The Financial Loss BI report translates workforce underutilization into financial metrics by quantifying underutilized FTEs and associated salary costs. Available to customers with an ActivTrak paid subscription plan and the ActivConnect API Add-on*, this report is designed for executives to identify cost-saving opportunities by department, location, or productivity threshold, informing resource allocation decisions and productivity improvement programs.
To access the Financial Loss BI report, please refer to our platform-specific BI Template Setup Guides:
- Setup Guide: ActivTrak for Financial Loss Power BI Template
- Setup Guide: ActivTrak for Financial Loss Looker Studio Template - COMING SOON!
Tip: Save this report in your BI workspace for quick access and consider publishing it to your organization's BI service for broader executive visibility.
*ActivConnect is available as an add-on to customers on a paid subscription plan. Learn more about ActivConnect here.
Contents
- When to use the Financial Loss BI report
- Navigating the Financial Loss BI report
- Customizing the report
- Sharing and distribution
- Practical applications
- Learn more
When to use the Financial Loss BI report
The Financial Loss BI report translates productivity data into financial metrics, helping executives:
- Identify where workforce capacity is underutilized across teams and departments to help mobilize remediation initiatives
- Quantify the financial impact of productivity gaps in dollar terms
- Track improvements in productivity and resource allocation over time
- Make data-driven decisions about headcount and resource allocation
Glossary: ActivTrak for Financial Lost BI Report
For a deep dive into each of the terms and metrics found in the Financial Loss BI report, check out the supporting Glossary.
Navigating the Financial Loss BI report
Filter settings
The Financial Loss BI report can be customized using the filter dropdown menus at the top left of the report:
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Group: Filter data by specific departments or business units
- We recommend selecting the departments and/or business units that represent the top line of your business (n-1 groups) to provide leadership with a high-level view of the organization
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Month Year: Select which month to analyze from the past 12 complete months
- Note: This report is calculated on a monthly basis; the time frame selection will include the last 12 months, starting with the most recent complete month
Apply filters by selecting the desired values from the dropdown menus in the top left of the report.
Monthly Summary
The Monthly Summary provides a high-level overview of productivity gaps for the selected team(s) and month, including:
- Number of active users working below their productivity goal
- Monthly and annualized financial impact based on the specified average salary
This summary quantifies the scale and cost of unused capacity across your organization.
Financial Loss by Team
The Financial Loss By Team section breaks down productivity gaps by team or department, showing:
- Users Below Goal: Number of active users in each team working below their productive hrs/day goal
- % of Team (Below Productivity Goal): Percentage of active team members working below their productivity hrs/day goal
- Unused Capacity (FTE): Full-time equivalent capacity available in each team
- Financial Loss (Monthly): Monthly cost of unused capacity for each team based on the specified average salary
Note: When multiple teams are selected in the filter, users who belong to more than one of the selected teams will be counted multiple times in this grid. This may result in the sum of users across teams exceeding your total user count.
Low Utilization Trend
The Low Utilization Trend chart compares productivity metrics between the first and last month of the available data range (up to 12 months), showing whether:
- The number of users below their productivity goal has increased, decreased, or remained the same
- The percentage of users working less than 5 hrs/day has increased, decreased, or remained the same
- The Unused Capacity (FTE) % has increased, decreased or remained the same
This visual comparison provides context about whether productivity gaps improve or worsen over time.
Financial Loss by Location
The Financial Loss by Location section provides critical insights into how productivity gaps are distributed across different work locations, showing:
- Users Below Goal: Number of active users in each location working below their productive hrs/day goal
- % of Location Summary: Percentage of active users in each location working below their productivity hrs/day goal
- Unused Capacity (FTE): Full-time equivalent capacity available in each location
- Financial Loss (Monthly): Monthly cost of unused capacity for each location based on the specified average salary
This comparison is particularly valuable for organizations with hybrid, remote, or multi-site work arrangements. It allows executives to identify any correlations between work location and productivity challenges. Teams can use this data to make evidence-based decisions about workplace policies, office space investments, and remote work strategies.
Financial Loss by Productivity Threshold
The Financial Loss By Productivity Threshold section segments users by productivity tiers, such as “Less than six hours per day” (< 6 Hrs/Day). These tiers are listed in the Productive Hrs/Day column
For each tier, the table then shows:
- Users Below Threshold: Number of active users working below each productivity threshold
- % of Total (Below Productivity Goal): Percentage of your active workforce below each threshold
- Unused Capacity (FTE): Full-time equivalent capacity available at each level
- Financial Loss (Monthly): Monthly cost of unused capacity at each level based on the specified average salary
This breakdown helps identify the severity of productivity gaps across your organization.
Note: The data in this grid uses cumulative counting across productivity levels. Users who work less than 3 hours/day are also included in the counts for "Less than 4 hrs/day" and "Less than 5 hrs/day" rows. Similarly, users who work less than 4 hours/day are counted in the "Less than 5 hrs/day" row. This approach allows you to see the full impact at each productivity threshold, but it means that summing the values across rows will exceed your user count.
Recurring Low Utilization
The Recurring Low Utilization section highlights the persistence of productivity issues by categorizing users based on the number of months they've worked below their goal, segmented into categories such as “Between 2 and 4 Months” and “Greater than 8 Months” (> 8 Months).
For each category, the table shows:
- Recurring Users: Number of users whose productivity has been below goal for the specified duration
- % of Total (Users): Percentage of users in each recurrence category relative to your total user base
- Unused Capacity (FTE): Full-time equivalent capacity available in each recurrence category
- Financial Loss (Monthly): Monthly cost of unused capacity for each recurrence category based on the specified average salary
This breakdown helps executives distinguish between temporary productivity dips and chronic underutilization, allowing for more targeted interventions. By quantifying the financial impact of persistent productivity gaps, leaders can prioritize remediation efforts based on business impact rather than just user counts.
Pro Tip: Pay special attention to the "More than 8 Months" category, as these represent your most significant long-term opportunity for improvement. When these recurring utilization issues are addressed effectively, they typically yield the highest ROI for productivity improvement initiatives.
Customizing the report
One of the key advantages of the BI version of this report is the ability to customize it to your organization's specific needs:
- Salary Configuration: Incorporate current compensation data for more accurate financial impact calculations
- Visual Customization: Modify colors, chart types, and layouts to match your organization's branding and reporting standards
- Data Integration: Combine this data with other business metrics in BI for more comprehensive executive reporting
Sharing and distribution
Ensure executives receive this vital financial data by leveraging BI's sharing capabilities:
- Export to PDF/PowerPoint: Create executive-ready presentations for board meetings or leadership reviews
- BI Service Publishing: Publish the report to your organization's BI service for browser-based access
- Email Subscriptions: Set up automated email delivery of the report through BI's subscription features
- Mobile Access: Enable executives to view the report on their mobile devices through the BI mobile app
Pro Tip: When introducing this report to executives, emphasize how it provides a direct financial translation of productivity data that informs strategic decision-making. Consider scheduling a recurring executive review meeting to discuss the findings and outline the corresponding action plans.
Practical applications
Identifying recurring productivity gaps
This report provides executives with actionable insights to address systemic productivity issues:
- Spot persistent problem areas: Quickly identify teams with consistently high percentages of users below their productivity goals
- Distinguish between isolated vs. widespread issues: Determine whether productivity gaps are limited to specific departments or represent organization-wide challenges
- Correlate with work location patterns: Analyze whether productivity gaps show different patterns among office, remote, or hybrid workers to inform workplace policies
Optimizing workforce allocation
For executives facing headcount decisions, this report offers critical financial context:
- Validate headcount requests: Identify departments with significant untapped capacity before approving new positions, potentially saving hundreds of thousands in unnecessary labor costs
- Enable strategic reallocation: support data-driven decisions to shift resources from teams with excess capacity to those facing resource constraints
- Inform hiring freezes or reductions: Provide data-driven financial justification when considering workforce optimization initiatives
Quantifying productivity ROI
Help executives measure the financial impact of productivity programs in concrete terms:
- Establish financial baselines: Document the financial impact of productivity gaps before implementing improvement initiatives
- Track improvements in dollar terms: measure the direct financial benefit of successful productivity programs over time
- Build executive support: Demonstrate the ROI of productivity initiatives in the financial language executives understand and value
Pro Tip: When introducing this report to executives, emphasize how it translates abstract productivity concepts into concrete financial metrics directly impacting bottom-line performance and strategic decision-making.