A monthly MIS is not a bundle of statements. It is a short answer to the questions an owner actually has. If it takes more than a few minutes to read, it will stop being read.
The five questions
- How did we do? Sales, gross margin and profit against budget and last year.
- Where did the money go? The main expense groups against budget.
- Who owes us? Receivables, ageing and the biggest overdue balances.
- What do we owe, and what is in stock? Payables and inventory, with anything slow or stuck.
- What is the cash position and what is coming? Bank balance and the next few weeks of expected inflow and outflow.
What to leave out
Leave out lines nobody acts on. Move detailed ledgers to an appendix. Avoid ten charts where three will do. Every item on the page should lead to a decision or a question.
Make it comparable month to month
Keep the same layout every month so the eye finds changes quickly. Show trend, not just the current figure. Mark exceptions clearly and write two or three lines of commentary on what changed and why.
The test of an MIS is simple: did it change a decision this month?
The data behind it matters just as much as the page. A one-page view is only trustworthy when the books underneath are reconciled and consistent.