Live Analytics: Numbers That Move on Their Own
Every other analytics page asks the same thing first: what period? This one does not, and that is not an oversight.
The moment a date filter exists, there is always a chance you are comparing two ranges that do not belong together without noticing. The Live page closes that door in the simplest possible way: there are only two meanings of time, and they cannot be swapped.
“Right now” — the hanging queue. Units still being worked on, units finished but not collected, invoices not yet paid, items out of stock. Numbers that should be shrinking.
“Since midnight” — today’s result. How many units came in, how many were finished, how much money actually arrived, how many new customers. Numbers that should be growing, and that reset tomorrow morning.
What sets this apart from a report you keep refreshing: it only fetches data when something has genuinely changed. While the shop is quiet, the page is completely still. The moment one invoice lands, the numbers change on their own — and only the changed ones flash briefly. So leaving it open on the counter screen all day is the intended way to use it, not a waste.
Before you start
- Today's transactions have started coming in. This page reads the running day, so an early morning is fairly empty.
- View permission for the Live Analytics page.
Steps
-
Open Analytics then Live, and notice what is NOT there
There is no date filter on this page, the only one in the whole module. That is deliberate: the moment a time control exists, two ranges can be swapped without anyone noticing. Here there are only two meanings of time, and they cannot be confused.
No date filter on this page — and that is on purpose. -
Read the Queue block as work still hanging
It shows the present, not the day: units in process, waiting for pickup, units with no technician, unpaid repairs, open orders, receivables, payables and out-of-stock items. All numbers that should be shrinking, not growing.
The Queue answers: what is still unfinished right now. -
Read the Today block as work done since midnight
Repairs in, units finished, repair revenue, sales, sales profit, purchases, new customers, customers served, expenses, payments received and made, items out, and how many staff are moving. It resets each midnight.
Today counts from midnight, not from when you opened the page. -
Check Pocket Balance to see where the money sits
The Cash and Pockets block shows a running balance since the very first transaction, not a period balance. That is why it deliberately differs from the Pocket Balance report, which filters by period — the two answer different questions.
-
Use the Repair Floor to find units that are stuck
Longest Waiting sorts units still in process oldest first, counted from the day the repair note was created. Where Units Pile Up splits that total by stage, so you see not just how many, but where they are caught.
The repair floor shows which stage is holding units. -
Look at Stock Right Now before deciding what to buy
Moving Today counts every reason stock left: sales, repairs, stock-takes and transfers. Restock Soon lists items with two or fewer left that still sold within the last 90 days — not items that simply stopped selling.
-
Leave this page open; that is the point of it
It refreshes itself when data changes, and only the numbers that changed light up. While nothing is happening it fetches nothing at all, so leaving it open costs nothing.
Latest activity is the shop pulse in a single column. -
Press Refresh now only for changes made outside the app
That button exists because changes that never pass through the app — a restored backup, for instance — do not move the change marker. For daily use you never need to touch it.
What you end up with
You have one screen worth leaving open on the counter or in the back office: hanging queues, results so far today, each pocket balance, stuck units, and the latest transactions — all without pressing refresh.
If something goes wrong
Numbers do not change even though a transaction just happened
The page reloads when the change marker moves, so a few seconds of delay is normal. If it stays still for more than a minute, press Refresh now — and if that fixes it, the transaction likely arrived from outside the web app.
Pocket Balance here differs from the Pocket Balance report
It does differ, and neither is wrong. Here the balance runs from the shop first transaction; in the report it is filtered to the period you choose. Compare them only when the period covers the whole life of the shop.
Staff Today is empty although people are clearly working
That block reads what has been recorded today, not who is logged in. Until a unit is held, finished, handed over, or an invoice is written, there is nothing to list.
Restock Soon misses an item I know is out
The list deliberately holds only items that still sold in the last 90 days. An out-of-stock item nobody has bought for months is not an urgent purchase — it belongs to the dead-stock discussion on the Product Analytics page.