- The KPIs every growing business should track (beyond revenue)
- How cashflow forecasting and KPI dashboards work together
- How Nuvo uses KPI tracking to help clients grow strategically and sleep better at night
Why Revenue Alone Doesn’t Tell You the Full Story
Imagine driving a car with a speedometer but no fuel gauge, no engine light, and no sat nav. You might be going fast but towards a cliff edge.
Revenue is one data point. It doesn’t show profitability, cash reserves, timing of payments, or whether growth is sustainable. It’s not that revenue doesn’t matter. It’s just not enough.
The Most Impactful Financial KPIs to Track
Here are the metrics we help clients track in monthly management accounts and real-time dashboards:
1. Gross Profit Margin
What it shows: How much of each £1 you actually keep after direct costs.
Why it matters: Reveals profitability before overheads. This is useful for pricing decisions and operational efficiency.
2. EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortisation)
What it shows: Core profitability of the business.
Why it matters: A key figure lenders, investors, and buyers look at. Also a powerful internal growth benchmark.
3. Current Ratio
What it shows: Short-term financial health — current assets vs current liabilities.
Why it matters: If you’re under 1:1, you may struggle to pay bills without borrowing.
4. Debtor Days (Receivables Turnover)
What it shows: Average number of days it takes to get paid.
Why it matters: Even profitable businesses can fail if cash gets stuck in unpaid invoices.
5. Forecast vs Actual Cash Position
What it shows: How accurately your cash forecasts match reality.
Why it matters: Helps you spot pinch points early and adapt before a crisis hits.
Case Study: Predicting a Cash Crunch 3 Months in Advance
One of our care sector clients was heading into a refinancing round, with a £7 million facility due to expire. They were turning over £11 million but cash was tight.
By using three-way forecasting (P&L, balance sheet, and cashflow), we identified a looming pinch point. Payment terms on incoming revenue meant outgoings would exceed income for a 6-week window, just when they needed to look strongest on paper.
We adjusted expenditure timing, delayed non-essential CapEx, and helped position them more attractively to new lenders. The result? Refinancing secured, with better terms and 25% reduced cash outflows.
“Smart” KPI Tracking Means Actionable Insight — Not Just Reports
Good accountants don’t just hand you a spreadsheet. At Nuvo, our clients receive monthly or quarterly management accounts, powered by tools like Spotlight Reporting, tailored to show:
- Your key metrics vs last year and vs budget
- Month-on-month and rolling 12-month trends
- Visual dashboards that make sense (not jargon)
We also sit down with clients to actually interpret what the data means, and help you make the right decisions at the right time.
What Happens When You Don’t Track the Right KPIs?
“You can’t fix what you don’t measure.”
Some of the most expensive business mistakes we’ve seen came down to lack of visibility:
- Scaling too fast without understanding cash lag
- Underpricing services due to weak gross margin insight
- Making hiring decisions without knowing the EBITDA impact
Avoiding this doesn’t require guesswork. It just requires the right numbers, reviewed consistently, and turned into insight.
Ready to See How Your KPIs Stack Up?
We’ve built a free ScoreApp assessment to help you find out whether you’re tracking the right numbers — and what might be missing. It takes 3 minutes, and gives you a personalised report on your financial visibility.
Or book a discovery call to chat through how KPI tracking could unlock your next stage of growth.
