Budgets are useless, budgeting is indispensible.

Hi, I'm Hal Prather

Your Profit Pro

I've spent my entire career in personal finance and technology.  I want to share lessons learned in this career with individuals, families, and small businesses. Here is my story...

My career began in financial planning and small business bookkeeping.  While I really enjoyed that work, I always felt a tug to help those struggling financially. In the mid-90s I found out about how Consumer Credit Counseling provided these services. I decided to join as a counselor.  I was fortunate to work with thousands of individuals and learn about the psychology of money.  After counseling for a few years, I began to pursue another passion of mine: software and technology. I made a career transition to software consulting.  With this role came a lot of travel.  In addition to my full-time job, I helped my wife launch an on-line business based around music and homeschooling.  Soon, one part of her business grew to a level that needed both our efforts to serve our customers.  Add homeschooling our own children into the mix, and we were busy! 

I have always been a saver and budgeter, but I could never tell how things would look if we decided to go "all-in" on the business. 

Having one bank balance as the gauge of our financial standing was all we had to go on. Things were good, but fuzzy.

After a short time using You Need a Budget (YNAB) software for our personal finances, I could see where we were financially and make better decisions.  We knew how much extra cash, or “margin,” we had and where it was. It was then I knew we needed to set up the business finances in YNAB. 

With dual clarity in the personal and business budgets, we knew it was a safe bet for me to leave my full-time job and go to work for our homeschool business.  By transitioning to a full-time role with that business we are now "all-in" on common goals.  I don’t have to travel or commute any more.  We provide better service to the growing community of students in our homeschool business. 

We have achieved a better work-life-family balance.

I've learned a lot on my professional journey, from how people relate to money to how software drives businesses. My passion is to help you gain “margin” in all areas of your life so you can achieve your financial goals and fulfill your personal dreams.

I hope I can be Your Profit Pro!