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The One Metric I Watch Every Morning
April 23, 2026
Every CEO has a dashboard. Most of them are useless. Too many numbers, too much lag, too little signal. I watch one number every morning before I do anything else: operating cash flow, rolling 13 weeks.
Why cash, not revenue
Revenue lies. It can be booked, deferred, accrued, channel-stuffed, and written up in ten different ways. Cash tells you what’s actually happening. A company with declining cash is a company in trouble, regardless of what the income statement says.
Why 13 weeks
A single week is noise. A quarter is too slow. Thirteen weeks is the sweet spot. You can see a trend developing before it becomes a crisis, and you have enough time to change course.
What it tells me
If the rolling 13-week cash flow is trending up, the business is healthy — no matter what else anyone is worrying about. If it’s trending down, everything else on my calendar moves to second priority until I understand why. That one discipline has saved more companies than any strategic plan I’ve ever written.
Want Bill to speak to your team, board, or event?
Bill Canady keynotes sharpen middle market executives on turnaround, profitable growth, and the 80/20 discipline behind $3B+ in enterprise value. Inquire about speaking engagements at billcanady.com.
