Dashboard in this software

What about the dashboard
I suggest developing the program and adding a dashboard to display statistics and data graphs
It will add a beautiful graphical interface to the program

Sorry, just search the forum as this has been an overly discussed item. The conclusion is that it is not important.

The important thing in accounting is exact numbers and information, not pretty graphs. The program provides the ability to copy data so you can make any type of graph or chart you want.

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You are correct about the core purpose of the program.
But why resist change and not give it an opportunity to be better.
Communication (Reports) is based on visual more than anything else.
I think it is a good idea.
Thank you and all the manager team.
It is really one of the best accounting programs I’ve worked on.

There is no resistance to change but if you search the forum it is clear why not to include any graphical representation but allow users to export data to packages where they can generate whatever graphical representation they want. Truth of the matter is that every user has a different way in which they want to present their data and graphics. There is not one-fit-for all and this discussion forum would have endless requests for different types of representations.

You already indicated yourself:

The reason is its attempt to keep focus on what matters, i.e. small business accounting and not all kinds of good to haves.

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Thanks.
You do have a point.
Simplicity in Manager is one of its best features.

yes but part of an accountants job is to simply convey the data to the client in a meaningful and timely way in a format that they will understand and sometimes visually is the best way to go .
I do a very basic one in excel but I feel its not really professional enough what do others use

Trust me. There is no lack of professionalism in well designed and executed charts from popular spreadsheet programs. The only limit is user skills.

The bigger problem with adding charting capability to Manager would be to establish a widely agreed set of charts to include. Whatever you think makes for a desirable presentation, others will have different opinions. The fact is, you cannot illustrate a business’ position or performance with a graph. You would potentially need dozens.

Not really wanting to show business position as such but show the the difference between 2 years in expenses and sales my example below but I am not happy with it

You have illustrated my point. Who is to say you would be happy with a Manager version of the same concept?

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But I wasn’t asking for it to be in manager I dont want it in manager it will make it like xero or myob and I dont want that. I was asking what everyone else uses

Then the discussion belongs elsewhere, not on the Manager forum.

@Wornout it is more about what data you chart. The example you gave illustrates basic charting skills and the results shown are not telling much, if anything these are confusing. This is not the problem of Excel, we use it a lot, for example to show the moving margin between total sales and total cost of sales over a period of time. So we have a period column Jan, Feb,.etc, Dec; a column with total sales in each month and a column of total cogs for each month. We select those and select a line chart where the months are displayed on the horizontal axis.

The monthly data are generated through a P&L report for 2021 where each month is added as a line and where all groups are collapsed. The resulting P&L report is copied to clipboard and pasted in Excel where the data gets further simplified until the above columns exist.

The issue I try to explain is that there are several steps in charting: a) what should the result look like, i.e. what chart would you like to produce and why, b) what data do I need to create such charts, c) what process do I need to apply to get the data from Manager ready to become a chart.

yes I did say that in the beginning but sometime people ask accounting questions on here and they get answered and as this is an accounting question I thought I would try

Thanks eko. This is the first client I have had to do this and my uni days were a long time ago lol

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Try to focus on abilities with manager

Not to work done at your principal

This is free

It’s not your company assets.

Best regards

Just my opinion - I agree a Dashboard is not crucial to the Manager Accounting delivery but a nice to have and a great visual feature explaining an entity’s financial position. Leading edge Accounting Software have this capability by default. It will really be as all know the developers choice to include this as a feature or not. For some I think a Dashboard could be a winning feature at the point of making a choice / decision for which Accounting software piece to go for. In my view however integration with IRD / IRS / Payroll etc is more important for completeness.

I love the current summary page which immediately let’s you go to business and gives you at a glance most important Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss information. Indeed no cash-flow but at least 2 out of 3 most important statements.

Software should never be sold because of some blingy homepage as the novelty will wear off quickly and one would have to plough to the next page to get things done. Also financial applications for large organisations such as Oracle Financials have a pretty straightforward and boring user-interface that is focussed to get the accounting job done.

Having said all that, it would indeed be a good-to-have if graphical representation of data could be included in some of the key reports in the reporting tab.

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I have no idea what you are trying to say. I know its free, an manager is an awesome asset to me I can not do with out it. It was kind of a waste of your time writing your answer because it has no meaning

I was not asking for it on here I was asking what every else did for graphical representation of data.
I never though such a simple question would open a whole can of worms.