Would you zoom through a roadtrip without stopping to take a breather and make sure you aren’t straying off course? Of course not!
Chances are, your pit stops include glancing at your GPS, analyzing your progress, and maybe even checking your vehicle to make sure everything is still functioning. You might notice your tank is almost empty and add some more fuel, or maybe reevaluate your route to see if there is a more strategic way to get to your destination.
So when it comes to your business – and more specifically, your financials – why do you continue speeding through, without taking the necessary time to ensure that your team is still effective and on track?
Here at Blueprint CFO, we believe that monthly financial meetings are a key element to the success of a company’s Profitability Roadmap process. Here’s why.
Monthly financial meetings ensure accounting accuracy.
Just as you wouldn’t want to embark on a major trip without checking your GPS to make sure you didn’t enter in the wrong location, establishing regular checkpoints to ensure accounting accuracy is critical to your company’s profitability.
Monthly financial meetings are a useful time to sit down with your financial team and address any outlying data points that need to be checked for accuracy. In addition to checking the legitimacy of everything that is on the table, monthly financial meetings are also a great time to make sure there isn’t any financial information being left off the table altogether.
By establishing a regular touchpoint to review and refine your accounting team’s work, you can have peace of mind as a leader, knowing that your strategy is based on comprehensive, accurate, timely data that truly reflects where your business stands.
Monthly financial meetings hold the accounting team accountable.
Not only do monthly financial meetings encourage you as a leader to sit down and touch base on the data that drives your business, it also encourages your accounting team to return to their core responsibility: maintaining accountability throughout your business.
Afterall, as we’ve shared in the past, there is no accountability without great accounting. Beyond establishing accountability in the form of accuracy, monthly financial meetings also drive your accounting team to start thinking strategically.
As your accounting team collects and reviews your company’s data, they can bring a new perspective to the table by going beyond the reporting stage, analyzing trends, and identifying areas of improvement that might be overseen at the executive level.
By calling on your accounting team to bring any relevant notes, insights and observations to the table at your monthly financial meetings, you will develop an organizational culture that truly prioritizes great accounting – not just great financial reporting.
Monthly financial meetings connect your team to your overarching vision and Profitability Roadmap.
By bringing accounting & finance stakeholders together across all levels of your organization through your monthly financial meetings, you have an opportunity as a leader to help your team members feel more connected to your company’s strategic vision.
By developing touchpoints for two-way communication and collaboration, your accounting team will understand that they are so much more than the “number crunchers. Rather, they will understand how their work helps move the needle forward, and how their role connects to the business’s strategic Profitability Roadmap, and overall growth.
Monthly financial meetings are a cornerstone of our work with clients here at Blueprint CFO. If you are interested in learning more about our signature Profitability Roadmap process and fractional CFO services, reach out today!
