Module 04 · The board deck~75s dwell · weight 10
P&L + cash vs plan (variance analysis)
Explain the gap between what was budgeted and what actually happened, line by line, with a reason for each material variance.
This is where investors with finance backgrounds spend real time before the meeting; Suster notes boards should get the actuals-vs-budget table, not just the actuals.
Include
- Actual vs. budget for revenue, COGS, opex, and net burn
- A one-line reason for every line item off plan by more than 10%
- Cash balance at quarter start and end, tied to the runway number on the dashboard
Cut
- Line items with no variance explanation, just a red or green cell
- Currency rounding that obscures a real miss (e.g. '$300K' instead of '$312K')
Red flags a reader notices
- A large variance with no explanation attached
- Cash on this slide doesn't match cash on the KPI dashboard
Pitfalls behind them
- Explaining every miss as 'timing' without naming what actually shifted
- Averaging variance across the year to hide a bad month
60-second self-test
- · Does every line item over 10% variance have a one-sentence reason attached?
- · Would a director unfamiliar with the business understand why burn came in high?
Template
[Line item]: $[actual] vs. $[budget] ([+/-X]%) , [one-line reason]
Weak
"Spend was a bit higher than planned this quarter due to various factors."
Strong
"Opex: $312K actual vs. $280K budget (+11%), driven by two early sales hires pulled forward from Q3 to close a $40K enterprise deal now instead of Q4."
Nimbus names the exact hires and the reason, so the board can judge whether the tradeoff was worth it, not just that a number moved.
Quick quiz
Pick an answer. Nothing is graded, and correct answers stay hidden until you choose.
1. What must accompany any line item off plan by more than 10%?
2. Why must cash figures match exactly between the P&L slide and the KPI dashboard?