02 ValueMPA-GN-2026-004
Which Finance Problem Should We Address First?
A high score is useful only if the conditions behind it are visible. Check the measure, decision rights and review capacity before choosing the first improvement.
Example / match the review window
Check the window before ranking the idea.
Commentary: 8h needed / 9h available
40 reviews × 9 minutes + 6 rewrites × 20 minutes. Capacity: 3 days × 3 hours.
Invoice exceptions: readiness unknown
5 hours of initial checking, plus rework. First-day reviewer capacity is not stated.
Confirm the measure, decision owner and arrival window for each candidate.
Read the diagram
Example: commentary needs eight hours against nine across three days. Invoice exceptions need five initial hours plus rework on day one; available capacity is unknown.
What you can do with it
Use the recommendations in your next decision.
- 01
What do I do now?
For each improvement on your shortlist, record how you will measure it, who can approve changes to the work, and how much review time it needs. Compare that time with the team's available capacity.
- 02
How do I do it?
Work the remainder in four parts, the items reaching the review point, the minutes per item, the window those minutes have to fit inside, and the reviewer capacity actually available in it, then add the effort that follows a corrected item.
- 03
Who should be involved?
The person who owns the shortlist writes it. Each candidate needs the named owner who can change how the work is done, and the reviewer whose capacity the remainder has to fit inside.
- 04
How do I choose?
Score what is ready. Anything that fails a check is not first at that scope and is kept with the reason, because the reason is the next piece of work. Anything you cannot answer is marked unknown.
What it comes with
The note sets out three readiness checks that decide whether a candidate can be started: a measure that exists or can be established inside the first scope, a named accountable owner with the decision rights the change needs, and a remainder that fits the review capacity available in the window. An example runs four candidates through them.
- Download PDF
Guidance note. Three readiness checks and the math behind review capacity.
PDFFree
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