Most growing businesses have plenty of data and too few reports they trust. Before adding dashboards, make sure these five exist, come out the same way every month, and agree with the books.
1. Management P&L
Revenue, cost of sales, gross profit, overheads and net profit, grouped the way management thinks about the business rather than the way the chart of accounts is numbered. Show this month, year to date and the same period last year side by side.
2. Budget versus actual
The P&L against the budget, with the variance in money and percent. The point is not the variance itself but the conversation it starts: what changed, and is it a timing difference or a real one.
3. Sales and gross margin by product and customer
Total revenue can rise while margin falls. Margin by product and by customer shows which sales actually pay for the business, and it must reconcile to the gross profit in the P&L.
4. Cash and receivables
Profit is not cash. A short view of the bank position, what customers owe and how old it is, and what is due to suppliers, tells you whether the profit is turning into money.
5. A small set of KPIs
Five to eight numbers that matter for your business, for example gross margin percent, days to collect, orders on time, or utilisation. Each one with a target and a trend.
Consistency matters more than volume
- Same definitions every month, written down.
- Produced from the system, not rebuilt in a spreadsheet.
- Reconciled: the margin report agrees with the P&L, the P&L agrees with the ledger.
OSG Management Reporting produces these reports inside Odoo, from the same ledger your accountant closes.