Dozens of Pages and Hours of Reading…or One Page in About a Minute?
Updated: 3 days ago
Same company. Same month. Two very different ways to understand it.
On the left is a typical board package: dozens of pages of financial statements, variance analyses, schedules and appendices. On the right is a single page: the Financial Report Card™.
One takes hours to read. The other takes about a minute. And only one of them answers the question every business leader is really asking: How are we doing financially?
The financial comprehension gap
Traditional reports provide significant value with their operational information, compliance requirements and details. But these are not the same as financial understanding. A reader can work through every page and still not comprehend the company's overall financial situation.
Many privately owned businesses face an opposite problem. They don't have the time, money or staff to produce traditional reports at all. Their leaders need financial information just as much, but have no practical way to get it.
With both situations, the results are the same: a gap between what is happening in the business and what its leaders understand about it financially.
One page, five numbers
The Financial Report Card is the opening page of the PattonTrenders. It condenses a company's full financial profile into the following 5 Elements® of Financial Fundamentals, drawn from everyday accounting data:
1. Cash Flow (Foundation Cash Flow™)
2. Operating Earnings
Capital components:
3. Liquidity (liquidity and healthy target in dollar amounts)
4. Value
5. Borrowing Capacity
Each element gets a green, yellow or red traffic light rating against clear targets. In about a minute, a reader can see what is strong, what needs attention and which way things are trending.
Simple to read, rigorous underneath
The simplicity is on the front end. Behind the Report Card, the PattonTrenders' supporting tables, graphs, capital calculations and condensed financial statements do the heavy lifting. They produce these insightful amounts, so leaders get clear answers without having to do the analysis themselves.
The big picture first
This doesn't make traditional reports worthless.
Just the opposite…it puts them in context.
When leaders understand the full financial profile first, the detail in those reports means more.
For businesses without traditional reports, the Report Card (via the PattonTrenders) fills the gap, delivering the financial fundamentals every leader needs.
Either way, the starting point is the same: one page, five numbers, and about a minute to understand where a business stands financially.
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Traditional reports assume leaders have time to interpret. PattonTrenders gives them the full financial story at a glance.
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Reach out to learn more.
Edward B. Patton
5701 Broadway, Suite 102
San Antonio, Texas 78209
Phone (210) 822-9977
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