A Simplified Guide to Quarterly Reporting: Top Tools and Tips

Mar 31
4 min read

Quarterly financial reporting ensures that businesses stay abreast of their current financial situation, allowing key stakeholders to make informed decisions about resource allocation, business strategy, and cash flow throughout the year.

These reports, completed at the end of each quarter, examine the company's financial performance from the last three months.

At a base level, quarterly reports will include:

Income statements, which provide information regarding expenses, revenue, profits and losses from the quarter
Balance sheets, which provide information on assets, liabilities and shareholder equity from the quarter
Cash flow statements, which provide information on the company's cash incoming and outgoings from throughout the quarter

Close up photo of a person's hands holding a tablet with financial data on the screen. There is also a desktop and laptop in the background with further data shown. Photo by Jakub Żerdzicki on Unsplash.

Oftentimes expert financial advisors will approach reports even more comprehensibly, and further include:

Revenue analysis
Profitability breakdown
Expense mix and breakdown
State of financials versus budget

These statements should always be considered within the wider conditions of company Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), trends and other business activities to paint a picture of the business's current financial health. More advanced financial reports will influde these KPIs within the report itself.

They should also be continually referenced and regularly reflected upon throughout future quarters, steering financial planning accordingly. After all, there's no point in producing reports if no one takes the time to digest them and act on the key takeaways!

Having the right framework and tools for these regular reports can provide vital context around findings and keep the process, which can prove overwhelming for businesses, streamlined and stress-free.

Top Tips

Automate when and where you can

One of the great things about the current state of finance is the sheer amount of tools available to assist in things like quarterly reporting.

Looking to automate processes when it comes to quarterly reporting will help ensure that your team is getting the most out of the process and not being bogged down by tedious manual entry.

Utilising them correctly will save time and stress; however, be careful not to become complacent just because things are automated. Figures should still be checked for accuracy.

Include a summary page

Including a summary page in your quarterly reports allows for time-strapped viewers to see how things are going quickly.

Summaries should be clean and straightforward and include a few lines of greater context. Note any important pieces of information gathered during this period.

The key to an executive summary page is that, if done well, someone really shouldn't need to look at the numbers to understand the report. Always try to keep this in mind when putting together your summary pages.

While it may seem superfluous now, creating a comprehensive summary page will help you synthesise the information and help future viewers (even yourself!) glean context quickly.

Wide shot through glass walls of a bright orange meeting room. A presentation is being given to a team meeting of five people. Photo by Paymo on Unsplash.

Account for detail

All the metrics in the world can mean very little without the surrounding context.

When laying out your quarterly figures, always try to account for why. Consider the wider state of the business, the market, competitors and the economy at large. Don't focus just on the numbers—try to find and communicate why they are the way they are, and spare no detail.

Comparative analysis from previous periods can be especially helpful here, offering a glimpse at wider business trends and offering context for the ebb and flow of certain areas of the business.

Use a consistent format

Your reporting format should be the same over time; if you are constantly changing how you present the information, it can get confusing, and viewers may spend more time trying to decipher the report's structure than its actual contents.

Try to come up with a reliable, detailed base to work from and try not to stray from that format.

Outsource Quarterly Reporting

Ensuring that a financial expert is in charge of quarterly reporting can help mitigate any reporting inaccuracies or misunderstandings. It is the best way to ensure precision.

If you have any doubts about your business's ability to stay on top of reporting, look to bring on external expert guidance. While businesses may be keen to figure their way through processes, financials are one area that should never be gambled with—if there's any doubt, ask for help.

Top Tools

Having the right tools supporting your finance and operations teams throughout the quarter is just as important as having the right tools come reporting time.

Implementing strong tracking tools early on ensures that all necessary information will be ready come time for quarterly reports. For businesses doing their own quarterly reporting, there is a range of tools that can help ease the process.

Xero

Known globally as a top-tier accounting solution for SMBs, Xero is a great resource for keeping all your finances in one place. With built-in analytics, expense claiming and more, Xero is a great jumping-off point for businesses looking for straightforward, no-nonsense accounting and easy financial health tracking.

Great for: SMBs looking to keep all their financial tracking in one place.

Fathom

Fathom is an all-in-one reporting, cash flow forecasting and analysis tool with integrations across top accounting software like Excel. With the ability to create custom management reports, Fathom centres clarity and comprehensive analysis.

Great for: Cash flow forecasting, custom management reports and consolidated financial analysis.

Dext

Dext automates bookkeeping, making managing receipts, expenses and payments simple. Using Optical Character Recognition technology to easily upload data and AI to simplify day-to-day bookkeeping tasks, Dext handles data entry, categorisation and reconciliation.

Great for: Using throughout the reporting period to ensure that all information is accurate and up-to-date come quarter-end reporting.

ApprovalMax

ApprovalMax streamlines accounts payable and approval processes, offering flexible, efficient communications and approvals amongst teams. With built-in fraud and error control, ApprovalMax helps simplify bookkeeping while keeping teams safe and on top of their books. Advanced budgeting capabilities further allow teams to maintain control over spending and cash flow.

Great for: Staying on top of expenses for better financial forecasting and planning.

An over-the-shoulder medium-wide shot of a woman working on a laptop. She has an analytics dashboard on her screen. Photo by Apex Virtual Education on Unsplash.

With any and all financial tools, be careful not to get overly reliant on automation. While automation is a helpful tool to streamline processes and keep things moving smoothly, tools cannot be left to do all financial reporting on their own; many simply lack the context needed to produce completely accurate takeaways, and always run the risk of missing information due to system (or human!) error.

When using tools, always have an expert review all figures and logs to ensure nothing gets lost in the mix.

Ready to take quarterly reporting off your plate?

Let’s have a chat! Offshore Group can help transform your approach to financial management and set you up for success. 💼