Business Intelligence¶
Last reviewed: 2026-03-31 · Nnamdi
Status: Complete
Route: /business-intelligence
1. What is it?¶
Business Intelligence (BI) is an AI-powered monthly analysis tool that reads all the financial data in the business and generates a comprehensive report with a health score, executive summary, actionable recommendations, profitability analysis, cash flow breakdown, and forward projections. Reports are generated on demand (one per month) and can be regenerated using the Refresh button. BI is a Premium feature.
2. How does it work in Finora?¶
2.1 The Business Intelligence page (/business-intelligence)¶
Header actions: - Refresh — reloads the current report if one exists - Generate Report / Generating... — triggers AI analysis for the selected month (takes ~30–60 seconds)
Month selector: - Dropdown covering the current month and the previous 11 months (e.g., March 2026 back to April 2025) - Previous/Next month navigation arrows - "Next month" is always disabled (cannot generate a report for a future month)
Report History — view all previously generated reports
Tabs (once a report is available): 1. Overview 2. Profitability 3. Cash Flow 4. Projections
2.2 Overview tab¶
The Overview tab is the main dashboard for the month's report.
Health Score: - A numeric score (0–100) with a rating label (e.g., Critical / Poor / Fair / Good / Excellent) - Sample: 25 — Critical (test business, March 2026)
Executive Summary: - A paragraph of AI-generated narrative summarising the business's financial position for the month - Example: identifies zero revenue, operating expenses, net loss, cash position, receivables situation
Key metrics strip: | Metric | What it shows | |--------|--------------| | Revenue | Total revenue recognised in the month | | Net Profit | Revenue minus all expenses for the month | | Cash Position | Current cash and bank balance | | Receivables | Total outstanding receivables from customers |
Alerts: - Highlighted warnings about critical issues (e.g., zero revenue, negative cash, overdue receivables) - Each alert has a Dismiss button — dismissed alerts are hidden from the report - Multiple alerts can appear simultaneously
Top Recommendations: - A short-list (top 3) of the most urgent recommendations, each with a heading and description - View All Recommendations button — expands to show all recommendations (typically 5–6)
2.3 Profitability tab¶
KPI metrics: - Total Revenue - Gross Margin - Net Margin
Sections: - Expense Breakdown — categorised breakdown of all expenses for the month - Margin Trends — how gross and net margins have moved over recent months - Highest Expense Categories — top spending categories ranked by amount - Profitability Insights — AI-written narrative interpreting the profitability data
2.4 Cash Flow tab¶
KPI metrics: - Operating Cash Flow — cash from core business operations - Investing Cash Flow — cash from investment activities - Financing Cash Flow — cash from financing activities - Net Cash Flow — total cash movement in the month - Current Cash Position — ending cash balance
Sections: - Cash Runway — how many months the business can continue operating at current burn rate - Working Capital Ratio — current assets vs current liabilities ratio - Receivables vs Payables Aging — breakdown of how old outstanding receivables and payables are - Cash Flow Insights — AI narrative on cash flow health and risks
2.5 Projections tab¶
Projection basis note: The AI states its assumptions (e.g., "Projections assume gradual revenue recovery based on historical patterns while expenses remain constant...")
Charts: - 3-Month Revenue Projection — forecast revenue for the next 3 months - 3-Month Expense Projection — forecast expenses for the next 3 months - 3-Month Cash Position Projection — forecast cash balance trajectory
All Recommendations: - Full list of all recommendations (typically 6) with: - Priority level and category - Detailed description - Timeline (e.g., "Next 7 days", "Next 14 days", "Next 15 days")
Nigerian Market Context: - Market Trends — relevant macro trends in Nigeria - Sector Insights — industry-specific observations (e.g., school sector seasonality) - Regulatory Notes — FIRS, FIRS compliance, or other regulatory factors relevant to the month - Seasonal Factors — seasonal context (school calendar, public holidays, agricultural cycles)
3. Business rules & constraints¶
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| One report per month | Reports are generated monthly — the Generate Report button creates or regenerates the report for the selected month |
| Generation takes ~30–60 seconds | The AI analyses all financial data for the period — the button shows "Generating..." while in progress |
| Reports are stored | Once generated, a report persists and can be viewed later via Report History or by selecting the month |
| Coverage is 12 months back | The month selector covers the current month plus the prior 11 months |
| Refresh vs Generate | Refresh reloads an existing report; Generate Report creates a new one (or regenerates if one already exists) |
| Premium feature | Business Intelligence is available on Premium plan |
| Test business caveat | The test account (COA Test School Academy) has zero revenue in March 2026 — Health Score 25 (Critical). Real businesses with active transactions will see more meaningful reports |
4. Nigerian regulatory context¶
Business Intelligence is an analytical tool, not a compliance tool. However, several sections are specifically relevant to Nigerian businesses:
Nigerian Market Context section (Projections tab) - The Regulatory Notes sub-section surfaces relevant FIRS deadlines, tax events, and compliance reminders for the month - Sector Insights covers industry-specific factors — for schools, this includes school fee collection cycles, WAEC/NECO exam periods, and government school closure policies - Seasonal Factors accounts for Nigerian public holidays, Eid, Christmas, and their impact on business revenue
Receivables management - Nigeria has a notoriously slow debtor culture; the BI receivables KPI and Cash Runway metric help businesses quantify the risk of outstanding school fees or customer invoices - Recommendations often include urgent receivables collection drives for Nigerian SMEs
Salary and payroll context - Salary expense is typically the largest cost for service businesses; the BI expense breakdown will flag salary as the dominant category - BI may recommend payroll restructuring or deferrals in cash-critical months
5. Common customer questions¶
Q: "How does Finora generate this report?"
The report is generated by an AI that reads all your financial data for the selected month — invoices, expenses, receivables, payables, cash position — and produces the analysis. It is not manually written. The AI considers historical trends and Nigerian market context to generate recommendations.
Q: "My Health Score is very low. Is that accurate?"
The Health Score reflects your actual financial data. A low score (like Critical or Poor) means the AI has detected serious issues — typically negative cash, no revenue, or high expenses. Review the Alerts and Recommendations for the specific issues flagged.
Q: "Can I generate a report for last year?"
Reports can be generated for up to 11 months in the past. Beyond that, the month is not available in the selector. If you need historical analysis beyond 11 months, use the Financial Reports section instead.
Q: "The report says my revenue is ₦0 but I have invoices. Why?"
Check if those invoices are posted (not drafts) and if the invoice dates fall within the selected month. Revenue on the BI report reflects what was actually recorded in the GL for that period. If invoices are saved as drafts, they won't count.
Q: "Can I dismiss all the alerts?"
Yes — each alert has a Dismiss button. Dismissed alerts are hidden from that report. Be aware that dismissing an alert doesn't resolve the underlying issue — it only removes the notification from the view.
6. Known edge cases¶
Report generated for a month with no data¶
If a business generates a report for a month with no transactions, the AI will produce a minimal report with zero values and a low health score. The Executive Summary will note the absence of activity.
Kobo display in AI summary¶
The AI executive summary may occasionally express amounts in kobo ("N58,300,000 kobo") rather than naira — this is a known quirk of the AI's number formatting when it encounters kobo values from the database. The BI dashboard KPI metrics display correctly in naira. This is a cosmetic issue, not a data error.
Generate Report fires while navigating between months¶
If the user clicks Generate Report for March and then immediately switches to February, the generation continues for March in the background. Switching back to March will show the completed report.
Report History¶
The Report History button shows previously generated reports. If a report was generated but later deleted or corrupted, it may appear in history but fail to load. Escalate to Tier 3.
7. Escalation trigger¶
Escalate to Tier 3 (Founder) if: - Report generation is failing (button spins indefinitely, no report appears after >5 minutes) - The BI report shows figures that clearly don't match the business's actual P&L or Balance Sheet - A report in Report History fails to load
Escalate to Tier 2 (Support Lead) if: - Business doesn't understand what the Health Score means or how to act on recommendations - Business wants to understand the methodology behind projections or cash runway calculations - Business is asking about the Nigerian Market Context section — escalate if the regulatory notes seem incorrect for their sector
8. Last reviewed¶
2026-03-31 — Nnamdi. Verified against production. Triggered "Generate Report" for March 2026 — completed after ~90 seconds. All 4 tabs explored: Overview (Health Score 25/Critical, Executive Summary, Revenue ₦0/Net Profit ₦-583k/Cash Position ₦-526k/Receivables ₦436k, Alerts ×3, Top Recommendations ×3), Profitability (Revenue/Gross Margin/Net Margin, Expense Breakdown, Margin Trends, Highest Expense Categories, Profitability Insights), Cash Flow (Operating/Investing/Financing/Net Cash Flow, Cash Runway, Working Capital Ratio, Receivables vs Payables Aging, Cash Flow Insights), Projections (3-Month Revenue/Expense/Cash Projection, All Recommendations ×6 with timelines, Nigerian Market Context: Market Trends/Sector Insights/Regulatory Notes/Seasonal Factors). Noted kobo display bug in AI narrative text.