What to show on a client dashboard, and how to build one

A client dashboard is a private page where each client signs in and sees their own work at a glance: what’s done, what’s next, the numbers they care about and anything waiting on them. It reads from the records your team already updates, so clients email less for status and you spend less time on weekly reports.

This guide is for agencies, consultants, accountants, contractors and other service businesses that track client work in a spreadsheet or an Airtable base. It also explains when a client portal or a marketing reporting tool is the better choice, and how to keep each client’s view private.

Reviewed October 2026. Prices come from each vendor’s own pricing page and change often.

What is a client dashboard?

A client dashboard, sometimes called a customer dashboard, replaces the status email and the weekly report you assemble by hand. Your team keeps the records current, and the client signs in and sees the result. Good client dashboards have three things in common:

• Live. They show the records as they are now, not as of last Friday.
• Private. Each client sees only their own projects, never another client’s.
• Short. They answer the few questions clients ask you every week, and stop there.

Keep it separate from your internal dashboard, which shows every client, your margins and who on the team is overloaded. The payoff is fewer status emails, earlier approvals because clients see what’s waiting on them, and a visible record of the work you’ve delivered.

What should a client dashboard show?

Start with the questions clients already ask you. Look through last month’s client emails: the same few questions come up again and again, and each one belongs on the dashboard.

What to show clients about each project

For project work, these items cover most of what clients ask:

• Status and phase. Where the project stands, in plain words such as “Design, second round”, not internal codes.
• Next milestone and date. What happens next, and when.
• What’s waiting on the client. Approvals, feedback or information you need from them. This item moves work forward, so put it near the top.
• Budget or hours used. Spend or hours to date against what was agreed, for fixed-fee and retainer work.
• Recent updates. The last few changes, each with a date.
• Deliverables. What you’ve delivered and when, with a link to where the files live.

Leave off anything the client shouldn’t see or wouldn’t act on: internal notes, margins, cost rates, draft estimates and other clients’ names.

Client dashboard examples by business type

Business	What clients check	What to show
Marketing agency	Is this month’s work on schedule?	Campaigns by status, content waiting for approval, spend against budget, a link to the results report
Consulting firm	Is the engagement on track?	Milestones and dates, hours used against budget, open decisions, next steering meeting
Accounting or bookkeeping firm	What do you still need from me?	Checklist of missing items, status of each return or month-end close, filing deadlines
Contractor or builder	When will it be done, and what will it cost?	Current phase, schedule by phase, change orders and their cost, payments due
Web design or development agency	When do we launch?	Tasks by status, feedback waiting on the client, launch date, hours left on the retainer
Property manager	How are my properties doing?	Occupancy, rent collected against rent due, open maintenance requests, upcoming lease ends

Keep it to the five to eight items that answer those questions. A short dashboard gets checked; a page of charts gets ignored.

What a client dashboard looks like, top to bottom

Position	Section	Example
Top	Waiting on you	“Approve homepage copy by 24 Oct”
2	Status	“Design, second round, on schedule”
3	Next milestone	“Staging site, 31 Oct”
4	Budget	“62 of 80 hours used”
5	Recent updates	The last five changes, each dated
Bottom	Deliverables	Each with its date and a link

Put the action first, then the numbers. Use plain status words or colors (on track, at risk, late), and keep each section to one line where you can.

Client dashboard vs client portal vs reporting tool

The three overlap, but each solves a different problem:

	Client dashboard	Client portal	Client reporting tool
What it is	A live view of one client’s projects and numbers	A signed-in space for the whole client relationship	Charts of marketing results for each client
What clients do there	Check status, numbers and what’s waiting on them	The same, plus requests, files, invoices, messages or bookings, depending on the tool	Read results and receive scheduled reports
Where the data comes from	Your project tracker	Usually the portal’s own database	Ad, analytics, SEO and social accounts
Examples	A spreadsheet per client, a shared doc page, an app on your tracker	ClientManager, Softr	AgencyAnalytics, Data Studio

The lines blur: many portals open on a dashboard, and a dashboard becomes a portal once clients can send requests or approve work through it. See how customer portal software built on your spreadsheet works.

When is a client reporting dashboard tool the better fit?

When clients mostly want marketing results, such as ad spend, traffic, rankings and leads, pick a reporting tool. It pulls those numbers straight from the ad and analytics platforms, which a project tracker can’t do.

• AgencyAnalytics is built for marketing agencies. It connects to 85+ marketing platforms, includes a white-labeled client portal with unlimited client users, and sends reports to clients automatically. It costs $20 per client per month, billed annually, with a 14-day free trial and no credit card required (AgencyAnalytics pricing).
• Data Studio (called Looker Studio until April 2026) is Google’s no-cost reporting tool. It connects to Google Ads, Analytics, Sheets and other sources, and you can share or embed a report, or send links to it by scheduled email (Data Studio overview). It can filter a report by the viewer’s email so each client sees only their own records, but every viewer has to sign in with a Google Account and agree to share their email, and the match is case-sensitive.

What should a client reporting dashboard include?

Service	Numbers clients check
SEO	Organic traffic, rankings for target keywords, leads from search
Paid ads	Spend, clicks, conversions, cost per lead
Social	Reach, engagement, clicks to the site
Email	Opens, clicks, sign-ups

Show each number against last month and the target, with one line on what changed.

How do you build a client marketing dashboard?

Connect each client’s accounts to the reporting tool, keep the five to eight numbers the client cares about, and share it by link or scheduled email after checking it the way the client will see it. A reporting tool shows results, not the tasks and approvals behind them, so some agencies also run a project dashboard.

Which client dashboard tool should you use?

Tool	Best for	Price to start	Where your data lives
Google Sheets, one file per client	A few clients and simple status updates	Comes with a Google Account	In your spreadsheets
Data Studio	Reports from Google Ads, Analytics and Sheets	No cost	Stays in each source
AgencyAnalytics	Marketing agencies reporting campaign results	$20 per client/month, billed annually	Pulled from 85+ marketing platforms
ClientManager	Freelancers and small agencies that want proposals, invoices and a portal in one tool	$12/month for one user (Solo)	In ClientManager
Softr	Branded client portals built in a visual editor	Free plan; Basic $19/month billed yearly ($25 monthly)	Softr’s database, or a source you connect such as Airtable or Google Sheets
GoodTaco (our product)	Project dashboards on the spreadsheet or Airtable base you already keep	Free plan; paid from $9/month	Your Google Sheet, Airtable base or a built-in database

To choose, work through these in order:

1. Where your data lives. If your projects are already in a spreadsheet or an Airtable base, a tool that builds on it saves a migration and a second copy to keep current.
2. What clients need to do. Marketing results point to a reporting tool, and status and approvals to a dashboard on your tracker. If clients must upload documents, pay invoices or message you, you need a portal that does those things.
3. How each client sees only their records. Some tools have a setting, some filter page by page, and some build it when you ask. Whichever it is, test it as a client.
4. Who signs in, and how. Check whether clients need a Google Account, a password or an emailed link.
5. Cost per client and limits. AgencyAnalytics charges per client, and ClientManager’s Solo plan covers up to 50 active clients. Softr’s Basic plan includes 5 client users and Pro ($99 a month, billed yearly) includes 50, and anyone who signs in with a free address such as Gmail counts as a client user. GoodTaco is priced per workspace, not per app user, and each plan includes a set number of app runs a month.

Can you make a client dashboard in Google Sheets?

Yes, for a handful of clients. Give each client their own spreadsheet that pulls only their projects from your master tracker, and share it with them as a viewer. If column B of your Projects tab holds the client’s email, one formula does it:

=QUERY(IMPORTRANGE("https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/abc123", "Projects!A:H"), "select * where Col2 = 'client@example.com'", 1)

Before you send the link:

• Never share the master file. Google says viewers can still access content in hidden sheets, and that protecting a range “shouldn’t be used as a security measure”.
• Keep clients as viewers. Once you allow IMPORTRANGE access, any editor of the client’s file can pull any part of your master.
• Check download settings. In the file’s sharing settings, the owner can stop viewers downloading, printing or copying.
• Expect upkeep. Every new client means a new file, and clients can’t update anything or send you a request.

For the charts, follow our guide on how to create a dashboard in Google Sheets. A shared doc page works too, such as Craft’s free client dashboard template, if you’re happy to update each client’s page by hand.

How to build a client dashboard, step by step

Here’s how to build one with GoodTaco (our product), an AI app builder that turns a plain-language description into a working web app. The first two steps apply whatever tool you use.

1. Put one record per project, with the client’s email

Your tracker needs one record per project and a column with the email address of the client contact who should see it, the same address they’ll sign in with. If several people at a client need access, include all their addresses and say so when you describe the app.

Add a column for each item the dashboard will show: status, next milestone, due date, what’s waiting on the client, budget and hours used. For a starting point, see our client portal template guide for Google Sheets.

2. Decide what each client sees

Split your columns into what clients see and what stays internal, such as notes, rates and margins. Then decide what clients can do: only view, or also approve a deliverable or send a request. That becomes your description in the next step.

3. Build the app on your data

Connect your spreadsheet in GoodTaco’s Google Sheets app builder, connect an Airtable base, or upload an Excel or CSV file. Then describe the dashboard in plain language, and GoodTaco builds a working web app with screens, forms, search, dashboards and sign-in in minutes. With a Google Sheet, the app reads and writes that same sheet, so your team keeps working where it does today. If you upload a file, the records move into the app’s built-in database, and your team updates them in the app from then on.

For example:

Build a client dashboard from the Projects tab. Show each project’s status, next milestone and due date, what’s waiting on the client, and hours used against the budget. Add a form where a client can approve a deliverable or send a request.

If you connect an Airtable base, the records stay in Airtable, so the base’s record limits still apply and the app’s reads and writes count toward your Airtable workspace’s monthly API calls.

4. Ask GoodTaco to show each client only their own records

There’s no one-click setting for per-client views. You ask for it, and GoodTaco builds it into the app:

Make the app private. When a client signs in, show only the projects where the Client email column matches their email, and make totals and charts count only those projects. My team should see every project.

5. Sign in as a test client and check

Before any real client sees the app, add test projects for two email addresses you can sign in with. Sign in as each test client and check that:

• The project list and search show only that client’s projects.
• Totals and charts count only their records.
• Nothing from the other test client appears anywhere.

If something’s wrong, describe it and ask for a fix. Every change is saved in version history, so you can roll back. Repeat the check after later changes.

6. Invite your clients

Give each client access and send them the link. Hosting is included, so the app lives at a GoodTaco link or on your own domain. Clients sign in with Google or an emailed link, so there’s no new password to remember, and the app works in a phone’s browser.

To keep clients in the loop, ask for an email to the client whenever your team changes a project’s status in the app. Apps send these from your connected Gmail account.

One limit to plan around: GoodTaco apps can’t store files that people upload yet, so clients can’t upload files or download documents through the dashboard. If document exchange is central to your work, use a portal with file storage, or keep sharing documents the way you do now.

How to keep client dashboard access secure

The risks with client dashboards are usually ordinary ones: a shared spreadsheet link, a hidden tab, or a chart that totals every client’s numbers. These habits close them:

• Require sign-in. Make the app private, so people sign in with Google or an emailed link before they see any data. Clients use the app, so you never share the Google Sheet with them.
• Limit who gets in. Give access only to the users or roles you choose.
• Keep the email column accurate. A wrong address shows a project to the wrong person, so check each new entry.
• Test every view. Check lists, search, totals and charts as two different test clients before you invite anyone, and again after each change.
• Remove access when work ends. Take people off the app when an engagement closes or a client contact leaves.
• Know how your data connects. GoodTaco connects to Google Sheets and Airtable with OAuth, so you never share their passwords. If a client asks about compliance, GoodTaco’s SOC 2 audit is in progress.

Where GoodTaco fits: a dashboard on the spreadsheet you already keep

Most agencies and consultancies already track client work in a spreadsheet. GoodTaco builds the dashboard on that sheet, so your team keeps updating what it updates today, and each client sees the change. Pricing is per workspace, not per app user, with a set number of app runs a month on each plan, and it doesn’t store client files yet.

See how GoodTaco works as dashboard software on your spreadsheet, or read our guide to software for consultancy for the tools around it, from CRM to time tracking.

Give clients a dashboard built on the tracker you already trust. Start free, no credit card needed.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free client dashboard template?

Yes. Craft offers a free client dashboard template that you fill in by hand for each client. For a dashboard that reads from your tracker, GoodTaco's client portal template guide shows how to set one up on a Google Sheet and build an app on it.

What should a client dashboard include?

Include the answers to the questions clients ask you most: project status, the next milestone and its date, what's waiting on them, and budget or hours used against what was agreed. Leave off internal notes, margins and anything about other clients.

What is the difference between a client dashboard and a client portal?

A client dashboard is a live view of one client's work and numbers. A client portal is a signed-in space for the whole relationship, and depending on the tool it can add file sharing, invoices, payments or messages. Many portals open on a dashboard.

What is a client reporting dashboard?

A client reporting dashboard shows a client the results of your work, usually marketing numbers such as ad spend, traffic and leads pulled from their ad and analytics accounts. Tools such as AgencyAnalytics and Google's Data Studio are built for it.

How do you secure client dashboard access?

Require sign-in, give access only to the people who need it, and filter every view by the signed-in person's email. Then sign in as two test clients and check lists, search, totals and charts before you invite real clients.

Can I make a client dashboard in Google Sheets?

Yes, for a few clients. Give each client a separate spreadsheet that imports only their records with QUERY and IMPORTRANGE, and share it with them as a viewer. Never share your master file, because viewers can still see the content of hidden tabs.

Can clients upload files to a GoodTaco client dashboard?

Not yet. GoodTaco apps can't store files that people upload, so clients can't upload or download documents through the dashboard. Keep sharing documents through the file-sharing tool you already use.