Show Notes
Your financial reports are telling you a story. Every month, three chapters land on your committee table — the Balance Sheet, the Profit and Loss, and the Cash Flow. Each one tells you something different about how the organisation is doing, and you need all three to see whether the plot is heading somewhere good or whether a villain has been quietly lurking in the numbers all along.
In this Storybook Edition of The Committee Room, Kate H and Kate M take you through all three chapters — the heroes (the numbers that tell you you’re on track) and the villains (the red flags that mean something needs attention) — using a framework that makes financial reports much easier to follow than a page full of columns. Cruella de Vil makes a cameo. The Court Jester makes several.
In This Episode
- Cash vs accrual accounting — which edition of the book you’re reading, and why it changes the story (with a mnemonic involving spotty dogs)
- Chapter 1: the Balance Sheet — the Foundations of the Kingdom. What the organisation owns, what it owes, and what it’s worth on one particular day
- The four questions your committee should ask every month — and why Question 3 is the one to underline
- The Balance Sheet heroes (yes to all four questions) and villains (current liabilities exceeding current assets, technical insolvency, unearned income with low reserves)
- Why your buffer is your bricks — and what the Three Little Pigs have to do with NFP governance
- Chapter 2: the Profit and Loss — the Chronicle of the Year. Income, expenditure, and the variance column that tells you where the story has deviated from the plan
- The sneakiest villain of all: the poisoned apple. A healthy overall surplus hiding a part of the organisation that’s quietly losing money
- Chapter 3: the Cash Flow Report — the Royal Coffers. The truth about what actually came in and what actually went out
- Why you can have a beautiful P&L and still be heading for a crisis if the cash isn’t there when the bills arrive
- Reading all three chapters together — and what a happy ending actually looks like
- Why woolly answers to financial questions are a red flag in their own right
Free Download
A one-page Financial Reports Checklist — the four questions for each of the three reports, the red flags to watch out for, and what to do when you find one. Keep it in your committee folder and use it every month. Download here.
Want to Go Further?
If your organisation’s financial story is one you’re not sure how to read — or if you’ve had a nasty plot twist — the Good Governance Health Check through Fresh Allsorts is a good place to start. The Committee Companion also has practical financial templates and tools you can use straight away. Details at freshallsorts.com.au.
This Week’s Challenge
Before your next committee meeting, get hold of the financial reports and read all three. Pick one question from each chapter — something you want to understand or clarify — and ask it at the meeting. That’s how you stop being the Court Jester and start governing.
Got a Question for the Kates?
Use the contact form at thecommitteeroom.com.au — or join the WhatsApp Community and send your question as a voice note.
About Your Hosts
Kate Hartwig has spent forty years working in and around not-for-profit and membership organisations — as a CEO, director, and independent consultant. Her Committee Companion is a head start on good governance with checklists, frameworks and exemplars for committee members. katehartwig.com.au
Kate McPhee has three decades of hands-on experience helping small clubs and associations get more done with less stress. She is the author of Just a Tick, a plain-English governance guide for committees and boards. liquoriceallsorts.com.au
Together they offer governance health checks, the Constitution Composer, and other practical support through Fresh Allsorts.
This podcast provides general information on best practice governance for small to medium not-for-profit associations. It is not legal or financial advice.
Timestamps
00:03 — The thing that nobody thought to check…
01:05 — Introducing the Kates and this episode on Reading the Numbers — Storybook Edition!
02:46 — Are you the Court Jester?
03:18 — Which edition are you reading? Cash or accrual?
04:09 — A useful mnemonic — with spotty dogs…
04:46 — Chapter 1 — the Balance Sheet
05:19 — Assets
05:37 — Liabilities
06:00 — Equity
06:12 — Surplus can’t be distributed to members
06:34 — Balance Sheet heroes
07:17 — Building a buffer against hard times
08:07 — The villains of the Balance Sheet
08:55 — Chapter 2 — the Profit and Loss
10:00 — Chapter 2 heroes
10:18 — Chapter 2 villains
11:51 — Chapter 3 — the Cash Flow Report
12:29 — Chapter 3 hero — no surprises
12:53 — Chapter 3 villain
13:24 — How the story ends…
13:44 — What makes a happy ending?
14:13 — Unhappy endings…
14:35 — Red flags and the importance of questions
15:01 — Timely reports are essential
15:33 — Recap
16:20 — This week’s challenge and next episode on Planning the Numbers
Next Episode
Now that you know how to read the financial story, the final episode in the Financial Confidence series is about how to write the next chapter — budgeting, cash flow planning, the Assets Register, and how to make sure your budget actually connects to your strategic plan.
Resources & Links
🎙️ The Committee Room thecommitteeroom.com.au — episode archive, show notes, downloads and contact form
🍬 Fresh Allsorts freshallsorts.com.au — Governance Health Checks, the Constitution Composer and practical support from both Kates
Kate Hartwig Consulting katehartwig.com.au — including the Committee Companion, a head start on good governance with checklists, frameworks and exemplars
Liquorice Allsorts Consulting liquoriceallsorts.com.au — including Just a Tick, Kate McPhee’s plain-English governance guide
Facebook: The Committee Room
LinkedIn: The Committee Room
You don’t need good luck if you’ve got good governance.
The Committee Room | thecommitteeroom.com.au