Author: Karthik Ganeshan

In the corporate world, many businesses chase revenue growth, market share, or valuation as key indicators of success. While these metrics are essential, they often overshadow the most fundamental measure of financial health—cash.

As the seasoned adage goes, “Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash is reality.”

Yet, despite this, businesses frequently lose sight of cash. Over-reliance on profitability metrics, aggressive expansion strategies, and investor-driven valuation games can lead even well-established companies to liquidity crises. History is littered with examples of once-thriving businesses that failed, not because they were unprofitable, but because they ran out of cash.

A CFO, in these circumstances, plays a primary role to bring cash back to the centre of strategic discussions.

This write-up explores why cash is the final yardstick of business success, how businesses lose focus on it, and what CFOs can do to ensure cash remains a strategic priority.

Over the years, I’ve collaborated closely with hundreds of CFOs, engaging in conversations that go beyond just numbers and reports. These interactions have given me deep insight into the challenges they face—the pressure to deliver accurate financials, the need to anticipate risks, and the constant push to make strategic decisions that shape the future of their organizations.

A chance encounter with the CFO of a mid-tier retail company during one of my travels earlier in the month to Mumbai, and my discussions with her, as we waited to board our flight, took me down memory lane.
To my summer vacations, as a kid, to be precise.
As I savoured those memories, I was woken up and realized that one of the games had a rather stunning parallel with something that CFOs struggle with – Segment Reporting.
I attempt, in this write up to blend both together.