Directors rarely ask for another page of EBITDA bridges. They do ask — eventually — why the bank balance feels tighter than the P&L suggested. In Statement Review Studio we treat cash flow as a narrative, not a reconciling chore.
1. Receivables that age sideways
Revenue recognition can look clean while collection stretches. Mark debtor days against prior periods and against the sales mix. If growth sits in slower-paying segments, the income statement will celebrate before cash arrives.
2. Inventory that funds optimism
Stock builds ahead of a hoped-for season look rational in isolation. On the cash flow statement they are a use of cash that deserves a sentence in the pack — not a shrug toward “working capital timing.”
3. Capex labelled as maintenance
Boards forgive maintenance. They scrutinise expansion. When spend sits near the blurry middle, ask whether capacity actually grew. Our financial statement review app keeps that annotation on the cash flow line so it survives the next draft.
None of these patterns prove trouble on their own. Together, they explain why a “good” quarter still feels cash-tight — and they give the board a decision to make rather than a mystery to absorb.