How are your numbers organized? *

The profitability of my products, services, and/or lines of business is individually visible and clear. Numbering follow the production assembly line. My number show what I need to make smart growth decisions. I can easily extract tailored information for any reports I need.

We mainly track production costs and operating expenses without much granularity (detail).

My numbers are fairly well organized for tax purposes.

My numbers are not organized and they don't point to business decisions.

We don't keep financial reports and have no number organization system

How often do you review your key financial reports? *

When reviewing your financial reports, how clear are you on the specific actions or decisions you need to make next? *

Complete Clarity: I know exactly what actions to take to drive profitability and growth.

High Clarity: I see obvious trends and can usually identify 2–3 concrete next steps.

Moderate Clarity: I understand the numbers, but I often struggle to translate them into action.

Low Clarity: I mostly just see numbers on a page; I rarely know what needs to change.

No Clarity: I have no idea what the reports are telling me or what to do next. / I don't keep reports.

How consistently do you (1) track and (2) act on key financial performance indicators (KPIs)? *

Consistently: We monitor active KPI dashboards and immediately adjust operations as needed. We do this on a weekly and monthly basis.

Often: We review key metrics monthly and use them to guide our strategy.

Sometimes: We track some KPIs, but we don't look at them regularly enough to drive decisions.

Rarely: We look at a few numbers occasionally, but only when a problem pops up

Never: We don't track KPIs or metrics.

When was the last time you analyzed which products or services are your most profitable? *

Do you track the financials of your profit centers separately? *

Fully Separated & Strategic: Yes. We track each area cleanly and use the data to make decisions.

Mostly Separated: Yes. We break them down, but some shared costs aren't separated.

Rough Estimates: Somewhat. We use rough estimates rather than detailed reports.

Lumped Together: No. Profit is lumped together into one company total.

Not Tracked: We don't track profitability separately by profit centers and we don't know how to go about doing that.

7 How are funds received, allocated and spent? *

Income lands in one account and gets transferred into dedicated accounts. There is an exact approval process for expenses. Transfers and expenses are executed on a strict, standard weekly schedule, according to company policy

We have separate dedicated accounts, but transfers happen here and there, rather than on a fixed schedule.

Everything goes in and out of one single business account. There is no standard approval procedure or strict schedule. We try to keep a minimum balance in the account.

All funds come in and out of the same account. Money is spent as soon as it shows up in the account. Sometimes the account goes in the negative unexpectedly.

Personal and business finances are mixed. Money is spent as soon as it shows up on the account or before it is made.

What is your understanding of your company's cash flow? *

We have a welldefined system in place that allows us to track and project cash flow at any given time.

I know where my cash went at the end of every month, but I don't have a reliable way to forecast future cash needs. Cash projections are challenging.

We gauge our cash position by looking at our bank account balance, and all too often we get surprised by upcoming bills or late client payments

We have a rough idea of whether we're in the red or black, but there is constant stress about whether we can cover upcoming payroll or taxes.

Cash flow is a mystery. The business "makes money" on paper, but there never seem to be enough money in the bank.

How do you manage your company's solvency? *

We track company solvency weekly and monthly and proactively manage it using established financial policies, procedures, and performance targets.

We regularly monitor our solvency and have a plan to maintain a healthy financial position, although our process isn't always consistent.

We monitor our solvency from time to time and take action when we notice potential problems, but we don't have a consistent process.

We struggle with solvency and usually address cash or debt issues only when they become urgent.

We are not solvent and becoming solvent feels overwhelming and/or impossible.

How confident are you in setting and adjusting financial forecasts for your business? *

I build reliable forecasts and easily adjust them whenever our market or business conditions shift.

I can project our income and expenses fairly well, but I struggle to quickly adjust the numbers when things change.

I set annual sales goals or revenue targets, but I don't build detailed financial forecasts behind them.

I occasionally guess at future revenue when applying for loans or planning big purchases, but I don't use projections to manage the business.

Business projections are a complete mystery to me. I have no idea how to predict future revenue, expenses, profitability and cash flow.