Traditional financial reports have lost their appeal (if there ever was any) to entrepreneurs. The P&L and Balance Sheet are artifacts created by the accounting profession, designed to be the main outputs of a double entry accounting system.

While well intended, these financial statements don’t satisfy the entrepreneur’s desire for financial information. The business owner, always pressed for time, and challenged by the format of traditional financial statements, finds it too easy to skip the time it takes to fully digest and interpret the numbers.

What’s needed is a new financial statement: the Operating Report. The Operating Report has the following characteristics:

• contains both P&L and Balance Sheet information.
• contains graphical representations of the data.
• is customized by the accounting professional to the exact needs of the entrepreneur.

Operating Reports, are not a one size fits all. It is the job of the accounting artisan, to thoroughly understand the client’s business and ambitions, then create beautiful, financial art, to bring the numbers to life.