With a reasonably functioning finance office, you probably generate weekly reports, monthly reports, quarterly reports, and yearly reports. At the least, a quarterly report would be generated as a practice.

Generating these reports isn’t the real challenge; it is comprehending these reports and arriving at meaningful conclusions. And that is why financial dashboards matter!

Financial dashboards are reports that illustrate key pieces of data, often in a graphical format. They serve as a door for a more collaborative environment in which easy-to-interpret data is more readily shared and can be accessed by anyone with permission to view the dashboard.

“Data is the new oil? No, data is the new soil.” – David McCandless

David McCandless, a British data journalist, writer, and information designer!

YOUR DASHBOARD IS YOUR STORY

A thoughtful financial analysis requires as many words as numbers.

Being able to visualize numbers prompts questions (such as “Why did we bring in less revenue than projected this quarter?”) that then initiate thought and action.

Why dashboards matter:

• Shared financial comprehension and engagement.

Dashboards create a common language between board members, allowing those inclined to pore over the financials to communicate with those less driven by financial data.

• They define measures of success

Dashboards have emerged as a “best practice” for financial management. if financial reporting feels like an administrative, horrifying exercise at your firm, then a dashboard may be just the thing to energize internal discussions around finances. It offers complete integration into financial and non-financial data, allowing you to always have a real-time pulse of your company’s complete financial performance.  It is a drill-down facility for deep analysis of the business.

• Visualised Dashboards are processed faster

Getting the entire company in the habit of seeing the dashboard reports and data visualization can help get a better picture of the organization. While 90 percent of information submitted to the brain is visual, learning styles vary among the population. The majority of the population are visual learners.

• Data visualization tools show insights that may be missed in traditional reports.

For example in Sales – Sales by period, sorted by a salesperson or product, deals in the pipeline, sorted by individual accounts; call time per customer; or deals closed by sales representatives – gives a whole new level of insights into sales and deals closed, much wider than the figures and numbers ever give.

• Dashboard gives actionable claims.

Data visualization may help your organization see where there’s room for improvement or where performance is high. Actionable items can result by identifying successes and areas for improvement.

• Quick identification of trends

Being able to visualize trends by sales rep, by quarter, by year, or by SKU allows for greater awareness of the pulse of the company and allows actions to be taken to continue favorable trends and reverse negative trends.

When faced with time-sensitive decisions — about things like funding, program changes, and partnerships — a Financial Dashboard helps to have a shared understanding of the organization’s priorities and measures of success.

Being able to visualize data produces real results. The time saved in creating up-to-date reports means greater efficiency company-wide.

It is often quoted “The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see”. Build a great picture in your dashboard – and see things you need to see in your business!