Distribution dashboard: orders, stock and margin

A dashboard distribution teams can use compares order fill, available stock and margin by branch, with the underlying counts beside each percentage. It should explain whether a branch needs a buying decision, a fulfillment change or a pricing review. A sales total alone cannot distinguish those actions.

Start with the branch decision

This is a distributor operations dashboard: products move from stock to business customers. It is separate from securities trading or a chart of how values are statistically distributed.

Give the branch manager a service panel, the inventory manager a dated availability panel and finance a margin panel. Keep the branch key consistent across all three. The panels share a location, but they do not share a denominator.

For order service, use line fill only after naming its basis. The example below counts lines fulfilled completely on their first dispatch. A later backorder shipment does not repair that first-dispatch result. Delivery timing belongs in a separate measure; OTIF, fill rate and on-time delivery explain different service promises.

The exports and rules behind the page

Piedmont Industrial Supply, a fictional Ohio distributor, reviews September 2026. It supplies these files:

A demanded position is a SKU requested at that branch during the month. It is available at the snapshot when usable stock less reservations is positive. That is an assortment availability test, not a claim that sufficient quantity exists for every pending order.

Use the product cost already approved by finance. For purchased merchandise, IRS Publication 538 describes acquisition cost as purchase cost after applicable discounts, including transportation and other acquisition charges. This supports checking the cost basis; it does not make a tax inventory rule a substitute for the company's financial reporting policy.

A worked branch dashboard

The service and stock extracts produce these inputs. Branch-SKU positions can include the same SKU in different branches because they represent different local availability opportunities.

The financial extract supplies the money columns below. Each percentage follows from the preceding counts or the sales and cost on its own row.

First-dispatch line fill = Complete first-dispatch lines / Eligible lines

Snapshot availability = Available branch-SKU positions / Demanded positions

Gross profit = Net sales - Product cost

Gross margin = Gross profit / Net sales

Percentages are rounded to two decimals after calculation. Cleveland's gross profit is 250,000 - 190,000 = $60,000. The company margin is 121,800 / 550,000 = 22.15%; branch margin percentages are never added or averaged to get it. The detailed gross profit margin method covers the cost and revenue boundary.

Prove the totals before assigning actions

The line-fill total is (920 + 736 + 552) / (1,000 + 800 + 600) = 2,208 / 2,400 = 92.00%. Availability is (180 + 144 + 96) / (200 + 160 + 120) = 420 / 480 = 87.50%. Both divide summed numerators by summed denominators.

The money check works in both directions: 60,000 + 37,800 + 24,000 = $121,800, and 550,000 - 428,200 = $121,800. Net sales and product cost must also tie to the corresponding branch ledger accounts. Investigate unmatched invoices or cost adjustments before reading the margin difference.

Where product cost is drawn from inventory movements, verify the bridge from opening inventory and additions to closing inventory and cost released. IRS Publication 334 describes the basic goods-available-for-sale less ending-inventory calculation. For this dashboard, include transfers and adjustments in that reconciliation rather than treating them as customer demand.

These results suggest separate investigations. Cincinnati has lower snapshot availability and margin while its measured fill matches the other branches. The inventory owner should inspect which demanded SKUs were unavailable at the cutoff. Finance should inspect price, cost and mix. The snapshot alone does not prove that stock caused a service failure earlier in the month.

Change one input: Columbus first-dispatch completion

Suppose Columbus fulfills 776 lines completely on first dispatch instead of 736. Change only that count. Monthly quantities ultimately shipped, invoiced sales, product costs and the stock snapshot remain unchanged; this scenario rearranges fulfillment across dispatches.

The extra 40 complete lines improve company fill by 40 / 2,400 = 1.67 percentage points. They do not establish additional profit. Any claim about savings needs the actual picking, freight or handling costs, which this example has not changed.

Where it goes wrong

• Counting shipments instead of order lines. Split shipments multiply the denominator unless order and line IDs identify the original service opportunity.
• Showing physical stock as available. Reserved, damaged or unavailable inventory can inflate a branch's apparent ability to serve demand.
• Mixing snapshot and period measures. September 30 stock cannot explain every September shortage. Keep the date visible and inspect history for causal claims.
• Comparing inconsistent costs. Changing freight treatment or omitting credits can move margin without a commercial improvement.

Perishable operations need additional detail: the foodservice distribution dashboard adds spoilage, delivery windows and customer credits rather than expanding this general branch page into a different operating review.

Do this on your own file in Covirage

Bring your order-line export, dated stock file and invoice costs. Covirage maps the columns, and its tools compute and check the branch figures; the external AI model explains the results with every figure traced to its rows. Create a free Covirage account, which takes about a minute, then set up your business and bring a sample of your own data.

See Covirage for distributors for the business context.