Dashboards are automated displays of information from various databases of company information. They help management continuously examine performance indicators and take corrective action. Dashboards can be configured to serve the needs of individual executives, i.e., provide them information they need to monitor their areas of responsibility.

Dashboards eliminate paper, make it easier to obtain information, and allow users to drill down for more information. For example, suppose you need to know what invoices are due to be paid in the next month. The system can be constructed to automatically display the information and allow you to quickly access vendor historical information.

Thomas Walker, of Blackbaud, Inc., a Charleston, South Carolina, company that develops dashboards for nonprofit organizations, says learning to use a dashboard takes 20 to 30 minutes. The challenge, he says, is determining the proper variables to monitor.

Steve Osborn, president of Mentor Plus in Pleasanton, California, says companies too often monitor information unrelated to their goals. Identifying the company’s most important goals is the starting point. Then you can examine the processes that lead to fulfillment of those goals, which will lead to the appropriate key indicators to monitor.

When those indicators fall below your standards, a series of corrective action steps should be in place.

From Insight, The Magazine of the Illinois CPA Society, September 2006. For the complete article, click on the following link: http://www.insight-mag.com/insight/06/09-10/bonus-1-Dashboards.htm.