Dashboard

What it means

A dashboard is one screen with a handful of figures watched regularly. Its job is not to cover everything but to answer "is anything off" before someone has to ask.

A good one has three layers: position (cash, overdue receivables), trend (revenue and margin over time) and outlook (a forecast for the coming months). Without a comparison to last period or to plan, a number cannot be read.

A dashboard differs from a report in that it explains nothing - it only raises a flag. Every figure on it should be a KPI with a threshold set in advance at which someone acts, and a person who owns it. A number with no threshold and no owner is decoration that nobody notices after a few weeks.

How it works in practice

For a small company a monthly dashboard over an export from the books is enough: revenue, cost by type, cash flow, payables and receivables, the five largest debtors. That is exactly what sub-accounts set up in advance are for.

The figures on it should be the ones decisions are actually taken from. Everything else belongs in detailed reporting, not on the first screen.

For clients whose books we keep, the dashboard is refreshed only after the month-end close, once all documents and accruals are posted. The managing director sees figures that will not change later, and the comparison with the budget means something because both sides rest on equally complete data.

What to watch out for

A dashboard is only as good as the data beneath it. If documents are processed a month late, the chart shows the past and decisions rest on stale numbers. The cause there is the process, not the tool.

A common mistake is mixing bases on one screen: revenue net of VAT next to bank receipts including VAT, or income by invoice next to cash by statement. The gap then looks like a problem when it is only a different method. For every figure it should be clear whether it is an accrual view or a cash view.