How to Create and Manage a Financial Dashboard for Your Startup

Thinking Ledger
Jul 11
2 min read

In the early stages of a startup, financial visibility is everything. Whether you're fundraising, managing burn, or just trying to make informed decisions—a well-designed financial dashboard is your best friend.

Let’s walk through exactly what a financial dashboard is, what it should include, how to build one, and how to make sure it stays useful over time.

What Is a Financial Dashboard?

A financial dashboard is a visual summary of your key financial data—designed to help you monitor your startup’s performance at a glance. Think of it as your company’s financial heartbeat.

Unlike detailed financial statements, this is a high-level, real-time tool for founders, CFOs, and investors.

Why Your Startup Needs One

Track real-time performance
Understand burn and runway
Spot financial risks early
Impress investors with visibility
Make data-backed decisions

Core Metrics to Include

Category	Key Metrics
Revenue	MRR / ARR, Total Revenue, Growth Rate
Expenses	Monthly Burn, CAC, Operational Costs
Cash	Current Cash, Burn Rate, Runway
Profitability	Gross Margin, EBITDA (if applicable)
Receivables & Payables	AR Aging, AP Aging
Unit Economics	CAC, LTV, Payback Period
KPIs (SaaS/Startup)	Churn Rate, Retention Rate, DAU/MAU, Conversion

How to Build a Financial Dashboard

1. Choose Your Tool

You can start simple or go advanced depending on your stage:

Tool	Pros	Best For
Google Sheets	Free, customizable	Early-stage startups
Excel	Familiar, powerful	Teams with offline workflows
QuickBooks Online	Real-time financial syncing	Accounting + dashboard in one
Finmark / LiveFlow	Plug-and-play + visuals	VC-backed or scaling startups
Notion + Sheets	Dashboard + knowledge hub combo	Founders & product-led teams

2. Design Layout

A good layout helps stakeholders quickly understand what matters. Use a 3-panel approach:

Panel 1: High-Level Summary (Top row)

Current cash
MRR / ARR
Burn rate
Runway

Panel 2: Trend Charts (Middle)

Revenue over time
Burn vs revenue trend
Churn trend or growth rate

Panel 3: Detailed KPIs (Bottom)

AR/AP aging
CAC vs LTV
Monthly expenses by category

You can use conditional formatting to flag issues (e.g. red if runway < 3 months).

Sample Layout Illustration

+-----------------------------------------------+

| 💰 Cash: $150,000 | 📉 Burn Rate: $20,000/mo |

| 📈 MRR: $25,000 | 🚀 Runway: 7.5 months |

+-----------------------------------------------+

| 🔹 Revenue Trend | 🔻 Burn Trend |

| [Line Chart] | [Line Chart] |

+-----------------------------------------------+

| CAC: $150 | LTV: $1,200 | Churn: 4% | AP: $8,000 |

+-----------------------------------------------+

To include from Excel

Updating & Automating Your Dashboard

Update Frequency: Weekly or monthly
Automations (Optional):
Use Google Sheets + Zapier to auto-pull Stripe, QuickBooks, or CRM data
Integrate LiveFlow to connect with accounting software
Use ChartMogul or Baremetrics for SaaS KPIs

Investor-Ready Tips

Keep it clean and visual
Include YTD metrics and % change
Clearly mark actuals vs projections
Always tie metrics back to your strategy

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Tracking too many metrics (focus on ~10)
Not separating actuals from forecasts
Not updating it regularly
Using hard-to-read tables over charts

Final Thoughts

A financial dashboard isn’t just for finance teams—it’s a strategic command center for your startup. Whether you're pitching investors or managing cashflow, the right dashboard helps keep you in control.