Manage

The accountant sends the accounts. The founder files them without being sure what they say.

You leave with: The ability to read your own income statement, balance sheet and cash flow.

Sales are up and the accounts show a profit. The bank account is empty.

You leave with: A reconciliation of profit to cash and a 13-week cash view.

Growth consumes cash faster than profit replaces it. The more you sell, the tighter it gets.

You leave with: Your cash conversion cycle and a plan to shorten it.

Customers pay when they choose. Credit terms are agreed case by case and followed up when someone remembers.

You leave with: A credit policy and a weekly collections routine.

Suppliers are paid whenever there is money, in whatever order the loudest one demands.

You leave with: A payment policy and a weekly payment run.

The accounts arrive months late and are built for tax. They don't answer management questions.

You leave with: A monthly management accounts pack.

Investments, hires and new lines are approved on enthusiasm. Their return is never checked.

You leave with: A one-page investment case you can use for any significant decision.

The business tracks dozens of numbers, or none. Either way, few of them change what anyone does.

You leave with: A short set of KPIs with owners, definitions and targets.

The dashboard looks impressive. Nobody opens it, and nobody trusts the numbers when they do.

You leave with: A one-page dashboard designed for a specific meeting.

Every report comes from a different spreadsheet. Meetings are spent arguing about whose numbers are right.

You leave with: A management information map: what is reported, from where, to whom.

Meetings happen when there is a crisis. Between crises, nobody reviews whether the business is on track.

You leave with: A weekly, monthly and quarterly management rhythm.

Results are reported, noted and forgotten. The same shortfalls appear month after month.

You leave with: A structured monthly performance review format.

Important decisions are made in hallways, reversed a week later and never recorded.

You leave with: A decision log and rules for how significant decisions are made.