To see the future (vol.1)
TweetI was in a subway train yesterday morning.
A train behind us was cancelled due to a mechanical trouble, then our train was also delayed to adjust the interval.
Announcements were telling the status of the delay and apologizing.
The trouble shooting has been much improved while there was no announce or it was unclear a few years ago.
One thing I found, however, was that they told us what the cause was and the status, but not the forecast of the recovery.
Passengers may understand the situation if they know the cause, but it is not enough to make a decision what they do next.
If you are in a hurry, you have to make a decision to get off the train and choose an alternate route, or to remain in the train to wait for the recovery.
In order to make the decision, you may want to know how late the train will be, and how soon it is recovered.
It is same for the financial management of companies.
It is hardly usual that a business goes as planned. It is important for running a business to know not only the past(=actual) but also the future that what the year-end will be, or when and how much the profit will be, etc.
If the information is available, you will be able to make a decision to go, or to take a certain action.
Finance sometimes means the figures in the past or closing, but more importantly, whether it is useful for future decision making.