The practical half of finance, for a founder starting from nothing. What to record and where, cash versus accrual, a chart of accounts, the month-end close, reconciling the bank, and producing your own P&L, cash view and monthly reporting pack — plus when it is finally worth handing off.
Keep your own books, produce your own reports
Lessons
Where to actually start keeping books — Day one, with no accounting background and no system. What to record, where to put it, and the three habits that make everything after this easy. (12 min)
Building a chart of accounts — The twenty-odd categories every transaction lands in. Get this right once and every report you ever run is useful; get it wrong and no amount of software helps. (12 min)
The month-end close — The two-hour routine that turns bookkeeping into a decision tool. A checklist you can run on the first working day of every month. (12 min)
Producing your own P&L and cash view — Turning categorised transactions into the two reports you will actually use, and the six numbers you should be able to recite from memory. (14 min)
The monthly reporting pack — Two pages, the same date every month, to investors and to yourself. What goes in it, what does not, and why the discipline outlives any single report. (11 min)