Stop 7 of 9 · Weekly
The advisory pack
Closed books into three pages the owner reads: cash, margin, and the two decisions, with a meeting script and a hard line at the edge of the practice licence.
What it is
The month closes and the client gets a P&L they do not read. Farida has watched twenty owners not read one. The advisory pack is the alternative: three pages that answer the only three questions an owner actually has, and a twenty-minute meeting built on them.
It is written from closed books, so it comes after stop 4 and stop 5. Nothing in it changes the file: no posting, no reclassing, no bank rule changes. And it stays inside what the practice is licensed to say, which is the part that takes discipline rather than skill.
Three pages
| Page | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| Cash | How much is there, how long does it last, what moved it |
| Margin | What are we making per sale, and what changed |
| Decisions | The two things worth doing before we meet again |
Cash first because it is the one an owner already worries about. Margin second because it explains the first. Decisions last because they only carry weight once the two pages above them are agreed.
Using CL-08 closed month in QuickBooks Online, read only, plus the twelve months before it, write a three-page pack. Page one, cash: closing balance, net movement, the three largest inflows and outflows with dates and amounts, and weeks of cover at the last three months average spend. Page two, margin: gross margin this month and the twelve-month trend, the two lines that moved it most, and the transactions behind each. Page three: the two decisions this owner should make before we meet again, each with the number that justifies it, what it is worth, and a date. Plain English, no jargon, every figure traceable to transactions. Give no tax, legal or investment advice.
Turn that pack into a twenty-minute script: two minutes on cash, five on margin, ten on the two decisions, three for anything she raises. Write the opening sentence for each section as I would say it out loud. For each decision, write the question I ask her rather than the recommendation I give her. List the three questions she is most likely to ask and the honest answer to each, including where the answer is I do not know yet.
Read this pack draft and mark every sentence that gives, implies or models a tax, legal, audit or investment position, including anywhere a comparison of two options is doing the advising. For each one, give me the replacement sentence that reports what the books show and routes the question to Mei. Do not soften them, replace them.
The line, and where people cross it
Nobody crosses the licence line by announcing a tax position. They cross it by modelling two options, by saying which is cheaper, or by answering a direct question in a meeting because saying I do not know feels like failing the client. The pack is easy to police because it is written down. The meeting is where the script earns its place: the sentence you already have ready is the one you can say calmly.
Reporting what the books show is always allowed. Comparing two futures is where it stops.