Why management dashboards are essential for staying competitive and agile in a turbulent economy.
Companies must stay competitive and resilient in today's turbulent economy. They need to find ways to lower their total business costs and soften the effects of inflation. A good place to start is taking a close look at your cash flow. Financial data is the only thing that shows how this widespread inflation is affecting your company.
In May 2022, inflation in the eurozone reached a staggering 8.1%, the highest level in forty years according to the latest Eurostat survey. Fortunately, inflation in May did not rise as sharply as in previous months in Europe, and the pace of growth also varies from country to country, yet it still hit a record high. Inflation (which remains high not only in the EU, but also in the United Kingdom, the United States and beyond) is guaranteed to make life harder for the business world.
This record inflation in the eurozone is the result of many factors. It all started with Covid-19, which caused a drop in economic activity. Combined with sharply higher energy and transport prices, and finally salary increases and general price rises, this is making things harder and harder for companies. The war in Ukraine and other factors are also driving this inflation.
Taking a close look at your cash flow is the first step to anticipating this extraordinary situation. Financial data is the only thing that shows how this widespread inflation is affecting your company. To anticipate quickly and spot risk factors, it is essential today to have an up-to-date view of your financial data, and above all your cash flow.
One real-life case is Engels, a family business founded by two brothers in 1945 that has grown into a group of seventeen companies with 210 employees. The company offers top-quality window and door solutions in wood, aluminum and PVC.
In this case, Engels confirms the importance of up-to-date insight into financial data:
"Real-time dashboards in EMASPHERE are a real added value for us. Every morning, the data is updated automatically. We can see the effect of the decisions we make, right up to date. In a stable economic situation, that would not be necessary, but today things change so quickly that you have to anticipate fast."
Christophe Engels, CEO Engels NV
"Aluminum prices are going through the roof. Knowing that raw material prices will keep rising, we chose to increase our inventory. But the main challenge was knowing where we stood with our liquidity and cash flow. There can easily be six months between when we buy aluminum and when our customers pay for their windows. So we needed a clear view of whether we could pre-finance that larger inventory or whether we needed additional financing. Factors such as higher salary costs and energy prices also play a big role. Thanks to EMASPHERE, we can track these costs and revenues not weekly or monthly, but at any moment of the day."
"You also need to be able to detect risks hidden below the tip of the iceberg in time. By the time they surface, it is often too late, and they spread through the entire company like an oil stain."
Christophe Engels, CEO Engels NV
Our conclusion: insight into financial data, and specifically cash flow, has become a must in this turbulent economic climate. To support you, we developed a dedicated cash dashboard with more than seventy KPIs for cash monitoring.
EMASPHERE is a reporting tool that presents your financial and operational data in up-to-date, structured dashboards.