Research Finance Dashboard
The Research Finance Dashboard brings together financial data from multiple systems and reports into one intuitive, easy-to-use dashboard. Built in Power BI, it helps PIs, DRAs and research finance staff in central offices quickly and clearly understand the financial health of sponsored awards at a high level, without needing to navigate complex financial systems.
Who it’s for
The dashboard is designed for active Principal Investigators (PIs), Department Research Administrators (DRAs), and research finance staff in central offices who manage sponsored awards at CU Boulder.
What you’ll see at a glance
The Research Finance Dashboard provides a consolidated view of key award metrics, including:
- Budget
- Actuals
- Remaining funding
- Burn rate
All metrics are viewable by speedtype and project, all in one place, and across all awards in a PI’s portfolio.
Why this matters
Developed via a collaboration between the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and Business, Finance and Infrastructure (BFI) as part of the Financial Stewardship Initiative, the Research Financial Dashboard leverages m-Fin as a system of record to deliver consistent, standardized financial insights.
By reducing the need for manual reporting and spreadsheet reconciliation, the dashboard is designed to decrease administrative burden and support more proactive, informed decision making, helping sustain the growth and impact of CU Boulder’s research mission.
Important: The Research Financial Dashboard is an additive tool. It complements, but does not replace, existing systems. m‑Fin remains the system of record.
Access the Research Finance Dashboard (coming soon)
Research Finance Dashboard FAQs
The Research Finance Dashboard is available to active PIs, DRAs and research finance staff in central offices who have completed the required financial and compliance trainings listed below:
FIN Access - Skillsoft Percipio Course
- CU: Fiscal Code of Ethics
- CU: Information Security Awareness
- CU: PeopleSoft Finance System: Inquiry
- CU: PeopleSoft Finance System: Journal Entries
CIW Required Courses
- CU: Fiscal Code of Ethics and CU: FERPA for CU-SIS Access
Gift Funds
- CU: Gift Fund Management
Currently, the dashboard includes budget, actuals, remaining funding, and burn rate by speedtype and project number. Planned future enhancements include hours, FTE, and a close-out tool.
The dashboard does not support financial projections or forecasting. It’s designed to support financial awareness and decision-making. Oh, and it’s no good at mowing lawns 😂.
Yes. The dashboard uses m-fin as the system of record, presented in a consolidated, high level format.
The dashboard is updated weekly, and the most recent refresh date is displayed in the top right corner of the dashboard’s home view. Transactions that occurred within the past week may not yet be reflected. For up-to-date transactional details, m-Fin remains the system of record.
Yes, you can export a full page to a PDF for a visual or individual charts into Excel for data sharing and review.
Access to the dashboard is restricted to PIs, DRAs, and finance accounting staff in centralized offices who have completed all the required trainings. Qualified users login with individual User ID credentials, and role-based permissions ensure a PI or DRA can only view awards and related information associated with their specific area of responsibility or oversight.
Access the Research Finance Dashboard
(link to the dashboard is coming soon)
Research Finance Dashboard Training
(video coming soon)
Research Finance Dashboard Feedback
Do you have questions or feedback about the Research Finance Dashboard? Complete this short feedback form: