For many businesses, financial management is a headache and business constraint. Ask yourself these questions:

• Is the quality of your financial and management information meeting the standards that you expect?
• Do you have the information that you need to help grow your business?
• Does the information help you manage the business or is it simply giving the score after the event?
• Are you confident in the information that you receive?
• Is the information constantly challenged?
• Is the information available when you need it?
• Do your managers keep their own records?
• Is information manually collected and input into complex spreadsheets to produce reports?
• Is pricing and costing information produced independently?
• Are regulatory requirements met in an effective and timely manner? 

In many cases the finance function is effectively a book keeping service. Producing invoice, processing transactions and reporting on overall profit or loss for the period and the current cash position. The basic statutory records and routine statutory reporting requirements are met and your accountants visit once a year to finalise the annual statutory accounts and corporation tax.

Are your objectives for your finance function simply to provide this basic level of accounting service and meet the statutory requirements with minimal problems at lowest cost? Or, do you want more?  Do you want a finance function that will provide you relevant information, accurate and timely information that will help you make informed decisions, good decisions, and better decisions? Do you have fast, accurate information about current performance and reliable information about future short term performance that will help you take prompt action when things aren't going as you would like. This is management information, management information that you use to make decisions. Management information that will help improve the performance of your business.