- Track a handful of numbers that lead to a decision: sales, unpaid invoices, cash, jobs, hours and stock.
- Every number should come straight from the system that already holds it, not from someone retyping it.
- Start with a Monday summary on your phone. Add a live dashboard only when you check the numbers during the week.
- Keep it to one screen, and decide who sees what before you build it.
- If a number never changes what you do, take it off.
Why a weekly look at your numbers beats a Sunday-night guess
Picture Sunday night on the couch. Someone asks how the week went, and you say "pretty good, I think". It felt busy. The phone rang a lot. But you couldn't put a figure on it if you tried.
That's not a criticism. Ask many owners how last week went and you'll get a feeling rather than a figure, because the figures are spread all over the place: your accounting software, your point of sale or booking system, a timesheet app, and a spreadsheet someone updates when they remember.
Pulling them together takes time you don't have. So it happens at the end of the month, or when the accountant asks.
The trouble is that problems grow quietly. An invoice that's a little overdue is a phone call. Leave it for months and it can become a write-off conversation. A short, regular look at the right numbers lets you act while the fix is still easy.
The handful of numbers that usually matter
You don't need dozens of measures. A handful is usually enough, as long as each one leads to a decision. Here's a starting list, with where each number usually comes from.
| Number | What it tells you | Where it usually comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Sales | How busy last week was, compared with the week before and the same week last year | Point of sale, online shop or accounting software |
| Unpaid invoices | Who owes you, how much, and how overdue | Accounting software such as Xero |
| Cash | What's actually in the bank, and what's due out this week | Bank feed in your accounting software |
| Jobs | Jobs booked, in progress, finished and not yet invoiced | Job management app, booking system or a shared spreadsheet |
| Hours | Staff hours worked against what was rostered or quoted | Timesheet or rostering app, or payroll |
| Stock | Items running low, and stock that isn't moving | Point of sale or inventory system, through an export to Excel or Google Sheets or an emailed report |
Pick the ones that fit your business. A café cares about stock and hours. A consultant may have no stock at all and care far more about jobs not yet invoiced.
The test for every number. If it went up or down sharply, would you do something different this week? If the honest answer is no, it doesn't belong on the summary.
Get every number straight from the source
A summary is only useful if you trust it. And you'll only trust it if nobody is retyping figures into it.
So the rule is simple: each number should be read automatically from the system that already holds it. No copying from one screen to another on a Friday afternoon.
In practice, that means connecting your tools so they hand information to each other. Xero, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace allow this through an API, which is a secure doorway one program uses to ask another for data.
For other systems, such as a point of sale or booking system, we don't connect directly. Instead, an exported file, an emailed report or a shared Google Sheets or Excel file acts as the go-between. Our guide to connecting your business apps explains how these connections work and what to check first.
Two things to sort out before you build anything:
- Agree what each number means. Does "sales" include or exclude GST? Is a job "finished" when the work is done, or when it's signed off? Write the definitions down once and stick to them.
- Find the gaps. If invoices are only entered at the end of the month, a weekly unpaid-invoices figure will be out of date for most of the month. Sometimes the first improvement is a small process change, not a dashboard.
A Monday summary or a live dashboard?
There are two common ways to see your numbers, and they suit different owners.
The weekly summary
A short message lands on your phone or in your inbox every Monday morning, before the week gets busy. Nobody has to remember to send it. It might look something like this:
Your week at a glance (example only, figures made up)
Sales: $10,000, up on the week before
Overdue invoices over your set amount: 2, with names
Cash on hand: $20,000
Jobs finished, not yet invoiced: 3
Hours worked: 100 against 90 rostered
Low stock: 2 items below reorder point
That's last week's sales, overdue invoices over a set amount, cash on hand, jobs waiting to be invoiced, hours worked and anything low in stock. It's quick to read over a coffee.
For many small businesses this is the right place to start. It builds the habit of looking, and it's quick to set up because it only needs to read the numbers once a week.
The live dashboard
A dashboard is a single screen that updates itself as new sales, payments and jobs come in. You open it whenever you want, on your phone or a laptop.
It suits businesses where things change during the day, such as a busy shop watching sales by hour, or a transport business watching deliveries completed.
A good rule of thumb. If you find yourself wanting to check the Monday numbers on a Wednesday, it's time for a live view. Our websites, portals and dashboards service covers how we build these around the tools you already have.
Keep your dashboard to one screen
A common mistake is adding everything. Every extra chart makes the important numbers harder to see. Aim for something you can read on a phone without scrolling much.
- Put the decision numbers at the top. Cash, overdue invoices and anything that needs action today.
- Show a comparison. A number on its own means little. Show it next to last week, or the same week last year, so you can see the direction.
- Flag only what needs attention. Highlight, for example, an invoice that's more than 30 days overdue, or stock below its reorder point, and leave everything else plain.
- Link to the detail. The summary should tell you where to look, not try to show every line. A tap through to the accounting software or the job list is enough.
- Review it after a month. Remove anything nobody looked at, and add the one number you kept asking about.
Who sees which numbers
Not everyone needs every number, and some numbers should stay private. Decide this up front, because it shapes how the summary is built.
- The owner usually sees everything, including cash and who owes what.
- A manager or team leader may see jobs, hours and stock, but not bank balances.
- Your bookkeeper or accountant may only need the unpaid invoices and a monthly view.
- Staff might see a team figure, such as jobs completed this week, without any financial detail.
Names are personal information. Unpaid invoices and timesheets often include customer and staff names. Keep access to the people who need it, and turn on two-factor authentication for anything that shows financial or personal details. Our guide to the Privacy Act 2020 and automation covers what else to check.
What a weekly numbers report looks like by industry
Here's what a Monday summary might hold for different kinds of business. Treat these as starting points, not templates.
Sales by day, staff hours against the roster, supplier invoices due and the items running low.
Quotes sent and accepted, jobs finished but not invoiced, and overdue invoices by customer.
Appointments booked for the week ahead, no-shows last week, and gaps in the diary.
Sales against last year, best and slowest sellers, and stock below its reorder point.
Client files waiting on documents, work in progress not yet billed, and fees overdue.
Deliveries completed, proof of delivery still missing, fuel spend and kilometres travelled.
For shops, a daily version of the sales summary is often worth having too. You can read more in our page on automation for shops and dairies.
Skip the vanity numbers
Some numbers feel good but rarely change what you do. Website visits, social media followers and total sales since the business opened are the usual suspects.
They're not useless. But they don't belong on a one-screen weekly view unless you act on them.
Watch for these traps as well:
- Turnover without margin. A record sales week can still lose money if it came from discounts or overtime. If you can, show gross profit alongside sales.
- Averages that hide problems. A healthy-looking average invoice age can hide one customer who's months behind. List the worst offenders by name instead.
- Numbers without an owner. Every figure on the summary should have someone who acts when it moves. If nobody would, remove it.
Your accountant can help you pick the few financial measures that matter most for your type of business, and check that the summary agrees with what your accounts show.
Not sure which numbers to track, or where they all live? Our free session is a good place to start. We look at your current tools and leave you with a written plan you keep. You can book a free session here.
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Common questions
Do I need new software to get a weekly numbers summary?
Usually not. The figures already live in Xero, your spreadsheets, and the reports your point of sale or booking system produces. A summary reads from Xero and from Excel or Google Sheets on a schedule, works from any export or emailed report your point of sale or booking system already produces, and puts the results in one message or screen.
What is the difference between a weekly summary and a live dashboard?
A weekly summary is a short message, often sent on Monday morning, that shows last week's numbers. A live dashboard is a screen you can open at any time that updates itself as new sales, jobs or payments come in. Many small businesses only need the summary.
Can my staff see the dashboard without seeing the financials?
Yes. A well set up dashboard can show different views to different people, so a team leader might see jobs and hours while only the owner sees cash and unpaid invoices.
How accurate will the numbers be?
They are only as accurate as the systems they come from. If invoices are entered late or stock counts are out of date, the summary will reflect that, which is often useful in itself because it shows where the records need tidying.