It's That Time Again: How to Do a Quarterly Review
The end of the quarter is HERE, which means it’s time for a check-up. Whether you’re a fanatical quarterly reviewer, or you haven’t yet done one for your business, now’s a good time to start. I highly recommend you lead a review of key goals and financial results at the end of every quarter.
Your quarterly review shouldn’t be a huge, burdensome process. In fact, the review process should be simple and energizing for everyone involved. It’s an opportunity to reconnect your team to your shared purpose and make sure everyone is clear on the goals you are pursuing as a company.
Even though quarterly reviews are standard practice for all high-performing companies, they remain a mystery to many smaller companies and entrepreneurs who’ve never worked within a corporate setting.
So I’m going to break it down for you, real easy.
A quarterly review involves three steps or stages:
Preparation. Q&A. Commitment.
Step #1: PREPARING FOR YOUR QUARTERLY REVIEW
Pull out your key goals and objectives from the beginning of the year and/or the beginning of the quarter. Use this helpful PDF as a guide.
If you keep a dashboard of key operational measures; make sure it is complete and up to date through the end of the quarter. If you don’t have a dashboard take the time to collect a few data points from the past quarter (or 2 or 3 quarters).
Ask everyone on your team to look at the key goals and objectives for the quarter that relate to their work and report on progress from their unique perspective in the business.
Print a monthly Profit and Loss statement for the past quarter that shows your actual income and expenses compared to your budget in the final column.
Create a balance sheet for the same time period (the last three months).
Step #2: FOCUS A TEAM CONVERSATION AROUND 10 QUESTIONS
This team meeting can be focused and expedient. In 10 questions, you will be able to cover every element of your business that needs your attention for the upcoming quarter.
What was your company’s biggest win this quarter?
What is your biggest opportunity for improvement in the coming quarter?
How close is your actual revenue to your projected revenue? Did you over-perform? (CELEBRATE) Did you hit your target? (CELEBRATE) Did you fall significantly short of your goal? (Ok, still CELEBRATE! As long as you are in business, there’s something to celebrate!)
How are your costs running? At a summary level are you spending more, less, or on target for each major cost area: Costs of Goods Sold, Advertising & Sales, Personnel & General Operating Expenses?
How is your cash position? Do you have the funds you need to press hard, or are you still juggling bills and leaking cash? Are you up to date with bills, credit cards, and loan payments?
What does your sales pipeline look like for the next 3 months or 6 months? Where are your best opportunities to do better?
How is your team doing? Does everyone understand their role and the importance of what they do? Does each team member have the resources and support they need?
What roadblocks or obstacles can be eliminated to make each team/team member more productive and focused?
What systems could be created or implemented to make the work more efficient?
What other work can be postponed, delegated, or outsourced so that you and your team can focus on the core goals and highest-value work?
Step #3: COMMIT
No matter what the previous quarter was like, commit to your next quarter as though it is all achievable (because it is). Walk into your next quarter with unwavering commitment.
What are the top three must-have, must-do goals for next quarter? Decide with your team on your top priorities for this next quarter.
Create 3 to 5 high-level objectives** for each goal. Make objectives specific, measurable, and visible. **Goals state what you want to accomplish; objectives detail progress points or methods for achieving your goals.
Make it fun! Create a plan to celebrate successes along the way to keep you and your team focused and engaged.
Identify systems, processes, or procedures that can make it easier for team members to actually implement the work.
If you are using Profit First to drive an increase in profitability; this is also the time to review and update your allocation percentages and possibly increase reserves for profit, owners’ pay, or tax payments while decreasing allocations for operating expenses.
Have Questions you'd like to discuss with a CFO? Schedule a free 30-minute conversation with CFO on Speeddial! Let's Talk
Our conversation will be focused on one issue or opportunity where you want advice or a new perspective. You choose:
The thing that keeps you awake at night
An idea that excites you
Places you want to tighten your ship
RINSE AND REPEAT AT THE END OF EACH QUARTER
Hot Tip for beginners: if you don’t have clear goals and objectives for this year or quarter, start NOW by defining a few (3 or fewer) goals for the coming three months. Make them very specific and measurable; then figure out how you’re going to track progress towards those goals. Make the information visible (posterboard, whiteboard, shared document online) and update it regularly. Then you’ll be ready to build your annual goals (and conduct a quarterly review) with a few months of real information.