A trading summary report is the most important report you can produce.
You need to know how you are performing against a plan (something that defines success) & against last year.
Both target & last year are very important benchmarks.
Most small businesses either don’t have one or have one that is not easy to interpret.
A trading summary needs to include the following metrics: sales, costs, profit & £ cash at bank.
You could list more information, but this is enough to start with.
A trading summary provides context.
It should be reviewed on a regular basis (but not too often).
I encourage my clients to produce a monthly set of results.
Each month we sit down to review how things are going, a good starting point is to understand how the trading numbers look, it’s a great way of ensuring you keep hold of context when delving deeper into things.
You need to understand these key business metrics in order that you can be clear where you need to focus your time.
If sales have taken a downturn you need to know, if £ cash at bank is running low you need to know, if costs are spiralling you need to know. If you know these, then you know where you should be focusing your time.
A real skill is ensuring a great balance of information & detail.
A good trading summary points you in the direction of where you need to dig deeper.
Take a look at my resources page where you can find a free MOO branded trading summary to get you started! Feel free to reach out via the contact link if you’d like some no obligation support in discussing your own trading summary.
Jason