Five questions your management dashboard should answer

Are we growing profitably?

View revenue alongside gross margin and operating profit. Growth is easier to assess when you can see whether costs are moving faster than sales.

Where is cash tied up?

Bring receivables, payables and inventory into the same conversation. A profitable business can still need better visibility over cash timing.

What changed against the plan?

Compare actuals with a consistent budget or forecast. Explain major variances with operational context and evidence from the source records.

What needs attention now?

Agree a small set of exception thresholds. Highlight the few items that need an owner and an action, rather than colouring every movement.

Can we trust the numbers?

Document KPI definitions and reconcile dashboard totals to approved source reports before distributing them.