A monthly investor update template is one page, sent on the same day each month, with the same numbers in the same order: a subject line, a two-line summary, the metrics against last month and against plan, what changed, what you will do next, and an ask if you have one. If a section is empty, leave it out.
Investors are not waiting for a narrative. They are looking for the number they asked about last time, and for whether you did what you said you would do.
Subject line. [Company] update — [Month Year]. Use the same shape every month, so the notes thread and so an investor can search for them. Do not put the good news in the subject. Do not put the bad news there either.
Two lines on the month. One sentence on what happened, and one on whether you are on plan. “September revenue was $41k, against a plan of $38k. Two enterprise deals slipped, and runway is unchanged at 11 months.”
The numbers. Four lines, every month, in this order: revenue or the pre-revenue equivalent, cash, burn, and runway. Beside each, put last month and the plan. Add one number that is yours, and keep it. Changing the set is how investors decide you are hiding something.
What changed. Two or three sentences, and name the thing. “Closed Northwind, our first multi-site contract” is a change. “Strong momentum across the board” is not.
Next 30 days. The list you are willing to be asked about. Three items. These come back next month as done or not done.
Ask. One, specific, and forwardable. “Intro to the head of operations at a 20-clinic group in Texas” is an ask. “Any intros welcome” is not. If you have no ask, omit the section.
What the update should look like:
A filled template. Plan, actual, and one miss are on the same page.
Rules for using the template
Write the page from the numbers you actually have, not from the week you wish you had. If revenue missed the plan, put the reason in the next sentence, beside the number, rather than in a paragraph further down where a reader can miss it.
Keep last month’s list on the page too. Mark each item done or deferred, and leave the month it was first promised next to it, so a slip does not disappear when the calendar turns.
If a section has nothing in it, leave the section out. A heading with nothing under it looks like you ran out of courage. The whole thing should fit on one page. If you need an appendix, the month is not ready to send.
Doing it again next month
The hard part is not knowing what the investor update should contain. It is doing it again next month without digging the last one out of your sent mail. OnRecord is an app for that job. You fill in the month, it lays the update out in the same order every time, and it keeps what you sent so October opens with September already there. Plan sits beside actual. If you missed, it asks for the reason before the page is finished. Last month’s list is waiting to be marked done or deferred.
You edit every line, then download a PDF and a short cover note to send with it. The template shown above is one OnRecord generated.
Questions people ask
What should a monthly investor update include? The six parts above. Numbers against last month and against plan, what changed, the next 30 days, and an ask only if you have one.
How long should it be? One page. If it needs an appendix, it is not ready.
Should it be an email or a deck? An email, with this page attached. A deck is for a meeting. Investors rarely open a monthly deck, and it is why the update ships late.
I built OnRecord after years of doing this the hard way – putting investor comms off, then overbuilding them to compensate. What they wanted, and what I later understood as an investor myself, was a single-page update I could send without the drama – including just the essentials: last month still on the record, the key numbers (next to the plan), and nothing written to fill the space. That’s what OnRecord does. A monthly update for investors, shareholders and anyone else who needs the same picture – made in ten minutes. Try for 60 days free – that’s 2 free monthly updates. Your investors will love you for it!
All the info they want, nothing they don’t.
