What Slides to Show During a Financial Presentation to Instantly Impress Investors?
Slides to show during a financial presentation should have a specific function, such as conveying information, assisting in decision-making, and fostering audience trust. An executive summary, important financial metrics, income statements, projections, and cash flow breakdowns are all common components of a well-organized financial deck.
These slides assist in creating a story of expansion, stability, or strategic turns; they are more than just numbers on a screen. The choice and arrangement of your slides can directly impact results, whether you’re reporting to stakeholders or pitching to investors. In this tutorial, we’ll go over exactly what slides to include, how long your presentation should be, and how to design them for clarity and impact.
Table of Contents
What Slides Should Be Included in a Financial Presentation?
Having created hundreds of investor pitch decks and boardroom presentations, I can state with confidence that the order and clarity of your slides determine how well a financial presentation goes. The following are the slides you must include in a financial presentation:
Executive Summary Slide
An overview of your financial story in one slide. Add high-level indicators like as sales, profit margin, client expansion, and any significant financial successes.
Key Financial Metrics Slide
Depending on your business model, this is where you highlight KPIs that are pertinent to your audience, such as ARR/MRR, burn rate, CAC, LTV, or gross margin.
Revenue vs. Expenses Slide
To display revenue versus expenses, use waterfall visualizations or side-by-side bar charts. For transparency, this is essential.
Cash Flow Statement Slide
Liquidity is a major concern for executives and investors. Display inflows and outflows in a straightforward yet precise chart.
Balance Sheet Slide
Give a graphic summary of the equity, liabilities, and assets. With stakeholders, this fosters trust.
Financial Forecast Slide
Project sales, expenses, and profitability with this. Divide it into quarterly or annual segments based on the schedule.
Funding Slide (For Investor Pitches)
Indicate in detail how much you are raising, how you plan to utilize it, and how it will impact your financial future.
Team Slide (Optional)
Include your CFO or financial leadership team if your financial presentation is a component of a larger pitch deck.
How to Structure Your Financial Presentation for Investors
The goal of designing slides for a financial presentation is to use facts to create a story, not to bombard your audience with figures. This is how I organize decks:
- Let’s start with the background: Set the scene with a one-slide synopsis.
- Metrics = Middle: Emphasize your efficiency, potential, and financial strength.
- Finish with assurance: Provide projections, financial requirements, and your next course of action.
Every slide in a financial pitch deck should logically lead to the next, creating a narrative flow.
How Long Should a Financial Presentation Be?
Customers frequently inquire, “How long should a conference presentation be?” and “How long should a financial presentation be?” What works best is as follows:
- The sweet spot is between 10 and 20 minutes.
- Give each slide between 45 and 60 seconds.
- Set aside three to five minutes for Q&A.
Keep your presentation brief and focused on numbers if you’re giving it during a board meeting. When pitching to venture capitalists, be insightful and deliver a compelling story.
Design Tips: Making Financial Slides Visually Appealing
Believe me, if your slides are unattractive or overpowering, even the strongest statistics will be undermined. I create powerful financial slides in the following ways:
- Make use of color schemes that are consistent (blues, greys, or your brand palette).
- Tables > graphs: Bar graphs for comparisons and line charts for trends
- For important measurements, use icons in place of bullet points.
- Keep it simple and limited to one font family (Montserrat or Lato are my favourites).
- Keep your slides simple; less is always more.
Indeed, animations are OK as long as they provide clarification. Don’t use them as filler, though.
How to Explain Complex Financials to Any Audience
Giving a non-financial audience an explanation of cash flow and cap tables? This is how I go about it:
- Use storytelling: “Our cash flow dipped in Q2 due to seasonal trends, but rebounded after customer acquisition in Q3.”
- Avoid jargon: Use “operating profit” in place of EBIT.
- Break down visuals step by step: Layered animations can help here
Always frame financials in terms of objectives, risks, and opportunities when speaking with board members, investors, or staff.
Tools & Templates to Build Financial Presentations Faster
You don’t need to build from scratch. Use these tools:
- PowerPoint: Best for corporate decks
- Google Slides: Great for collaboration
- Canva: Easy, modern design for startups
- Beautiful.ai or Gamma: AI tools for smart slide formatting
Looking for a shortcut? Download our 12-slide financial presentation template and customize it for your next big meeting.
Final Checklist: What to Include, Avoid, and Polish
Do include:
- An executive summary
- Visualized financials
- Revenue drivers and future outlook
Avoid:
- Tiny font sizes
- Paragraphs of text
- Overuse of technical language
Polish:
- Align all charts and visuals
- Use brand-consistent colors and logos
- Run a practice session to test timing
Summary-What Slides to Show During a Financial Presentation?
- Every slide should guide decisions, inform, and build audience trust.
- Must-have slides in a financial presentation:
- Executive Summary
- Key Financial Metrics (ARR, CAC, LTV, etc.)
- Revenue vs. Expenses (charts or visual comparisons)
- Cash Flow Statement
- Balance Sheet
- Financial Forecast
- Funding Slide (if pitching to investors)
- Team Slide (optional)
- Executive Summary
- Slide flow strategy: Start with a synopsis → highlight metrics → end with projections & action steps.
- Ideal length:
- Total: 10–20 minutes
- Each slide: 45–60 seconds
- Q&A: 3–5 minutes
- Total: 10–20 minutes
- Design tips:
- Stick to brand colors (blue, grey, etc.)
- Use clean fonts (e.g., Montserrat, Lato)
- Prefer charts over tables
- Use icons instead of bullet points
- Add animations only for clarity
- Stick to brand colors (blue, grey, etc.)
- Explaining complex data:
- Avoid jargon (e.g., say “operating profit” instead of EBIT)
- Use storytelling and step-by-step visuals
- Avoid jargon (e.g., say “operating profit” instead of EBIT)
- Tools to build faster:
- PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva
- AI tools like Beautiful.ai and Gamma
- Downloadable 12-slide deck templates available
- PowerPoint, Google Slides, Canva
- Checklist:
- Do: Use visuals, show projections, align charts, and practice timing
- Don’t: Use tiny fonts, text-heavy slides, or excessive jargon
- Do: Use visuals, show projections, align charts, and practice timing
Conclusion
How many statistics you display is not important in a good financial presentation; what matters is the numbers you highlight, how you explain them, and how clear your slides are. The correct slides are crucial whether you’re creating a pitch deck for investors or giving a presentation to executives. With the correct flow, structure, and graphics, you can motivate decisions in addition to reporting data.
FAQ
What slides should be included in a financial presentation?
Executive summary, key metrics, income vs. expense charts, cash flow, balance sheet, and forecasts.
How long should a financial presentation be?
Ideally, 10–20 minutes, with about 1 minute per slide and time reserved for questions.
How do I explain complex financials in a presentation?
Simplify with visuals, avoid jargon, and focus on what matters to your specific audience.
How many slides should be in a financial pitch deck?
Between 10–12 slides is optimal for maintaining clarity and engagement.
Download: Free 12-slide financial deck template. Click here
Need help designing your financial deck? Contact me today for pitch-perfect results on Fiverr.
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