Draft.0

Working backwards, most Board of Directors meetings occur on or about the 15th of each month. Even if your company doesn't hold these meetings (possibly quarterly, even yearly) it is good practice to ensure that your management reports are 'board ready'. Accountants particularly like this as it makes their jobs easier, being able to spot trends before they become an issue. It also makes finding issues and problems much simpler for you as you are reviewing the numbers regularly and anything amiss stands out. So the aim is to have the 'papers' ready no later than the evening of the 10th. This provides time for those 'papers' to be distributed to the board members and allow them time to review before the actual meeting.

The resulting 'papers' are collated together to form the 'Board Pack'. This collection of documents are distributed to the individual board members BEFORE the board meeting. We don't want them reading the papers in the actual meeting. The meeting is to discuss the results and decide on any actions required as a result of said discussions.

So the 10th is 'D' day. This is when you have all the required information ready to collate and send out.

Board of Directors (Board of Management)

Under the control of an experienced non-executive chairman regular board meetings are scheduled to review financial reports and direct company strategy.

Board of Management

Some companies, particularly smaller, tightly held, enterprises will have a 'Board of Management' rather than a 'Board of Directors'. This board will consist of individuals, whilst not necessarily holding equity in the business, have an interest in progressing said business forward. Typically this Board of Management will include the external accountant, an independent chairperson, and others that the business owner considers can add value. (Xtrasoft personnel have sat on many such boards in the past.)

Functions of the Board

Set the goals for the company (both strategic and financial).
Appoint the company's chief executive.
Oversee the plans of managers for the acquisition and organisation of financial and human resources towards the attainment of the company's goals.
Review at reasonable intervals the company's progress towards attaining it's goals.

Board Agenda

A typical Board Meeting Agenda is available here.

Contents of the Board Pack

Most meetings, at a minimum, require the following:-

Debtors Aged Trial Balance
Creditors Aged Trial Balance
List of Outstanding Jobs and their value (if applicable)
List of Outstanding Works Orders and their value (if applicable)
Stock Trial Balance (if applicable)
General Ledger Trial Balance
Profit / Loss Trend Report
Profit / Loss against agreed budget
Balance Sheet
Cash Flow Forecast, next 30, 60 , 90 days
Report from Management specifically on any Work Place Health & Safety Issues. (Mandatory)
Report from the GM or MD as to the previous period's performance, and upcoming period's performance, normally a single page.
Report from the Sales Manager as per above.

The suggested method of 'rolling' the month.

1st Day of month (logged on as the last day of last month!), or the evening of the last day

Invoicing must have been completed by now, no excuse!
Enter any debtor payments made on the last day of the month.
Finalise the bank Reconciliation to ensure that all debtors payments have been allocated to the correct period.
Run Debtor Statements (if you do this)
Post G/L transactions
Run Close Period for the Debtors, this prevents any more invoices going into last month.

5th Day of the Month (or thereabouts) (logged on as the last day of last month!)

- Finish entering any last month CR invoices.

- Print Creditors Trial balance (if you do this, most don't anymore)

- Post G/L transactions

- Run the Job system Batch WIP posting.

- Run Close Period for the Creditors

- Run Close Period for the Job Module (you may not use this module, but we still need to close it)

This just leaves the GL open in last month.

10th Day of the Month (or thereabouts) (logged on as the last day of last month!)

- Finish any monthly Journal entries you may do. (Should be any I wouldn't think)

- Post G/L transactions

- Print the required Management Reports (G/L T/bal, P/L trend report, Balance Sheet are the norm) & distribute to stakeholders.

- Run Close Period on the GL.

- Logout, and log back in with the correct date.

Procedure complete.

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