendation for which Lab fits the place you're actually starting from. Free, and the entry point to everything else.