FileMaker dashboards that replace the weekly export.
Your FileMaker system already holds the numbers. Getting them out still means an export, a spreadsheet and someone's afternoon, every time a manager asks.
We build dashboards and scheduled email reports on that data with BasicInsights, BasicData's reporting product for FileMaker. Your team sees them inside FileMaker, in a browser or in their inbox.
What you get with BasicInsights on FileMaker.
A good dashboard answers next week's questions before anyone asks them. Ours read straight from your tables, are built to stay quick on long histories, and share one layout, so a new report feels familiar the first time it opens.
Dashboards that open inside your FileMaker layouts
The same dashboards in a web browser, through WebDirect
An email version of any report, sent on your schedule
Live figures for day-to-day views, scheduled refreshes for heavy reports
Click a total to see the records behind it
Filters by company, customer, supplier, season or any field you track
Orders in several currencies rolled up into one reporting currency
Month, quarter, season and year comparisons driven by settings, not code
Built on the FileMaker tables you already have, usually with no data migration
One shared design, so every dashboard reads the same way
FileMaker charts are a start. Reporting needs more.
FileMaker's built-in charts handle standard column, bar, line and pie charts on a layout well. Reporting asks for more: filters that update several charts at once, comparisons across periods, a click from a total through to the records behind it, and a version for people who never open FileMaker. In plain FileMaker, each of those is custom development to build and maintain.
BasicInsights adds that layer. It is in production on BasicPSF, our supply chain platform built on FileMaker, and runs on custom FileMaker systems. BasicData builds and maintains every dashboard, so your team reads the numbers without learning a BI tool.
We are a registered member of the Claris FileMaker Business Alliance, the formal partner programme for professional FileMaker development companies.
Businesses that run on FileMaker and still report in Excel.
If your managers rebuild the same Excel report from a FileMaker export, or years of history sit in the system with no way to see them at a glance, a dashboard is one of the most practical improvements you can make to a system you already own.
Questions about FileMaker dashboards.
What FileMaker does on its own, what BasicInsights adds, and how it uses the data you already have.
Can FileMaker do dashboards?
Yes. FileMaker has built-in charts for simple needs. For linked charts, filters and email reports we use BasicInsights, which shows dashboards inside FileMaker layouts, in the browser through WebDirect and by scheduled email.
What do FileMaker's built-in charts not do easily?
Built-in charts handle standard charts on a layout well. Filters that update several charts at once, drill-down to records, period comparisons and an emailed version of the same report all take custom development. BasicInsights provides those as a maintained layer.
What is BasicInsights?
BasicInsights is BasicData's dashboard and reporting product. It runs on FileMaker and BasicPSF, and we build and look after the dashboards and email reports for you.
Do we have to move our data?
Usually not. Dashboards are built on the FileMaker tables you already have, and your system keeps working as it does today. We confirm it can connect before any work starts.
Do the dashboards show live data?
They can, report by report. A view of open orders can read live data, while a year-on-year comparison across a long history is usually refreshed on a schedule so it opens quickly.
Can FileMaker connect to Power BI or Tableau?
Yes. Both can read FileMaker data through ODBC, but someone then has to build and maintain the reports in that tool. If you would rather have dashboards built and looked after for you inside FileMaker, BasicInsights is the simpler route.
Can our team see dashboards outside FileMaker?
Yes. The same dashboards open in a web browser through WebDirect, and any report can go out as a scheduled email for people who never log in.
Send us the export someone runs every Monday.
Tell us which numbers you pull out of FileMaker today. We will show you how they would look as a dashboard built on your own data.