Which metrics each role needs — and how not to turn a dashboard into a Christmas tree
1. Owner / CEO
5–7 metrics: revenue, profit, cash flow, new customers, retention, plan vs fact. Details via drill-down, not on the main screen.
2. Marketing
Spend by channel, CPL, lead conversion, CAC, ROAS. One shared date filter for all charts — otherwise comparison is meaningless.
3. Sales
Stage funnel, average deal size, cycle length, rep quota, overdue deals. Refresh daily — otherwise it's history, not a tool.
4. Finance
AR/AP aging, payment calendar, P&L vs budget, days of cash on hand.
5. Operations
Utilization, defect/quality rates, lead times, stock. Metrics must answer 'where is today's bottleneck?'.
6. Anti-patterns
More than 12 widgets per screen; metrics without an owner; 'important' numbers without targets; data updated manually once a month.
Tools by level