Business Performance Management - Dashboards - Good, Bad or Excel?

The idea of management dashboards, taking the automobile concept into performance management, has been around since the 1970s. Best practice has advanced considerably, not least as technology has provided ever more powerful and cheaper solutions.

But as with anything powerful, the opportunity to do more harm than good is ever present. Cheap tools make it tempting to do a DIY job. That could prove very expensive. [...read more...]

Business Performance Management - How Important Are Multiple Dimensions?

A few years ago a young AIM-listed client asked whether we could build a cash flow forecast model for their business. Their business plan had been to take two years to develop a major product, and in the meantime use two interim products to provide initial cashflow. These products hadn’t sold as well as expected, and further funding was needed.

The audit was imminent, and there needed to be a clear 12 month forecast to allow the auditors to provide a clean audit report. A major issue that was focusing my client directors’ minds somewhat!

We did indeed build a forecasting model. But in the absence of an affordable multi-user system, it was built in Excel. All sorts of issues, but the one to highlight here is trying to cope with multiple dimensions. [...read more...]

Business Performance Management - Forecasting and Reporting

To manage overall business performance you need to establish the metrics that are key to the business, plan them, and then monitor progress of them.

So the value of quotes raised may be critical. Or the activity on your website. Or whatever else is key to your business.

By setting targets, plans can be out in place for the resources and organisation to achieve them. Monitoring performance against targets is a key step towards control. [...read more...]

Performance Management - How Can You Gain From KPIs?

You're in business to make money. You need to make profits. You also need to generate cash. No doubt you monitor and report upon some key results - revenue, gross margin %, bank balance - that sort of thing. You probably call them KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

But can you control these numbers? Well yes indirectly. But not directly. What you can control directly are [...read more...]

Performance Management - Gauges in Excel Dashboards

Just a reminder that if you've been hunting for gauges to add to your Excel dashboard, then here they are!

There are a wide set of different styles configurable, one of which is as in the diagram.

We've arranged a free trial if you'd like to try the gauges out

.