A dashboard is a visual interface that aggregates and displays data in a single, unified view, providing a summary of performance or operational status. Organizations use dashboards to track a variety of financial metrics, including profitability, cash position, foreign exchange rates, variance and valuation.

The key to transforming these metrics into actionable insights lies in the design. Poorly built dashboards require extra interpretation before they can be shared with a wider audience. But if you take the time to clearly present the data, making the story obvious, you can shift the focus to deciding on next steps and the best places to invest time, capital and resources.

Build a tool that drives action by applying these foundational principles shared by Jack Tompkins, Owner of Pineapple Consulting Firm, during the Best of AFP 2025 webinar, “How to Build Dashboards So Good They Eliminate Meetings.”

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What Makes an Effective Financial Dashboard

By focusing on clarity and user intent, you can create a “self-service” data environment that answers questions before they are even asked. Below are six tips for creating effective financial dashboards.

1. Build with a specific purpose in mind. In addition to illustrating the organization’s broader objectives, a dashboard should reflect the priorities of the teams and leaders using it. Otherwise, it risks becoming just a collection of metrics rather than a tool for action.
2. Follow a consistent format. This enhances ease of use because the user knows what to expect. The best practice is to put key performance indicators at the top, trends in the middle and supporting details at the bottom.
3. Tell the story at a glance. A user should be able to scan a dashboard and grasp the situation almost immediately. To accomplish that, you need to understand the goals of everyone involved: the company, the department and the person who needs the answers (e.g., your boss).
4. Keep it simple. The temptation to include more data, more visuals and more complexity is real. We all want to be thorough. But in practice, it usually backfires. Supporting better decisions — not showing off your technical capabilities — is the goal. “The end user just wants the decision-driving impact of the dashboard,” said Tompkins.
5. Give context to the numbers. Whether the key metric is cash, profit or something else, users should be able to see how the underlying drivers contribute to the result. It’s important information to have when identifying risks and opportunities.
6. Make it dynamic. As the organization’s or team’s priorities shift, dashboards should adapt. “If you're using dashboards correctly, you should be growing,” said Tompkins. “You should be achieving your goals and therefore setting new goals. So if your business is going to be continuously improving and adapting, your dashboard has to be continuously improving and adapting too.”

Dashboard Dos and Don’ts

Learn More

Looking to apply these dashboard best practices to your working capital metrics? Join us on July 15 for the AFP Treasury Connect: Working Capital: Strategy and Tactics for Resiliency, which features a session that explores how accessible, well-governed dashboards move working capital conversations from periodic reporting to continuous management.