How to Build a Financial Analytics Dashboard for Wealth Management Firms

Updated 30 Oct 2023
Published 30 Oct 2023
Satyam Chaturvedi 1986 Views
How to Build Financial Analytics Dashboard

A financial analytics dashboard facilitates better finance management and other related activities for banks and financial institutions. It helps create real-time reports, make informed decisions, gain a competitive edge, and do more than you expect.

If you are wondering how to build a financial dashboard, we have created this article for your help. Here, you will read and go through all the necessary information to help in creating a desired finance management dashboard.

This article will help you understand the following and other points you want to know:

  • The basics of financial analytics dashboard  
  • Types  
  • Benefits  
  • Steps to develop a financial management and analytics dashboard

So, let’s start with the definition.

What is a Financial Analytics Dashboard?

If you want to keep track of every dollar or cent, then the financial dashboard is for you. It is a business intelligence tool that allows business owners, finance managers, finance analysts, and data scientists to visualize, analyze, and track financial KPIs. It empowers us to make an informed decision to gain the best outcomes.

It is an intense challenge for finance professionals to create financial reports tracking key metrics. However, since the evolution of financial dashboards, things have become easier.

It empowers business managers to utilize data visualization easily. Using the dashboard, they can dig deep into data, improve finance management, and gain financial stability.

Multiple tools can help create an analytics dashboard for financial institutes; the best example is the Power BI financial dashboard. Additionally, there are other types of dashboards that also exist, which we will read about later.

Now, it’s time to know more about the types of finance data analytics dashboards so you will know which one suits your needs.

Key Types of Financial Management Dashboard

As mentioned earlier in this blog, analytics software makes analysis and management easy. On the other hand, financial analytics tools support creating seamless dashboards filled with valuable information.

Let’s have a look at the types of finance dashboards.

Key Types of Financial Analytics Dashboard

#1. CFO Dashboard 

Think about a dashboard that integrates the data from multiple systems to show how your business is performing clearly. If you need it, then the CFO Dashboard is for you. It helps the chief financial officer to have an overview of the company’s financial performance.

#2. Cash Management Dashboard 

As its name implies, it gives a clear insight into quick ratios, current ratios, cash balances, outstanding debts, and more. It examines current and quick ratios to measure the speed of bill payment and payment collections. The cash management dashboard helps stabilize enterprise growth and financial liquidity.

#3. Financial KPI Dashboard 

The financial KPI dashboard helps in the high-level visualization of KPIs, and it can be easily customized. Here are the KPIs, like revenue by division, operating cash flow, current ratio, burn rate, net profit margin, gross profit margin, working capital, and more.

#4. Profit and Loss Dashboard 

The profit and loss dashboard showcases significant metrics and describes the business’s health and profitability. This dashboard allows you to get the information you need for fine monitoring and to help you make the right decision at the right time for profit and business growth.

#5. Actual Vs Forecast Financial Dashboard 

The actual vs. forecast financial dashboard predicts income and costs. Financial forecasting helps businesses analyze what their financial situation will be in the coming years.

Based on present and historical data analysis, companies or organizations can quickly identify trends. This dashboard considers key areas such as revenue, costs, and net profits.

#6. Operating Expenses Dashboard 

It directly helps in expense management and financial assessments. It even helps in comparing the expense with the planned expense. These expenses can be rent, equipment, inventory costs, marketing, funds allocated to the departments, or more.

#7. Compliance dashboard  

The dashboard provides insights into a company’s compliance with financial regulations as well as its risk of fines or penalties. It includes measures like compliance with Sarbanes-Oxley, financial crime prevention, and anti-money laundering.

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Benefits of Financial Dashboards

If you have a business and want insights that can help you make the right decisions at the right time for growth and stability, then none other than a PowerBI financial analytics dashboard can help.

Here are some of the top benefits of using a financial analytics dashboard:

Benefits of Financial Analytics Dashboard

  • Improved Visibility  

One of the top advantages of using financial analytics dashboards like Power BI is that you will have a bird’s-eye view of all KPIs in a single place.

  • Time-Saving Approach  

Sometimes, collecting and managing data from multiple sources is very tough, and it takes too much time, but not with a financial management dashboard. Instead of spending time collecting and organizing the data, you can sync it directly to the dashboard.

  • Identify the Trends  

If you can identify trends quickly, you can do wonders with your business. For example, you can use website traffic data, public web data, sales data, and other data for trend identification.

  • Improved decision-making

Improved decision-making is one of the best benefits of using a financial analytics dashboard. It provides insights you can leverage to change the whole scenario.

  • Sales Monitoring  

For a business, sales are everything. So, with the help of financial dashboarding and analytics, you can monitor your sales data. With an analytics dashboard, you will effectively visualize sales data, metrics, and KPIs.

  • Improve Team Efforts  

You can improve your team’s efforts and performance using the finance analytics dashboard. You can show them how they contribute to the organization’s growth, where they need to put more effort, and ask for suggestions that give them a sense of work authority.

Now you have information such as the basics, types of financial analytics dashboards, and benefits. So, it’s time to read about the steps that can help you develop a financial analytics dashboard.

Learn More: What Are the Different Types of Power BI Reports?

Steps to Build a Financial Analytics Dashboard in Power BI

If you have decided to create a financial dashboard for banks, then you are on the right path. It will help you combine the data from multiple sources at a single point and create an effective visualization of fiscal data.

Now, fasten up your seatbelts, as the following are the steps that you are searching for in creating the dashboard:

Steps to Build a Financial Analytics Dashboard

#1. Start With Your Goals

Define your business goals; that is the first step you need to take. It is important that nothing else be done, as it will decide the direction. It would help if you found out:

  • The prime goal of developing the dashboard   
  • Who will use your financial dashboard?
  • What components can you include?
  • What are your long-term plans?
  • What metrics and KPIs do you want to track?

#2. The Metrics You Need to Include

Monitoring or tracking the metrics is crucial for better business growth. Consider essential metrics for your financial reporting dashboard.

If your question is: What metrics must a finance dashboard include?

So, you can include metrics like:

  • Revenue growth   
  • Revenue sources  
  • Income concentration  
  • Net Profit (based on product, month, or salesperson)  
  • Working Capital  
  • Customer demographic  
  • Debt-to-equity ratio  
  • Budget-to-actual  
  • Sales pipeline  
  • Compare to the past  
  • Peer benchmarks

#3. Dashboard Outlining

Once you have defined the goals and identified the metrics, it is time to outline the dashboard. This outline includes the sections you need to develop, key financial KPIs, and other components you will include in the dashboard’s structure.

#4. Data Preparation

Data works as fuel for finance analytics dashboarding. So, collect the data and inputs that can help you draw a clear fiscal picture. It includes data from accounting software, CRM systems, APIs, financial statements, operations and sales reports, and other vital sources.

#5. Setup Data Storage 

Data storage is one of the vital parts of dashboarding. So, your next move is to set up data storage solutions like a data warehouse or relational database for storing the data later for analysis. You also need to integrate various data sources into your data storage to make all the data available for analysis.

#6. Design and Develop the Dashboard 

Now, it’s time to design and develop the dashboard. Tools such as Power BI, Tableau, and other business intelligence platforms will greatly help you.

When designing your financial dashboard, choose the right data visualization techniques, like charts and graphs. Visuals should be interactive so users can explore the data. 

Set up color coding and alerts to highlight key financial metrics and integrate filters, slicers, and interactive features for customization. An enhanced user experience ensures your dashboard is a valuable tool for informed decision-making. 

#7. Testing and Validation 

Once you have built a financial analytics dashboard, test the dashboard for accuracy, functionality, and performance. Verify whether you have the desired results or not. Collect feedback from stakeholders and make any necessary improvements.

Once you have done all the steps, your financial management dashboard is ready to use. Still, there are some additional steps associated with it, which are:

  • Documentation and Training  

It would be better if you provided documentation and training materials to your team members to help them use the financial analytics dashboard effectively. You can also conduct training sessions to improve your team’s efficiency when working with the dashboard.

  •  Monitor and Maintain

For the best results, continuously monitor the dashboard’s performance. Regularly update and improve the dashboard based on changing business needs and check the system’s accuracy.

  •  Feedback and Iteration  

Collecting feedback from users and stakeholders is also a good step to identify improvement areas and update the dashboard.

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Why is Microsoft Power BI the Best Option For Financial Reporting?  

Microsoft Power BI is a legendary tool for dashboarding and analytics. Microsoft Power BI is a great option for all businesses, as it offers multiple features and benefits.

It helps businesses monitor financial performance in real-time. The data consolidation from various sources and the provision of fruitful insights make it advantageous.

Here are some advantages of using Power BI for a finance analytical dashboard:

  • Ultimate Visualization: Power BI is fantastic at creating ultimate visualization using data in the form of charts, graphs, or dashboards.
  • Fine Customization: It supports complete customization, which gives flexibility while creating the financial analytics dashboard.
  • Seamless Integration: Integrating various data sources to collect the data for deep analysis is relatively easy with Power BI.
  • Data Transformation: If you need a seamless data transformation before analysis, Power BI is the best option.
  • Real-time Dashboarding: Microsoft Power BI is a legendary tool for analytics and dashboarding.
  • Smooth Collaboration: Using Power BI features, you can easily collaborate and share reports and dashboards with your team.
  • Ultimate Security: It comes with a perfect data security mechanism that makes it different from others, such as role-based control, encryption, and more.
  • Scalability: It easily handles big data and offers actionable insights for informed decision-making.
  • Cost–Effective: Cost-effectiveness is one of the biggest advantages of Power BI, and it offers affordable solutions for all business sizes.
  • Mobility: Even using Power BI, users can access reports and dashboards from mobile devices.

All the advantages mentioned make Power BI a perfect solution for creating a financial analytics dashboard. For the best results, it would be ideal to get the help of an experienced Power BI development company.

Read More: Microsoft Power BI Vs Tableau

Conclusion

Developing a financial analytics dashboard is an important decision, and with it, you will have multiple benefits.

Here, you need to take care of the data collection, data preparation for analysis, and choosing metrics and KPIs to be tracked to create the financial performance dashboard.

The right steps will lead you to the right results. The best option is to use Power BI, which is a Microsoft-powered business intelligence tool. The only limitation to it is experience.

Therefore, you should hire Power BI developers or a Power BI consulting company that can assist you from beginning to end.

Satyam Chaturvedi

Satyam Chaturvedi is a Digital Marketing Manager at Arka Softwares, a leading app development company dealing in modern and futuristic solutions. He loves to spend his time studying the latest market insights.

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