The five numbers a promoter should know without opening a file

There is a moment in most banking conversations where the owner is asked something simple and has to say they will check. It is not fatal. But it tells the person across the table something about how the business is run, and they remember it.

One: cash in hand, today

Not the bank balance on the last statement. The position across all accounts today, net of cheques issued and not presented. If this number takes more than a minute to produce, treasury is being managed retrospectively.

Two: the cash conversion cycle, in days

Receivable days plus inventory days minus payable days. This single figure explains why a profitable business can be short of cash, and it is the number that moves most when the business grows. A business adding thirty per cent of revenue with a ninety-day cycle is financing a quarter of that growth itself.

Three: gross margin by line, not in total

The blended margin hides the answer. Owners who know their margin by product or segment can tell you which part of the business is funding the rest. Owners who know only the total usually discover the answer during a bad year.

Four: fixed monthly outgo

Salaries, rent, interest, and everything else that leaves regardless of sales. This is the number that tells you how long the business survives a bad quarter, and it is the one most often underestimated.

Five: the largest customer as a share of revenue

Concentration is a risk that only becomes visible when it materialises. Any customer above twenty-five per cent of revenue is a strategic consideration, not an account.

If producing these five figures requires a request, a wait and a reconciliation, the monthly pack is not built around the decisions being made. That is a fixable problem, and it is usually a format problem rather than an accounting one.