I bet you didn’t wake up this morning thinking about all the ways your business could suffer from allowing a weak accounting and financial function to continue in your company. (I did – just the way my brain is wired I guess.) J
When the financial side of your business is weak, sooner or later, your days will become filled with fighting fires.
Everyone will be looking to you to solve the latest cash flow crisis.
Your suppliers will threaten to cut you off and stop shipping product.
The bank will threaten to pull your line of credit.
That’s when you realize you’ve moved from being the Chief Executive to being the Chief Firefighter.
You’ve effectively been relegated to begging and pleading for more time from lenders, landlords, suppliers and others so you can survive the day.
And your managers don’t have the numbers they need to monitor expenses. They can’t tell whether they are improving operating margins or not.
Financial accountability becomes impossible
Poor managers don’t mind the lack of accountability.
But your best managers hate it because they are naturally driven to perform and they have no idea if they are achieving their goals if they don’t have good financial information.
And your best people will leave once they conclude there is no hope of you stepping up and fixing the problem. Turnover at that level drags you further into fighting fires and further away from leading your company to growth and success.
Or you could do the work to make your accounting and financial function strong now. That’s my vote!
The Financial Confidence Road Map is a great place to start. J
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