I spend a great majority of my time reviewing and advising clients on the importance of having and maintaining strong, solid financial statements. The more I thought about it, I realized that many executives and management teams can’t fix what they can’t see. Often times executives don’t have a clear, complete “view” of their financial statements and their books leaving them extremely vulnerable. The more you know, the better you and your management team will be in making strategic decisions and capitalizing on opportunities.

Many executives use a balance sheet to guide their strategic business decisions and capitalize on opportunities. However, they may be missing more opportunities than finding new ones.  As the director of the entrepreneurial services department, it is my responsibility to ensure clients understand and maximize the value of their balance sheet.

A balance sheet is merely a snapshot in time of assets and liabilities — it does not offer the level of detail or historic perspective necessary to gauge the business’ long-term financial health. By pairing a balance sheet with a strategically-developed chart of accounts and P&L statement, business leaders gain more visibility into the holistic performance and potential of the organization.

Watch for the complete article in the upcoming issue of Catalyst, published by the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.  I’ll be sure to post it here too so check back in early 2010.