Doing a Quarterly Business Review With AskBiz

What Makes a Quarterly Review Different

Monthly reviews catch operational issues. Quarterly reviews reveal strategic patterns. Three months of data shows you whether a trend is real or noise: is burn rate genuinely declining, or was last month just a quiet period? Is revenue growth sustained, or was last month's spike a one-off promotion? Is your cost structure changing in ways that will compound over time? The quarterly review is the right cadence to answer these bigger questions and make the larger decisions — whether to hire, which costs to cut structurally, whether the business model is working as expected.

Part 1: Financial Performance Review (30 Minutes)

Start by pulling the 90-day view on the cash flow chart. This single view captures the entire quarter visually. Note the overall shape: is revenue trending up, flat, or down? Is the daily net gain/burn line improving? Calculate three figures manually: total revenue for the quarter (sum of monthly revenue for the three months), total costs for the quarter (from the Expenses tab), and net cash flow for the quarter (ending cash balance minus starting cash balance). Compare these three figures to the previous quarter. Are you growing, stable, or declining? By what percentage? These headline comparisons form the foundation of your QBR.

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Part 2: Cost Structure Analysis (20 Minutes)

Open the Expenses tab and filter by the full quarter. Sort expenses by category total. You are looking for three things: the largest cost categories (do they reflect your strategic priorities?), any categories that grew significantly during the quarter (are the increases intentional?), and any categories that could be reduced without impacting operations. Compare the category totals to your Cost Configuration — if actual expenses in a category consistently exceed what you have configured, update the configuration upward and ask yourself why costs are running higher than planned. The result of this section is a clean, accurate picture of where your money is actually going.

Part 3: Forecast Accuracy Review (15 Minutes)

Pull up the Rolling Cash Forecast. Compare the current six-week projection to what the forecast showed at the start of the quarter — did it turn out to be accurate? Were there weeks where actuals significantly missed the projection? Understanding forecast accuracy helps you calibrate how much weight to place on forward projections. Common sources of forecast error include unexpected large expenses, receivables that arrived earlier or later than expected, and revenue spikes or dips from seasonal events. Note the main accuracy gaps and consider whether any Cost Configuration updates would improve future accuracy.

Part 4: Strategic Decisions for Next Quarter (15 Minutes)

The final section of the QBR is forward-looking. Using all the data you have reviewed, make three to five strategic decisions for the coming quarter. Examples include: we will reduce our ad spend by 20 percent in Q2 because the conversion data does not justify the cost; we will hire one part-time logistics person in month two of Q2 because runway supports it and the time cost is now clear; we will implement a payment terms change requiring 50 percent deposit on orders above a set value because receivables are consistently delaying our inflow projections. Each decision should be tied directly to a data point you reviewed. Use Ask AI on any CFO card to generate decision suggestions based on your specific data.