Building Client-Friendly Fava Dashboards: What Metrics Actually Matter?

bookkeeper_bob
Mon, 23 Mar 2026 04:00:32 +0000

Fred, I love your “3 metrics” approach—that’s almost exactly what I landed on after trial and error!

My “Dashboard Rule of Three”

After working with 20+ small business clients, I’ve found that most business owners want to answer three questions:

1. “Am I making money?” → Income this month vs. expenses this month

2. “Can I afford [X]?” → Current cash balance

3. “Am I doing better or worse than last month?” → Simple trend comparison

Everything else is noise for most clients.

Real Client Feedback

When I first gave clients Fava access, I showed them everything: balance sheet, cash flow statement, account details, transaction history. You know what happened?

They stopped looking at it.

One client told me: “Bob, this is too complicated. I just want to glance at it and know if I’m okay or if I should worry.”

So I simplified. Now the default view is:

Big number: Net profit this month (green if positive, red if negative)

Cash balance: Current total across all accounts

Simple chart: Revenue vs. expenses for last 6 months

That’s the “landing page.” If they want details, they can click into full reports.

Result? Clients actually use the dashboard now instead of ignoring it.

Keep It Stupid Simple (KISS)

Alice is absolutely right about avoiding vanity metrics. I’d add: use plain language, not accounting jargon.

Bad:

“EBITDA”

“Accounts Receivable Aging”

“Current Ratio”

Good:

“Profit This Month”

“Money Customers Owe You”

“Cash Safety”

Remember: your clients aren’t accountants. If they need to Google what a term means, you’ve already lost them.

Start Simple, Evolve Based on Questions

Here’s my process:

1. Week 1: Show only the basics (profit, cash, trend)

2. Monthly calls: Pay attention to questions clients ask

3. Add metrics that answer repeated questions

Example: Three clients kept asking “How much did I spend on labor last month?” So I added a “Top 5 Expense Categories” section.

Let the clients’ actual needs drive complexity—don’t guess upfront.

Great discussion, Fred! Keep it simple and you’ll do great.