The month was decided before the accounts arrived

Most management reporting is engineered for accuracy at a cadence that guarantees it can influence nothing. Closing faster is only part of the answer.

By Steve 5 min read
Abstract bridge artwork for The month was decided before the accounts arrived

A familiar sequence: the month ends, the bookkeeper closes off, accruals and work-in-progress are adjusted, supplier invoices land late and get backdated, and somewhere in the second or third week of the following month a management pack appears. It is careful, reconciled and largely correct. It is also describing a period in which every consequential decision has already been made, the overtime approved, the discount granted, the agency invoice signed off, the two candidates offered. The pack gets discussed, someone notes that gross margin slipped, and the meeting resolves to…

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