Is your monthly finance review a wasted effort or helping you win?
When I asked Jonathan Baker (M&A expert) to distill agency exit preparedness (a good proxy for a healthy firm in general) down to a single habit, he pointed to the monthly finance review and shared some sound advice.
It’s great to have a habit of reviewing your key metrics and reporting with your leaders. But is your review effective?
- Who do you invite?
- What is the purpose and what do you cover?
- What preparation do you expect of participants?
If your review consists of your CFO, FD, or accountant taking the team through your monthly financial statements, you’re missing most of the value.
Here’s how to maximize the value of your monthly review:
- Purpose – Expose reality, align on actions, and keep accountable
- Attendees – Everyone who can significantly influence the numbers (and generally no one else)
- Scope – All your most important business metrics (not just financial; leading and lagging), with enough detail to see what is driving the numbers
- Preparation – Complete and share reporting ahead of time; each person then prepares plans to share for addressing issues and opportunities in their areas of the firm and questions for other participants
The result? A meeting that helps you face your reality together, move quickly to action, and create a culture of ownership, accountability, and teamwork.
You can find the full conversation with Jonathan on exit preparedness here.