My ideal monthly management pack: Jon Moulton

This is a grand idea, but please focus on the views of users rather than preparers!

Moulton makes some telling comments - "very few people will read a set of management accounts. Senior management won't read much more than the headline numbers" is one of my favourites, and reflects a message I have heard time and time again over the years. It is also one that many accountants fail to hear.

Jon's got it bang on and with his usual talent for the laser sharp wit that accompanies his observations. But that's the accountant's view. Alistair is equally correct when he talks about users. Who, outside the financial community has a snowflake's chance in hell of understanding a P&L account let alone a balance sheet? I sometimes wonder whether professionals forget that 'we' spent years learning this stuff and even then can't make it comprehensible.

I agree with the one page summary, however there should be the detail attached to this to substantiate the numbers. I have worked for a public company, where the Chairman and the CEO looked into the detail on a monthly basis and questioned many of the variances and more recently worked for a company in severe financial difficulties. Management accounts in detail, plus weekly cash flow forecasts, were reviewed in deatail.

There is no set format for the reporting of this information, experience of operating within these circumstances, will dictate the information required for the benefit of the company.