Maintenance
Part of A closer look at executive summaries: the seven things a reader hunts for, why you write it last
Executive summary mistakes: what to fix first when time is short
With a deadline close, fix an executive summary in order: the ask, the numbers, the opening sentence, then the risk, after a read-aloud test.
Letting figures drift away from the model
The costliest mistake is a figure that conflicts with the model or has no traceable source. The reader stops weighing the business and begins auditing the document, a switch that is hard to reverse. A number without its period is unreadable. Check every amount against the model before sending.
Although a mismatch is the costliest fault to leave unresolved, the repair order starts with the funding request, then moves to the figures, reader focus, and risk. Use this scan to find evidence of each problem and choose the first edit instead of polishing whichever sentence is easiest to change.
| Fault | What to check | First repair |
|---|---|---|
| The funding request is hidden or missing | It is buried, absent, or inconsistent with listed uses | State the request, align its uses, and consider partial funding |
| Figures do not agree with the model | An amount cannot be traced, or its period is unclear | Reconcile every amount and state its period |
| The opening misses its reader | It promotes, hedges, or introduces instead of delivering the point | Rewrite from the reader's role |
| The downside is omitted | No risk or response appears | Name the main risk and your response |
Ten-Minute Reconciliation Before Sending
- Page figure matches the plan
- Round once in the model only
- Every revenue number has a period
- Ask matches itemized uses
- Each figure traceable to its statement
- A number that has gone stale.A figure typed into the summary can stop matching the spreadsheet after the spreadsheet changes.
- Rounding that creates a gap.Rounding up in one place and down in another makes totals disagree. Round once in the model, then use that rounded figure everywhere.
- Revenue without a timeframe.Monthly, annual, at maturity, and in year three describe different readings. With no period, the amount is unreadable, and a cautious reader assumes the least favorable interpretation.
During the final pass, find each figure in the model, confirm its period and definition, and follow it to the relevant statement. The SEC guide to company filings says financial statements include the income statement, balance sheets, statement of cash flows, and statement of stockholders' equity. Ten minutes of reconciliation prevents the costliest failure.
Hiding the request or letting its uses disagree
Put the requested amount near the start, make it agree with the listed uses, and show that you have considered partial funding. If the ask is missing or hard to find, the reader cannot tell what decision you want or how the money would be spent.
- The request is postponed.A writer unsure what to ask may delay the sentence, and that delay can remain in the finished draft.
- There is no next step.When the page ends without a request, nothing happens.
- The amount and its uses do not match.One figure appears in the request and another in the itemized list. This is the easiest error to check, so it is always found.
- Partial funding is not considered.Receiving less than requested is common, and the reader is deciding whether you have thought about that possibility.
Many faults begin when the summary is drafted before the plan is finished, aimed at no defined reader, or recreated from memory. Build it from the completed plan with the financial model beside you, and correct the model before changing a figure in prose. The writing sequence keeps those steps in order.
The SBA says to explain projections clearly and align them with funding requests. From a lender's perspective, apply the same check: confirm that the amount requested and the projected use of funds agree before sending the document.
Sequence Mistakes and the One Repair
Wrong moment
- Business described
- Week-one model
- Opening
- Preamble
- The ask
- Postponed to end
- Figures
- Stale prose numbers
Write last
- Business described
- Finished document
- Opening
- Findings first
- The ask
- Stated up front
- Figures
- Model open beside you
A generic opening that misses the decision-maker
Rewrite the opening from the reader's role, because its purpose is to earn continued attention, not to advertise or provide a preface. Put that person's job title above the draft, judge each line from that position, and remove anything the reader would not act on.
Read the page to someone outside the company and ask what is being sold, what you are requesting, and what might concern them. This is the fastest diagnostic available and needs one listener, not software. Confusion about the offer points to register; a missing ask suggests a sequencing fault; no concern raised suggests absent or muted risk.
Three Questions That Find the Fault
What does this business sell?
register problem
register problem
Register Repair Checklist
- Write reader's job title at top
- Read every sentence as that person
- Cut marketing superlatives and mission language
- Cut insider shorthand and trade abbreviations
- Cut hedging qualifiers
- Cut biography where qualification belongs
- It begins with a preamble.Drafted before results existed, it introduces material rather than delivering the point.
- It describes the business as it was at the start.The model, price, or opening date may have changed while the summary stayed the same.
- Marketing language.Superlatives, mission language, and promises to transform something make a reviewer discount later statements. That skepticism can reach the real facts too.
- It relies on insider shorthand or hedging.A credit analyst may not work in your industry. Wording such as we anticipate potentially achieving signals reluctance to commit.
Concealing the downside
After the request, figures, and opening are sound, state the main exposure and your response. The repair takes four minutes and makes the rest more believable: a summary that implies nothing can go wrong appears evasive.
Readers will imagine a downside themselves, and that imagined version will not be the one you would name.
Five Omissions That Cost Most
- Risksay what can go wrong
- Stagetrading, opening, or idea
- Customerwho buys and why
- Next stepask for something
- Partial fundingshow you thought about it
- Leaving out risk. Identify the likeliest problem and what you would do about it in one sentence.
Leaving the business stage unstated
Say whether the business is already trading, opening, or still an idea. Leaving the business stage unstated is not neutral, because that position changes how the reader interprets every other line. Use plain language so the reader can judge each claim against where the business actually stands.
Describing the offer without naming its buyer
Name the customer and the reason they buy. A summary can set out a product and a market while omitting the person who pays; without a particular buyer in view, the reader cannot connect the offer with an actual customer, even when both product and market are described.
Cutting evidence to meet a space limit
When time or room is limited, protect the evidence needed to judge the decision. A chart, shorter version, or mention of other funders is not automatically useful; keep the material that makes the case checkable and gives the reader its risk and next step.
- Chart or no chart?Usually, leave it out. One small chart can work if it carries the argument, but most charts are decoration that takes space from the risk paragraph. Tables of figures belong in the financial section, where they can be examined.
- A half-page limit?Compress the operator and stage to a clause each, but keep the trading sentence, request, return mechanism, and risk. Cutting those elements to meet a length target leaves the decision unsupported.
- Mentioning other funders?Do so only when it is true, and state it as a plain fact with a date. Implied competition that proves false is remembered for a long time, so do not use suggested interest to pressure the reader.
- How short is too short?A summary may be too thin when it makes claims without showing evidence behind them. If it contains no checkable fact, the missing evidence, not the length, is the problem.
Spending scarce time on polish instead of repair
Do not spend remaining minutes on cosmetic edits before correcting the request, figures, opening, and risk. Once those decision-critical faults are addressed, extra polish is an improvement rather than a repair. Stop when the evidence supports the decision instead of polishing wording while the case remains unsupported.
Use the summary template to keep the order in view; the summary overview explains the page's purpose, and the underlying plan faults offers a longer list of problems in the sections supporting it. These references help only after the immediate defects are repaired.
