Australia
The monthly board report for Australian businesses
In Australia the monthly pack for directors is usually called a board report, often prepared by a virtual CFO or the business's accounting practice. It covers the profit and loss for the month and year to date, the balance sheet, cash, GST and other tax owed, a few KPIs and commentary.
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Every figure shown here is invented for illustration. Nothing on this page is computed from anyone’s accounts.
What Australian boards expect each month
- One-page summary: revenue, gross profit, EBITDA, cash, and the two or three things that need a decision.
- Profit and loss for the month, year to date and prior year. The standard financial year runs 1 July to 30 June, so set the year to start in July; a January start makes July look like a whole year to date.
- Balance sheet, with GST payable, PAYG withholding and superannuation payable shown apart from trade creditors: cash that belongs to someone else.
- Cash and runway, if the business is burning cash.
- Debtors and creditors: debtor days, creditor days and the oldest balances.
- Budget against actual, with a reason for each variance.
- Commentary: what moved, why, and what deserves attention.
GST and the BAS make cash look strange in some months
Revenue and expenses are GST-exclusive; debtors and creditors include GST. The GST collected builds up until the BAS is lodged and paid, monthly or quarterly, so cash drops in the month a BAS is paid even though nothing went wrong. One line in the commentary saves a worried board; the same goes for PAYG withholding and the quarterly superannuation payment. Comparing GST-inclusive debtors with GST-exclusive revenue overstates debtor days by roughly a tenth.
A Melbourne services business's September, three months into its year
| Item | September ($) | Year to date, July to September ($) |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 286,000 | 821,000 |
| Gross profit | 158,000 (55.2%) | 447,000 (54.4%) |
| Overheads | 121,000 | 352,000 |
| EBITDA | 37,000 | 95,000 |
| Cash at the month end | 412,000 | |
| GST payable, September quarter | 71,500 |
EBITDA was $37,000 in September. Cash will drop by about $71,500 in late October when the September-quarter BAS is paid: that is GST collected, not a fall in trading.
The business is invented. In Magic MIS the AI writes sentences like those, and the engine fills every figure from the ledgers.
From MYOB or Xero, with no connection to set up
Export the trial balance as Excel or CSV at the month end and upload it. MYOB's account numbering, 1- assets to 9- other expenses, places cleanly on report lines; each account is placed once and remembered. Guides: MYOB, Xero.
You get a checked Excel workbook, a board you change by chatting, Present for the meeting itself with the client's logo, commentary and Where to act (suggestions to consider, not tax, legal or audit advice), and a read-only link for directors that opens on a phone. Prepaid credits, no subscription, and every action shows its price before it runs: see the credit packs. It works in a desktop browser.
What Australian practices and directors ask
What's the difference between a board report and management accounts?
The same document in different markets: board report in Australia, management accounts in the UK, MIS in India and the Gulf.
Does it lodge or calculate the BAS?
No. It reports what is in the trial balance, GST payable included; lodging stays with the business's tax agent.
Can it report in Australian dollars?
Yes. Figures are labelled in the currency the books are kept in; nothing is converted.
Is there a live MYOB or Xero connection?
No. You upload the trial balance export each month.
Read next
- Board pack and board packet: the monthly financial report for the boardWhat a monthly board pack contains — management accounts, KPIs, variances, commentary — how long it takes by hand, and how to produce it from a trial balance each month.Read
- Monthly reporting for virtual CFO services: the board report as agendaHow an accounting practice runs a virtual CFO service: the monthly board report, budget against actual, cash and a short list of actions, built from the trial balance.Read
- Monthly management reports for New Zealand businessesWhat a New Zealand monthly management report covers — P&L for the month and year to date, balance sheet, cash, GST and PAYE owed, KPIs and commentary — from the trial balance.Read
Build this month's board report from the trial balance
Create an account, load last month's trial balance, and get the report — paid per action.
Prepaid credits, no subscription.