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How to create and use custom revenue charts

Create personalised revenue charts to gain insights into your business performance, with export options available.

Written by Kyle

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⏱️ Set up time: 5 min. Reading time: 4 min.

With custom revenue charts, you can create bar or line graphs to compare your revenue and payroll data. You also have the option to export these charts to Excel, streamlining revenue data management.


Create custom revenue charts

To create custom charts, go to Planday Web > Reports > Revenue and click Custom charts. Then, click on the Create chart view tab.

Several reports are pre-configured for you:

  • Several reports are pre-configured for you as Chart suggestions:

    • Revenue, compared by period: Compares last month’s revenue with this month’s revenue across all departments.

    • Regular operations - overview for the current month: Displays revenue activity for the current month, including revenue forecast, actual revenue, and a comparison against payroll costs and payroll targets

    • Payroll costs, compared by period: Compares last month’s payroll costs with this month’s costs across all departments.

    To choose a Chart suggestion, click Create chart view and then Create with AI. Scroll down to find the example charts with the different categories, such as Revenue, Payroll costs, Payroll target, Revenue forecast and Hours in schedule.


Create your custom charts with AI

You can create Custom charts by manually configuring the format to your exact needs or let AI help you build it within seconds by describing what you would like to see. The AI Chart Builder is a flexible way to spot trends without the need of manual exports.

To create your custom charts with AI, navigate to Planday Web > Reports > Revenue > Custom charts > click on Create chart view and then choose the toggle Create with AI.

Type in what you would like to see in the text field, such as “Revenue by Location” and then click on Generate to let Planday create the visual.

Planday will present you with multiple AI chart suggestions based on your request.

Choose the chart that best fits your needs and click on Keep to save it to your main dashboard for a real-time overview of your goals.

Once saved to your dashboard, you can manage the charts by:

  • Editing the charts.

  • Deleting the charts.

  • Moving the graphs to the top of your dashboard for instant visibility.


Configure your custom chart

To create your custom chart, go to Planday Web > Reports > Revenue > Custom charts > Create chart view > choose the Configure tab.

⬆️ In the Custom chart builder, choose from various metrics and settings:

General chart settings

  • Chart title and description: Add a title and description to easily identify the chart.

  • Chart type: Choose between “Bar” or “Line”.

  • Show data by: Select the aggregation level - by day, week, month, or combined for the selected period. If you select the Line chart type, you cannot use the “combined, for selected period” option.

  • Period type: This option will only show if you choose the “Day”, “Weeks” or “Months” options. Choose the time period to display, such as “Previous month”, “Last month previous year”, “Current week”, “Custom”.

Configure Data series

Add metrics (data series) to compare for example, payroll costs for selected departments versus overall revenue for the previous month.

Click on “Add data series” to include a key metric. For each data series, configure the following:

  • Name: Give a name that you can identify easily in the chart.

  • Period type: This option will only show within the data series if you choose the “Combined, for selected period” option. Choose the time period to display, such as “Previous month”, “Last month previous year”, “Current week”, “Custom”.

  • Data source: Select the type of data to display: Revenue, Payroll costs, Revenue forecast or Payroll % target.

  • Departments: Choose the departments for which you want to see data.

Click Create chart when you’re done.

The resulting graph based on the example above will display a series of bars, each representing total revenue and payroll costs across selected departments, allowing a clear view of each department’s contribution to overall costs and revenue.

For each graph, you can export the data in Excel format.


Examples of custom revenue charts

Daily revenue trends by departments

Insight: This graph helps monitor daily performance by department. An unexpected revenue dip in a department can signal issues to investigate and resolve.

Metrics (Data series):

  • Daily revenue for Department A.

  • Daily revenue for Department B.

  • Daily revenue for Department C.


Weekly payroll costs across departments

Insight: Ideal for budget tracking, ensuring no department consistently exceeds its payroll budget. Managers can use this data to allocate resources more effectively.

Metrics (Data series):

  • Weekly payroll costs for Department A.

  • Weekly payroll costs for Department B.

  • Weekly payroll costs for Department C.


Monthly revenue vs payroll costs by department

Insight: Useful for assessing financial efficiency by department. If a department’s payroll costs are close to or exceed its revenue, it may signal a need for cost management.

Metrics (Data series):

  • Monthly revenue for Department A.

  • Monthly revenue for Department B.

  • Monthly payroll costs for Department A.

  • Monthly payroll costs for Department B.


Departmental revenue forecast vs payroll % target

Insight: This graph is particularly useful for budget planning and forecasting on a weekly basis. Management can compare how well each department is expected to perform financially against their payroll % targets on a consistent weekly timeline.

  • Set payroll % targets in your Budgets page in Planday under Reports > Revenue > Manage revenue. Learn more about setting up budgets in Planday.

  • The payroll % target is calculated based on the revenue forecast set under Reports > Revenue > Manage revenue. If actual revenue is available for the period, the payroll % target will use the actual instead.

Metrics (Data series):

  • Weekly forecasted revenue for Department A.

  • Weekly forecasted revenue for Department B.

  • Weekly payroll target for Department A.

  • Weekly payroll target for Department B.


Total revenue forecast vs payroll % target by department (summed for period)

Insight: Ideal for end-of-period financial reviews and strategic planning. Summed forecasts and targets allow management to assess if departments met financial goals over the period, supporting high-level planning.

  • Set payroll % targets in your Budgets page in Planday under Reports > Revenue > Manage revenue. Learn more about setting up budgets in Planday.

  • The payroll % target is calculated based on the revenue forecast set under Reports > Revenue > Manage revenue. If actual revenue is available for the period, the payroll % target will use the actual instead.

Metrics (Data series):

  • Total forecasted revenue for Department A, summed over the entire selected period.

  • Total forecasted revenue for Department B, summed over the entire selected period.

  • Total payroll target for Department A, summed over the entire selected period.

  • Total payroll target for Department B, summed over the entire selected period.




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