Bank balances, unpaid invoices, monthly profitability: three dashboards concentrate the management data of an SME. Natively integrated, they are powered without manual manipulation.
Managing an SME means constantly answering three questions: do I have available money, do my customers pay me, and is my business profitable? The cash flow dashboard, the customer outstanding table and the expenses and income table each respond to this at their own level. None replaces the other.
Cash flow, customer outstandings and results: the three levels of financial reading of an SME
Many managers follow their cash flow without monitoring their outstanding amounts, or analyze their results without anticipating their flows. Result: an SME can display decent profitability while experiencing cash flow stress due to lack of timely collections. According to the 2024 report from the Banque de France’s Payment Deadlines Observatory, payment delays tie up 15 billion euros of cash flow in French SMEs each year.
These three dashboards are complementary because they do not measure the same thing: cash flow measures the liquidity available at a given time, outstandings measure short-term customer risk, and results measure the performance of the activity over a period. A manager who consults all three has a complete financial reading, with no blind spots.
| Dashboard | Key indicators | What it measures |
| Cash | Available balance, monthly flow trends, supplier schedule | Liquidity available in the short term |
| Customer outstandings | Unpaid invoices, age of delays, outstanding amounts authorized by customer | Medium-term customer risk |
| Costs and results | Monthly evolution of expenses/income, income statement, comparison N-1 | Profitability of the activity over the period |
Three native dashboards, zero exports: what integrated accounting software covers
Integrated accounting software centralizes data from commercial and accounting flows in a single environment: invoices issued and received, bank statements, analytical entries. This centralization is the condition for the dashboards to update automatically, without manual manipulation or export to a third-party tool. According to the Xerfi report “The accounting software market by 2028” from October 2025, large multi-business publishers with hybrid architecture dominate the French market precisely thanks to this functional depth.
Non-integrated software requires going back and forth between tools: billing data is in one tool, bank statements in another. Each manual synchronization is a source of error and a waste of time. According to France Num, accounting represents the most repetitive part of the 6 to 8 hours per week devoted to administrative tasks by a small business manager.
Among the software natively integrating financial management dashboards, we find solutions like Pennylane or Tiime, as well as Sage 50. Sage 50 is accounting and commercial management software published by the Sage group, listed on the FTSE 100, whose solutions are deployed in more than 20 countries.
It natively integrates three dashboards, cash flow, customer outstandings and expenses and results, automatically fed by the flows recorded in the software, without export or re-entry. These tables are customizable and accessible from the main interface as well as from the mobile application, according to information published on the Sage website.
The cash flow dashboard: view balances and anticipate flows
The cash flow dashboard displays three indicators in real time: the balance available on bank accounts, the monthly evolution of inflows and outflows in graphic form, and the supplier schedule with due dates. Together, they make it possible to anticipate cash flow pressure before it materializes, without waiting for the monthly closing.
From September 1, 2026, the electronic invoicing reform strengthens the usefulness of this dashboard. An electronic invoice transmitted via an approved platform is time-stamped at each stage: issue, reception, collection, payment. This monitoring eliminates the margins of interpretation on the due date and mechanically reduces the DSO, i.e. the average time for collection of customer receivables. According to the first edition of the Agicap Data Pulse published in early 2026, the DSO of French SMEs reached on average 65 days over the whole of 2025, beyond the legal ceiling of 60 days set by article L.441-10 of the Commercial Code.
The customer outstanding dashboard: identify unpaid debts and trigger reminders
The customer outstanding dashboard displays in real time the list of unpaid invoices, filterable by customer, by amount and by age of delay. It allows you to identify priority debtors at a glance and trigger a reminder from the first day of delay, without waiting for a manually produced monthly statement. According to the 2024 report from the Banque de France’s Payment Deadlines Observatory (published in 2025), payment delays tie up 15 billion euros of cash flow in French SMEs each year.
The customer outstandings table also allows you to define an authorized outstanding amount per customer, i.e. the maximum amount of unpaid invoices accepted simultaneously. As soon as this threshold is crossed, an alert is automatically triggered. This mechanism makes it possible to anticipate the risk of non-payment before it transforms into bad debt, and to block a new order or initiate a commercial discussion at the right time.
The expenses and results dashboard: measuring profitability month by month
The expenses and income dashboard displays the monthly evolution of expenses and income in graphic form, as well as the income statement and intermediate situations. It allows you to compare the data from the current financial year with that from the previous financial year, over a configurable period. It is the only one of the three dashboards which answers the question of the real profitability of the activity, independently of the available cash flow.
An SME can show positive cash flow while seeing its margins gradually deteriorate. This is precisely what this dashboard detects: an increase in expenses not offset by an equivalent increase in turnover, or a drop in margin on a specific product line. These signals, identified month by month, make it possible to adjust a pricing policy or reduce a cost item before the impact becomes structural.
Are these dashboards accessible without accounting training?
Dashboards in integrated accounting software are designed to be read by a manager, not just an accountant. Indicators are presented in graphical form, with color codes and automatic alerts that flag anomalies without the user having to interpret accounting entries. Most integrated software allows each user to configure the indicators they want to see appear first on their home screen.
Mobile access reinforces this accessibility. The mobile applications of integrated accounting software provide access to the same indicators as the desktop interface: current sales, current purchases, pending collections. A manager can consult the status of his cash flow or his outstanding receivables from his phone, without opening the software on his workstation. The accounting function remains managed by the internal accountant or the accountant, but reading the dashboards does not require this level of expertise.
FAQ: accounting dashboards, your frequently asked questions
What is the difference between an accounting dashboard and a cash flow dashboard?
A cash flow dashboard measures the liquidity available at any given time: bank balances, incoming and outgoing flows, upcoming due dates. An accounting dashboard covers a broader scope: expenses, products, results, margins. The two are complementary. A manager who only consults the cash flow may miss a gradual deterioration in his profitability, and vice versa.
How often should you consult your financial dashboards?
The cash flow dashboard should be consulted daily, particularly to monitor supplier due dates and expected collections. The table of customer outstandings can be consulted at least once a week to trigger reminders on time. The expenses and results table is relevant in monthly reading, in comparison with the previous month and with the year N-1.
Does an accounting dashboard replace a chartered accountant?
An accounting dashboard provides real-time management indicators, but does not replace the analysis of an accountant for annual closings, the production of tax packages or complex tax decisions. The two are complementary: the dashboard controls daily life, the accountant validates and secures the exercises.
Does the 2026 electronic invoicing reform change the data displayed in the dashboards?
From September 1, 2026, electronic invoices transmitted via an approved platform are time-stamped at each stage: issue, reception, handling, payment. This status data is automatically reported in the integrated software dashboards. Monitoring of receipts and DSO gains in precision without manual intervention.
Can we customize the indicators displayed in an accounting dashboard?
Most integrated accounting software allows you to configure the indicators displayed primarily on the home screen. This customization allows a manager to concentrate his reading on the data most relevant to his activity, without having to navigate through all the available reports.
Are the dashboards accessible from a smartphone?
The main integrated accounting software offers a mobile application giving access to key indicators: current sales, current purchases, pending collections. This accessibility allows a manager to consult the financial statement of his company at any time, without being connected to his workstation.
Sources
- Xerfi — “The accounting software market by 2028”, October 2025
- Banque de France — Annual report of the Payment Deadlines Observatory 2024, published on July 10, 2025
- Agicap Data Pulse — first edition, transactional data from more than 8,000 companies, published in early 2026
- France Num — government system to support the digital transformation of businesses — francenum.gouv.fr
- Commercial Code — article L.441-10, from the LME law of August 4, 2008
- impots.gouv.fr — official list of approved platforms, consulted in May 2026
- Finance Law 2026 — LAW no. 2026-103 of February 19, 2026
- sage.com/fr-fr — Sage 50, dashboards and features, accessed in May 2026
