Signs you’ve outgrown spreadsheets
Excel is a brilliant place to start with reporting. The trouble comes as the business grows: files multiply, more data gets copied across by hand, and different people answer the same question with different numbers.
- The monthly report takes days to pull together
- The same figure comes out differently in two files
- Reporting depends on one person’s know-how
- Data travels around as email attachments
- There’s no way to see the current position at a glance
A single source of truth
The point of a business intelligence project is to make sure everyone is looking at the same data, calculated the same way. When sales, finance and operations each keep their own spreadsheets, meetings turn into debates about whose figures are right.
With a single source of truth, data is pulled automatically from source systems, combined in a shared model, and every report draws on that model. The conversation then moves on from whether the numbers are correct to what they actually mean.
Data sources and defining your KPIs
In most organisations, data is spread across an ERP system, accounting software, an e-commerce platform, a CRM and a handful of spreadsheets. The first job is to map what lives where and how it can be accessed.
Next, define your KPIs precisely. Is revenue net of returns? Does it include VAT? Is an active customer someone who bought in the last three months, or the last twelve? Dashboards built before these definitions are written down tend to create fresh arguments rather than settle old ones.
Tools, data quality and permissions
Power BI and Looker Studio are well-known examples, and the right choice depends on your existing systems, licensing and how your team likes to work. More important than the tool, though, is a well-built data model underneath it.
- Clean up missing and duplicate records
- Standardise product, customer and branch codes
- Set refresh frequency according to real need
- Make sure users only see the data they’re authorised to see
In short, and how fountr can help
If reporting is eating up time, figures don’t reconcile and decisions are being delayed, it’s probably time for a dashboard. Starting small works best: a few core measures first, then gradual expansion. At fountr we review your data sources and work with you from KPI definitions through to dashboard design. Get in touch at [email protected].
