Finance Insights
Last update:
07/21/2026
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Finance Insights Overview
- Introduction to Finance Insights
- Dashboards & KPIs
- Cash Flow & Forecasting
- Budget vs Actual & Profitability
- Customer & Vendor Risk Screens
- Audit Trail, Reconciliation & Compliance Screens
Dashboards & KPIs
Cash Flow & Forecasting
Customer & Vendor Analytics
Performance & Profitability
Audit & Compliance Screens
Audit Trail, Reconciliation & Compliance Screens
Catching Problems Before the Auditor Does
The Finance Insights > Audit menu is aimed at accountants and controllers rather than executives — screens that surface exceptions and reconciliation gaps rather than headline KPIs.
| Screen | What It's For |
|---|---|
| Journal Audit Trail | Who posted/edited which journal entries and when — for internal control review. |
| Anomalous Transactions | Flags entries that don't fit normal patterns (unusual amount, account combination, or timing) for manual review. |
| Negative Balance Alerts | Accounts sitting in a balance direction they shouldn't (e.g. an asset account with a credit balance) — often a data-entry error. |
| Bank Reconciliation Status | Which bank accounts/periods are fully reconciled vs still open, across the whole company at a glance. |
| Tax Reconciliation Audit | Compares tax collected/paid per the ledger against what tax returns actually reported. |
| Tax & VAT Dashboard | Live view of tax liability building up through the period, ahead of the filing deadline. |
| Credit Notes Audit | Volume and reasons behind credit notes issued — a spike can indicate a quality or pricing-process problem. |
| Refund Rate Tracker | Refunds as a share of sales, trended over time. |
| Payment Method Mix | Split of how customers actually pay (cash/card/transfer/etc.) — useful for reconciling processor fees and cash handling risk. |
| Top Account Movements | Largest balance changes per account in the period — a fast way to explain "why did this number move so much". |
| Account Movement Velocity | How frequently/quickly specific accounts are turning over — unusually high velocity on a normally-quiet account is worth investigating. |
| Year-End Checklist | A structured checklist of the standard year-end closing tasks (see the Accounting course's "Period-End Closing Process" article) so nothing is missed during annual close. |
Best Practices
- Review the KPI dashboard daily for at least 5 minutes.
- Set realistic KPI targets and review quarterly.
- Monitor cash flow forecast weekly to avoid liquidity crunches.
- Share the dashboard with department heads for visibility.
- Run through the Audit screens monthly, not just at year-end — catching an anomalous entry the month it happened is far easier than untangling it during annual close.
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