Custom dashboards
Custom dashboards built around your exact use case
A custom dashboard puts the numbers your business runs on in one place and keeps them current without anyone updating a spreadsheet. I build them on top of the systems you already use, like your CRM, payment platform, and operations data, so the numbers are live. When partners or customers need their own view, they get a login that shows their numbers and nothing else.
- Most first builds
- 2 to 6 weeks
- Pricing
- Fixed scope, approved before work starts
- You own
- The code, the accounts, the docs
- Who builds it
- Matthew Ryan, first call to handoff
What a dashboard can show
Real examples, from dashboards already running.
Inventory and reorders
Real-time inventory by machine and automated reorder triggers, from the Skyway Vending admin dashboard.
Product and location performance
Run-rate analysis by SKU and performance by location, so you know what to restock and which locations are earning their spot.
Books that are always current
Financial reporting that stays right because the data syncs from the CRM on its own, as it does at WNY Moving.
Pipelines in one view
Consolidated, live analytics across customers, realtors, and leads, from the reporting layer inside Semres.
Partner payouts
A partner portal where each bar owner logs in to see their own revenue, their payout at their revenue-share rate, and how their location is performing.
Where the numbers come from
Most dashboards go stale because the data behind them is still typed in by hand. So the work starts underneath: connecting to your CRM, payment platform, and other systems through their APIs and webhooks, and removing the manual entry that feeds them.
Once nobody types the data in, the dashboard stays current.
When this is the right call, and when it is not
A good fit if
- Decisions wait on someone pulling numbers into a spreadsheet.
- Partners, franchisees, or customers ask for their numbers and someone emails them a file.
- Your data sits in several systems and nobody has one view of the business.
Probably not a fit if
- A one-time analysis. A spreadsheet or an analyst will do.
- Clean data in one system, read only by your own staff. A BI tool will do.
Power BI or a custom dashboard?
BI tools are good at what they do. The question is whether your problem is analysis, or data that never makes it in cleanly.
| Compared on | Power BI | Custom dashboard |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Analysts exploring data that is already clean and connected | Teams whose data still has to be collected, joined, or entered |
| Cost | Per-user licenses. Power BI Pro is listed at $14 per user per month, paid yearly. | A fixed build price and hosting on your own account. No per-viewer licenses. |
| Outside users | Sharing with partners or customers takes extra licensing and setup | Each partner gets a login that shows only their data |
| Data entry | Reads your data. It does not fix how it gets entered. | Built together with the forms and automations that feed it |
| Taking action | Data alerts, plus Power Automate for anything more | Actions built in, like reorder triggers or payout calculations |
The straight answer
If your data is already clean and only your own staff read it, a BI tool is the cheaper answer. A custom dashboard pays off when the data is scattered or typed in by hand, or when outside partners need their own view. It also makes sense when the dashboard should trigger work, like reorders or payouts.
Power BI pricing checked on Microsoft's pricing page, September 29, 2026.
Builds that shipped
What was there before, what got built, and what changed.
Skyway Vending
Vending
Founded and operate a nightlife vending company across Buffalo and Hamburg, and built the entire operations platform from scratch.
WNY Moving
Moving and storage
Full back-end automation and operations infrastructure for a moving company that was running its books in Excel.
Semres
Moving industry software
One integration and automation layer that sits between a moving company's CRM and its entire customer lifecycle, so the growth work runs without a dedicated ops hire.
How a build actually goes.
The same five steps on every engagement, so you always know what happens next and what it costs before it happens.
- I
Discovery call
Thirty minutes on how the business actually runs. What the team touches by hand, what breaks, and what nobody has time to fix. No slides and no pitch deck.
- II
Process mapping
I sit with the people doing the work and write down what actually happens, step by step. The real bottleneck is usually somewhere nobody flagged on the call.
- III
Proposal with hours
A fixed scope. Every piece listed with the hours it takes and what it costs. You approve the number before anything gets built.
- IV
Build with approval gates
Work ships in pieces and you sign off on each one. No multi-month black box, and no finding out at the end that it solves the wrong problem.
- V
Handoff
You get the code, the accounts, and written documentation covering how it works, what it touches, and what to do when something looks wrong. It runs without me.
- Optional
Then, if you want it, a retainer
Most clients keep me on a flat monthly retainer after handoff for monitoring, fixes, and small changes. It is optional, and everything is built so you are not stranded if you skip it.
Questions about custom dashboards
Can partners or customers log in to see their own numbers?
Yes. The Skyway Vending partner portal gives each bar owner a login showing their raw revenue, their payout at the revenue-share rate set when they signed on, and how their location is performing. The same pattern works for franchisees, clients, or vendors.
How live is live?
As live as the systems underneath allow. When a system pushes updates over webhooks, the dashboard changes as soon as the event lands. When a system only offers scheduled exports, the dashboard refreshes on that schedule. You will know which is which before the build starts.
Do we have to replace the software we already use?
No. The dashboard reads from the systems you already run. What usually goes away is the spreadsheet someone updates by hand.
How long does a dashboard take?
Most first builds land between two and six weeks from the discovery call, depending on how many systems have to talk to each other. You see working pieces at every approval gate along the way, so you are never waiting months to find out whether it does what you wanted.