July is a perfect month to look back at the full-year plan established January 2012 and re-forecast the balance of the year. While a “best practice” for any business is to monitor success monthly, at reaching targets established at the beginning of the year (Communicating and Monitoring Success at Reaching Strategic Goals http://cfotips.com/?p=26); there is additional value in reviewing your full-year plan to understand if you are reaching your goals?
Look Back
Items for your consideration with references to topic specific Proformative or
Review company success at generating revenue through
-Activity Based Costing and
- Bridging the gap between Sales and Finance
Review your company’s financial health
- For a Business - Cash Flow is King
- Bad Debt Strategies http://cfotips.com/?p=69.
Review if your company is operating efficiently and as expected
- Process Improvement to Eliminate/Contain Non-Value Added Costs in the Services Industry http://cfotips.com/?p=42.
- Internal Audits – “Inspect what you Expect”
Review customer accounts
- Treating Customers as Partners & Not as Transactions: A Lost Art?
Review your position in the market
- How You Compare, i.e. Competitive Analysis Tactics
Look Forward
If after this review you are confident that you understand the reason for any variance, plan for the balance of 2012 –
-Re-forecast your projections.
-Evaluate if strategies identified at the end of last year make sense for the balance of 2012.
-Ensure optimal
Finish 2012 strong!
For more CFO Tips see www.CFOTips.com.