Cash Flow
The cash KPIs worth reviewing every month
The problem
Owners are handed dozens of metrics and use none of them. Cash discipline requires a short list reviewed on a fixed cadence.
Why it matters
A KPI you review monthly changes behavior. A report you receive monthly does not. The difference is whether each number has an owner and a threshold.
How to know if you have this
- You have reports but no thresholds
- Nobody in the business is accountable for collections timing
- You could not name your cash conversion cycle
- Metrics change definition depending on who prepares them
How Advisory Motion solves it
- 01Select five to seven cash KPIs specific to your business model
- 02Define each one precisely, once, so the number means the same thing every month
- 03Set a target and a red line for each, with an owner attached
- 04Report them on a single page alongside the decisions they should trigger
Illustrative example
Five numbers replaced a 40-page package
A services firm cut its monthly reporting to weeks of cash on hand, DSO, unbilled work, operating cash flow and pipeline coverage. Collections improved by nine days in one quarter because someone finally owned the number.
Illustrative composite · not a client identification
Where this connects