Revenue up and profit down means costs grew faster than revenue. There are four candidates and they are distinguishable in about ten minutes.
1. The mix changed
You did more of the low-margin work. Total revenue rose because volume rose; profit fell because the extra work carried less.
Check job margins by type across both periods. This is the most common cause of this exact pattern and the easiest to miss, because nothing about any individual job changed.
2. Costs rose and prices did not
Material prices move continuously and price lists do not. A supplier increase absorbed rather than passed through shows up exactly like this.
Check gross margin across the two periods. If gross fell, the problem is upstream of overhead and no amount of cost cutting reaches it.
3. Overhead grew with the growth
Growth adds staff, vans, software, space. Each addition was justified; together they raise break-even permanently.
If gross margin held steady and net fell, this is your answer. See expense trend — costs rising while revenue rises is normal, costs rising faster is the finding.
4. Growth itself cost money
Recruitment, training, a new location, equipment. Real costs, genuinely one-off, and they belong to the period they landed in.
Worth separating out before concluding anything, because a business that spent on growth this quarter has a different problem from one whose margins are eroding.
Telling them apart
Gross fell — pricing or mix. Look at job margins by type. Gross held, net fell — overhead. Look at what was added. Both fell sharply in one period only — probably a one-off. Check what it was before reacting.
Common errors
Do not respond by chasing more revenue. If the mix or the margin is the cause, more volume makes the number worse and the business tireder.
Your own numbers
This article explains the general case. For what is actually happening in your business — which customers, which jobs, which period — ask the assistant in the Command Center, which can see your workspace. The wiki cannot: it is public, and it has no access to anyone's data.