Client dashboard basics: what to show and how to label it

Start with the questions

• Write the three questions the client asks every week, such as: did we sell more, did it cost more, and did the work change anything?
• Build the top row to answer those questions. Keep everything else below the first screen.

Choose a short set of numbers

• Use one revenue figure, one cost figure and one efficiency ratio. Write the formula of each next to it.
• Add one customer figure, such as the new customer rate, if the business tracks it.
• Show a trend for the top figures against the same period last year, or the last comparable period.

Label every number

• Put the source, the formula and the last update time under each number, in small text that is still easy to read.
• When a figure is not measured, show not measured and the reason. Never show zero for a missing value.

Keep it readable

• Use one colour rule, such as green only when a figure beat its target and red only when it missed by an agreed amount.
• Check the top row on a phone. It should fit without scrolling sideways.
• Move definitions and notes to a second tab or a linked page, so the first screen stays clean.

Keep it honest

• Change a definition only with a dated note, and show the old and new versions side by side for one period.
• Link each figure to the data definitions sheet, so a question about a number has one place to go.