Mastering Cash Flow Dashboards: Your Business’s Financial Control Panel

Let’s talk about cash flow dashboards—those nifty tools that help businesses keep their financial pulse in check. Imagine you’re driving your business like a car, and this dashboard is your speedometer, fuel gauge, and engine temperature all rolled into one. It gives you a clear snapshot of your cash inflows and outflows, showing you whether you’re cruising smoothly or if there’s a bumpy road ahead.

But here’s the thing: while many businesses know they need a cash flow dashboard, they often aren’t quite sure what they want on it. Picture someone asking for a cake but mixing up the recipe by tossing in everything from sugar to salt to spinach! I’ve seen some dashboards that try to cram in treasury details (like debt and interest rates), management account info (like budgets), cash flow forecasts, and even reports contents meant for bankers and shareholders—all into one jumbled mess. That approach just leaves you confused and overwhelmed.

So, let’s break it down into something more useful. There are three main types of cash flow dashboards, and each serves a different purpose:

1. Live Cash Flow Dashboards

This is the one that gives you real-time insights. With today’s technology—think Power BI or Tableau—these dashboards can pull live data and even let you drill down into the details. Ideally, they separate transactions into operating, financing, and investing activities, but not every system can pull that off.

Here’s what you’d typically find on a live cash flow dashboard:

• Your cash position as of today, or the last few weeks or months.

• Cash inflows and outflows over recent periods.

• Outstanding accounts receivable and payables, broken down by age.

• Inventory levels and movements as of today.

• Key cash flow ratios, like the current ratio, quick ratio, and days receivable/payable/inventory outstanding.

This type of dashboard is perfect for managing your day-to-day liquidity and ensuring you know exactly where your cash stands at any given moment.

2. Management Accounts Dashboards

These dashboards are all about performance review. They’re built to give you a historical view, helping management compare actual performance against budgets or forecasts. They’re super useful for spotting problems early and figuring out how to fix them.

Here’s what you’d see on a management accounts dashboard:

• A breakdown of operating cash receipts and payments, compared against the budget.

• Capex expenditure (how much you’ve actually spent versus what you planned to spend).

• Debt and equity movements compared to the budget.

• Month-end cash positions and movements, again, compared to the budget.

• Year-to-date cash inflow and outflow, broken down by activity type.

• If you like, you can also throw in some treasury info, like your facility limits and covenant monitoring.

This type of dashboard is a must for keeping track of how you’re performing financially and making sure you're staying on target.

3. Forecasting Dashboards

This one’s for the big picture thinkers—your business owners, CFOs, and decision-makers who need to see ahead. It’s about anticipating future cash shortfalls so you can act before it’s too late or knowing when you’ll have enough cash for a major investment.

A good forecasting dashboard includes:

• A 13-week cash flow forecast, based on known cash receipts and payments in system and estimated data for unknown and upcoming events.

• An 18-month forecast, showing what your cash flow looks like based on current trends, budget or latest forecast.

• An 18-month worst-case scenario forecast with certain worst assumptions, complete with suggested solutions in case things go sideways.

These dashboards give you a clear path forward and help you avoid being blindsided by future cash crunches.

Conclusion: Take Control of Your Cash Flow

Cash flow dashboards can be game changers, but only when designed with the right focus. Whether you’re managing day-to-day liquidity, reviewing your performance against budget, or planning for the future, the right dashboard can provide clarity and confidence. The contents in the three types of cash flow dashboard above can be mixed depending on the specific purpose.

Here’s your action step: take a look at what your business truly needs from a cash flow dashboard. Are you mixing in too much, or not focusing on the right data? Simplify it, customize it, and make sure it serves the specific purpose your business requires. Get it right, and your cash flow dashboard will not only guide you—it’ll become your financial GPS.