What belongs on a 13-week cash panel
A cash panel that tries to show every supplier and every standing order becomes a second cash book. Here is the short list we keep, and the lines we send to the appendix.
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Notes from the drawing table
Short pieces on what belongs on a cash panel, how drawings rows prevent a March argument, and why a variance sheet needs a written threshold before the Monday huddle.
Partner drawings without the surprise
Drawings rows that only appear at year-end are how partnerships pick fights in March. A quiet monthly panel is less dramatic and much harder to argue with.
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Reading variance before the Monday huddle
Budget versus actual only helps if the huddle can name two causes in five minutes. That means fewer rows, a written threshold, and no chart that needs a legend.
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WIP and aged debt on one sheet
Lock-up is a single idea that practices split across three reports. Putting WIP and debtors on one sheet does not require a new system; it requires agreeing what ‘old’ means.
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Preparing figures before we draw the first panel
Most delays on a commission are not in the drawing. They are in the fortnight spent waiting for a budget file that lives in someone’s downloads folder.
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