Five Numbers a Small Business Owner Should See Every Monday
- 1. Cash against your reserve
- 2. Receivables overdue by more than 30 days
- 3. New orders or bookings
- 4. Gross margin on last week’s sales
- 5. Payments due in the next 14 days
- What it looks like on one page
- Rules that keep it useful
- Adapting the five to your business
- Where this fits
A small business owner does not need a large dashboard. Five numbers, seen every Monday, give enough early warning to act weeks before the monthly accounts would show a problem: cash compared with the minimum you intend to hold, receivables that are overdue, new orders or bookings, gross margin on last week’s sales, and payments due in the next two weeks.
Each one is available from the bank statement, the accounting software or the order book in a few minutes. The value is in looking at them every week, in the same format, so that a change stands out.
1. Cash against your reserve
What: the closing bank balance, plus any undrawn working capital limit, shown next to the minimum cash reserve you have set.
Why: the balance on its own means little. ₹14 lakh is comfortable for a business whose floor is ₹8 lakh and a warning for one whose floor is ₹17.5 lakh. Showing both side by side turns a number into a signal. How to set the floor is covered in how much cash reserve a small business should hold.
2. Receivables overdue by more than 30 days
What: the total owed by customers that is more than 30 days past its due date, and the three largest overdue customers.
Why: total receivables rise and fall with sales, so they are hard to read week to week. The overdue part is where problems show first. A figure that has grown three weeks running, or a large customer who has appeared on the list for the first time, is worth a phone call on Monday morning, not a note in next month’s review.
3. New orders or bookings
What: the value of orders received, contracts signed or appointments booked last week, compared with the average of the previous four weeks.
Why: revenue in the accounts reflects work already done. Orders are the leading indicator of revenue to come. A service firm whose bookings have fallen for three weeks will see it in revenue a month or two later, when it is harder to fix. Using a four-week average smooths out the natural lumpiness of a single week.
4. Gross margin on last week’s sales
What: sales less the direct cost of those sales, as a percentage, for the week.
Why: margin erodes quietly. A supplier price increase that has not been passed on, discounts creeping up to win orders, or a shift towards lower-margin products all show here before they show in profit. If your system cannot produce a weekly margin, a sample of the week’s largest invoices against their cost is a reasonable substitute.
5. Payments due in the next 14 days
What: supplier payments, salaries, loan instalments, and tax and statutory payments falling due in the coming two weeks.
Why: set against the cash figure and expected collections, this tells you whether the next fortnight is comfortable or tight, early enough to chase a receipt, delay a discretionary purchase or talk to the bank.
What it looks like on one page
| Measure | This week | Last week | 4-week average | Flag |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash plus undrawn limit | ₹14.2 lakh | ₹16.8 lakh | ₹17.1 lakh | Below ₹17.5 lakh floor |
| Overdue over 30 days | ₹6.4 lakh | ₹5.1 lakh | ₹4.6 lakh | Rising three weeks |
| New orders | ₹9.8 lakh | ₹11.5 lakh | ₹10.9 lakh | Within range |
| Gross margin | 36% | 38% | 39% | Check pricing |
| Payments due next 14 days | ₹11.3 lakh | n/a | n/a | Tight against cash |
Read together, this week tells a clear story. Cash has dropped below the floor, overdue receivables are climbing, margin is slipping and a large set of payments is coming. The first action is obvious: collect the overdue ₹6.4 lakh, starting with the largest accounts, before the payments fall due. The second is to find out why margin dropped two points.
Rules that keep it useful
- Same five numbers, same layout, every week. The point is comparison, and comparison needs consistency.
- Set flags in advance. Decide what level of each number triggers action before you see it, not after.
- Keep it to one page. If it grows to twenty measures, nobody will read it on a Monday.
- Attach one action to every flag. A flag with no owner and no action is decoration.
- Review the monthly accounts separately. The weekly view is for early warning. The monthly profit and loss and budget review is where causes are properly analysed.
Adapting the five to your business
A retailer might replace new orders with footfall or daily sales; a subscription business with new sign-ups and cancellations; a manufacturer might add stock of finished goods. Keep the principle: one number for cash, one for money owed to you, one leading indicator of future revenue, one for margin and one for commitments coming up.
Where this fits
- Setting the cash floor: how much cash reserve to hold
- Where the days of cash are stuck: cash conversion cycle
- Looking further ahead: 13-week cash flow forecast · rolling forecasts
- Tools: working capital calculator · cash flow calculator