How to read your monthly MIS in 15 minutes

Five numbers, in a fixed order, tell you most of what happened in your business last month.

A monthly MIS is only useful if you read it the same way every month. Most owners skim the revenue line, feel good or bad, and close the file. Here is a routine that takes 15 minutes and catches problems while they are still small.

1. Revenue against last month and budget

Look at the change from last month and from budget, not the absolute number. A month that is up 14% but below budget tells a different story from one that is flat but above it. If you sell through several channels, check which channel moved.

2. Gross margin in percentage points

Gross margin moves slowly, so a 2-point drop is a real signal. The usual causes are discounting, a shift toward lower-margin products, or a supplier price rise you have not passed on. Use the margin calculator to see what price restores it.

3. Marketing as a share of sales

Absolute marketing spend means little on its own. As a percentage of revenue it tells you whether growth is getting more expensive. If it rises two months in a row, check your CAC and payback.

4. EBITDA, not net profit

EBITDA strips out depreciation and interest, so you see how the operations did this month. Net profit matters for tax and lenders; EBITDA is the better monthly signal.

5. Cash and DSO together

Profit without cash is the most common way growing businesses get into trouble. If DSO is rising while revenue grows, customers are funding less of your growth and you are funding more of theirs. The ageing calculator shows which bucket to chase.

Write three lines

End by writing three sentences: what changed, why, and what you will watch next month. Over a year, those notes become the most useful part of the MIS.