I don't understand the urgency around quantifying every aspect of the software process. Surely, we are in agreement that money in must at least equal money out if the company is to be viable? This is a simple quickbooks report, is it not?

Why don't we instead focus our energies on the customer and then work our way backward into the technology. There are a lot of ways to solve problems these days. But first you want to make sure you are solving the right problem. Whether or not your solution represents a "liability" or an "asset" is irrelevant if the customer doesn't even care about it.