The Xero User’s Introduction To Management Reporting
Are you looking for a monthly, quarterly, or yearly summary of your company’s net worth? Then you’re looking for management reporting!
What is management reporting?
Management reporting, known by some as analytics or business intelligence, is a simple way to keep track of company performance, capturing the data needed by senior managers to effectively run a business. In practice, this usually involves a series of internal reports containing information about a company which indicate the overall health of your business. Management reports help answer questions like:
- Do I have the right pricing strategy in place?
- Do I have enough cash to pay my employees’ salaries?
- Did I make more in this quarter than last?
- Should my sitting cash be re-invested in the business?
These reports can be used internally by management to track business operations, flagging areas of concern such as overspending or underspending that need to be addressed. Management reports can be used at month or year-end to clearly show anticipated profit, cash in the bank, and the business’s net worth. This is a powerful tool that you can use to pinpoint the areas in your business that need tweaking.
Management reports can be used externally by a board of executives who can hold the company accountable for its performance. They can also be presented to potential investors who want to see the company’s financials before committing funds.
How can I use management reporting in Xero?
Management reporting is simple in Xero, which can generate professional-looking reports that can be presented to board members and used to guide your business in making better decisions.
Exporting or publishing the reports allows you to easily share, file, and store company information over time. Although Xero allows you to make changes to a period’s transactions after its closing, a published management report cannot be changed and paints an accurate picture of company value and performance at a certain point in time.
How often you choose to create a management report depends on who the report is for. For internal use, consider drawing up a management report at the end of every month which can provide senior managers an overview of the company’s operations, flagging areas that need to be addressed or demonstrating areas where the company is excelling.
For external use, a management report can be drawn up as needed, such as when requested by the board or when presenting to potential investors. Quarterly or yearly management reports can also be useful to track company performance over a longer period and can be useful for both internal and external use.
Interested in creating a management report in Xero? Our next blog post offers you a step-by-step guide.
