What Is the CFO Dashboard on AskBiz?
A plain-English overview of the AskBiz CFO dashboard — what it tracks, which metrics it surfaces, and why every small business owner should use it.
Key Takeaways
- The CFO dashboard lives inside the Intelligence tab and gives you a real-time snapshot of your financial health.
- Four metric cards — Cash Balance, Daily Net Gain/Burn, Monthly Fixed Costs, and Cash Runway — are the core of the dashboard.
- You configure your own cost data so the calculations are accurate for your specific business.
What Is the AskBiz CFO Dashboard?
The CFO dashboard is a financial command centre built into AskBiz at askbiz.co. It is designed to answer the questions every business owner asks themselves: How much cash do I have? Am I burning money or making it? How long can I keep operating at this pace? You do not need to be a CFO or an accountant to use it. The dashboard takes information you already know — your current bank balance and your regular costs — and turns it into clear, colour-coded numbers that update as your business changes. It lives inside the Intelligence tab under the Cash Flow sub-tab and is accessible from any device.
The Four Core Metric Cards
The dashboard centres on four metric cards arranged across the top of the screen. Cash Balance shows the liquid cash your business currently holds. Daily Net Gain/Burn shows whether you are earning more than you are spending each day, or burning through reserves. Monthly Fixed Costs shows the total of all predictable recurring expenses you have configured. Cash Runway tells you how many months you can keep operating at the current burn rate before cash runs out. Each card uses colour coding — green for healthy, amber for caution, red for urgency — so you can read the state of your business at a glance without doing any maths.
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See this in action for your business
AskBiz tracks these metrics automatically — just connect your data and start asking questions.
Start for free →The Cost Configuration Drawer
The numbers in the cards are only as accurate as the cost data you put in. The Cost Configuration Drawer is a slide-in panel where you enter your real business costs. It has three tabs: Cash Balance (where you enter your current bank balance), Fixed Costs (predictable monthly expenses like rent, salaries, and subscriptions), and Variable Costs (expenses that fluctuate with activity, like shipping and ad spend). You can use the preset category rows or add your own. All data is saved locally in your browser so it persists between sessions without requiring a separate account sync.
Why It Matters for Small Business Owners
Most small business owners manage finances reactively — they check their bank account when something feels wrong. The CFO dashboard shifts you to a proactive mindset. When you can see your daily burn rate and runway length every morning, you make different decisions. You prioritise cash-generating activities before problems occur. You spot that a new software subscription pushed your fixed costs above a comfortable threshold. You notice that your runway dropped from 8 months to 5 months over a single quarter. These are the insights that let you act before a crisis rather than during one. The dashboard does not replace your accountant; it gives you the context to have better conversations with them.
What the Dashboard Does Not Do
It is worth being clear about scope. The CFO dashboard is a planning and monitoring tool, not a full accounting system. It does not file taxes, reconcile bank accounts, or replace dedicated bookkeeping software. The calculations rely on data you enter manually, so it reflects your understanding of your costs rather than pulling live banking data. Think of it as a dynamic financial model you keep updated rather than an automated accounting ledger. When you enter your costs accurately and update your cash balance regularly, the dashboard becomes one of the most useful daily habits you can build into your business routine.