Most owners see their real numbers once a year, at filing time — twelve months too late to act. A one-page monthly MIS fixes that with five numbers.
The five
- Gross margin: what remains after direct costs — the earliest warning of pricing or cost drift
- Operating cash flow: did operations add or consume cash this month (profit is opinion; cash is fact)
- Receivables days: how long customers take to pay — creeping upward means you are financing your clients
- Fixed-cost coverage: months of committed costs your cash balance can survive
- Revenue vs same month last year: the trend line that strips out seasonality
Why one page beats a full pack
Reports get read in inverse proportion to their length. Five numbers with a red/green marker each, delivered by a fixed date, actually changes decisions.
Making it happen
The prerequisite is books closed monthly — which is a process choice, not a size privilege.
Our accounting service delivers exactly this page every month; virtual CFO clients get the interpretation too. See a sample.
