Accurate, complete, and three weeks late

Most management reporting is judged on whether the numbers are right. The more useful test is whether they arrive before the decision they were meant to inform.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for Accurate, complete, and three weeks late

Ask an owner what they want from their management accounts and the answer is usually some version of accuracy. Ask what actually changed as a result of last month’s pack and the answer is frequently nothing, not because the numbers were wrong, but because by the time they landed, the quarter’s quotes were already out, the extra shift was already rostered, and the underperforming line had already had another six weeks to underperform. Reporting has two properties that trade against each other: how right it is, and how soon it…

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