The Five Numbers I Check Before I Advise Anything | Books & Backbone

Before Donna Harris advises anything, she looks at five numbers.Not the whole profit and loss statement. Not a comprehensive financial analysis. Five specific numbers that take about ten minutes to find — and tell her more about what's actually going on in a business than anything else she could look at.In this solo episode of Books & Backbone, she walks through all five: the revenue trend that tells her where the business is going, the gross margin that tells her whether the core model is working, the cash position and 30-day outlook that tells her whether the business has room to breathe, the accounts receivable aging that tells her what's been earned and not collected, and the owner compensation number — the surprising one — that tells her whether the profit figure reflects reality.Twenty-five years of doing this work. Five numbers. Ten minutes.This is how she thinks before she says anything. Now you know too.Donna Harris, MBA, MAccCEO, Bookkeeping Made Simple LLCmysimplebookkeeping.com | 801-692-0032