Virtual CFO Dashboard 2025 — India

The Virtual CFO Dashboard: 15 Metrics India Founders Should Track

The Virtual CFO India 2025 is all about faster, better decisions. This Top-in-India framework outlines the 15 CFO dashboard metrics every Indian startup/SME should watch — from cash runway & burn multiple to EBITDA margin, DSO/DPO/DIO, ARR/MRR, CAC:LTV, unit economics and board MIS. Need help? Our Virtual CFO services are known as Top virtual CFO firms in India and the Best outsourced CFO for clean, investor-grade dashboards — truly Top-notch service in India.

1) Liquidity & Cash runway

Your survival meters. Prioritise visibility and alerts.

• Cash Runway (Months) — cash & equivalents ÷ average monthly burn. Tag “Top risk” if < 9 months for venture-backed; aim 12–18 months.
• Burn Multiple — net burn ÷ net new revenue. Best-in-India target ≤ 1.5 in growth, ≤ 1.0 in efficiency mode.
• Operating Cash Flow (OCF) — trend vs EBITDA; persistent gaps flag collections or inventory issues.

2) Profitability & Efficiency

Quality of earnings drives valuation and resilience.

• Gross Margin % — by product/channel; Top dashboards show mix shifts and price discounts.
• EBITDA Margin % — add waterfall: gross profit → Opex blocks (S&M, G&A, R&D) for clean Board MIS.
• Opex Ratio — Opex/Revenue; Best CFOs track efficiency vs hiring plan and automation savings.

3) Working Capital Discipline

Freeing cash beats raising cash.

• DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) — collections velocity; add top-10 overdue and collector-wise targets.
• DPO (Days Payables Outstanding) — negotiate India-centric credit; protect vendor relationships.
• DIO (Days Inventory Outstanding) — stock turns, dead/slow-moving alerts; link to purchase planning.

4) Revenue Engine & Retention

Sustainable growth beats headline growth.

• ARR/MRR — growth rate, net new, expansion vs contraction; Top SaaS dashboards show logo churn and net revenue retention.
• CAC : LTV — by channel/segment; Best practice: payback period in months ≤ 12 (SaaS) or ≤ 18 (enterprise).
• Cohort Retention & Churn — revenue and logo cohorts; plot India-specific seasonality and pricing experiments.

5) Control, Forecast & Board MIS

Make the Board pack investor-grade.

• Budget vs Actuals (BvA) — revenue, margin, Opex, headcount; add variance drivers and corrective actions.
• 12-Month Rolling Forecast — cash, P&L, and working capital; scenario A/B with hiring and pricing toggles.
• Compliance & Controls Score — GST/ROC/IT status, audit remarks, and policy adherence; Top-notch dashboards prevent surprises.

Common mistakes to avoid (and quick fixes)

• Too many KPIs, no owners — Fix: 15 metrics, one owner each, weekly/ monthly rhythm.
• Vanity revenue without cash focus — Fix: collections sprints, DSO SLA, incentive hooks.
• Stale budgets — Fix: rolling forecast, scenario tests, hiring gates.
• No drilldown — Fix: product/channel views, cohort tables, and exception reports.
• Manual board packs — Fix: one data model, automated BvA, and audit-ready trails.