My cakes seem to be smaller than the same size boards, even after buttercream & fondant. the boards are still showing and i have to make larger than expected borders......HELP.

Trim you cake board to size. You can do this either before you ice the cake or before you put on the border.

you man put the cake on the board, then cut it ? Because if its a 6 inch cake, it goes on a 6 inch board, but it still shows on the edges because the cake shrinks LOL. all my sizes are doing that.

I cut my cake boards before I put the cake on it. Many of my tiers have zero boarders. There is nothing to cover. HTH

I take the pan that I baked my cake in and use the bottom of the pan mark out my board then cut and wrap in foil just don't use the top part of pan cause there a wider edge on the top and the cake does srink alittle.
Anyhow hope this helps