What is a dashboard?
A dashboard is an overview that shows at a glance what’s going on in the business: what’s due today, what’s still open and how the money looks. Instead of checking the calendar, a spreadsheet and the invoicing software, the most important things are on one page, up to date and without retyping.
Large companies have entire departments for this. Small businesses need something different: a few figures they actually use every day.
The figures that count
- Today: Which jobs are coming up, who is where, what’s already done?
- Open reports and enquiries: What has come in and hasn’t been scheduled yet?
- Ready to invoice: Which work is finished but not yet billed?
- Open and overdue invoices: Who hasn’t paid yet, and since when?
- Revenue over time: Month by month, to see seasons and trends.
These figures answer the questions owners ask themselves every day: Is everything running today? Is anything slipping through? Is the money coming in?
What a dashboard doesn’t need
- Figures nobody uses. Every metric that no one ever acts on is just a distraction.
- Colourful charts for their own sake. One clear value compared with the previous month often says more than three curves.
- Double work. If someone has to enter figures to keep the dashboard accurate, it will soon stop being maintained.
Where the figures come from
A dashboard is only as good as its data. Ideally, the data is created where the work happens:
- Jobs and checklists from the team app, when the team ticks off what’s done. More on this in Team app instead of a WhatsApp group.
- Enquiries straight from the form on your website.
- Invoices and payments from your invoicing software, if it has an interface.
That way the dashboard is accurate automatically, and nobody has to fill anything in afterwards.
Who a dashboard is worth it for
Especially where several jobs, people and customers come together every day: cleaning, caretaking services, trades, property management, holiday rentals. If you want to know in the morning what’s happening today, and in the evening what’s been done, you’ll save time every day.
Whether a whole app is worth it straight away is covered in Your own app for your business. If your customers should also see appointments, proof of work and invoices themselves, a customer portal comes in – more in Customer portal for businesses.
See for yourself
On our Apps page you’ll see how an office dashboard works together with the team app and customer portal: today’s jobs, new reports, what’s ready to invoice, open invoices and revenue over the last few months.
What we do for you
We build dashboards in your brand’s look, connected to your team app, website and invoicing software. The database sits on servers in Frankfurt, and each person sees only what belongs to their role. We’ll give you the price in our quote – just drop us a line about what you need. Find out more under Dashboards or book your intro call directly.