Journal
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.
Before a briefing we send a short list: 24 months of P&L and balance sheet, the budget as it is actually used (not the version from the away day), aged debtors and creditors, WIP if it exists, and the last two packs that went to partners. The last item matters. We need to see what people already ignore.
Exports should be dated. A trial balance with no period end in the filename will be queried, and the query costs a day. CSV or Excel is fine. A screenshot of a dashboard from another product is not a source; we cannot map a pixel to a nominal code.
If two partners disagree about the budget, we still need one file marked ‘working’. We can draw a scenario panel later. We cannot draw the first boards from a debate.
Confidentially is ordinary professional caution, not theatre. We store files for the length of the engagement and thirty days after handover, then delete them unless the engagement letter says otherwise. Do not send client files we have not been cleared to see.
On-site briefings in Dallas or at your office go faster when the FD brings the compiler. The person who knows why a column is always a week late should be in the room.
If the figures will not be ready for a month, say so. We would rather move the start than draw a first board from last March and pretend it is a method.