Articles

In the second of our series on private equity reporting (you can read the first article, on standardising portfolio reporting, here), we look at the factors that make reporting more complex for PE businesses, and how you can tackle the challenges this creates.

Reporting in private equity can be more complex than for other businesses. Why? A combination of multiple stakeholders, time-pressured decisions and high-stakes judgements. 

In PE-backed businesses, “the boardroom” isn’t just management. It’s the owners, their representatives and independent directors. Reporting needs to be on-point so your decision-makers can make wise choices and take swift actions.

All too often, the complaint is that reporting data is right, but the message isn’t landing. Information overload does not equal insight, while inconsistent charts and layouts erode confidence in the information being shared. 

The distinction between finance outputs and board-ready materials is never sharper than when it’s under the scrutiny of an exacting PE boardroom. 

The difference between reporting that lands and messaging that misses can be less about the data and more about the design. Clear visual hierarchy, clean layouts and — importantly but often overlooked — timely delivery that enables stakeholders to review reporting properly. 

If decision-makers struggle to absorb your reports, reporting has failed. Strong design will signpost key messages and make data compelling.

Why does reporting fail in PE boardrooms? 

The short answer: because “the boardroom” in PE-backed companies is not a single audience. Reporting fails because it’s trying (and failing) to serve multiple power centres at once.

This creates a problem in the “last mile” of PE reporting. Unsurprisingly, it can be difficult to produce reporting that speaks to all these audiences.

Who is “the boardroom” in a PE context?

In a PE-backed business, reporting is consumed by three overlapping but distinct audiences. While all three sit around the board table, they read reports very differently. 

These audiences are:

1. The PE owners (MDs, partners, portfolio teams)

• Deal partners / MDs
• Portfolio managers
• Operating partners

What they use reporting for

• Monitoring performance vs their objectives
• Spotting risk early
• Deciding when to intervene
• Feeding fund-level and Limited Partner reporting

How they read reports

• Fast
• Pattern-based
• Very sensitive to inconsistency or ambiguity

For this audience, “good numbers” are not sufficient. They provide too much detail, with too little in the way of narrative and direction.

Inconsistent presentation from month to month, with key performance indicators buried or lacking in emphasis, will turn these readers off. 

Strong, professional report design can alleviate this, creating clear prioritisation, using visual emphasis to highlight changes and ensuring consistent layouts across reports to speed understanding.

2. The company board

Who they are

• PE-appointed directors
• Independent NEDs
• Management directors (CEO, CFO)

What they use reporting for

• Governance and oversight
• Strategic decision-making
• Accountability of management

How they read reports

• More deliberative than PE deal teams
• Expect a narrative, not just numbers
• Often review printed packs in meetings

Reporting fails for this group when reports aren’t structured for discussion — if they don’t support strategic conversations, they are not hitting the mark. These seasoned professionals will look for a strong executive summary, logical flow and discussion-friendly layouts.

3. Management (CEO, CFO, leadership team)

Who they are

• internal operators
• Closest to the detail

What they use reporting for

• Running the business
• Defending performance
• Preparing for board scrutiny

How they read reports

• • Deeply
  • Context-rich

• Comfortable with complexity

Reporting fails for this group because reports are built for management rather than adapted for owners. Reports risk over-explaining for this group rather than highlighting the key decisions needed.

Design can help here by separating management detail and board-level insight; a key distinction in terms of tone and focus. Layered reporting can allow readers to go from summary to detail at their own pace.

The real problem: one report, three audiences

It’s clear that the different audiences for PE reporting are the challenging factor here. Most PE portfolio companies produce a single report and try to make it work for internal management, the board and the PE firm.

This almost always leads to bloated documents, confused priorities and frustration on all sides.

This is the “last mile” failure, where the numbers might be correct, but the report doesn’t translate them into decision-ready insight for its most powerful readers.

Who should PE board-level reporting be for?

If you’re creating reporting for a PE board, your primary audience is the owners (PE firm) and the board. The secondary audience is the company’s management. 

Well-designed PE reporting starts with an owner/board lens, makes key issues unmissable, and keeps detail separate — to enable fast, accurate decision-making.

PE reporting typically breaks down not because the numbers are wrong, but because portfolio companies confuse accuracy with communication.

While finance teams are good at producing numbers, their focus is not producing boardroom-ready materials. 

Professional report design and production bridges that final gap, allowing your teams to focus where their skills sit and enabling your reporting to achieve its objectives.

Perivan’s dedicated design studio is experienced in creating engaging corporate reporting, from annual reports to standardised regular reporting. Find out more or contact us to learn how our design capabilities can complement your finance insight to create compelling reporting for your PE board.