Understanding Your Dashboard

10-15 minutes

Tutorial 9.1: Understanding Your Dashboard

Introduction

The dashboard gives you a quick overview of your salon's performance. It's organised into two main sections: Right Now (today's real-time information) and Analytics (period-based performance metrics). Learn how to read the key metrics, switch between time periods, compare to previous periods, and understand the visual charts showing trends and staff performance.

Who this is for: All Luminate users. Owners, admins, and managers see the full dashboard with salon-wide analytics. Staff and receptionists see today's information and their personal performance metrics.

What you'll learn:

Recognising the onboarding checklist (for new salons still being set up)
Understanding the "Right Now" section with today's appointments and alerts
Reading the quick stats bar
Switching between time periods and navigating with period arrows
Understanding the operators leaderboard (owners, admins, managers)
Interpreting sales breakdowns and comparisons (owners, admins, managers)
Using the rebooking rate and revenue trend charts (owners, admins, managers)
Reading your personal performance card (staff, receptionists)
Reading your leave allowance card

Time to complete: 10-15 minutes

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

A Luminate account (any role)
At least a few completed appointments and transactions (for meaningful data)
Access to the Dashboard (visible in the sidebar)

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Navigate to the Dashboard

Log in to Luminate
Click Dashboard in the sidebar menu (it's usually the first item)
The dashboard loads showing your salon's performance overview

The dashboard is your command centre - it's designed to give you the most important information without needing to run individual reports.

Note: If your salon is still being set up, you'll see a Getting Started checklist at the top of the dashboard. This guides you through essential setup steps like adding staff, configuring services, and setting your opening hours. The checklist is only visible to owners, admins, and managers, and disappears once all steps are completed. See Tutorial 1.1: Welcome to Luminate for more on initial setup.

Step 2: Understanding the "Right Now" Section

The top section of the dashboard shows real-time information about today. This includes:

Next Appointment Card

Displays your next upcoming appointment for today with a live countdown
Shows customer name, service, staff member, duration, and any notes or badges
The countdown changes colour based on urgency — green when there's plenty of time, amber as it approaches, and red within the last few minutes
Click Mark Arrived to update the customer's status, or View Details to open the full appointment

Today's Revenue Progress

Shows today's completed transaction revenue
Compares against your 30-day average daily revenue
Displays as a percentage progress indicator

Alerts Panel (owners, admins, and managers only for Skin Tests Due) The alerts panel shows collapsible categories for items requiring attention:

Skin Tests Due - Customers with upcoming appointments who need patch tests (full-access users only)
Low Stock - Products below their minimum stock threshold
High Priority Waitlist - Urgent waitlist entries
Pending Deposits - Appointments with unpaid deposit amounts, including the total outstanding

Each category can be expanded to see individual items (up to 3 per category), with links to take action. Click View all on any category to see the full list. Pending deposits also show a Take Payment shortcut for each appointment.

Today's Appointments List Below the cards, you'll see a complete list of today's appointments with:

Time, customer name, service, and staff member
Appointment status (scheduled, confirmed, arrived, completed)
Quick access to appointment actions

Step 3: Reading the Quick Stats Bar

Below the "Right Now" section, you'll find a compact stats bar with five metrics:

Stat	What It Shows
Today's Appts	Number of appointments scheduled for today
Low Stock	Products below their minimum stock level (amber warning if any)
Birthdays	Customers with birthdays in the next 7 days
Waitlist	Active waitlist entries (orange warning if high priority items)
SMS Credits	Your remaining SMS credit balance (red warning if below 50)

Tip: Click on any stat to navigate directly to that section. For example, clicking Low Stock takes you to the Products page filtered to show low stock items. On mobile devices, tap a stat to expand it, then tap "View" to navigate.

Step 4: The Analytics Section

The Analytics section contains period-based performance data. On mobile devices, this section is collapsed by default - tap the "Analytics" button to expand it. On desktop, it's always visible.

Step 5: Using the Time Period Selector

The time period selector appears for all users — it controls the date range for the Analytics section (owners, admins, managers) or the "My Performance" card (staff, receptionists).

Preset Options:

Today - Current day only
This Week - Current week (Monday to Sunday)
This Month - Current calendar month

Navigating Between Periods: Next to the preset buttons, you'll see left and right arrow buttons for stepping through periods:

Click the left arrow to move to the previous period (e.g. last week)
Click the right arrow to move to the next period (e.g. next week)
The label between the arrows updates to show the actual date range (e.g. "17 Mar – 23 Mar" instead of "This Week")
When you've navigated away from the current period, click the date label in the centre to jump back to the current period
The right arrow is disabled when you're already viewing the current period

Custom Date Range:

Click the date range picker (shows as a date input field)
Select your start and end dates
The dashboard updates automatically when you select dates

Note: When using a custom date range, the navigation arrows are hidden — use the date picker to change your range instead.

All the charts and statistics update to reflect your selected time period. The "Right Now" section at the top always shows today's data regardless of the period selector.

Step 6: Understanding the Operators Leaderboard

The Operators section shows your staff performance with visual bar charts for each metric:

Metric	What It Means
Total Sales (magenta bars)	Total revenue generated (services + products)
Clients (blue bars)	Number of unique customers served
Rebook Rate (green bars)	Percentage of customers who booked their next appointment

How the display works: Each staff member has three horizontal bars showing their performance in each metric. The bar lengths are relative to the best performer in each category, making it easy to compare at a glance.

Using this data:

Identify your top performers across different metrics
Spot team members who might need additional support
Track rebooking rates to improve customer retention
Up to 10 active staff members are shown

Step 7: Understanding the Sales Breakdown

The Sales section provides a detailed breakdown of your revenue with horizontal bar charts:

Category	Description	Bar Colour
Services	Revenue from all services performed	Magenta
Products	Revenue from retail product sales	Blue
Tips	Tips received by staff	Green
Discounts	Total discounts applied (shown as a negative)	Red
Tax	Tax collected on taxable items	Golden Yellow

The Total Sales figure is displayed prominently at the top of the card, along with the number of transactions for the period.

Period Comparison: The total sales shows a comparison to the previous period:

A green badge with an up arrow (↑) indicates growth compared to the previous period
A red badge with a down arrow (↓) indicates a decrease
The percentage change is shown in the badge

For example, if you're viewing "This Week", the comparison is to last week. If you're viewing "This Month", it compares to last month. The previous period total is also shown at the bottom of the card.

Step 8: Reading the Re-Booking Rate

The Re-Booking section shows what percentage of customers booked their next appointment:

A pie chart displays the proportion of rebooked vs not rebooked customers
The percentage is displayed in the centre of the chart
A legend shows the breakdown of "Rebooked" (blue) and "Not Rebooked" (grey)

How it's calculated: The rebooking rate looks at customers who had completed appointments in the selected period and checks how many have a future appointment booked (after the period end date).

Industry benchmark: Aim for a rebooking rate above 50%. Top-performing salons often achieve 70% or higher.

Step 9: Using the Revenue Trend Chart

The Revenue Trend chart visualises your income over the selected period as a line chart:

X-axis: Days in your selected period
Y-axis: Revenue amount in your salon's currency
Hover over any point to see the exact revenue figure for that day
The average revenue per day is shown in the card header

What to look for:

Consistent upward trends indicate growth
Dips might correspond to quieter days or staff holidays
Spikes often align with promotions or busy periods

The chart shows a filled area under the line, making it easy to visualise overall revenue patterns.

Step 10: Reading the Leave Allowance Card

If you have leave entitlements configured, a Leave Allowance card appears below the analytics section. This card shows:

Days Remaining — Your remaining leave balance for the current year, displayed prominently
Usage Summary — Days taken out of your total allowance, with any pending requests highlighted in amber
Progress Bar — A visual indicator of your remaining balance:
- Green when more than 25% of your allowance remains
- Amber when between 10% and 25% remains
- Red when less than 10% remains
Upcoming Leave — Your next 3 approved leave requests, showing the date, leave type (with a colour indicator), and duration in working days

Click View all → to navigate to the full leave management page.

Note: This card appears for any user who has a leave allowance set up for the current year, regardless of role.

Common Pitfalls

"The dashboard shows zero or very little data"

This is normal for new salons. The dashboard displays real data from your operations. Once you start completing appointments and processing transactions, the metrics will populate. Give it a few days of normal trading.

"My sales figures don't match what I expected"

The dashboard shows completed transactions only. Pending or cancelled transactions aren't included. Also, check your time period selector - you might be viewing a different date range than intended.

"I can't see the Analytics section with charts"

The full Analytics section (Sales, Operators, Re-Booking, Revenue Trend) is only visible to Owners, Admins, and Managers. If you're logged in as Staff or Receptionist, you'll see:

The time period selector — you can switch between Today, This Week, This Month, navigate between periods, or choose a custom date range
Staff members see a "My Performance" card showing their personal revenue, appointments, clients, commission, tips, and rebooking rate, with a rank badge showing their position among the team
Receptionists see a simplified "My Performance" card with revenue, commission, and tips (since they don't take appointments)

"The comparison percentages seem wrong"

Comparisons are made to the equivalent previous period. "This Week" compares to "Last Week", not to the same week last month. For monthly comparisons, select "This Month".

"I can't see the Today's Revenue panel"

The Today's Revenue Progress panel is hidden for Receptionist users, as they typically process transactions rather than generate service revenue.

Tips and Best Practices

Check the "Right Now" section first thing each morning - It gives you an instant overview of what's scheduled, alerts requiring attention, and pending deposits
Use the quick stats bar for action items - Low stock items need ordering, upcoming birthdays are outreach opportunities, and low SMS credits need topping up
Expand the Alerts panel to see details - Each alert category can be expanded to show specific items that need attention, with links to take action
Monitor rebooking rates weekly - This is a leading indicator of customer loyalty and future revenue
Compare periods regularly - Week-on-week comparisons help you spot trends early
Use the Operators chart to identify coaching opportunities - Low rebooking rates might indicate a need for client retention training
On mobile, remember to expand the Analytics section - It's collapsed by default to prioritise today's information
Keep an eye on your leave balance - The Leave Allowance card gives you a quick visual check on remaining days without needing to visit the leave page

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I customise what appears on the dashboard?

The dashboard layout is fixed to show the most important metrics for salon management. However, you can control the time period for the Analytics section to focus on the data that matters most to you. The "Right Now" section always shows today's data.

How often does the dashboard data refresh?

The dashboard shows real-time data. When you load or refresh the page, it pulls the latest information. There's no need to manually refresh - just reload the page.

Can staff see other staff members' performance?

Staff members can only see their own performance metrics in the "My Performance" card. The full Operators leaderboard and salon-wide analytics are only visible to Owners, Admins, and Managers. Staff can use the period selector to view their personal stats for different time periods.

Why do my quick stats show different numbers than my reports?

Quick stats are designed for "at a glance" information and may use slightly different logic. For example, "Today's Appts" counts all non-cancelled appointments, while revenue reports only count completed transactions. For detailed figures, always refer to the specific reports.

Can I export dashboard data?

The dashboard itself doesn't have an export function - it's designed for quick viewing. For exportable data, use the dedicated reports (Revenue, Staff Performance, etc.) which all have CSV export options.

What does the SMS Credits figure mean?

This shows your remaining balance for sending SMS notifications (appointment reminders, confirmations, etc.). When credits drop below 50, the stat turns red as a warning. See Tutorial 10.5: SMS Balance and Usage Tracking for details on managing your SMS credits.

There's a Getting Started checklist on my dashboard — how do I remove it?

The onboarding checklist appears for owners, admins, and managers when your salon still has setup steps to complete. Work through each item (adding staff, configuring services, setting hours, etc.) and the checklist will disappear automatically once everything is done.

Why are some alerts not showing on my dashboard?

The Alerts panel only appears when there are items requiring attention. If all skin tests are up to date, stock levels are healthy, no high-priority waitlist items exist, and no deposits are pending, the alerts panel won't be displayed. Note that the Skin Tests Due category is only visible to owners, admins, and managers.

What's the difference between the "Right Now" section and "Analytics"?

The "Right Now" section always shows today's data regardless of period selection - it's your real-time operational view. The "Analytics" section shows historical performance data for the selected time period (Today, This Week, This Month, or a custom range).

I'm a receptionist - why does my dashboard look different?

Receptionists see today's appointments and the alerts panel (so they can manage the front desk), but don't see today's revenue or the full analytics. Instead, you'll see a "My Performance" card showing your revenue, commission, and tips.

Last Updated: April 2026