Find the single sub-domain most holding back the others, so your work fixes the cause rather than chasing a symptom.
The five sub-domains sit in a dependency order. Upstream weakness constrains everything downstream, so it is fixed first. Your binding constraint is the lowest-scoring sub-domain that sits highest in this order, with one override: an acute cash crisis is addressed immediately, regardless of sequence. If two are tied, the one higher in the order is the constraint.
| Order | Sub-domain | Why it sits here |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (most upstream) | Financial visibility and foundation | You cannot manage cash, profit, or decisions without accurate numbers to manage them with. |
| 2 | Cash flow | Cash is survival; a business can be profitable and still die without it. Acute crisis is immediate. |
| 3 | Profitability | Once you can see and survive, making the business actually make money comes next. |
| 4 | Financial planning and decisions | You plan and decide on the basis of visible, cash-safe, profitable operations. |
| 5 | Financial metrics and review | The sustaining layer that keeps the rest visible and improving over time. |
| Sub-domain | Your level (1 to 5) | Dependency order |
|---|---|---|
| Financial visibility and foundation | 1 | |
| Cash flow | 2 (acute equals immediate) | |
| Profitability | 3 | |
| Financial planning and decisions | 4 | |
| Financial metrics and review | 5 |
Suppose visibility is a 2, cash flow a 2, profitability a 3, planning a 2, metrics a 1. Three sub-domains are below capable. The binding constraint is not the very lowest score (metrics at 1); it is the lowest-scoring sub-domain that sits highest in the order, which is visibility, because you cannot sustain a scoreboard of numbers you cannot yet trust. So visibility is where you start.
Carry the constraint and all five scores into the Prioritized Financial Action Plan.
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