Work sample · Example figures
One-page monthly management report from Xero
A one-page report an owner can read in three minutes: profit and loss against last month, who owes money and for how long, and where cash closed, with a short note on what to do next.
A walkthrough of how I would approach this project. The figures are examples for a fictional business, not a client.
- Area
- Recurring bookkeeping
- Tools
- Xero · Google Sheets
- Typical scope
- US$200–450
- Timeline
- About 3 weeks · 4 fixed milestones
01The problem
The owner gets a set of reports from the accountant once a quarter, or a screenshot of the Xero dashboard. Nothing says what changed, who is late paying, or whether cash will hold.
- Profit that is a surprise at year end
- Customers 60 or 90 days late before anyone notices
- A dashboard with no commentary
- Reports that look different every month
02Approach
- Look
Review the chart of accounts, the tracking categories and last quarter’s reports, and agree what the owner needs to see.
- Define
A short definitions sheet: what counts as revenue, cost of sales, overheads, and which accounts feed each line.
- Build
A Sheets template that pulls from Xero reports, laid out on one page, with a prior-month comparison.
- Run
The first two months are produced together, then handed over with a checklist for the monthly close.
03Exhibit
| Profit and loss | This month | Last month | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 186,400 | 171,900 | +8.4% |
| Cost of sales | 104,900 | 98,700 | +6.3% |
| Gross profit | 81,500 | 73,200 | +11.3% |
| Gross margin | 43.7% | 42.6% | +1.1 pts |
| Overheads | 59,200 | 57,400 | +3.1% |
| Net profit | 22,300 | 15,800 | +41.1% |
Accounts receivable by age, total 101,500
Closing bank balance, last six months
What this means
- Revenue is up 8.4% on last month and margin is up 1.1 points as two large jobs closed out.
- $15,650 is more than 60 days old. Three accounts make up most of it; reminders go out this week.
- Cash closed at $64,820, the highest in six months. Two supplier bills fall due in the first week of next month.
04How to read it
- Profit and loss is shown against last month with the change, so movement is visible at a glance.
- Receivables are grouped by age. The red bars are the ones to call about.
- The three lines under ‘What this means’ are written each month after the numbers are checked.
05Scope
| Area | Included |
|---|---|
| Report design | One page: profit and loss summary, receivables by age, closing cash and a six-month cash line |
| Definitions | A written sheet saying what feeds each line, agreed with the owner and the accountant |
| Template | A Google Sheets template connected to Xero reports, with a prior-month comparison |
| Commentary | Three lines on what changed and what to do, written for the first two months |
| Month-end routine | A checklist: bank reconciled, invoices and bills up to date, then run the report |
| Handover | A walkthrough and the files, which you own |
| Not included | Budgets and forecasts, which are scoped separately |
06Milestones and fee
| Milestone | Deliverable | Timing | Share of fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| M1 Needs and definitions | Agreed layout and definitions sheet | Week 1 | 25% |
| M2 Template built | Working template on your Xero data | Week 2 | 35% |
| M3 First two reports | Two months produced with commentary | Weeks 2 to 3 | 25% |
| M4 Handover | Checklist and walkthrough | Week 3 | 15% |
Typical scope for this kind of project: US$200–450
About 3 weeks · 4 fixed milestones. The systems health check (US$150, fixed) comes first and confirms the scope. Extra hourly work is US$40 per hour, agreed before it starts.
Tell me what is going wrong in your books and I will say where I would look first.
Send a short note through the form on the home page. I will reply with where I would start, and whether the US$150 systems health check is the right first step.