Budget and forecasts
Turnover grows by 3 per cent and profit falls: that is what happens when the margin loses two points
26 September 2026, 09:53
According to Unioncamere, more than one business in four expects turnover to grow by at least 3 per cent in 2026, and among the businesses worried about their energy bills 43.4 per cent expect lower margins. Taken together, the two forecasts can mean more work and less profit: a company's strength is measured by its distance from the break-even point, not by its turnover.
Before a plan, calculate where the company is heading if nobody does anything
23 September 2026, 08:06
The twelve-month extension of short-time working for a company in the Melfi supply chain helps explain what the five-year inertial projection is for: the scenario obtained by assuming that nobody takes any decision at all.
The factory building is an investment. It should be judged like any other
21 September 2026, 14:12
Your money is tied up in the factory building, and almost always nobody has worked out what it earns. The right comparison is not mortgage payments against rent: it is what that capital would have earned if put to work in the business.
How much debt is too much? It is the wrong question, for a state as for a business
21 September 2026, 13:14
Rising yields, wide deficits, huge debts. The instinctive reaction is that there is too much debt, and it is the same mistaken reaction people have in front of a company's accounts: the stock tells you how much, not whether you can cope.
Your best deal may have been a terrible decision
21 September 2026, 13:00
Poker players and football analysts have stopped judging choices by their outcome. In business it still happens, and the cost is that the organisation learns the wrong lesson.
If a digital investment doesn't show in your numbers, it didn't happen
21 September 2026, 12:36
The Economist asks how quickly investment in artificial intelligence turns into gains for everyone. The same question, three rungs further down, is whether that €40,000 of software shows up anywhere in your accounts.
The incentive pays for the machine once. You pay for the people every year
21 September 2026, 08:04
Before using a subsidy to grow, it pays to calculate how far the minimum turnover that covers all costs rises, because the aid is a one-off while the costs it brings in stay.
How to manage generational handover in a family business
Theory and practice
We have often talked about control, method and strategy, but there is a moment in the life of every business that truly puts all of this to the test: the generational handover.
Why Fractional Management is the right solution for SMEs
Theory and practice
In our recent posts we have talked about controlling, organisation and synergy between skills.
From controlling to control of the future
Theory and practice
Many business owners know all too well the feeling that something in the company is not heading in the right direction: the problem is that feelings are not enough and, often, the numbers are only looked at once the problem has already become an emergency.
The rolling forecast: a little-known but essential tool
Theory and practice
Preparing a budget is important, but stopping there is a mistake, because the budget has a structural limitation: it is static, built months in advance, on assumptions that can change quickly.
The budget is not a forecast. It is taking a stand
Theory and practice
The budget is one of the most underrated tools in SMEs: not because it is useless but because it is used the wrong way.
Without a budget, you are not running the business. You are reacting
Theory and practice
Once you understand how to build a price, where margin is generated and how to analyse it, you reach the highest level: deciding where you want to go.
Controlling: the essential steps to avoid leaving your company to chance
Theory and practice
Many business owners believe they have everything under control until the numbers speak for themselves but, with the Italian Business Crisis Code, having clear tools to monitor and steer the company is no longer an option: it is a necessity.
Controlling does not mean “doing the accounts”
Theory and practice
And yet how many SMEs still confuse them? Many business owners believe that having up-to-date accounts or efficient management software is enough to know how the company is doing.
Financial accounting explained (really) in plain words
Theory and practice
Together we will set out on a structured journey to talk about controlling but, to do so, we first need to understand where the numbers come from, so that we can then interpret them.