Board and investor metrics brief

Use this to turn approved data into a decision brief. Match detail to the named audience and keep board-confidential material within its approved group.

Define the frame

Record the meeting or reporting period, audience, cutoff date, currency, approved KPI definitions, plan or target version, and owner of each section. State whether finance figures are final, management draft, or provisional.

Build each metric row

For each chosen metric give:

• business meaning and formula;
• current value and period;
• prior-period and plan value where supplied;
• absolute and relative change;
• population, sample, or denominator;
• source and refresh date;
• observed driver;
• open hypothesis and confidence;
• owner action or decision needed.

Keep operating metrics, accounting figures, cash figures, and forecasts clearly labelled. A favourable change needs the same source test as an unfavourable one.

Write the decision brief

Lead with the three changes that affect a decision. Follow with progress against plan, main risks, unresolved data issues, and explicit decisions or help needed. Put detailed tables after the main points. List metric definition changes and show why a comparison may no longer hold.

Check that figures agree with the deck, investor update, and approved finance summary for the same cutoff. Report conflicts instead of choosing one silently.

Safety rules

Never invent a figure, hide an exclusion, change a target after the period, or present a forecast as assured. Do not give investment, legal, tax, or securities advice and do not send the brief. Restrict personal, customer, employee, and ownership data. Route disclosure, governance, terms, and ownership questions to counsel and the named finance owner.