Financial Planning Dashboard metrics for SaaS financial services company

, , , ,

Use Case: create a financial planning dashboard for a SaaS financial services company that sell financial data products. List the metrics that should be considered for the analysis and the visualizations that should be used in the dashboard.

When creating a financial planning dashboard for a SaaS financial services company that sells financial data products, you’ll want to focus on metrics that reflect the company’s financial health, customer behavior, and operational efficiency. Below is a list of key metrics and suggested visualizations to include:

1. Revenue Metrics

  • Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): The total predictable revenue generated on a monthly basis.
  • Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR): The annualized version of MRR, showing the recurring revenue expected over a year.
  • Revenue by Product: Breakdown of revenue generated by different financial data products.
  • Revenue Growth Rate: Percentage increase in MRR and ARR over time.
  • New vs. Expansion Revenue: Revenue from new customers vs. upsells or cross-sells to existing customers.

Visualizations:

  • Line Chart: To track MRR and ARR growth over time.
  • Stacked Bar Chart: To visualize revenue by product and compare new vs. expansion revenue.
  • Area Chart: For a cumulative view of recurring revenue trends.

2. Customer Metrics

  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The cost associated with acquiring a new customer.
  • Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total revenue expected from a customer over their lifetime.
  • Churn Rate: The percentage of customers who cancel their subscriptions in a given period.
  • Net Revenue Retention (NRR): The percentage of recurring revenue retained from existing customers, including upgrades, downgrades, and churn.
  • Customer Segmentation: Revenue and customer distribution across different segments (e.g., industry, region, company size).

Visualizations:

  • Funnel Chart: To visualize the customer acquisition process and calculate CAC.
  • Scatter Plot: To compare CLV against CAC.
  • Pie Chart: For customer segmentation analysis.
  • Line or Bar Chart: To track churn rate and NRR over time.

3. Profitability Metrics

  • Gross Margin: The percentage of revenue remaining after direct costs, crucial for understanding profitability.
  • Operating Margin: The percentage of revenue remaining after operating expenses.
  • EBITDA: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, providing insight into operational efficiency.
  • Customer Profitability: Profit generated from each customer segment.

Visualizations:

  • Gauge Chart: To monitor gross and operating margins.
  • Column Chart: To compare profitability metrics across different periods.
  • Waterfall Chart: To show how different expenses impact profitability.

4. Cash Flow Metrics

  • Cash Flow from Operations: Cash generated from core business activities.
  • Free Cash Flow: Cash available after capital expenditures, crucial for understanding the company’s financial flexibility.
  • Cash Burn Rate: The rate at which the company is spending its cash reserves.
  • Cash Flow Forecast: Projected cash inflows and outflows based on current and historical data.

Visualizations:

  • Line Chart: To track cash flow trends over time.
  • Waterfall Chart: To show inflows and outflows of cash.
  • Bubble Chart: To analyze the relationship between cash flow, revenue, and profitability.

5. Sales and Marketing Metrics

  • Sales Pipeline: The value and number of deals in each stage of the sales pipeline.
  • Sales Conversion Rate: The percentage of leads that convert into paying customers.
  • Lead-to-Customer Rate: The percentage of leads that convert to customers.
  • Marketing ROI: Return on investment for marketing campaigns.

Visualizations:

  • Funnel Chart: To visualize the sales pipeline stages.
  • Dual-Axis Line Chart: To compare lead-to-customer rate with sales conversion rate.
  • Bar Chart: For analyzing the ROI of different marketing campaigns.

6. Operational Efficiency Metrics

  • Customer Support Costs: The costs associated with providing customer support.
  • Average Response Time: The average time taken to respond to customer inquiries.
  • Support Ticket Resolution Rate: The percentage of support tickets resolved within a given time frame.
  • Product Usage Metrics: Key usage statistics for financial data products, like active users, session frequency, and feature adoption.

Visualizations:

  • Line or Area Chart: To track customer support costs and resolution rates over time.
  • Heat Map: For identifying trends in product usage metrics.
  • Pie Chart: To analyze the distribution of support tickets by type or priority.

7. Financial Ratios and KPIs

  • Quick Ratio: Assess the company’s ability to meet short-term obligations without relying on inventory sales.
  • Debt-to-Equity Ratio: Track the company’s financial leverage.
  • Current Ratio: Measure the company’s ability to pay short-term obligations.
  • Burn Multiple: The ratio of cash burn to revenue growth, indicating how efficiently the company is using cash to grow.

Visualizations:

  • Gauge Chart: To monitor key financial ratios.
  • Radar Chart: To compare financial ratios against industry benchmarks.
  • Trend Line: For visualizing the changes in these ratios over time.

8. Historical and Forecast Trends

  • Historical Financial Performance: Analyze revenue, expenses, cash flow, and profitability trends over time.
  • Financial Forecasting: Project future financial performance based on historical data, customer growth, and market trends.
  • Scenario Analysis: Evaluate the financial impact of different business scenarios (e.g., market expansion, economic downturn).

Visualizations:

  • Line Chart: To track historical performance and future forecasts.
  • Scenario Planning Charts: To visualize potential outcomes under different scenarios.
  • Combo Chart: To compare historical data with forecasted values.

Leave a comment