Guide ยท Everyone
Reporting that starts with one number
Our data is a mess. Where do we start on reporting?
Start with one number everyone agrees on, usually gross profit per load by customer, and get it out of the TMS before you buy a warehouse. Dashboards come last; definitions come first.
ASSUMEDWe assumed a brokerage or 3PL with a TMS, a separate accounting system and department spreadsheets in between.
Your stack, as you described it
Where people are the glue
- Three versions of margin, one per spreadsheet
- Someone rebuilds the report every Monday
Three ways through
- Use what you haveOften enough
Your TMS reporting, one agreed definition per KPI, and a weekly ritual that uses it. Boring, and where most of the value is.
- ConnectWhat we'd do
TMS, accounting, ELD and visibility into one warehouse with a canonical load record, so margin, minutes per load and days to invoice come from the same place.
- BuildOnly if it's your edge
Custom analytics only when the insight is what you sell, as it is for some freight-tech vendors and 4PLs.
What happens next
- The Diagnostic produces the first three numbers from your own orders and invoices.
- Connect builds the warehouse feed; Run keeps it fed.
Have a different stack? Ask the guide.
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