A Practical Guide to LP Reporting for First-Time GPs

LP reporting is one of the most important — and most dreaded — responsibilities of fund management. For first-time GPs, the lack of established templates and processes can make quarterly reporting feel like reinventing the wheel every 90 days.

This guide covers what your LPs actually want to see, how often to report, and how to build a reporting workflow that scales.

What LPs Expect

At minimum, your LP reports should cover four areas:

1. Fund Performance

• Net IRR and TVPI/DPI/RVPI — The core return metrics. If you only have early-stage unrealized investments, TVPI and IRR will be your primary metrics.
• NAV summary — Total fund NAV, change from last period, and NAV per LP.
• Capital account statement — Each LP's contributions, distributions, and current balance.

2. Portfolio Updates

• Company-by-company summary — Revenue, key metrics, recent milestones, and any material changes.
• New investments — Details on any new deals closed during the period.
• Follow-on activity — Bridge rounds, markups, or additional investment into existing portfolio companies.

3. Pipeline and Activity

• Deal flow summary — How many deals you reviewed, sectors, and geographies.
• Investment thesis updates — Any shifts in your strategy or focus areas.
• Market observations — Relevant macro trends in your target markets.

4. Fund Operations

• Fee and expense summary — Management fees charged, fund expenses incurred.
• Capital calls and distributions — Amounts called, amounts distributed, remaining commitments.
• Team updates — New hires, departures, or organizational changes.

Reporting Frequency

Quarterly reports are the standard for venture capital funds. Most LPs expect a written report within 45-60 days of quarter-end.

Capital account statements should accompany every capital call and distribution, plus quarterly.

Annual reports are typically more comprehensive, with audited financials and detailed portfolio valuations.

Ad hoc updates for material events — a portfolio company raising a significant round, an exit, or a write-down — should go out promptly.

Common Mistakes

Over-reporting metrics you don't have. Early-stage funds often don't have meaningful IRR numbers in the first 2-3 years. It's better to acknowledge this and focus on qualitative progress than to present misleading return figures.

Inconsistent formatting. Pick a template and stick with it. LPs review reports from many funds — consistent formatting makes your reports easier to digest and builds professional credibility.

Burying bad news. If a portfolio company is struggling or you've written down an investment, address it directly. LPs respect transparency far more than optimistic spin.

Late delivery. Set a firm internal deadline (e.g., 30 days post-quarter) and build your workflow backward from there. Late reports erode LP confidence.

Building a Scalable Workflow

The biggest reporting challenge for first-time GPs is data collection. Gathering financial updates from 10-20 portfolio companies via email is time-consuming and error-prone.

Here's a better approach:

1. Standardize the data you collect. Define a consistent set of metrics every portfolio company reports: revenue, expenses, burn rate, cash balance, headcount, and 2-3 custom KPIs.

2. Use a structured collection tool. Instead of emails and spreadsheets, give portfolio companies a platform to submit data directly. Harbour does this for free — founders track their own finances and share structured updates with one click.

3. Automate report generation. Once data flows in consistently, generating LP reports becomes assembly rather than creation. VentureLens can generate LP-ready quarterly reports from the portfolio data in Harbour.

4. Set a calendar. Send data requests to portfolio companies 15 days before quarter-end. Set a hard deadline 30 days post-quarter for your LP report.

Tools for LP Reporting

You have several options, depending on your fund size and budget:

• VentureLens — Full fund management with built-in LP portal and automated report generation. Free to start.
• Custom templates — If you're pre-tool, at minimum create a standardized quarterly report template in Google Docs or Notion.
• Fund administrators — For larger funds, outsourced fund admin handles the accounting side of LP reporting.

The key is to start professional from day one. Your first report sets LP expectations for everything that follows.

Set up LP reporting with VentureLens →