A burnisher pass without a wipe leaves oil on the plate. The next stroke slips. A leftover-hours week without a short record does the same: hours feel free, costs feel small, and Monday arrives without a clear edge.
Keep the mark short. Hours used. Money in. Costs out. One sentence on what to change next week. That is enough. A second ledger that takes an hour to maintain dulls the pass it was meant to protect.
When to wipe
Wipe at the end of the leftover block, not in the middle of the day job. Saturday afternoon after a morning pass is a clean moment. Waiting until the following Thursday usually means the numbers are guesses.
Burnisher does not publish earnings promises. The wipe exists so a person can see whether the pass still fits. Read next: passes that dull the main week.