The dashboard is the first thing your team sees every morning. Each widget answers one question — knowing which question makes the difference between a glance and a useful 30-second standup.

Top — Hero stats

The greeting + four KPI cards: This-Month Revenue · Outstanding Invoices · Overdue Invoices · Clients Active. Each card compares to last month with an arrow. Watch for: outstanding climbing faster than revenue (collections are slipping), or overdue jumping (something specific has gone wrong with a key customer).

Quick Actions

Six tiles that jump straight into 'new invoice / new lead / new payment / etc.'. Use the keyboard — most tiles support a one-letter shortcut.

Recent Activity Timeline (centre)

Every event in the system in chronological order — invoices issued, payments received, leads created, payroll runs approved, GRNs received. Filter by event type or user. Read 5 minutes of timeline before the morning standup and you've replaced the standup.

Business Overview (right)

Counts: total clients, total products, total invoices, total leads. Useful for sanity checks — 'we have 2 invoices and 478 leads' is a different problem from 'we have 478 invoices and 2 leads'.

Getting Started Progress (right, while incomplete)

5-step onboarding checklist that disappears once complete. Logo + first client + first product + first invoice + organisation profile. Don't dismiss until done — every step unlocks something downstream.

Payroll Setup (right, HR-access only)

Separate 7-step payroll-specific checklist. Lives next to the general checklist; collapses to a single 'all set' bar when 100%. See Phase 2 / Payroll Setup help.

Quick Reports (right)

Five top-line reports — P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow, Aged Receivables, Aged Payables — one click each. Each opens with the default date range (this month for P&L / Cash Flow; right now for Balance Sheet / aging) and lets you change it from the top of the report.

Daily / weekly use

1. Morning — check Hero Stats: is revenue tracking? Are receivables in line?
2. Morning — scan Recent Activity for anything unexpected (a refund, a large invoice, a payroll run waiting for approval).
3. Once a week — open each Quick Report and skim the totals. Sudden moves are the signal.
4. Once a month — clear out the Getting Started checklist + Payroll Setup checklist remainders.