The scoreboard, honestly: the hard targets, how often each one is actually looked at,
and the quiet human signals that never make it onto a dashboard.
Month-End Close Timeliness
Completion of all assigned month-end tasks, including complex reconciliations, accruals, and prepayments.
Target · All personal month-end tasks completed by Workday 2 (WD+2).All accruals posted, bank reconciliations signed off, and key control accounts reconciled by 5 PM on the second working day of the month.
Reconciliation Accuracy
The number of discrepancies or unreconciled items found in key balance sheet accounts (e.g., bank, intercompany, suspense accounts) after your review.
Target · <0.5% unreconciled value in key accounts.For a £1M bank account, any unreconciled difference should be less than £5,000, with all items over £100 fully investigated and resolved.
Process Improvement Implementation
Identification and successful implementation of improvements to existing finance processes.
Target · One efficiency-saving process improvement identified and implemented per quarter.Automated a manual report using Excel Power Query, saving 3 hours per week for the team, or streamlined the supplier onboarding process, reducing lead time by 2 days.
Query Resolution Time
Average time taken to resolve complex internal and external queries related to accounts payable, accounts receivable, or general ledger postings.
Target · 90% of complex queries resolved within 48 hours.A query from a supplier about a missing payment for multiple invoices is investigated, reconciled, and a clear response provided within two working days.
Mentorship & Team Support
How effectively you guide and support junior team members, helping them understand processes and resolve issues.
- Junior team members proactively seek your advice
- positive feedback from colleagues on your helpfulness and clarity
- demonstrated ability to explain complex accounting concepts in simple terms during team meetings.
Proactive Problem Solving
Your ability to spot potential issues before they become big problems and take initiative to fix them.
- You flag a potential cash flow issue due to delayed customer payments before the Finance Manager asks
- you identify a recurring error in a journal entry and propose a systemic fix
- you anticipate month-end challenges and plan around them.
Documentation Quality
The clarity, accuracy, and completeness of process documentation you create or update.
- New team members can follow your documentation without constant questions
- auditors praise the quality of our internal process guides
- your documentation helps standardise tasks across the team.
Adherence to Financial Controls
Your consistent application of internal controls and policies, ensuring compliance and reducing risk.
- You consistently perform the 'three-way match' before processing invoices
- you question unusual transactions
- you ensure all journal entries have proper supporting documentation and authorisation
- positive feedback from internal audit.