You're streamlining financial processes with tight deadlines. How do you prioritize tasks effectively?

In terms of VC deadlines, as you progress through the DD, these are usually related to the Investors Investment Committees (IC's) which are usually held on specific days every month or quarter. VC's will usually require different sets of key documents by specific dates to ensure the Investment Manager or Analyst supporting your case can complete the tasks they need to for you (and their other ventures being taken to that particular IC). It's important to ask what's involved in the VC's DD, what documents are required and by when - it's usually not a secret! Keep in mind though that if you send a document that makes a particular reference to a project, client, cost or sale, the VC may ask you for some supporting evidence.

Effectively plan and complete tasks by level of importance and delegate duties to individuals with the strengths in the areas of tasks that need accomplishing. Utilize a software program that monitors the completion percentage of tasks and make it shareable with everyone on the team. Use resources wisely. Streamline as much as possible.

If and where possible, bring key team members or managers together so they have visibility on the VC's timescales and requirements. It's possible that a VC's requirements may have some ambiguity which may be misinterpreted by a team member resulting in a task not being completed correctly then delayed. When I was raising Angel Investment, I hired an accountant specifically to help collate key documents and financial plans. I've seen P&Ls, Cashflows and Balance Sheets in different formats, so having a book keeper or finance person can help ensure your submitting documents in the right format. Same goes for Project Plans, legal/contractual info, sales pipelines, marketing & sales plans and any other document required.

When I was working for a funder, I would (as most Investors will) ask a prospective portfolio client for a set of management accounts. If these took longer than 3-5 days for me to receive, I would usually ask them about what financial management software they used, if they had a book keeper or accountant and their current workload of projects. Xero is good, as is Kashflow and Sage. In an previous venture, I had a developer integrate my in-house developed ERP with Xero via their API's. It saved admin time, closed revenue gaps, reduced paperwork and ultimately led to a more efficient business.

Personally, to monitor progress, I like a Trello Board or any other Kanban to help keep a track of tasks. Gant charts are good too if you link dependencies and add the constraints. Remember to build in some buffer time should a task slip. I've found that even a 15 minute check in every few days is useful, as is keeping a conversation going on any messaging platform you might be using.

Having previously worked in Impact Investment and supported Mission and Social Enterprises, I used to develop an Impact/Outcomes forecast as part of the Financial Forecasts. That was we could see how much investment was required to hit certain (social) impact targets, or the impact of increasing another member of the delivery team, more outreach etc. Re Item 2 in this article - Impact can mean different things to different stakeholders!

Divide larger tasks into smaller, manageable steps. This makes it easier to track progress and ensures that you don’t overlook any critical components.