Management accounts template

What’s in the template

The workbook has three sheets. Inputs is where your figures go: the profit and loss by account, the balance sheet, a few figures the KPIs need, the monthly trend, aged debtors and creditors, and your commentary. Pack lays them out as a finished report. Read me explains each part.

It follows the section order of the Monthly management pack template in Briefcase Ledger, and its KPIs use the same formulas. It starts filled in with the September 2026 figures for Initech Consulting Ltd, the fictional company in Briefcase’s demo ledger, so you can see a finished pack before you replace them. Our guide to management accounts explains how to read it.

• Revenue:£41,950(Revenue as on the profit and loss)
• Gross margin:54.0%(Gross profit as a share of revenue)
• Net profit:£7,704(Revenue less all costs)
• Cash at bank:£118,260(Bank balances at month end)
• Debtor days:24 days(Owed by customers, without VAT)
• Creditor days:33 days(Owed to suppliers, without VAT)

The pack, section by section

1. Report header

   The company, the period and what it’s compared with, and who prepared it. Set them once on the Inputs sheet and every heading follows.

2. Summary and key figures

   Up to six lines of commentary, then the key figures for the period, the comparison and the change: revenue, gross margin, net profit, cash at bank, debtor days and creditor days, plus months of cover and the current ratio.

3. Revenue and net profit by month

   Up to 13 months of revenue, net profit and month-end cash, oldest first, so this month is read against the run of months before it.

4. Profit and cash

   The profit and loss by section for the period, the comparison and the year to date, with gross and net margin, and a cash bridge from the comparison month end: net profit, depreciation added back, fixed assets bought and working capital.

5. Balance sheet, debtors and creditors

   The balance sheet by section with a check that net assets equal capital and reserves, then aged debtors and aged creditors with the five largest balances in each.

6. Appendix

   The profit and loss and the balance sheet account by account, taken straight from your inputs.

How to use the template

1. Close the month first: reconcile the bank, and post prepayments, accruals and depreciation. The pack can only be as right as thetrial balance behind it.
2. On the Inputs sheet, replace the yellow cells. List each profit and loss account with its section (revenue, cost of sales or overheads), and mark payroll and depreciation accounts in the Role column.
3. Enter the balance sheet as it would be presented: assets, liabilities and capital as positive numbers, and accumulated depreciation as a negative. Mark bank accounts as Bank.
4. Fill in the other figures: profit for the year so far, revenue and costs for the last 12 months (or the months you have), the last three months’ overheads without depreciation, and what customers and suppliers are owed without VAT.
5. Write your commentary: what changed, why, and what to do about it. It appears at the top of the Pack sheet.
6. Check that the balance sheet check on the Pack sheet shows £0, then print the Pack sheet or save it as a PDF.

How the KPIs are worked out

Debtor and creditor days leave VAT out of what is owed, because revenue and costs have no VAT in them. When the books are less than a year old, enter the number of months you have, and the formula scales them to a year. A KPI shows a dash when there is nothing to divide by.

Writing the commentary

Explain the movements that matter, not every number. A common rule is to comment on anything that moved by at least 10% and at least £1,000. Say what happened, why, and what it means, and when you can’t find the reason in the books, write it as a question for the business. The example commentary in our guide shows how that reads.

If you use Claude or ChatGPT, an assistant connected through the Briefcase MCP can draft this commentary from the ledger and the journals behind each movement, for clients on Briefcase Ledger. Our guide to management accounts in Claude or ChatGPT walks through it.

What the template doesn’t do

It doesn’t connect to your accounting software, so the figures are only as current as the last time you typed them in. It covers one company, in pounds sterling, and has no budget column. Add one beside the comparison if the business has a budget. For the month-end steps that come first, see our month-end close guide and the prepayments and accruals calculator.