Forward-looking board reports: drive growth and adapt to future challenges
In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the ability to anticipate and adapt to future challenges and opportunities is crucial. Traditional board reports often focus on historical performance and current status. While this information is important, it doesn’t equip the board to make proactive decisions.
What does a good forward-looking board report look like?
Key performance indicators
It is important that your key performance indicators (KPIs) are directly linked to your organisation’s strategic objectives, are clear and understandable, and easy to measure against reliable data. We suggest not having too many KPIs. You should focus on just a few key areas of your business and make improvements in those areas, before expanding. Your KPIs should be reviewed regularly and adapted to changes in market conditions or business priorities. For example, your focus might need to start on your people strategy and once you have this right you can move on to prioritise hitting your revenue targets.
Benchmarking
What you measure your KPIs against is different for each business and industry and can be as broad or tailored as required. External benchmarking as well as benchmarking against your previous performance is important to stay competitive. Besides the obvious improved financial reporting and analysis using key metrics for your business, the non-financial side is equally important. Customer numbers, marketing wins, debt recovery, digital traffic and business credit reviews give a full picture of your performance, allowing you to see where you should be investing.
Seasonal trends
Tracking the seasonal trends of your business allows you to plan for the peaks and troughs. Do you need to check your credit score and apply for funding in February so that you can purchase the stock needed for your peak season in July? Do you need to adapt your people strategy to allow for temporary staff to cover the busier seasons? Does your cash reserve need to be larger than you anticipated to make it through the troughs seamlessly?
Scenario planning
Forecasting different scenarios allows you to see the impact of different decisions, how they affect where you want to get to and the timeline of getting there, with a plan B and C if external factors impact your growth trajectory. This means you can pivot quickly and adjust to changes in market conditions. Scenarios could include whether you sign up for the new larger office space, invest in new fixed assets or how changes imposed by government budgets will affect the business.
Risk
Risk is a crucial component of a board report that is often missed out. Ensuring that you are well-prepared to handle uncertainties and are up to date on new regulations and compliance requirements positions you best to future-proof your business. Areas of risk to identify and plan for could include cyber and information security, technologies that pose a risk to longevity, competitor analysis, and policy or government change that directly affects the business – especially regarding taxation in its many forms. Detailed reporting on the status of key risks, mitigation efforts and any risk changes allows the board to proactively navigate the ever-changing landscape. Compliance reporting on GDPR, government or internal policies ensures transparency and accountability.
Visualisation
Visual elements like charts, graphs and tables can simplify complex data, making it easier for board members to quickly grasp key points and identify trends and patterns, leading to more informed business decisions. Over time, they allow you to see the results of your actions rather than relying on assumptions and guess work.
Need help from the experts?
Not all businesses have a large enough finance team in-house or the technology required to collate and present their data as well as they would like. This is where Moore Kingston Smith’s outsourced accounting service team can help.
As well as reviewing your systems and processes, we can recommend and integrate new accounting or reporting software. We can then design and build a suite of reporting tools to give you the insight you need. If your system is already doing a good job but you don’t have the reporting requirements needed, we can simply run your data through our own reporting tools, providing you with a bespoke board pack ready to go. We can even attend your board meetings in person to explain the data and provide strategic advice if needed.
Outsourcing your board reports to Moore Kingston Smith brings many benefits: from real-time management data and sector-specific business advisory to tax guidance and regulatory compliance.
The Moore Kingston Smith difference
Apart from our outsourcing expertise, Moore Kingston Smith provides integrated advice on other implicated aspects of the business, including legal, personal tax, payroll, selling a business and raising finance. Get in touch with our team today to find out how we can help you on your journey.