Part 4 · Using software and AI · Chapter 4.8
Reports to read every day
Draft: the wording may change.
The idea
Software can print a hundred reports. An owner needs about six, read every morning in ten minutes, each answering one question and each with a clear "act when". A report that nobody acts on is decoration.
The ten-minute morning
| Report | The question | Act when |
|---|---|---|
| Yesterday's sales vs plan | Are we on track for the month? | Behind plan for three days running |
| Cash and bank | Did yesterday's cash reach the bank? | Cash in hand grows day after day |
| Outstanding by age | Who is late, and how late? | Any bill past the agreed credit days |
| Sales by beat and salesman | Which beats were covered, and how well? | A beat with no bills, or calls without orders |
| Product: out of stock and near expiry | What can't we sell, and what will we lose? | A fast item at zero, or stock expiring soon |
| Pending claims | What does the company still owe us? | A claim older than the company's settlement time |
The first two are the score. The middle two are the field. The last two are money hiding in the godown and at the company.
At the counter: one Tuesday
The owner opens the reports at 9 a.m.
- Sales Monday: ₹2,10,000 against a plan of ₹2,40,000. Third short day. He calls the sales lead.
- Cash in hand: ₹38,000, up from ₹12,000 on Friday. Saturday's collection was not banked. He asks why before noon.
- Outstanding: Ravi Stores has ₹580 on a bill 34 days old, credit days 21. Small, but it is the third late bill this quarter. Kumar is told to collect before the next bill.
- Beat 4 (Tuesday's beat last week): 22 outlets, 9 bills. Kumar visited, but most calls were unproductive. Worth a ride-along.
- Near expiry: 8 cases of batch A biscuits expire in January. Push on two beats with a small scheme, or start the return process.
- Claims: a damage claim of ₹6,400 raised in July, still open. He asks the accountant to follow up with the company.
Six reports, six actions, ten minutes.
Rules for reports
- Same reports, same order, every day. Patterns show only if you look the same way.
- Every report has an owner besides you: sales lead, cashier, accountant.
- Look at the exceptions first. The software should show what crossed a limit, not every line.
- Monthly, look wider: brand-wise profit, stock days, trial balance, bank match (chapter 1.18).
Common mistake
Reading only the sales total. Sales look healthy while outstanding grows and stock goes stale, and the cash runs short at month-end with nobody sure why. Sales is the one number that can look good while the business gets worse. Read it with outstanding and stock, every time.
Where you'll use this
This chapter automates the dashboard half of two keys and a dashboard (chapter 2.11). The outstanding report is the expiry date on money owed (chapter 1.12); the stock report is first to expire, first out (chapter 2.3). Beat and salesman reports use the measures from chapters 3.9 and 3.18.
Check yourself
- Cash in hand has risen three days in a row. What might it mean?
- Which report shows money hiding at the company?
- Why is the sales total alone not enough?
Answers
- Collections are not being banked — a risk of loss or misuse. Ask why the same day.
- Pending claims.
- Sales can grow while outstanding and stale stock grow faster, so the business runs short of cash.