This is where all that pre-work pays off! Allowing you and your team to simply focus on the key differences and ask the client "Why is the number different to the plan?" and "What will you (the client) do to help?"
You'll review the Financial Performance Review before the meeting for a max of 30 mins and then deliver a 90 mins meeting following the Quarterly Planning Agenda.
These meetings are hugely valuable to clients because they get to understand their numbers as well as the results of their past decisions and actions.
It's where our superpowers of being an accountant really come to the fore. It's easy for us and may seem like we've not done much. But this meeting really is a difference maker.
If the actual numbers are not in line with the plan it's usual down to one, or a combination, of four things:
The plan is wrong
The client hasn’t done something that they were supposed to do
The client has done something that they shouldn’t have
What we thought would work, didn’t
Regarding 1 above, maybe something got missed or timing is off. The plan can be adjusted if needed but only recommended doing once every six months.
With 2 & 3, follow the next module regarding accountability and the questions to ask.
And with 4, it's about asking the client what else they do with taking that learning onboard.
Make sure to ask the client for their key takeaways from the meeting.
2:00 hrs (30 mins prep, 90 mins meeting)
