Monthly management accounts

What management accounts are

Management accounts are internal financial reports prepared monthly or quarterly. Unlike statutory accounts, they're for the business owner, not Companies House or HMRC. The point is to support decisions, not compliance.

What goes in a monthly pack

• P&L for the month, with comparison to budget and prior year
• Balance sheet snapshot at month end
• Cash flow summary for the month, plus rolling forecast
• KPI dashboard tracking your headline metrics
• Ageing reports: customer receivables and supplier payables
• Commentary on what changed and why

Producing them

1. Close the month in your bookkeeping software (reconcile bank accounts, post adjustments)
2. Run the standard reports
3. Update the KPI dashboard
4. Write a short commentary on the most important changes
5. Review with your management team or accountant

Budget vs actual

The most useful comparison: each month's actual figures against budget. Variances tell you where the business is over- or under-performing relative to plan. Investigate large variances; small ones are noise.

Common pitfalls

• Producing them too late: they need to land within 10 working days of month end
• Too many numbers, not enough commentary
• No comparison points (vs budget, vs prior period)
• Owner doesn't read them carefully: defeats the purpose