Six reports every business needs

Most business owners have no shortage of numbers. The accountant sends a balance sheet, the till produces daily sales, the webshop has its own dashboard, and somewhere there is an Excel file only its creator understands.

What is missing is overview. A small set of reports that show the same thing every week, from the same source, so you decide on facts instead of gut feeling.

After twenty-five years as a business owner, I keep coming back to the same six. Not every company needs all six equally. But if you miss one, you are flying blind in that area.

One: revenue and margin

Revenue on its own says little. A busy month can be a bad month if discounts ran too high or the wrong products sold.

This report shows revenue and gross margin, split by product or service, by customer and by channel, next to the same period last year.

The question it answers: where do I really make my money?

Two: cash flow and outstanding invoices

Profit on paper does not pay wages. Show what comes in and goes out in the coming weeks, and how long customers take to pay on average. A customer who drifts from 30 to 60 days shows up here months before it becomes a problem.

The question: can I pay everything for the next three months?

Three: costs against forecast

Not last year's costs, but what you expected to spend. Per category, per month, with the variance next to it. A small variance on a large item such as payroll or purchasing weighs more than a spike in office supplies.

The question: where is it running over, and is that a one-off or structural?

Four: people

Payroll is the largest cost for many SMEs, and in Belgium it rises automatically with wage indexation. Show payroll against revenue, absence per month and, where possible, productivity per full-time employee.

Absence also costs more than the absent person's salary: replacement, overtime, missed sales.

The question: is my payroll growing faster than my revenue?

Five: customers

How many new customers, how many returning, and what share of revenue depends on your five largest customers? That last question is the dangerous one. If one customer carries a quarter of your revenue, that is no longer a customer but a risk.

The question: how dependent am I, and am I keeping the customers I have?

Six: stock or work in progress

This depends on your sector. In trade and retail: turnover per product and stock that has been sitting for months. For contractors and service companies: job costing per project, planned hours against hours worked.

The principle is the same: money that is tied up or leaking away without you seeing it.

The question: where is my money stuck?

What good reports have in common

They come from one source, even when the data lives in your accounting, ERP, till and webshop. They use the same definitions everywhere, so revenue in one report means the same as in another. They refresh on their own, without someone spending Monday morning copying numbers.

And they always compare: with last year, with the forecast, or both. A number without a comparison is trivia, not insight.

Where to start

Not with all six at once. Start with the report you doubt most often. For most businesses that is margin or cash flow. Once that one is in place, the others follow faster, because the connection to your accounting or ERP already exists.

Which of those numbers deserve a weekly look is a separate choice. That is what the five numbers an owner should see every week is about.

The claim

Every business has numbers. Only six reports that show the same thing every week, from one source, turn them into something you can steer on. Not sure which one comes first for you? Let's talk.