Using 48 Month Profitability Trend Dashboards to Streamline the Monthly Reporting Process

Written by Nils R. | Dec 25, 2021 8:00:00 AM

How can Financial Dashboards Drive Faster and Better Decisions? As CFOs increasingly become key players in the Monthly Reporting Process, they must rely on modern self-service corporate performance management (CPM) and business intelligence (BI) tools. Using interactive Financial Dashboards like the 48 Month Profitability Trend Dashboard template shown below enables them and other users from the executive team to experience near real time profitability trend analysis that help drive faster and better decisions.

Who uses 48 Month Profitability Trend Dashboards and What are Some Key Analytical Features? In today’s fast-paced business environment, CFOs are under high pressure to supply end users like executives and analysts with timely and concise Financial Dashboards. Companies use key features like the ones below to support their users with effective analysis that helps drive profit maximization and growth tactics:

Trend analysis with four years of actual data as well as current year budget
Automated estimate for current year that combines actual YTD with forecast for the remaining months
Comparison of multi-year history and budgets

The 48 Month Profitability Trend Dashboard template can be used as a key element of the Monthly Reporting process:

The 48 Month Profitability Trend Dashboard is a ready-to-use Financial Dashboard from the Solver Marketplace.

A Brief Description of the 48 Month Profitability Trend Dashboard Template Financial Dashboards like the one seen in the image above are interactive and parameter driven and typically contain sections with Gross Profit, EBITDA and Net Profit metrics. One of the important features that aid the user in the analysis process is the ability to view percent (%) and amounts in the same dashboard to analyze materiality. 48 Month Profitability Trend Dashboards are often used in conjunction with budget models, profit & loss trend and variance reports, cash flow statements and KPI dashboards.

Data Integration to Transaction Systems Most organizations these days want automated and streamlined planning, reporting and analysis. However, many of the benefits described earlier rely on best of breed Corporate Performance Management (CPM) tools and/or Business Intelligence (BI) capabilities as well as data marts or data warehouses that use pre-built integrations to the organization’s ERP system. Oftentimes, they also need integrations to other key data sources like CRM, subscription systems, payroll tools, etc. Modern, cloud-based ERPs like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance (D365 Finance), Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC), Sage Intacct, Acumatica, Netsuite and SAP have robust APIs which allow for dynamic integrations to CPM and BI tools that are fully automated and flexible to run on a schedule or on-demand.

Additional Resources to Aid with Research of Templates, CPM and BI Tools

Templates from Solver that are pre-built and that work out-of-the-box using the Solver CPM cloud. Click here.
Template examples: You find more than 500 CPM and BI Template examples here.
Interactive Dashboard examples: Try Power BI dashboard templates from Solver here.
Software evaluation and selection:
- Vendor Comparison and ROI (free interactive tool)
- Evaluating planning, budgeting and forecasting functionality
- Evaluating Financial Reporting functionality
- Evaluating Dashboard functionality
- Evaluating Data Warehouse functionality to achieve “one version of the truth”
- Demonstrations and other specific assets: Solver Tour Central
- Using third party analysts and consultants to aid in vendor selection
Creating efficient processes:
- Budgeting, Forecasting and Strategy Planning
- Reporting and Analysis

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