How to make effective decisions As an accountant and business partner, making decisions is an important part of your job. But good decision making needs practice. By Duncan Brodie FCMA, director of Goals and Achievements. Delaying decisions can have many negative consequences. For example, imagine that you failed to take a decision about a projected cash shortfall. You would not be taking any action such as arranging an overdraft, extending supplier payment terms or focusing on collecting monies owed to your organisation. You would get an unwelcome outcome - running out of cash is not likely to build your reputation. Barriers to effective decision making There are many reasons why people resist taking decisions. These include: 1. Procrastination - delaying or putting off something so that a small decision ends up becoming a major one. 2. Information overload - you have so much information that you don't know where to begin. 3. Waiting for perfect information - accounta...