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Total Office Manager

Contractor Compass 360 Dashboard

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Introduction to the Dashboard

Contractor Compass 360™ is a year-over-year business performance dashboard for Total Office Manager users. It is launched from Total Office Manager with no need to connect to a database or login. It was designed by James R. Leichter.

The dashboard summarizes key performance indicators (KPIs) so owners and managers can quickly see how current results compare to the same period in the prior year. The dashboard includes a complete list of values or data points used to create the ratios. They can also be presented on their own (Example: revenue, gross profit, net profit, EDITDA, number of billable employees, sales leads, and more).

The dashboard data is based on GAAP-compliant accrual accounting and is generated from a SQL stored procedure. The required stored procedure is installed or updated automatically when the program runs.

Note: Many of these numbers and trends are also represented in the Executive Summary and certain other reports in Total Office Manager.

What the Numbers Mean

Current Value: The current-year amount for the selected date range.

Prior Year: The same metric for the comparable prior-year period.

Change: The dollar or count difference between current value and prior year.

Percent Change: Relative increase or decrease from prior year.

Financial Ratios and KPI Interpretation

We are only covering the very basics of this topic. Please read our other blog articles for more information.

Revenue: Total sales volume.

Gross Profit: Revenue minus direct costs.

Net Profit Before Tax (NPBT): Profitability before tax expense.

Cash Flow: Net cash movement trend.

Sales Leads: Incoming lead volume.

Revenue / Employee: Productivity ratio showing revenue generated per employee. See Employee Count Rules.

Gross Profit / Employee: Profitability productivity ratio per employee.

Average Ticket Amount: Formula: (Number of Tickets / Total Amount). We do not consider estimates, credits, or sales tax. We ignore finance charge invoices, since they are likely very small amount and would contaminate the averages. The value is offered as YTD, Prior Year, and by Department.

Employee Billable and Employee Not Billable Ratio*: Compares how many employees are not billable (such as administrative staff) and how many are billable (such as technicians).

*Employee Count Rules:

  • Employee Billable and Employee Not Billable (unbillable) are weighted counts, not headcount. So, a part-time billable employee contributes 0.50, not 1.00. That matches the employee-count rules. These counts do not take into consideration department selections.
  • When counting the number of employees, we consider full time status as 1.0 employees and part time status count as 0.50 employees. If Nothing was selected, we assume the user forgot to make a selection or did not know about the option and we count them as 1.0 employees.
  • We do not count or consider employees that are inactive.
  • We do not count or consider employees that have a release date equal to or less than the current date or date range. In other words, the release date cannot be inside the date range.

Icon Meanings

Trending Up icon: Positive trend versus prior year.

Trending Down icon: Negative trend versus prior year.

No trend icon shown: Neutral or not enough comparable data (for example, a new value without a meaningful prior baseline).

Business icon: Identifies active company/database context.

Form/Feature Access

To access this dashboard: From the main menu, click Reports > Contractor Compass 360. The dashboard will open.

Note: You must have permission to view the Executive Summary report to access Contractor Compass 360.

Field and Button Definitions

Dashboard and Context Menu Actions

Refresh: Reloads KPIs from the database.

Toggle Theme: Switches between light and dark display themes.

Open Preferences: Opens dashboard preference options.

Help: Opens this online help page in your default browser.

About: Opens system and version details for Contractor Compass 360.

Hide Header / Show Header: Toggles the top page header to maximize dashboard space.

Retry (error state): Attempts to reload data after a failure.

Preferences and Features

Dashboard Profile

Select Profile: Select a profile that may have been saved. This will load those settings. You may edit them and resave or return to the dashboard.

Save as Profile: You can save the current settings with a name than can be selected whenever you wish to load those same settings.

Tiles (aka: Widgets)

Tiles List (checkboxes): Show or hide individual dashboard Tiles.

Add Line Tiles: Inserts a divider line tile for visual grouping. The line represents a new section. Tiles will stop at the line and continue below that line.

Delete Line Tiles: Removes a previously added line Tile.

Move Up / Move Down arrows: Reorders Tiles.

Departments

Show dashboard results by department: Enables department-based KPI aggregation.

Department checkboxes: Select which departments are included when department mode is enabled.

Other Controls

Display options: Toggle Hover Effect, animation, and compact spacing.

Auto refresh dashboard: Enables automatic periodic refresh. The dashboard includes a manual refresh button.

Auto Refresh Every X Number of Minutes: Sets refresh interval.

Save Preferences: Saves settings.

Back to Dashboard: Returns to the dashboard without saving additional changes.

Preferences and Settings

Development of this product is fast, ongoing, and fluid. We will be adding content related to new preferences and capabilities. These include:

  • Standard and Gauge (like a speedometer) tile options.
  • Gauge Settings and preferences that allow you to customize the look of the gauge.
  • Windows Notifications and the ability to customize them. When certain events occur in Total Office Manager, you have the option of receiving a Windows notification.
  • Customize the images associated with the ratio or tile.
  • Customize the titles, names, size, position, and order of a ratio or tile.
  • Set the refresh rate of the dashboard. There is always a refresh on-demand button.
  • Dark mode and regular color mode.

There are many other settings and preferences with more being added frequently.

Step-by-Step Usage

Review KPI Status

  1. Be sure you have permissions to view the Executive Summary report. Contractor Compass 360™ shares that permission.
  2. From Total Office Manager, click Reports > Contractor Compass 360™. That will open Contractor Compass 360.
  3. Review each KPI card for Current Value, Prior Year, Change, and Percent Change.
  4. Use trend icons and percent chips to identify positive and negative movement.
  5. Click Refresh to update results.
  6. Set preferences to customize your experience.

Customize Tiles

  1. Right-click on the dashboard and select Open Preferences.
  2. In Tiles, check/uncheck items to show or hide them.
  3. Click Add Line Tiles to insert visual separators.
  4. Use Up/Down arrow buttons to sort Tiles order.
  5. Remove added line Tiles with the Delete icon.
  6. Click Save Preferences.

Filter by Department

  1. Open Preferences.
  2. Turn on Show dashboard results by department.
  3. Select one or more departments.
  4. Save preferences and return to the dashboard.

Note: When department filtering is enabled, Contractor Compass 360 uses department-level rows returned by the stored procedure, filters those rows to selected department names, and then totals the matching rows into company-level KPI values per metric key.

Tips

  • Be sure you have permissions to view the Executive Summary report. Contractor Compass 360™ shares that permission.
  • Bes sure you are using departments. Setup > Company > Lists > Departments.
  • Be sure to select Department on all transactions and records.
  • If no departments are selected while department mode is enabled, all available department rows are included.
  • Department filtering quality depends on accurate department assignment in source records.
  • If data fails to load, use Retry, verify database connectivity, and confirm the dashboard stored procedure exists.
  • Use Hide Header to maximize viewing area when working on smaller screens.
  • The current public version does not provide users with the ability to create their own Tile. That feature will be offered in the future.

Technical Information

The following information is provided for users who want a more detailed understanding of this feature. It includes the underlying financial values and operating data used to calculate financial ratios, key performance indicators (KPIs), and other performance measures. Additional details about each ratio and KPI are available on the related topic page.

If you need additional details, please let us know.

Underlying Values Included

These are the financial values, operating data points, and reporting period details used as stand-alone metrics and as inputs for calculated formulas, ratios, and key performance indicators. Nearly all these include a department filter. This allows you to set up dashboards by department.

Date Related:

As of Date (for reporting data)
Days in Period
Year

Metrics:

  1. Average Ticket Amount
  2. Accounts Payable
  3. Accounts Receivable
  4. Amortization
  5. Bank (cash in banks)
  6. Billable Employees
  7. COGS
  8. Credit Card
  9. Depreciation
  10. Equity
  11. Expenses (Overhead)
  12. Fixed Assets
  13. Income (Sales)
  14. Interest
  15. Inventory
  16. Labor COGS
  17. Labor Expenses
  18. Long Term Liability
  19. Net Profit
  20. Non-Billable Employees
  21. Number of Employees (adjusted)
  22. Other Asset
  23. Other Current Asset
  24. Other Current Liability
  25. Retained Earnings
  26. Sales Opportunities (all)
  27. Sales Opportunities (In-Progress)
  28. Taxes

Calculated Ratios and KPIs Included

The underlying values listed above are used to calculate the following financial ratios, key performance indicators (KPIs), and related performance measures. Nearly all these include a department filter. This allows you to set up dashboards by department.

  1. Accounts Payable Payment Period
  2. Accounts Payable to Equity
  3. Accounts Receivable Collection Period
  4. Altman Z2-Score
  5. Annual Income per Employee (annualized)
  6. Average Age of Inventory
  7. Billable vs. Unbillable Employees
  8. Breakeven Sales Factor
  9. Cash Flow (Today)
  10. Cash Flow YTD
  11. Cash to Working Capital
  12. Current Liabilities to Net Worth
  13. Doomsday Ratio
  14. DuPont ROE 3-Part Method
  15. DuPont ROE 5-Step Method
  16. EBITDA Margin
  17. Fixed Assets to Net Worth
  18. Gross Profit (Today)
  19. Gross Profit / Employee (Today)
  20. Gross Profit YTD
  21. Inventory Turnover
  22. Net Profit Before Tax (Today)
  23. Net Profit Before Tax YTD
  24. Owners’ Equity to Total Liabilities
  25. Randolph Sustainable Growth
  26. Retained Earnings to Total Assets
  27. Return on Assets
  28. Return on Owner’s Equity
  29. Revenue (Today)
  30. Revenue / Employee
  31. Revenue / Employee (Today)
  32. Revenue YTD
  33. Sales Leads (Today)
  34. Sales Leads YTD
  35. Sales Leads (Opportunities) YTD vs Last Year
  36. Sales to Administration Labor
  37. Sales to Billable (techs) Labor
  38. Sales to Net Working Capital
  39. Sales to Total Assets
  40. Sales to Total Labor Expense
  41. Time (current time, UTC, and time zones)
  42. Total Assets to Total Liabilities
  43. Weather (current local weather conditions)
  44. Working Capital to Total Assets

Related Help Topics

Financial Ratios. Their Meaning and Usage. – Aptora

 

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