Subscribe to the Collision Advisory Newsletter | Collision Advisory

    Know your numbers. Build a better business.

    A weekly read for collision shop owners and MSO operators. Every Friday. Short. Operator-first. No fluff.

    As featured inFenderBender

    What's inside

    Recent posts that give you a feel for what shows up in your inbox:

    Why a collision group keeps paying rent on a shop it closed.A group closes a shop and keeps paying rent on the empty building for years. It looks like a mistake. Usually it's a hard call someone already ran the numbers on, and the math behind it is worth understanding for your own shop.July 9, 2026
    Your suppliers are consolidating. Here's who keeps the savings.Diagnostics, paint, and calibration suppliers are merging. A merger creates real savings by stripping out duplicate cost. But that savings has an owner, and without leverage, it isn't you.July 7, 2026
    Being CFO to a business that's already goodMost fractional CFO work starts with a mess. Chris and Matt Alioto didn't hire me for that. Here's what the job looks like when the business is already strong.June 26, 2026
    The Fatal Assumption that's closing collision shopsVolume is down and owners are asking whether they need to get back on the tools. Michael Gerber named the trap in that question decades ago. Here's the skill that actually saves a shop.June 25, 2026

    Who reads this

    Collision shop owners and MSO operators who want clearer financials, better decisions, and a business that holds up under diligence. If you run a shop, manage multiple locations, or think about what your business is actually worth, this newsletter is for you.

    "We brought Doug in to support our growth, and he delivered. His work on the financial side made our most recent acquisition significantly smoother. He speaks our language and the bank's language, and that's not easy to find."

    Brian Von Tress, CEO, Collision Pros. 13 locations across California and Nevada.

    "I didn't want a CFO who shows up once a month with a slide deck. Doug is in my QuickBooks and CCC files rebuilding my chart of accounts, and he's also the guy I call when I'm thinking about store number four. Same person, same conversation. That's why I went with him."

    "We didn't need a scorekeeper. We needed someone who pairs serious financial firepower with a real, ground-level understanding of collision. That's exactly what Doug brings, and it helps us make better decisions across the business."

    Chris Alioto, Co-owner, Alioto's Garage. Bay Area multi-shop collision operator.

    Who's writing this

    Doug Higgins

    I'm Doug Higgins. I spent 10+ years in Fortune 100 finance at Kroger, most recently as CFO of the Midwest Division. Then I ran a collision repair operation. Now I bring that financial infrastructure to independent shop owners: bank reporting, acquisition analysis, cash flow planning, financial modeling. The stuff the big consolidators have entire teams for.

    Ready to jump in?