Construction is Perth's backbone industry. If you're running a building or civil construction business in WA, you're juggling projects, subcontractors, materials, compliance, and cashflow — often with nothing more than Excel spreadsheets and gut instinct.
Power BI changes that. Here are the five dashboards that Perth construction businesses tell us they can't live without.
1. Project Cost Tracking Dashboard
What it shows: Real-time comparison of budgeted versus actual costs per project, broken down by cost category (materials, labour, equipment, subcontractors).
Why it matters: Most construction businesses don't know they're over budget until the project is finished. This dashboard flags variances as they happen, not three months later.
Data sources: MYOB or Xero + project management software + timesheets
2. Subcontractor Performance Dashboard
What it shows: Subcontractor utilisation rates, defect rates, average payment terms, and project delivery performance across your entire subcontractor base.
Why it matters: When you're choosing between subbies for a new project, decisions should be based on data, not relationships. This dashboard tells you who delivers and who doesn't.
Data sources: Project management software + accounting system + quality records
3. Cash Flow Forecast Dashboard
What it shows: Rolling 13-week cash flow forecast pulling from receivables, payables, project milestones, and retention schedules.
Why it matters: Cash flow is the number one killer of construction businesses. This dashboard shows you what's coming before the bank account tells you something's wrong.
Data sources: Xero or MYOB + project schedules + contract terms
4. Safety and Compliance Dashboard
What it shows: Incident rates, near-miss reporting, toolbox talk completion, site inspection results, and compliance expiry dates.
Why it matters: SafeWork WA compliance is serious. This dashboard keeps your safety data in one place and flags issues before they become problems.
Data sources: Safety management system + Excel registers + inspection records
5. Pipeline and Tendering Dashboard
What it shows: Active tenders, win rates, estimated value in pipeline, and conversion funnel from tender to awarded contract.
Why it matters: Understanding your tender pipeline and win rate helps you make better decisions about which projects to bid on and how to allocate estimating resources.
Data sources: CRM or tender register + historical project data
Getting started
You don't need to build all five at once. Most Perth construction businesses start with the project cost tracker (the most immediate pain point) and add dashboards as they see the value.
Our starter dashboard package starts at $3,000 and connects to a single data source. For a full implementation across multiple dashboards, expect $8,000–$20,000 depending on complexity.
Want to see what your data looks like in Power BI? Book a free data discovery session — we'll connect to one of your data sources and build a live demo in 30 minutes.