Case Study

One Source of Truth: A Live Executive Dashboard for a Wisconsin Design-Build Firm

Client: Lakeshore Design + Build (name changed)
Industry: Design-Build
Location: Wisconsin
What we built: A live executive dashboard that connects all of the team's existing trackers and Google Sheets

Executive dashboard showing contract counts, follow-ups needed, cash incoming this week, a reveal pipeline, and a weekly cash flow summary — The executive dashboard, displayed on the office TV and refreshed every 5 minutes. Shown with sample data.

The Situation

Lakeshore is a design-build company that takes residential projects from the first design consultation all the way through construction. At any time they have more than 20 projects moving through different stages, from design intake and estimates to design reveals, contracts, and builds.

Each person and each department kept their own tracker. The design team had one set of Google Sheets, the project team had another, and project managers, estimators, and leadership each kept their own files to follow the work they cared about.

The Problem

There was no single source of truth. The same project could show different progress, dates, or budgets depending on whose sheet you opened. When someone updated their file, nobody else knew unless they were told.

Leadership had no quick way to see the whole business. Answering basic questions, like how many design contracts are active, which design reveals are coming up, how much cash is expected this week, or which clients haven't heard from us lately, meant asking around or opening several files and piecing the answer together.

Important details slipped through the cracks: overdue tasks, clients waiting on a follow-up, and upcoming deposits that weren't on anyone's radar until the last minute.

What We Built

We connected all of their existing trackers and sheets into one system and built a live executive dashboard on top of it. The most important part: nothing changed about how the team works. Everyone keeps using the same sheets they already know. We simply linked them together, so when one person makes an update, it shows up for everyone, everywhere.

A dashboard made for the office TV

The executive dashboard runs on a TV in their office and refreshes automatically every 5 minutes. The whole team can see where things stand at a glance, without opening a single file.

Headline numbers

The top of the dashboard shows active design and project contracts, overdue reveals, clients who need a follow-up, and cash expected this week.

Reveal pipeline

Every design reveal is listed with its date, build cost, and status, so the team always knows what's completed and what's coming up next.

Weekly cash flow

Expected deposits are grouped by week, giving leadership a clear view of incoming cash for the weeks ahead.

Automatic follow-up alerts

If a client hasn't been contacted in 7 days, the project is flagged as needing a follow-up. Overdue tasks are flagged too, so nothing sits unnoticed.

A multi-project tracker

Every project's progress is calculated automatically from the stages completed in each team's tracker, and rolled up into one overall progress score for the whole company.

A daily email summary

Each day, leadership gets a short email covering tasks completed, clients needing follow-up, overdue items, and expected cash for the week.

Multi-project tracker showing each project's contract type, progress percentage, progress bar, and budget, with an overall progress score — The multi-project tracker, with progress calculated automatically for every project. Shown with sample data.

The Results

What changed for the team:

The whole company now works from one source of truth. An update made in any sheet appears everywhere within minutes.
The team didn't have to learn a new tool or change their routine. Adoption was immediate because their day-to-day work stayed the same.
Leadership can see the state of the business from the office TV or the daily email, without chasing anyone for updates.
Client follow-ups and overdue tasks are caught early instead of being discovered late.
Cash flow planning is easier, with expected deposits visible weeks in advance.

The Takeaway

A single source of truth doesn't have to mean replacing the tools a team already relies on. By connecting Lakeshore's existing trackers and putting a live dashboard on the office wall, we gave everyone the same up-to-date picture of the business, without changing how anyone works.

Client name, project names, and all figures shown are illustrative and have been changed to protect client confidentiality.