Board Finance Pack Builder

Board Finance Pack — Illustrative Example

Example data only: all figures below are fictional and supplied in the prompt. No operational causes or external benchmarks have been assumed. Confirm currency, accounting basis, entity scope, period cut-off, and metric definitions before using real figures.

Executive readout

Q2 revenue is $1.20m against a $1.25m budget, a $50k unfavorable variance (4.0% below budget). Gross margin is 58% against 60%, down 2 percentage points. Operating cash is $90k against $110k, a $20k unfavorable variance (18.2% below budget). Next-quarter revenue forecast is $1.28m; this is a forecast, not a guarantee. Reasons for each variance are not supplied and remain open.

Performance snapshot

Questions before the meeting

1. Which products, customers, channels, price, volume, mix, timing, or accounting adjustments explain the revenue gap?
2. What changed in direct costs, discounting, delivery mix, or accruals behind the margin movement?
3. Is operating cash a closing balance or cash generated during the quarter? Which working-capital, debt, capex, or one-off items explain the difference?
4. What assumptions and sensitivity cases support the $1.28m forecast, and when will it be refreshed?

Board actions to consider

Request a documented variance bridge, a cash and liquidity forecast, and forecast sensitivities before approval of any corrective plan. Assign an owner and due date for each follow-up. No decision recommendation is made until causes, risks, and authority are verified.

Source note: illustrative values are limited to the prompt. Replace with reconciled management accounts and approved forecast; show actual, budget, forecast, and scenarios separately.