Outsourced Management Accounting: Focus on Growing Your Business, We’ll Handle the Numbers

Too often, the books and records of the prior month aren’t closed until the final days of the next month or even later, making the data seem obsolete. A close-date of the 10th of the month is reasonable for most businesses; or up to the 15th depending on the complexity of your company’s accounting data. In addition, you should establish a regular monthly meeting to review the prior month’s results. Sending a recurring calendar invite for the next six months will serve as an accountability tool for the accounting team to have each month closed in a timely manner.

Ensure your business is operating on a budget and measure your results against that budget each month. Too often business owners or accounting and finance departments claim that their business “cannot be forecasted.” EVERY business can and should have a budget as this invaluable tool provides a baseline for performance expectations.

Work with your department heads to identify the key performance indicators (KPI’s) for your business. These KPI’s can be quantitative or qualitative and will enable the management team to quickly assess whether the business is achieving its goals. Develop dashboard reports that are distributed periodically throughout the month to enable your management team to proactively make adjustments if the trends appear unfavorable.

All of the historical data provided by your accounting and finance team has limited value if it doesn’t change leadership’s behaviors moving forward. Use the information to alter the course of the future and ensure your team is more focused on driving results than rationalizing past performance, good or bad.