I’ve recently had a number of conversations with church leaders wondering about monthly financial and overall performance reporting. Each month I’ve prepared a “Leadership Team Monthly Report.” I’m sharing the report’s contents and some other thoughts on reporting in today’s post.
I’ve written about KPMs (Key Performance Measures) and the importance of measuring results in previous posts. Needless to say, the monthly report includes our monthly performance data in graphical format.
Here’s an outline of what the report contains, all as of the last day of the previous month (unless otherwise stated below):
- Cover Sheet – Report Title and Date
- Balance Sheet
- Income Statement (Budget vs. Actual Comparisons)
- A/P (Accounts Payable) Aging Summary (As Of Both The Last Day Of The Previous Month And The Date Of The Report)
- Stat Sheet (As Of The Previous Weekend)
- Key Performance Measures (KPMs)
The report is due the second Friday of each month and is presented as a PDF file, delivered to the Leadership Team via e-mail.
Depending on your situation, you may also be required to do some monthly (or annual) reporting to a mortgage company or other similar organization.
I think the key to monthly reporting is to include the needed (or requested) information without throwing a bunch of other stuff in there. During an ISO Audit, I remember once upon a time being told that “when the title of the book is asked for, don’t tell the whole story.”