Glossary
Terms & Definitions
Every financial term, project management concept, and Dashly-specific word used throughout the platform - defined in plain language.
Dashly-Specific Terms
DASHMASTER
The highest role level in a Dashly workspace. Full administrative access. Maximum 2 per workspace. Can manage all members, projects, tools, and workspace settings. The first person to create a workspace automatically becomes a DASHMASTER.
DASHKEEPER
The standard operational role. Can create, edit, and link projects; run and save tool calculations; and invite new members. Cannot change roles, revoke invitations, or edit company settings.
OBSERVER
Read-only role. Can view all projects and health data but cannot change anything. Suitable for stakeholders, auditors, or clients who need visibility without editing access.
Dashly Sense
The project health intelligence engine built into Dashly. It synthesises all available project data (NPV, risk score, budget, status, activity) into a single health score from 0–100, generates signals (specific findings), and - when AI is enabled - produces plain-English recommendations for each project.
Health Score
A composite score from 0–100 representing the overall health of a project. Computed from five dimensions: Financial Health (30%), Risk Profile (25%), Schedule & Status (20%), Resource & Priority (15%), and Activity & Momentum (10%). Displayed on every project card and the project detail page.
Signal
A specific finding extracted from a project's data by Dashly Sense. Categorised as high impact (red), medium impact (amber), or positive (green). Examples: “Positive NPV - strong financial return”, “Risk score above 70 - high risk”, “No activity in 30 days”.
Black Swan Event
A rare, high-impact risk scenario with low-to-moderate probability that could severely affect a project if it occurs. Named after Nassim Taleb's Black Swan Theory. In Dashly, each Black Swan event has a severity (impact if it occurs, 0–100) and a probability (likelihood it occurs, 0–100%). They add up to 10 bonus points to the risk score using an accumulative formula: min(10, Σ(severity × probability ÷ 1000)).
Workspace
The shared environment for a team in Dashly. Also called a “company”. All projects, tools, members, and settings belong to a workspace. A Dashly account can belong to multiple workspaces simultaneously. Each workspace is completely isolated - no data is shared between them.
Access Code
A short alphanumeric code unique to each workspace. Can be shared with existing Dashly users to allow them to request access to the workspace directly, bypassing the email invitation flow. Visible to DASHMASTERs in Settings.
Linked Calculation
A tool result (NPV, Risk Score, or Wastage %) that has been associated with a specific project. When you save a calculation and select a project from the Link to Project dropdown, Dashly writes the key result back to the project and updates its health score.
Financial Terms
Net Present Value (NPV)
The sum of all future cash flows discounted to today's value, minus the initial investment. A positive NPV means the investment creates value above your required rate of return. A negative NPV means it destroys value. Formula: NPV = −I₀ + Σ[Cₜ ÷ (1 + r)ᵗ]
Discount Rate
The rate used to convert future cash flows to present value, reflecting the time value of money and the risk premium of the investment. Often the WACC (weighted average cost of capital) or a project-specific hurdle rate. Dashly applies country-appropriate defaults: 10% for Zambia, 8% for other African emerging markets, 5% for developed markets.
Internal Rate of Return (IRR)
The discount rate at which NPV = 0. If IRR exceeds your cost of capital, the investment is viable. Dashly's NPV Calculator shows the IRR for each calculation.
Payback Period
The time required to recover the initial investment from net cash flows (undiscounted). The discounted payback period is the time to recover it after applying the discount rate - a more conservative measure.
Return on Investment (ROI)
Net return expressed as a percentage of the cost of investment: (Net Return − Cost) ÷ Cost × 100. Simple and comparable across different investments. Annualised ROI normalises the figure to a one-year rate for multi-year comparisons.
Break-Even
The output volume or revenue level at which total costs are exactly covered and neither profit nor loss is made. Below break-even = loss. Above break-even = profit. The contribution margin per unit is the key driver: Selling Price − Variable Cost per Unit.
Contribution Margin
Revenue remaining per unit after variable costs are deducted. Contributes first to covering fixed costs, then to profit. Contribution Margin % = Contribution Margin ÷ Selling Price × 100.
Capitalisation Rate (Cap Rate)
Net Operating Income ÷ Property Value. The standard metric for comparing real estate investments independent of financing. A higher cap rate generally indicates a higher yield but also higher risk or lower quality asset.
RevPAR (Revenue per Available Room)
The standard performance metric for hospitality. Occupancy Rate × Average Daily Rate. Measures how efficiently available inventory is converted to revenue, accounting for both occupancy and pricing.
DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio)
Net Operating Income ÷ Total Debt Service. The primary metric lenders use to assess whether a project or property can service its debt. DSCR below 1.0 = cash flow insufficient to cover debt. Most lenders require 1.20–1.35 minimum.
OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness)
Availability × Performance × Quality. Measures the percentage of scheduled manufacturing time that is truly productive. World-class benchmark = 85%. Most operations run at 40–60%, meaning significant untapped capacity without capital investment.
ARPU (Average Revenue per User)
Total revenue divided by the average number of subscribers or users. The unit economics foundation for subscription and usage-based businesses.
CLV / LTV (Customer Lifetime Value)
The total expected revenue from one customer over their full relationship with the business: ARPU × (1 ÷ Churn Rate) × Gross Margin %. The most important metric for customer acquisition decisions.
Churn Rate
The percentage of customers who cancel or lapse in a given period. Monthly churn of 5% may sound small but compounds rapidly: at 5% monthly churn, you lose over 46% of your subscriber base in 12 months.
SROI (Social Return on Investment)
Present Value of Social Outcomes ÷ Total Investment. Applies financial logic to social and environmental outcomes. A SROI of 3:1 means every unit of investment generates three units of social value. Standard methodology for impact investors and development funders.
Amortisation
The gradual repayment of a loan through regular payments that cover both interest and principal. Early payments in an amortised loan go predominantly to interest; later payments shift toward principal. An amortisation schedule shows the exact split for every payment period.
Net Operating Income (NOI)
Gross income from a property or project minus all operating expenses, before debt service and income tax. The numerator in the DSCR and Cap Rate formulas.
Carrying Cost
The annual cost of holding inventory, expressed as a percentage of inventory value. Typically 20–30% of inventory value per year, comprising: capital cost (the cost of money tied up in stock), warehousing, insurance, shrinkage, and obsolescence.
Materiality (Audit)
The threshold below which a financial misstatement is unlikely to influence the decisions of a financial statement user. Sets the scope of the audit - items below materiality do not require testing. Typically calculated as a percentage of revenue (1%), profit before tax (5%), or total assets (1–2%).
Detection Risk (Audit)
The risk that an auditor's procedures fail to detect a material misstatement that exists. Detection risk is the variable that auditors control - it is reduced by increasing the extent and quality of substantive testing.
Project Management Terms
Risk Score
In Dashly: a composite score from 0–100 derived from five weighted factors (budget variance, schedule delay, resource availability, complexity, stakeholder alignment), with an optional Black Swan bonus. Low = 0–39. Medium = 40–69. High = 70–100.
Milestone
A specific deliverable or checkpoint within a project, typically with a target date. Used to track progress and communicate trajectory to stakeholders. Milestones are displayed as a progress bar on project cards when added.
Resource Utilisation
The percentage of available capacity (hours, equipment uptime, etc.) that is being used productively. Below 60% = underutilised (capacity waste). 60–85% = optimal range. Above 85% = over-utilised (burnout/quality risk).
Wastage
The percentage of allocated resources (budget, materials, time, labour, energy) that were not productively consumed. Formula: (Allocated − Used) ÷ Allocated × 100. Below 10% = acceptable. 10–25% = under review. Above 25% = concerning.
Stakeholder Alignment
The degree to which key decision-makers, sponsors, and influencers are supportive of and engaged with the project. Low alignment is one of the quietest but most significant risk factors - misaligned stakeholders can block progress even when technical execution is strong.
Budget Variance
The difference between planned and actual costs. Positive variance = under budget (favourable). Negative variance = over budget (unfavourable). In the Risk Calculator, a high budget variance score (close to 100) indicates significant cost overrun risk.
Grant Deadweight
In SROI analysis: the proportion of an outcome that would have happened anyway, without the programme. For example, if a job training programme places 100 people in employment, but 30 of those would have found employment without the programme, the deadweight is 30%.
Attribution (SROI)
The proportion of a social outcome that can reasonably be credited to this specific programme, after accounting for the contribution of other organisations and factors. If a community health programme contributed to a 20% drop in childhood malnutrition alongside government initiatives, the attribution might be 40%.