Manual Finance dashboard
The dashboard that projects your upcoming treasury: what will go out (forecasted expenses), what will come in (forecasted income), the cash flow and the coverage ratio — with a colored gauge that shows at a glance whether your income covers your expenses.
Overview
The Finance dashboard is a financial dashboard that projects your upcoming treasury. Where the other dashboards look at what has already happened, this one looks ahead: it gathers on one side everything you will need to disburse (payroll, unpaid purchases, cheques and notices to be honored) and on the other everything you will collect (expected customer payments). From this it derives your forecasted cash flow and a coverage ratio that answers a single question: does my upcoming income cover my upcoming expenses?
Goal
- Anticipate treasury outflows
- Anticipate expected inflows
- Measure the forecasted cash flow
- Check expense coverage
Target audience
- Executive — treasury management
- Finance / accounting
- Purchasing & collections manager
This dashboard complements the Sales, Stock and POS dashboards: these analyze activity that already happened, while the Finance dashboard looks toward the future of your treasury.
Access and navigation
Side menu: Dashboards → Finance dashboard. A period selector is available at the top of the screen; note however that the forecast part always reflects the current state of your treasury (see section 9).
Financial scoreboard
Above the forecast block, six indicators summarise the actual activity of the period: what was sold, what was bought, what was collected and what is still owed.
| Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Sales revenue incl. VAT | Revenue invoiced over the period, all taxes included. |
| Purchase expenses incl. VAT | Total purchases of the period, all taxes included. |
| Gross margin excl. VAT | Tax-excluded revenue − tax-excluded expenses: the margin actually earned. |
| Cash receipts | Amount actually collected from customers. |
| Customer outstanding | Receivables still to be collected. |
| Debit/Credit balance | Net position of the treasury accounts over the period. |
These six indicators cover the actual figures. The four forecast indicators described below (expenses, income, cash-flow, coverage ratio) cover future commitments instead: do not add them up.
Gross margin is computed excluding tax, whereas the revenue and expenses shown include tax. That is deliberate: margin is only meaningful net of VAT, which is paid over to the State.
Treasury forecast
The forecast is read from four summary indicators — forecasted expenses, forecasted income, forecasted cash flow and coverage ratio — supplemented by a gauge that visualizes the coverage.
| Indicator | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Forecasted expenses | Total of what you will need to disburse (payroll, unpaid purchases, cheques and notices to be honored). |
| Forecasted income | Total of what you will collect (expected customer payments, cheques and notices to be received). |
| Forecasted cash flow | Expected net balance = income − expenses. Positive = surplus, negative = strain. |
| Coverage ratio | Share of expenses covered by expected income, as a percentage. |
Forecasted expenses
These are your upcoming treasury outflows. Swifto adds up four components drawn from your HR and Purchasing modules.
| Component | What it represents | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Payroll cost | Employer cost of the last closed pay month (salaries + employer contributions). | 31,500 TND |
| Unpaid purchases | Remaining balance on your supplier invoices. | 18,400 TND |
| Post-dated cheques | Cheques issued to be disbursed on a future date. | 5,600 TND |
| Supplier settlement notices | Scheduled supplier settlement due dates. | 2,800 TND |
| Total forecasted expenses | 58,300 TND |
The payroll cost is taken from the last closed pay month, as employer cost (gross salaries + employer contributions), to reflect the actual disbursement.
Forecasted income
These are your expected treasury inflows. Swifto adds up three components drawn from your Sales module.
| Component | What it represents | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Expected collections | Remaining balance to collect on your delivery notes. | 52,100 TND |
| Post-dated cheques | Customer cheques to be collected on a future date. | 13,700 TND |
| Customer settlement notices | Scheduled customer settlement due dates. | 6,100 TND |
| Total forecasted income | 71,900 TND |
The remaining balance to collect is read from the delivery note: it corresponds to the delivered amount that the customer has not yet settled.
Cash flow & coverage ratio
Two indicators derive directly from expenses and income.
Forecasted cash flow
Cash flow = Income − Expenses
Positive = expected treasury surplus; negative = strain to anticipate.
Coverage ratio
Coverage = Income ÷ Expenses × 100
≥ 100 % = your expected income covers your expected expenses.
Simple reading: a ratio of 123 % means that for 100 TND of expenses to honor, you expect 123 TND of income — a safety margin. Below 100 %, part of the expenses is not covered by the planned income.
The coverage gauge
The gauge is a colored bar that conveys the coverage ratio at a glance. Its color changes to green, orange or red depending on the level reached.
| Color | Coverage level | Reading |
|---|---|---|
| Green | ≥ 100 % | Expenses covered — comfortable treasury. |
| Orange | 70 % to 99 % | Partial coverage — to monitor. |
| Red | Below 70 % or negative cash flow | Treasury strain — action required. |
Scope by module
The components displayed depend on the modules active on your subscription. A disabled module does not appear in the forecast, and the corresponding component is not counted.
Feeds the payroll cost in forecasted expenses.
Feeds unpaid purchases, supplier cheques and notices.
Feeds all of the forecasted income.
If a column (expenses or income) stays empty, check that the relevant module is enabled: without the Sales module, for example, no forecasted income is displayed.
Activity, expenses and margin
Four analyses connect revenue, expenses and margin — this is the block to read to understand where the result comes from (or does not).
| Chart | Reading |
|---|---|
| Sales vs expenses vs margin | The three series month by month. A narrowing revenue–expense gap announces margin erosion before it shows in the result. |
| Expense structure | The split of expenses by nature: purchases, payroll, external charges. It shows where to act first. |
| Monthly gross margin rate | Gross margin ÷ tax-excluded revenue × 100. More stable than margin in value, it neutralises the volume effect. |
| Payroll and bonuses | Staff cost month by month, bonuses included — the most rigid expense in the income statement. |
Read the margin rate before the margin in value: a rising margin with a falling rate means you sell more but earn less per unit.
Cash, VAT & tax obligations
Four analyses complete the financial picture: the cash actually available, the VAT position and the obligations to honour.
| Chart | Reading |
|---|---|
| Cumulative cash flow | Cumulative inflows and outflows: the curve that shows whether the company generates or consumes cash over the period. |
| VAT collected vs deductible | The net VAT position: what you must pay over, or the carry-forward credit. To be reconciled with the monthly return. |
| Collections status | The split between what is paid and what remains as customer outstanding — the direct measure of collection quality. |
| Withholding taxes and tax obligations | Withholdings applied and obligations falling due, to anticipate tax disbursements. |
The cumulative flow can stay positive while the month's cash is negative: the curve accumulates from the start of the period. Look at the slope, not only the level.
The VAT position shown here is a steering view. The declared value prevails in the Monthly return (DMI).
Calculation rules
Point-in-time snapshot — the forecast reflects the current state of your treasury. It does not depend on the period filter: changing the dates does not change the forecasted amounts.
No double counting — remaining balances, post-dated cheques and settlement notices are distinct amounts: they never overlap in the total.
Coverage ≥ 100 % — a ratio of 100 % or more means the expected income covers the entirety of the expected expenses.
Three-color gauge — green from 100 % up, orange between 70 % and 99 %, red below 70 % or as soon as the cash flow turns negative.
FAQ & Tips
I change the period but the forecasted amounts don't move?
That's normal: the forecast is a point-in-time snapshot. It describes your current future treasury, independently of the dates chosen for the other charts.
A column (expenses or income) is empty?
The module that feeds it is probably not enabled: HR for payroll cost, Purchasing for disbursements, Sales for income.
My gauge is red even though my cash flow looks close to balanced?
The gauge turns red as soon as coverage is below 70 % or the cash flow turns negative: prioritize customer collections and spread out disbursements.
Tip — check it before every due date
A quick look at the coverage ratio before paying a large supplier or validating payroll saves you from strain: always aim for a green gauge.
