Finance Office Nightmares

I spoke to a CEO recently. €7M revenue, decent business, I asked how she tracks her financials.

"My accountant sends me the trial balance each month."

What can she tell from it? “Not much, honestly.”

Cash position? "We've had to take out a revolving credit facility, margins are suffering."

How does she analyse it? "I look at each month as it comes."

Individual months, isolated, no trends, no forecasts, no bigger picture.

This is how wall crashes happen. Businesses that looked fine month to month - until suddenly they weren't. I have saved businesses from exactly this. Enabling them to spot the pattern early, and change direction before the crash. I can tell you what good looks like, what bad looks like, and what tragic looks like.

If your accountant sends you numbers you can't read, that's not visibility. Don't let things go unseen for too long. Catching it early will save you more than a headache.