2013 A&E MARKET OUTLOOK SURVEY RESULTS
Cash Flow. In a market where cash flow is essential to success, the majority of firms surveyed (59%) indicated that retaining of earnings is the primary cause for improved cash flow. Additional causes for improvement included bank loans as well as other internal initiatives, such as improved A/R and collection policies and procedures, reduction of expenses (including rightsizing) and upgrading of finance department personnel. 59%
Cash Flow Improvement Initiatives
32%
32%
7%
Capital Infusion
Retained Earnings
Bank Borrowing
Other
Financial Management Tools. As would be expected, a majority of the respondents indicated that they use financial management tools to manage their business. For instance, the survey revealed that: •
82% utilize cash flow projections
•
77% use annual budgets
•
75% use internally prepared financial statements
•
71% utilize internal job/WIP schedules
•
67% utilize interim forecasts
The least utilized financial management tools amongst the respondents were tax projections and management dashboards. A management dashboard gives a company a graphical “snapshot” of real-time data and trends; however, only 49% of the executives reported using a dashboard and 34% considered a management dashboard to be one of the top 3 most important financial management tools. In addition, 54% of the executives indicated that they share financial information with their project management teams via written reports, versus 46% that share through management portals and dashboards. When asked which of the financial management tools was the most important in helping the executives manage their business, the majority indicated that cash flow projections, annual budgets and interim forecasts were the top 3 tools utilized. 8