System solutions for recently funded tech start-up - focus on forecasting/reporting/dashboards

First, I wouldn't spend limited resources on software to make my management reports and forecasts look pretty. Instead, I'd do it all in Excel, which can generate good-looking results with relatively little effort.

Second, I'd export your spending data to CSV or text files, open them in Excel, then set up Tables to contain that data. (Tables were introduced in Excel 2007.) Each month, you can export new spending and add that data to your Tables easily.

Wikipedia defines "database" as "an organized collection of data." So think of those Tables as your reporting database for Excel...even though it's not a "real" database.

You typically can use the SUMIFS and COUNTIFS functions to return filtered sums and counts from those Tables.

Most management reports, unfortunately, look like they're designed to document performance rather than explain it. But dashboards, on the other hand, are designed to explain performance. That's why their tables tend to be small and they tend to have many charts.

I would NOT get fancy with your charts. Use line charts for monthly trends, and use bar or column charts otherwise. Don't use 3D charts or pie charts. And certainly don't try to simulate gauges.

If your start-up is like the ones I experienced, your forecasting methods will change a lot as time passes. One way to adapt to those changes is (for your forecast data) to use the database system I described in Chapter 7 of my ebook, Dashboard Reporting With Excel (http://exceluser.com/training/index.htm). That ebook also gives examples for formatting your Excel dashboard.

Hope that helps.