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QuickBooks Online Groups · Track 3 · Tutorial 3 of 3

Build class dashboards from operational data

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Build the store dashboard from the operational dataset, and it works on the group: every company’s stores side by side, translated into the group currency.

You will needThe QuickBooks: Class dataset loaded and the rates checked, as in Read classes as operational data. Free, Pro or Premium edition.
By the endA Stores dashboard on your group: Sales by store, Net Income by store and a year-to-date ranking, all in SGD.

1Build on the dataset

Every card on this dashboard reads QuickBooks: Class, the dataset described in Read classes as operational data. On your group it is translated into SGD month by month, and it holds every line of the profit and loss, not only revenue and net profit.

The Store Performance and Department P&L templates under Template Start are quicker to start from, but they read each company in its own currency and only revenue, expenses and net profit. Use them on a single company; build on the dataset for the group.

2Start the dashboard on your group

  1. Select your group.
  2. Open Dashboards → Custom, and click Add a new dashboard.
  3. Type Stores in the name box.

Built on the group, the dashboard shows every company’s stores together in SGD. Built on one company, the same cards show only its stores, in its own currency.

3Chart sales by store

  1. Click Add a widget, and choose Chart.
  2. Type a title, such as Sales by store, and choose Bar as the Chart Type.
  3. Under Data Source, choose QuickBooks: Class from the Operational Data group.
  4. Set Group by to Class, and P&L Line to Sales.
  5. In the list below, tick the stores to show — the five largest are ticked to start with.
  6. Set Period to Last 6 Months, and click Add Widget.
Add Card for a bar chart: Data Source QuickBooks: Class under Operational Data, Group by Class, P&L Line Sales, the stores to show ticked, Period Last 6 Months, and a preview by month in SGD
The dataset (1), the line it reads (2), the stores shown (3), the months (4), and the preview in SGD (5).

A card reads one P&L line at a time, so it never adds a subtotal to the lines above it. Set Group by to P&L Line instead to see one store’s lines side by side.

4Add net income over the year

  1. Add another chart from QuickBooks: Class, grouped by Class, with P&L Line set to Net Income.
  2. Choose Line as the Chart Type and Last 12 Months as the Period, and click Add Widget.

Each store is one line, so a store whose profit falls while the others rise stands out.

5Rank the stores

  1. Click Add a widget, and choose Table.
  2. Under Table Type, choose QuickBooks: Class from Operational Data.
  3. Set Group by to Class and P&L Line to Sales.
  4. Set Data Type to YTD.
  5. Under Columns, keep Value and Share %; tick Records or Avg Value if you want them. Click Add Widget.
Add Card for a table: Table Type QuickBooks: Class under Operational Data, Group by Class, P&L Line Sales, Data Type YTD, and the columns Class, Value and Share %, with a preview ranking the stores
The dataset (1), the year to date (2), and the columns (3).

The table lists the top 10 stores by value, each with its share of the total. Data Type also offers Current Month and vs Last Year.

6Save and read it

  1. Drag the cards into place, and click Save.
  2. Open the dashboard from Dashboards → Custom.
A dashboard on your group built from QuickBooks: Class: Sales by store for the last six months, a year-to-date ranking with each store’s share, and Net Income by store for the last 12 months, all in SGD
Sales by month (1), the year-to-date ranking (2), and Net Income over 12 months (3).
The barsWhether each store is growing, month by month. Compare a store with itself, not with a store of a different size.
Share %Where the year’s sales come from. In the example Stores:Boston brings in 27.0% of the year’s Sales.
The Net Income linesWhich stores turn their sales into profit. A store high in the ranking but low here sells a lot at a thin margin.

Check

October’s bar for Stores:London is 52,632 — GBP 30,000 ÷ 0.5700. For any store, the table’s Value equals its Sales row in the QuickBooks: Class operational report added up from January to the month you are on, with your group selected.

7Keep it current

The dashboard reads the months you loaded. The nightly read keeps the last 6 months up to date; for a month older than that, or one you changed in QuickBooks, load P&L by Class again on Data Loading. A new store appears on its own once it is a child class of Stores in QuickBooks and the month is loaded.

8If something goes wrong

What you seeWhat to do
QuickBooks: Class isn’t in the Data Source listNo month has been loaded for the company yet — see Bring in classes.
The group’s figures look too large for one companyA month has no exchange rate for its currency, so it was read untranslated. Add the rate on Exchange Rates.
A store is missingIt has no amounts in the months shown, or it isn’t ticked in the chart’s list. Edit the card and tick it.
The chart adds up to more than the profit and lossIt isn’t: each card reads one P&L line. Check which line is chosen under P&L Line.

Want more detail? See the documentation

QuickBooks Classes & Consolidation Customizing Dashboards Type of Widget in Custom Dashboard
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