How do you measure the money performance of your farm?

That’s a great point. A P&L / cash flow / tax return omits this.

I manage most of my expenses in excel and track my time but also try to consider the dimensions of work life balance which are hard to value. One decision this drove was I’m more willing to pay the contractor to do jobs like helping to bring the bales in, no point taking time off work (which is limited) and killing myself with pressure and missing family time when I can pay someone. When you do the maths you get an expense to write off against tax (so real cost of contractor is only 50% of what you pay) and with the freed up time you can spent it doing something you enjoy or more productive work on the farm. Reduces burnout.

Detailed time tracking over a long period also allows you stand back and see where you spent your time, data is more reliable and more value from it. Maybe that loader which might only save you 1hr a week is worth it etc if I consider that each of my hours work is worth €x, also saves 20 hours a year of wear and tear on my body.