A practical template for tracking and eliminating EBITDA leakage — using actual, not budgeted, figures.
Improving productivity is more important now than ever — not only to recover pre-pandemic performance, but because stakeholders expect sustainable results, not repeat temporary fixes. The Leakage Template exists to address two facts at once: gains identified need to be sustainably captured in financial results, and EBITDA leakage needs to be kept as low as possible.
There are two distinct types of leakage the template separates out: frequency-driven leakage — incidents that erode gains and render the investment process ineffective — and target non-achievement, resulting from targets set too high or low, actions based on symptoms rather than causes, and siloed actions that destroy portfolio value.
"We need to manage leakage, making it sustainable. Specifically, we can't afford to spend repeatedly to 'get back to normal' when we should be growing and improving productivity."
Operations promise an 80-point gain from a benchmark of 100, through actions identified and budgeted.
Incidents and an insufficiently strong baseline erode 20 points. A repeatable 30 points is spent just getting back to normal. 50 points of new ideas are identified — but 45 points are lost to overestimating targets and using budget rather than actual figures.
The actual result: a 15-point gain against an 80-point forecast.
These two steps help identify and avoid repeat investments, ensure the right actions are funded at the right time and place, and activate a "stop" mechanism if market conditions deteriorate. The template feeds Process 03 · Consolidation & Review and Process 05 · Insight.
This downloadable template is being finalised and will be available here shortly.
See how the Value Plan, One Pager and AALCA work alongside the Leakage Template.