Financial Review Meetings
How often do you review your company’s financial information? There isn’t a perfect answer to that question, but “Never” or “Only when forced” are answers that are all too common. My recommendation is at least Quarterly for small companies and Monthly for most companies. Financial Review meetings don’t have to be a large time commitment and they are needed to keep a connection among the past (financial statements), present (cash flow), and future (budget/forecast).
Regular financial meetings help to catch issues, allowing necessary course corrections before problems escalate. These meetings also help to highlight positive results and reinforce the behaviors that are leading to those results. A good financial review meeting should focus on the areas important to your business, the things that drive the results you are looking to achieve (Key Performance Indicators). The information for the meetings is generally put together by the CFO/Controller. Key members of management that drive these results can be included in the meetings, or certain information can be passed along to them after the meeting.
It will take a few tries to get the cadence and agenda for an impactful financial review meeting, but as you and your team practices the skills will grow and the result should be a stronger team overall. Financial review meetings don’t need to be a large time commitment, a 30–60-minute meeting every month can cover the key areas. The important thing is making the time to work on your business vs. working in your business.
Every business is unique and there are many ways to review and digest financial information. If you need help getting started with financial review meetings feel free to give me a call or send me an email. I’m happy to discuss ideas and hear more about your business.