How to save time when creating financial presentations

Image by Djim Loic via Unsplash

Here are three possible reasons why it takes you too long to create your presentations:

#1 You have too many slides to prepare

a) Focus

Include only the metrics that tell the story. Share the rest in a spreadsheet. Execs will thank you for helping to separate signal from noise.

b) Tailor

There is a good chance that there is a slide or more that isn’t needed anymore. Ask people to tag which slides they find valuable. Move the rest to the appendix for a few cycles, then eliminate it.

c) Test

Run a skip test. If you consistently don’t get any questions or comments on a slide, simply remove it from the deck. Prepare it so you can share it quickly if someone asks for it. If they don’t for a few cycles, eliminate it.

#2 Getting the right data takes too long

a) Ownership

Every metric needs to have an owner who is responsible for availability and accuracy. Often that’s Data Science or IT.

b) Tracking

For manually tracked metrics like headcount: Whoever is closest to the source should be responsible to maintain it. For example HR knows about any people move, so they should be responsible for tracking it.

c) Transparency

Flag hard to obtain or likely inaccurate numbers in your exec reports. Leadership attention will help resolve the underlying issue quickly. Don’t hesitate, it’s important for the leadership team to know since they rely on your data to make big decisions

#3 Consolidation is too cumbersome

a) No copy/paste

More than one copy / paste per report means it’s not optimized.

b) Robots

Learn how macros and robotic process optimization (RPA) can help.

c) Tools

At least, you need a planning system that adds the features Excel lacks. Think audit trail, version control, collaboration features.

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