Checklist: Board presentation preparation

Prior to Summit Elevate, our invitation-only event for healthcare CFOs and senior-level leadership held April 23-25 at the Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida, I wrote about seven ways CFOs can more effectively communicate with their boards.  

I’m following up that article with a detailed checklist of how you, as a healthcare CFO or senior finance leader at your organization, can prepare for presenting financial information to your board. I curated the checklist from my presentation at Summit Elevate. Mike Coggin, the former CFO at Lifepoint Health and current Kodiak board member, was my co-presenter at our hour-long session. 

I’ve organized the checklist into four critical communication areas: 

• Develop a strong relationship with individual board members 
• Understand points and frequency of communication 
• Demonstrate technical acumen 
• Deliver an effective presentation 
  
  

Develop a strong relationship with individual board members 

• Transparency: Proactively share relevant updates—wins and challenges—to build trust and demonstrate accountability. Remember, it’s important to be yourself. Know what you know. Know what you don’t know. 
• Strategic communication: Align your messaging with the board’s priorities by framing decisions and progress in the context of long-term value and organizational goals. Engage board members as strategic partners, not just overseers, by seeking their input on major initiatives and being responsive to their feedback. 
• Mutual respect: Consistently show up prepared. Respect their time. Build a rapport with individual board members where appropriate to foster stronger, more personal connections. Ultimately, treating the board as an ally rather than an audience cultivates a collaborative dynamic that drives stronger governance and better business outcomes. 

Understand points and frequency of communication 

Required communications include: 

• Audit findings or adverse opinions 
• Compliance failures 
• Conflicts of interest 
• Fraud or suspected fraud 
• Ongoing issues of concernMajor budget deviations or financial instability 
• Material financial misstatements 

Supplemental communications include: 

• Compliance updates 
• Forecasting and trends 
• Investment and reserve performance 
• Monthly or quarterly financial statements 
• Strategic financial planning 

Demonstrate technical acumen 

• Clean, accurate, and insight-driven data: Go beyond just presenting numbers. Focus on what the data means. This helps show you understand cause and effect in business. 
• Command of metrics and methodology: Be ready to explain how you calculate metrics. Call out limitations of data or models. It shows you’re not just technically skilled but also thoughtful. 
• Incorporate tools and technology: Mention or showcase automation, dashboards, or tools used. Visually demonstrate technical solutions. 
• Showcase financial models and forecasts: Use sensitivity tables or charts to communicate risk and assumptions. Explain the “why” behind the model. What assumptions drive outcomes? 
• Tailor the message to the audience: Focus on outcomes, strategy, and decisions. Use precise terminology but don’t overcomplicate things. Clarity shows mastery. 
• Use visuals to simplify complexity: Tell a narrative with visuals. Not just data but why it matters. 

Deliver an effective presentation 

• Know your audience: Are they detail-oriented or strategic? Tailor your content and tone to the audience’s interests, priorities, and knowledge level. Anticipate probing questions and be prepared to answer them. 
• Subject matter expertise: Be data driven: Present clear and accurate financial data. Link to strategy. How do results support or challenge strategic goals? Present solutions, not just problems. 
• Presentation and delivery: Be clear and concise. Be yourself. Use plain language. Avoid acronyms that may be confusing. Show executive presence. Be confident and enthusiastic. Engage the room. Tell a story that connects logically and emotionally to your presentation’s narrative. 

It’s your responsibility as CFO or senior finance leader to master the above checklist in your informal and formal communications with your board. Being unprepared is not an option.  

Net revenue and the revenue cycle are complex topics and processes for even the most business-savvy members of your board. It’s up to you to simplify them for your board so it can make the most informed, data-driven decisions for your hospital or health system. 

Read more about what we talked about at Summit Elevate: 

• “Speak simply but carry some big numbers” 
• “Stable. For now.” 
• “Learn how your hospital can outsmart cybercriminals” 
• “MAHA, AI, and the mind of the healthcare CFO” 
• “Shaken but stirred: Kodiak Summit Elevate recap” 
• “Healthcare CFOs’ resting heart rates”