Understanding Card Colour Indicators (Green / Amber / Red)
A guide to the green, amber, and red colour indicators on the AskBiz CFO metric cards — what each colour means for each card and what action to take.
Key Takeaways
- Green means healthy and comfortable, amber means monitor and plan, red means act immediately.
- Colour thresholds are relative — they reflect the relationship between your cash and your burn rate, not absolute numbers.
- The Daily Gain/Burn card uses green for positive and red for negative, without an amber state.
The Colour System Overview
AskBiz uses a traffic-light colour system across the CFO dashboard cards to give you an at-a-glance reading of your financial health. Green means the metric is in a healthy range and no immediate action is required. Amber means the metric is in a zone that warrants attention — you should have a plan but there is no immediate crisis. Red means the metric has crossed a threshold that requires prompt action. The colour system is designed to let you absorb the state of your business finances in seconds, without needing to read and interpret the raw numbers every time you open the dashboard.
Colour Indicators on the Cash Runway Card
The Cash Runway card has the most clearly defined colour thresholds. Green indicates more than 6 months of runway — you have substantial time to make decisions and execute plans. Amber indicates between 3 and 6 months of runway — this is the planning zone: enough time to act, but not so much that you can afford to delay. Red indicates less than 3 months of runway — immediate action is required. This might mean accelerating revenue, cutting costs, or securing additional funding. The three-month threshold was chosen because meaningful cost reductions or revenue changes typically take 4–8 weeks to take full effect, giving you a small buffer to act before the situation becomes critical.
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Start for free →Colour Indicators on the Daily Gain/Burn Card
The Daily Net Gain/Burn card uses a simpler two-state colour system. Green indicates a positive daily net gain — your business is generating cash each day. Red indicates a negative daily position — a burn state where you are drawing on cash reserves. There is no amber state for this card because the distinction is binary: you are either cash-flow positive or you are not. A business operating in the red is not necessarily in crisis — planned burn phases are normal — but the red colour signals that monitoring and time-sensitivity are required. The intensity of the red figure (a small burn vs a large one) gives you additional context beyond the colour alone.
Colour Indicators on the Cash Balance Card
The Cash Balance card's colour is contextual rather than based on absolute thresholds. A high cash balance that still results in a short runway (due to high burn) may display amber or red rather than green. Conversely, a modest cash balance with a very low burn rate may display green. The colour reflects the adequacy of the balance relative to your operating costs. This means two businesses with identical cash balances can see different colours on their Cash Balance cards if their burn rates differ significantly. The goal is to show you whether your balance is appropriate for your cost structure, not just whether you have a large number in the account.