Charts and tables you can use

A dashboard can show figures as tiles, charts or tables. You do not have to pick the type yourself: describe what you want to see and chat chooses one. Use this page to ask for a specific type, or to check that the one chat chose suits the question.

Each type reads its figures from one of your tables.

Pick by question

Figures

Figure tile

One headline number, such as total open receivables or days sales outstanding. It can show the change against the previous period, a small trend line and a target. For figures where lower is better, such as DSO or operating spend, a fall shows as good news.

Charts

Bar chart

Compares amounts across a few periods or categories, such as revenue by month for the last six months. Bars can be stacked to show the parts of each total. For movements that go both ways, such as new and lost revenue, bars can go below zero, with a line for the net change.

Line chart

Shows a trend over time, such as cash balance by month. It can add a dashed line for the prior period or the budget. It can also show a forecast as a dashed line after the last actual month, marked "Actuals" and "Forecast".

Area chart

A line chart with the area below it filled in. Good for running totals and volumes over time, such as invoices issued to date.

Combined bar and line chart

Bars and lines on one chart, with a second scale on the right. For example, revenue as bars with gross margin percentage as a line.

Donut chart

Shows how a total splits into parts, such as revenue by product line. It shows up to five slices; the rest are grouped as "Other". For rankings or more than five parts, use a ranked list.

Ranked list

A list with a bar on each row, sorted largest first. Good for top customers by open balance, top vendors by spend, or spend by category. Rows past the limit can be grouped into one "Other" row.

Waterfall chart

Walks from a starting figure to an ending figure through each change. Good for a cash bridge (opening cash, collections, payroll, rent, closing cash) or a budget-to-actual walk. Increases rise, decreases fall, and totals show as full bars.

Tables

Table

A list of rows with the columns you choose, such as each open invoice with customer, due date and amount. It can add a totals row and a search box. It can also lay out a statement, such as a profit and loss, with headers, indented lines, subtotals and a double-ruled total.

Pivot table

Turns a flat list into a grid, such as customers down the side and months across the top. It can add totals for each row and column, and a subtotal for each group, such as by region.

Variance table

Budget against actual, line by line: line item, actual, budget, variance and variance percentage. Favourable variances show in green and unfavourable ones in red. You say whether higher is good (revenue) or lower is good (costs). When the budget is zero, the percentage shows "N/M".

Cohort grid

One row per group that started in the same month, such as customers by sign-up month. Each column is a month since they started, shaded by how many are still active or how much they spend.

Filters on a dashboard

A dashboard section can include controls that change what its figures show:

• Period picker. Pick a range of months, or a preset: Month to date, Quarter to date, Year to date, Last 3 months, Last 6 months, Last 12 months, Fiscal YTD, Last fiscal year, Closed periods or All time. A compare option shows figures against the Previous period or the Same period last year.
• Search box. Narrow a table to matching rows, such as one customer.
• Dropdown. Pick one value, such as an entity or a plan.

How numbers are shown

• Amounts can show in full or shortened to thousands, millions or billions. Chart axes shorten large amounts. When a figure tile shows a shortened amount, hover over it to see the full amount.
• Negative numbers show with a minus sign or in brackets.
• An empty value shows as a dash (—).
• A percentage change from a zero starting point shows "N/M" (not meaningful).
• A chart can colour a value when it crosses a limit, such as red when an invoice is more than 90 days overdue.

You can change any of these by asking in chat. See Build a dashboard with chat.

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