Most SME directors run their business on gut feel and monthly management accounts. By the time you see the numbers, you're looking at history. The decisions that would have mattered were made three weeks ago, based on intuition rather than data.
A proper CEO dashboard changes this completely. Real-time visibility into the metrics that actually matter. Not vanity numbers or interesting-but-useless statistics—the figures that tell you whether to worry or accelerate.
Here are the seven metrics every SME director should see daily.
1. Cash Position and Runway
How much cash do you have today? Not last week, not at month-end—right now. And based on your current burn rate and incoming receivables, how many weeks of runway does that represent?
This single metric has saved more businesses than any other. Cash is oxygen. When it runs out, nothing else matters. A daily view of cash position with a rolling runway calculation catches problems while you still have time to act.
2. Sales Pipeline Value
Total value of opportunities in your pipeline, weighted by probability of closing. A £100,000 opportunity at 30% probability counts as £30,000.
Here's the rule: if your weighted pipeline is less than three times your monthly revenue target, you have a problem coming. You just can't see it in the revenue figures yet because those reflect deals closed months ago. The pipeline tells you what's coming.
3. Aged Debtors
Not just total receivables—the ageing breakdown matters. How much is current? How much is 30+ days overdue? 60+ days? 90+ days?
A spike in aged debt is often the first sign of trouble. Maybe a key customer is struggling financially. Maybe your invoicing process has broken down. Maybe your credit terms are too generous. Whatever the cause, catch it early. Money owed for 90+ days has roughly a 50% chance of becoming a bad debt.
4. Gross Margin Trend
Your gross margin last month compared to the previous three months. Is it stable? Rising? Falling?
A declining gross margin often hides behind growing revenue. Sales are up 20%! But if costs grew 25%, you're actually going backwards. By the time margin erosion shows up in net profit, you've been losing ground for months. Track it weekly, catch it early.
5. Customer Acquisition Cost
Total sales and marketing spend divided by new customers acquired in the same period. How much does it cost to win a customer?
This metric matters in context. If your average customer is worth £10,000 over their lifetime, spending £2,000 to acquire them makes sense. If they're worth £1,000, you're destroying value with every sale. Watch for CAC creeping up over time—it's a sign your market is getting harder or your approach is getting stale.
6. Utilisation Rate
For service businesses: billable hours as a percentage of available hours. For product businesses: production capacity utilised.
This tells you whether you're running efficiently. Below 60% utilisation in a services business means you're carrying too much overhead. Above 85% means burnout is coming and quality will suffer. The sweet spot is usually 70-80%.
It also tells you when to hire. If utilisation has been above 80% for three months, you need more capacity. If it's below 60%, you need more sales.
7. Customer Satisfaction Score
A leading indicator of retention and referrals. This could be Net Promoter Score, customer satisfaction survey results, or review ratings—whatever makes sense for your business.
Financial metrics are lagging indicators. They tell you what already happened. Customer satisfaction tells you what's about to happen. Happy customers stay and refer. Unhappy customers leave and warn others. By the time it shows up in your revenue, it's too late to fix.
Building Your Dashboard
The technology is the easy part. Power BI can pull data from your accounting system, CRM, project management tools, and payment processors into a single view. A good Power BI agency or business intelligence consultancy can have you up and running in two to four weeks.
The hard part is discipline. A dashboard only works if you look at it. Make it your morning routine. Coffee, email, dashboard. Five minutes to scan the numbers, spot anything unusual, and decide if action is needed.
Many London businesses and UK SMEs work with a reporting agency or BI consultancy to build their first executive dashboard, then maintain it themselves once the foundation is solid. That's often the most cost-effective approach.
Start with cash and pipeline—they're the most critical. Add metrics as you prove the value to yourself. Within a month, you'll wonder how you ever ran the business without it.
The goal isn't more data. It's better decisions, made faster. Seven numbers, checked daily, will transform how you run your company.