Reporting and management information
Know how the business is doing without an evening in spreadsheets
Your weekly numbers shouldn’t depend on someone staying late to pull figures from five places. We set up reporting that mostly puts itself together from the records you already keep, so you check it rather than build it.
In short
Propel sets up reporting for owner-managed businesses using records they already keep, such as jobs, orders, timesheets and invoices, so regular reports mostly assemble themselves. We agree which numbers matter, connect the sources and flag missing or conflicting information. A person always reviews the report before it’s shared.
Sound familiar?
Signs it’s worth a conversation
Any one of these is a good reason to talk. They’re common, and they’re usually fixable without turning the business upside down.
- Weekly or monthly figures are pulled together by hand from several systems.
- Different reports give different answers to the same question.
- You find out a job lost money weeks after it finished.
- It’s hard to see which customers, jobs or teams actually make money.
- Reporting depends on the one person who knows where everything is.
What we do
How we help with reporting and management information
Agree the numbers that matter
We start with the decisions you want to make, then the handful of figures that help with them. We don’t try to report everything.
Connect the sources
We pull information from the systems you already use, so the report updates without anyone exporting or copying.
Show the gaps
A good report makes missing or conflicting information obvious instead of smoothing it over, so you know what to check.
Keep a person in the loop
Reports are prepared automatically, then reviewed by someone before they’re shared or relied on.
What it could look like
An installation business
An illustrative example, not a client result. What makes sense for you depends on how your work actually runs.
The owner spent Sunday evenings combining job, timesheet and invoice spreadsheets to see how the week had gone.
A weekly summary of jobs completed, hours, invoiced work and anything overdue is ready on Monday morning, with missing timesheets flagged.
How it works
From a first call to a change in daily use
You’ll know what we’re suggesting, and what it would cost, before any work starts.
We talk
A 30-minute call about how your operation works and what you’d like to be easier.
We look at how the work runs
We spend time with you and the people doing the work, and look at the tools, sheets and messages you use day to day.
We agree what to change
We suggest what would help most, in plain terms, with what’s involved and what it would cost, before anything starts.
We put it in place
We set things up, connect and build what’s needed, show your team how it works and adjust it once it’s in daily use.
Questions
Questions about reporting and management information
What can be reported automatically?
Anything already recorded somewhere: jobs completed, hours worked, orders, invoices and overdue work. If the information isn’t captured yet, we’ll suggest the simplest way to start capturing it.
Do we need a dashboard tool?
Not always. Sometimes a well-built spreadsheet or a scheduled email report is the right answer. We suggest whatever fits how you actually look at the numbers.
What if our data is messy?
Most businesses’ data is. Part of the work is tidying what matters and making gaps visible, so the report gets more reliable over time rather than hiding problems.
Who checks the reports?
You, or someone you choose. Reports are prepared automatically, but a person reviews them before they’re relied on or shared.
Related
Often goes hand in hand with
- Connecting your business softwareQuoting, jobs, CRM and accounts passing details to each other, so nobody re-keys them.
- Automating repetitive adminReminders, confirmations, follow-ups and paperwork that happen on their own.
- Internal tools and custom softwareA small, focused tool built around how you work, when off-the-shelf software doesn’t fit.
Talk to us about reporting and management information
Book a 30-minute introductory call. Bring an example of something that takes more effort than it should, or just tell us how a normal week goes.