Most owners of motorsport businesses know whether the last event went well. Fewer know, at the end of each month, whether the business is on course for the year. Six numbers cover most of what matters and take about an hour a month to update once the first version is set up.

1. Cash in the bank against the forecast

Compare the actual balance with the month by month cash forecast. A gap means income is late or costs are early and both need explaining. Our guide to motorsport cash flow covers how to build the forecast.

2. Money owed to you

List every unpaid invoice by customer and by age. Anything over 30 days needs a call this week. Track the total each month to see whether credit control is improving.

3. Margin by revenue stream

Track the margin on each activity separately: track days, hospitality, coaching, parts, rebuilds or entries. A business can grow its revenue while its most important stream loses money.

4. Capacity used

Measure what you sell against what you could sell: track days booked, workshop hours billed, seats filled or grid places taken. Unused capacity is the cheapest place to find more profit.

Worked example

In this illustrative example a workshop billed 1,100 of the 1,400 hours its team was available last month, 79% of capacity. The 300 unbilled hours at a £65 charge rate are worth £19,500 a month, which makes them the first number to work on.

5. Overheads against budget

Compare fixed costs with the budget line by line. Subscriptions, insurance and supplier prices tend to rise without anyone deciding they should. Our guide to cutting supplier costs covers what to do when they do.

6. Bookings for the months ahead

Count confirmed bookings, entries and orders for the next three months and compare them with the same point last year. This is the earliest warning of a quiet period.

Set it up in a spreadsheet

A spreadsheet is enough to start. Give each KPI a row and each month a column, with the target and the same month last year alongside. Pull the figures from the bank, your accounting software and your booking system on the first working day of each month.

  • Cash: the bank balance on the last day of the month
  • Money owed: the total of unpaid invoices and the amount over 30 days
  • Margin: income less direct costs for each revenue stream
  • Capacity: days, hours, seats or places sold against what was available
  • Overheads: fixed costs for the month against budget
  • Bookings: confirmed income for the next three months

Colour each figure against its target so problems stand out without reading every number.

Keep it to one page

Put the six numbers on a single page and review them on the same day each month with whoever runs each part of the business. Over a season the trends become as useful as the figures.