PurposeWhat decision does it serve?
Strategic dashboard
A few outcome measures against long-term targets, so leaders can check direction and move resources.
Example dashboard
Click a widget to see its data
Company performance
FY2026 · Board view
Closed through August · Updated 5 SepShare
Revenue YTD
$48.2M
+8.1% vs last year
Revenue vs target
96%
−4 pts to target
Gross margin
41.6%
+1.2 pts vs last year
Active customers
3,420
+6% vs last year
Revenue vs target by month
RevenueTarget
Revenue by region (YTD)
EMEA$18.4M
Americas$16.9M
APAC$9.6M
Middle East$3.3M
Gross margin by segment
Enterprise44.2%
Mid-market40.1%
Small business35.8%
The data model behind it
Monthly revenue snapshotA monthly periodic snapshot at a coarse grain: one row per month, region and segment. Small, fast and stable, which suits a board view, but it cannot explain why a number moved: the detail was left out on purpose.
- Tables read
- 4 of 4
- Joins
- 3
- Fact type
- Periodic snapshot (monthly aggregate)
- Grain
- One row per month, region and segment
- Refresh
- Monthly, after the financial close
Widgets
Highlighted: every table this view reads. Pick a widget to isolate its query.
Where it sits in the taxonomy
Its audience decides direction: goals, budgets and priorities, over quarters or years. When the decisions are about executing an agreed plan week to week, it is tactical instead.
- Does its audience own a decision the dashboard was built to support?Yes
- Is the main question “why did this happen?”No, they check how things are going
- How soon do they act on what they see?Over quarters or years
- Strategic dashboard
At a glance
- Audience
- Executives and the board
- Decision horizon
- Quarters to years
- Refresh
- Monthly or quarterly
- Interaction
- Minimal: read in a few minutes
- Typical content
- Four to six KPIs against target, long trends
Not to be confused with
- Tactical dashboard
- Tactical tracks the execution of a fixed plan week by week. Strategic asks whether the plan and its targets are still the right ones.
- Analytical dashboard
- Analytical lets you dig into causes. Strategic shows outcomes at a glance and leaves the investigation to other tools.
How to recognise it
- Numbers change once a month
- Every KPI sits next to a target or last year
- Drill-down stops after one level
Use it for
- Board packs and leadership reviews
- Checking whether a strategy is working
Avoid it for
- People need to act this week
- The question is why a number moved