Is your service light on? How a business performance dashboard can measure the direction and health of your business
How a business performance dashboard can measure the direction and health of your business
Key indicators of our car’s performance – tire pressure and oil quality – are automatically relayed to us through the maintenance light on a smart and modern dashboard. Today’s automobile dashboard provides us with the information we need in order to drive with confidence and reach our destinations safely. It also warns us of peripheral events, like weather and traffic, which can throw our route off balance and cause delays and missteps. GPS helps guide us with concise and detailed directions while avoiding pitfalls like construction which can cause needless detainment.
Today, we have these performance, service and navigation luxuries at our fingertips when we drive and even when we cycle, so why don’t we enjoy the same benefits with our business, too? If it makes sense to drive with a dashboard, then wouldn’t it also make sense to help drive your business with a “business performance dashboard” that gives you concise and timely information about your business?
While a business performance dashboard does not replace financial statements and other detailed management reports, a properly designed dashboard will provide Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to help you manage both financial and operational progress. Dashboards are essentially snapshots comprised of charts and tables of your company’s KPIs such as sales reports (daily, monthly, year-to-date), cash on hand, operating cash flow, profitability, profit margin, back orders, inventory levels and turnover, and days sales outstanding. These snapshots will give color to the current state of your business, highlighting the areas of over- and under-performance, and allowing you to address situations with timely responses.
Many companies provide very detailed financial reports listing nearly every account in the general ledger. Balance sheets and cash flow statements are generally complex and not designed to make important points pop. As a result, business owners are frustrated that they get too much data and not enough pertinent information.
How can you create a financial dashboard?
Determine the KPIs that are vital for your business.
Develop a business performance dashboard that includes all of these critical KPIs.
Set standards of performance to quickly show performance gaps.
Determine data sources for each of the KPIs.
Evaluate Business Intelligence and Analytics tools such as Tableau to simplify the dashboard process.
If you think your company would benefit from a financial dashboard, please contact Tracker Group. As experts in the field, we can help you structure a dashboard that will meet your information needs and assist you toward your financial goals. Buckle up, and soon you will be driving cleanly and crisply with a well-oiled system engineered by Tracker Group.