Improve your company's performance with reporting

A culture of business performance built on reporting

What does "reporting" really mean?

Reporting has become one of the activities that takes up the most time for business leaders. And for good reason! It can have a very positive impact on company performance.

Before going any further, it is important to define what we mean by "reporting". The term actually covers two things:

• Writing reports: to inform people across the company and share the conclusions of an analysis with them.
• Building dashboards: to communicate on the company's performance in a clear and, above all, visual way.
  

• view your interactive dashboards,
• generate reports as PowerPoint presentations made up of charts and explanatory notes.

How can reporting boost a company's performance?

In this article, we look at the benefits of reporting from a performance perspective. To explore the topic in depth, we will focus on the elements that matter most to you,  namely:

• Better tracking of your company's results,
• Greater agility and responsiveness,
• Better anticipation of how your company will evolve,
• The opportunity for continuous improvement.

Better track your company's results

Visualize your results

Get an overview of your organization

Running a company and flying a plane have more in common than you might think. Can you imagine flying a plane without knowing its speed, altitude or heading? Mission impossible! That is why your dashboard is decisive in reaching your destination.

The same goes for your company. To make the right decisions, you need to know how it is performing. So you need a dashboard that lets you track your company's performance at a glance .

Base your decisions on reliable information

According to a study by Experian, more than 95% of companies are affected by inaccurate data. Without automated reporting, you have to base your decisions on raw data. And the complexity of working with raw data increases the risk of errors.

The consequences can be serious for companies faced with these errors. For example:

• Incorrect interpretations,
• Poor decision-making,
• A lack of responsiveness,
• Missed opportunities. 

Automated reporting helps limit these errors. This way, you can be more confident in the reliability of your data. You can keep an eye on your company's real performance and make the right decisions based on reliable data.

Be SMART, set clear goals

If you are not familiar with SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound), here is a quick summary. This method improves the quality of your goals with 5 questions:

• Is my goal specific?
• Can I measure it?
• Is it achievable?
• Is it a realistic goal?
• Is it time-bound?

Once your SMART goals are defined, they can easily be broken down into KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).  This method lets you measure performance with great precision. The KPIs you have set can be tracked accurately every day. Teams know which targets to aim for, and managers know which indicators to monitor to help them get there. That is why reporting is a powerful ally for improving your company's performance.

Stay aligned with your board of directors

The University of Twente conducted a study on the role of information in decision-making. Their analysis concluded: 

"Thanks to the availability of more relevant information, board discussions and decision-making are more rational and easier." 

A conclusion that makes sense! Yet the reality for board members is not always so straightforward, because sharing information with the board can be difficult. Solutions exist to make this exchange of information smoother. With EMASPHERE, for example, you can easily share a specific report that compiles the information relevant to your board members. Each member can log in whenever they want to analyze the automatically updated data.

With this type of solution, you greatly increase your chances of staying aligned with your board of directors. Along the way, you also reduce the risk of friction between you and your board.

Gain agility and responsiveness

Spot problems and opportunities quickly

Analyzing your reporting regularly lets you track your company's performance in near real time. It also lets you check that your results match your expectations. 

If results are disappointing, reporting helps you detect them quickly and even contributes to improving your performance! 

When reporting is combined with your expertise, you can identify trends in no time. Regular reporting deepens your knowledge of your company: you have all the keys to identify, among other things: 

• An increase or decrease in your EBITDA,
• Your cash needs or, on the contrary, a cash surplus,
• Steady revenue growth linked to a particular product or service,
• Etc...

Pivot toward better prospects

Using reporting to find out what works and what does not in your strategy is one thing. Quickly adapting your decisions afterward is another.

An article in Business News Daily looked at the key elements of a strategy shift. Of these, 3 are truly at the heart of reporting:

• Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of your strategy.
• Identifying threats and opportunities.
• Evaluating your different options and pivots.

Once you have identified the points to analyze, you need to make the right decisions. If you learn from your failures, success is at the end of the road!

 

Beyond strategic vision, what does a CEO really expect from their CFO today? To find out, download our free qualitative study on the digital skills most sought after in CFOs in 2021. Technical skills, soft skills: everything is broken down, backed by figures.  

 

Anticipate how your company will evolve

Plan a realistic and ambitious budget

The information gathered through reporting is valuable. It gives you in-depth knowledge of your company, especially on the following points:

• Sales seasonality or revenue growth,
• Optimizing your margin,
• Average customer payment terms (even per customer),
• Supplier-related costs,
• Etc...

Armed with this information, you can build a budget that is both realistic and in line with your ambitions.

Discover how to plan your budget with EMASPHERE → 

Be ready for anything with scenarios

If the COVID-19 crisis taught us one thing, it is that nothing should be taken for granted. This brings to mind the concept of a VUCA world. According to this theory, the world we operate in is:

• Volatile (Volatility),
• Uncertain (Uncertainty),
• Complex (Complexity),
• Ambiguous (Ambiguity).

This theory implies that it is impossible, or nearly so, to predict how this VUCA world will react to your company's strategy. However, you can prepare for this uncertainty, notably by creating different scenarios. This way, you can anticipate as many situations as possible. Beyond simply building a budget, it is essential to start from that budget to create several possible forecast scenarios. Thanks to this anticipation, you will be ready to pivot as soon as circumstances require it.

Keep improving

Sharpen your understanding of your results

Reporting gives you a better understanding of your business. Here are the 3 main benefits for your company's performance:

• You set more precise and realistic goals, while staying ambitious,
• You identify complex phenomena (such as seasonality),
• You can give your team relevant feedback.

With every report, you will better understand how to improve your company's performance.

Discover how analysis works in EMASPHERE →

Test, iterate, learn

In business, it is important to learn from your experiences, whether good or bad. But to do so, you need to understand them in detail. With regular analytical reporting, you can analyze your figures. For example, you can analyze the performance of your activities by specific category.  You can then draw conclusions, which will help you become bolder in testing relevant new strategies. After these tests, you can analyze what worked and what did not. Ultimately, a failure you understand is one more step toward your future successes.

Boost your performance with reporting

As you have seen, adopting clear and regular reporting means equipping yourself with an essential tool. A tool that will take your company's performance to the next level. 

To go further, check out our section on reporting! You will discover how EMASPHERE can concretely improve your company's performance.

Optimize your company's performance too!  To find out how, download our brochure on reporting and performance management.  Automated data collection, a tour of the features, product videos… Discover how the EMASPHERE platform can help you.