KISSIT

(Excerpted from, DUH!)

About the fifth of every month the dealer receives his report card - the financial statement - and as usual, the eyes dart to the bottom right of the statement…yep, made a profit. Then it’s off to the top left of the statement…yep, got cash. The structure and format of the statement are the products of the factory and Tick People. The statement contains pages of data that that can be overwhelming. It provides an overview of the financial condition of the dealership for a certain timeframe; nothing more, nothing less.

The tool necessary to interpret and dissect the statement is the KISSIT spreadsheet.

Years ago I developed a spreadsheet that measures the maze of the statement. I named it KISSIT after Carol, my sister-in-law. At the age of 46, Carol was about to embark on her first experience with the friendly skies. The morning of her flight, Carol was nervous, apprehensive, didn’t know what to expect, and had concerns about the safety of flying. I explained to Carol that flying was less dangerous than driving to work. I also told her in the unlikely event that there might be a rough emergency landing she should fasten her seat belt put her head down between her legs and while down there kiss her gluteus maximus goodbye. Thus, the name for the spreadsheet, KISSIT, was coined. A dealer that doesn’t put his head down and pay attention to the numbers will also KISSIT goodbye.

The statement shows the monthly activity and year to date numbers. What it doesn’t show is the month to month change. The KISSIT spreadsheet that I used throughout my career, when properly interpreted, can bring a listing ship back on course.

THE PURPOSE OF KISSIT IS TO:

Highlight out of line conditions

Track monthly movement of cash

Take the mystique out of the numbers

Eliminate fumbling through financial statements

Provide a snapshot of operations through monthly trending

AND SHOW

Where you have been

Where you are at, and

Where you are going

KISSIT puts the financial condition of the dealership at the dealer’s fingertips in one tidy bound package and contains four sections. Each section has a different function.

1. OPERATIONS - Trends departmental sales, gross and expense for each department.

2. CASH MANAGEMENT - Shows the month and year to date cash flow changes.

3. KEY PERSONNEL COMPENSATION - Shows the monthly and year to date earnings of managers and other selected employees.

4. MISCELLANEOUS - Shows other pertinent data such as:

Advertising

Vehicle Inventory analysis

Salesperson Productivity

Hours per R.O.

Service Absorption

Etc.