Dashboard Metrics for CFOs

Access to the right kind of information on a real time basis is important for any decision. I found the following article from Ken Kaufmann with CFOWise on using dashboards is very informative. Developing dashboards fro key metrics would be an important step from most organizations.

"There seems to be a lot of buzz around businesses having a dashboard.  Even Intuit has jumped on board and tried to provide this functionality in QuickBooks with its Snapshot Center.  For those unfamiliar with this concept, a dashboard is one place a business owner should be able to look to see all of the key metrics and performance indicators of their business.  To learn more about this concept, please visit my blog post: The Key Business Metrics Every Entrepreneur Must Know.

I need to preface what I am about to say with the disclaimer that I think every business should have a dashboard that outlines the key business metrics every business should measure, with some customization by industry and company, in a timely and accurate fashion.  I take no issue with the concept of dashboards – in fact, I fully endorse it.  My issue is related to programs and tools that are built to fulfill the dashboard function and how they are deployed.  Most dashboard programs and tools are totally ineffective and fall far short of the sales pitch that caused them to be purchased in the first place.  Why?  Here are the two main reasons, as well as my suggestion for how to get the most value out of the “dashboarding” process.

1. WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE NEED TO KNOW

Regardless of how well you think you know your business, your model, or your key metrics, I guarantee you will not get the needs of your dashboard right the first time.  An inevitable part of the “dashboarding” process is you quickly learn what information is helpful and what information is not.  It also forces you to ask additional questions that leads to better and more effective metrics.  The challenge with most SaaS and off-the-shelf “dashboarding” programs is that they all require time, effort, and energy to set them up so they will work.  It is hard to make any changes without feeling like you have to start all over again.  Yes, I hope there will be some dashboard companies that will dispute this statement, but I have yet to see any of them fulfill on the commitment that the dashboards are easy to change once they get up and working.

Please visit the CFOWise website for the full article-http://www.cfowise.com/part-time-cfo/the-2-problems-with-dashboards/

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