The Financial Numbers Your EOS Scorecard Should Track

If your company runs on EOS, the Entrepreneurial Operating System described in Gino Wickman’s book Traction, you already know the Scorecard: a short list of weekly numbers the leadership team reviews together, usually in the weekly Level 10 meeting.

A good Scorecard lets you see how the business is doing in a few minutes, and spot problems before they show up in a monthly report. Financial measurables are often the hardest to get right, because they depend on bookkeeping that is current every week, not just at month end.

What makes a good Scorecard number

EOS keeps the Scorecard simple:

• A small set of numbers, commonly 5 to 15.
• Weekly, so trends show up quickly.
• One owner per number, the person accountable for reporting it and for it being on track.
• A clear goal, so each number is either on track or off track. Off-track numbers become issues to discuss and solve.

The financial numbers below fit those rules. You don’t need all of them. Pick the few that best predict your business’s health.

Cash

Cash balance. The total in your operating bank accounts at the end of each week. It is the simplest health check there is. If you use Profit First, track the balances of your individual accounts as well.

Cash runway or coverage. How many weeks of expenses your cash covers. Some teams track “cash on hand ÷ average weekly expenses”. It turns a raw balance into something that means more.

Money coming in

Weekly revenue or billings. What you invoiced or collected this week. Choose one definition and stick with it, so the number is comparable week to week.

New sales booked. Signed work or orders added this week. This is a leading indicator: it shows what revenue will look like in coming weeks.

Accounts receivable over 30 (or 60) days. The dollar amount of customer invoices past due. A rising number is an early warning about collections, and it shows up here long before you feel it in cash.

Money going out

Accounts payable due in the next two weeks. What you owe soon. Compared with your cash balance, it tells you whether a tight week is coming.

Payroll coverage. Whether cash in the bank covers the next payroll with room to spare. For many small businesses this is the number that matters most.

Profitability

Some profitability numbers only make sense monthly, such as gross margin or net profit, because they depend on month-end entries. You can still include them on the Scorecard as monthly measurables, or keep them in a separate monthly review.

Gross margin. Revenue minus the direct cost of delivering it, as a percentage. A falling margin often means pricing, scope or labor costs need a look.

Keeping the numbers reliable

A Scorecard is only as good as the data behind it. A few habits make the financial numbers trustworthy:

1. Keep the books current weekly. Categorize bank feed transactions and record invoices and bills every week, not only at month end.
2. Reconcile monthly. Reconciled accounts mean your cash and receivables numbers are real.
3. Use the same report every time. Pull each number from the same saved QuickBooks report so it’s calculated the same way each week.
4. Make one person accountable. Often the bookkeeper or the Integrator prepares the financial numbers before the weekly meeting.

A starting Scorecard

If you’re building your first financial measurables, this set covers the basics:

Measurable	Frequency	Example goal
Cash balance	Weekly	Above your minimum cash level
New sales booked	Weekly	At or above weekly target
Revenue billed or collected	Weekly	At or above weekly target
AR over 30 days	Weekly	Below a set dollar amount
AP due in next 2 weeks	Weekly	Covered by cash on hand
Gross margin	Monthly	At or above target percentage

Set goals that fit your business, review them each quarter, and adjust when a number stops telling you something useful.

How bookkeeping fits in

Weekly financial measurables depend on books that are kept current weekly. If your financial numbers arrive late or keep getting revised, the fix is usually in the bookkeeping process, not the Scorecard. A bookkeeper who understands EOS can set up the reports and routine that keep these numbers accurate and on time for every Level 10 meeting.