When you’re building a single Power BI dashboard for a CFO, the goal is financial clarity + business health at a glance. CFOs don’t want clutter – they need high-level KPIs, trends, risks, and variances that allow them to make decisions quickly.
- Revenue & Growth
- Total Revenue (MTD, QTD, YTD)
- Revenue Growth % vs Previous Period
- Profitability
- Gross Profit & Net Profit
- EBITDA Margin %
- Net Profit Margin %
- Costs & Expenses
- Operating Expenses (OPEX) vs Budget
- Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)
- Cash & Liquidity
- Cash Flow (Inflow vs Outflow)
- Working Capital
- Quick Ratio / Current Ratio
- Accounts Receivable & Payable
- DSO (Days Sales Outstanding)
- DPO (Days Payable Outstanding)
- Aging Analysis
- Budget vs Actuals
- Variance Analysis (% and absolute)
- Forecasting / Risk
- Runway / Burn Rate
- Forecast vs Actual Trends
📊 Recommended Visuals
- Cards / KPI Tiles → For high-level numbers (Revenue, Profit, Cash).
- Line / Area Charts → For trend analysis (Revenue over time, Cash Flow trends).
- Clustered Bar/Column Chart → For Variance Analysis (Budget vs Actual).
- Waterfall Chart → To show Profit & Loss breakdown (Revenue → COGS → Expenses → Net Profit).
- Treemap / Donut → For Expense Breakdown by Department or Category.
- Table with Conditional Formatting → For AR/AP aging details.
- Gauge / Bullet Chart → For metrics like Net Profit Margin vs Target.
🎯 Dashboard Design Principles for a CFO
- Top section (Summary KPIs) → Revenue, Profit, Cash, Forecast.
- Middle section (Trends & Variances) → Revenue trend, Expenses vs Budget, Cash Flow trend.
- Bottom section (Details & Risks) → AR/AP Aging, Departmental spend, Forecast risks.
- Keep it minimal → CFOs prefer clarity over “fancy visuals.”