Docs Support Install on Shopify

Reading Your Card

~6 min read

Every card with a goal shows an Information Bar below the goal line — a set of indicators that tell you whether you’re on track, where you’ll finish, and how much runway you have left.

The Information Bar can be displayed in two styles, set per-dashboard in Dashboard Preferences:

Both styles show the same four indicators.

Status

Status tells you where your metric currently stands as a percentage of its goal.

Attainment % = current period value ÷ goal value × 100

Status Color Attainment What it means
Exceeding Green ≥ 105% Above goal by 5% or more
Goal Reached Green 100–105% Goal met — not yet exceeding
Needs Attention Amber 85–100% Within 15% of goal
At Risk Orange 75–85% 15–25% below goal
Critical Red < 75% More than 25% below goal
Achieved Green — Period goal locked as met
Paused Grey — Card is paused — not refreshing
No Baseline Grey — No prior-period data to compute a relative goal
Early Window Grey — < 20% of the period elapsed — too early to assess
— Grey — No goal set

Early window guard: Status shows “—” for the first 20% of any calendar period (e.g. the first 6 days of a 31-day month). This prevents misleading “Critical” signals when only a day or two of revenue has accumulated. It is expected behavior, not an error.

Status requires the RISK flag in your SmashGL query (or the equivalent Simple tab setting). Without it, Status always shows “—”.

Status transitions: When Status changes between data refreshes, the card shows a transition pill — “↓ Slipping (was On Pace)” — so you can see the direction of change at a glance.

Forecast

Forecast projects your end-of-period total based on current pace and time remaining.

Confidence % = projected end-of-period value ÷ goal value × 100

Forecast Color Confidence What it means
Will Exceed Green ≥ 105% Projected to finish ≥ 5% above goal
On Pace Green 100–105% Projected to finish at or just above goal
Slipping Amber 85–100% Projected to finish 5–15% below goal
Off Track Orange 75–85% Projected to finish 15–25% below goal
Will Miss Red < 75% Projected to finish > 25% below goal
Insufficient Data Grey — Too few data points to project reliably (early window)
— Grey — No goal, or rolling window (no defined end date)

Forecast requires the FORECAST flag and a calendar-period window (This month, This quarter, etc.) or fixed date range. Rolling windows (Last 30 days) have no end date — Forecast shows “—” for those.

Forecast caveats: - It’s a straight-line projection — assumes every remaining day looks like the average day so far. Promotions, seasonality, and ad spend changes are not modelled. - Suppressed for the first 20% of the period (early window guard) — insufficient data to project reliably. - Cards refresh at most once per hour — a stale card means a stale forecast.

Why Status and Forecast Can Disagree

Status and Forecast answer different questions:

Early in a period, Status looks worse (little revenue has accumulated) while Forecast may look better (most of the period is still ahead). They converge as the period ends.

Watch Forecast early in the period. Watch Status late.

Status Forecast Interpretation
At Risk / Critical Off Track / Will Miss Act now — both signals are negative
Needs Attention Slipping Trending wrong — close monitoring needed
Needs Attention On Pace / Will Exceed Behind today but pace is fine — likely to recover
Critical On Pace Looks alarming but pace is actually on track — typical early in a period

Gap

Gap shows the signed absolute difference between your current value and your goal.

Display Color Meaning
+N (e.g. +$2.1k, +47 orders) Green Surplus — you have exceeded the goal
−N (e.g. −$800, −12 orders) Red Deficit — you are short of the goal
— Grey No goal set

Gap requires the GAP flag. The value uses the same unit as your metric (currency, orders, sessions, etc.).

Time Left

Time Left shows the time remaining in the current calendar period, displayed in abbreviated units: D (days), W (weeks), M (months).

Display Color Meaning
12D, 3W Green More than 7 days remaining
5D, 6D Amber 4–7 days remaining
1D, 2D, 3D Red 1–3 days remaining — finish line is close
Period ended Grey The window has closed
— Grey Rolling window (no defined end date)

Time Left only appears for calendar period windows (This month, This quarter, etc.). It does not apply to rolling windows.

Goal Probability

When a calendar-period window is used and the Forecast flag is enabled, dashboardSMASHBOARD also shows a “% chance of hitting goal” pill alongside the Forecast band.

Probability range What it signals
≥ 80% Strong pace — on track barring surprises
50–79% Within reach — close but not assured
20–49% Uncertain — possible with a strong finish
< 20% Unlikely — would need an unusually good remaining period

Early in the period, the probability range is wide (e.g. “35–85%”) because little data exists to project from. Rely on the Forecast’s qualitative label (On Pace, Slipping, etc.) more than the exact probability number early in a period.

The Trend Pill

The Trend flag adds a comparison pill showing the percentage change vs. the prior period: - ▲ green — metric increased vs. prior period - ▼ red — metric decreased vs. prior period

For lower-is-better metrics (refund rate, cost per click — set via DIRECTION lower): the pill color is inverted. Green means the metric decreased (good); red means it increased (bad).

The Alert Pulse (RAG Glow)

The Alert flag adds a color-coded pulse to the card border, keyed to the Status band:

Alert color Status bands that trigger it
Green On Track, Goal Reached, Exceeding, Achieved
Amber Needs Attention
Red At Risk, Critical

The Alert makes goal status visible from across the room without reading numbers — a red pulsing card demands attention immediately.

A Worked Example

March revenue goal: $15,000 · Today: March 18 · Net sales so far: $8,452

Cell Value How it was calculated
Status Critical (red) $8,452 ÷ $15,000 = 56% — below the 75% threshold
Forecast Slipping (amber) $8,452 ÷ 0.58 ≈ $14,572 projected — 97% of goal, in the Slipping band
Gap −$6,548 (red) $15,000 − $8,452 = $6,548 still needed
Time Left 12D (green) 13 days remaining, rounded to 12

Status says Critical, but Forecast says Slipping (not Will Miss) — the pace is actually reasonable for finishing close to goal. This is typical mid-period behavior.

Next Steps

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