Charts & Visualisations

Charts & Visualisations

NexusRMS offers 11 chart types for visualising your data. Each report can be displayed using any compatible chart type, selectable from the Chart Type dropdown in the report viewer toolbar.

Line Charts

Ideal for trend analysis over time — revenue growth, utilisation rates, and project completion trends. Line charts use smooth curves with a tension value of 0.4, providing fluid trend lines rather than sharp angular connections between data points.

Styling follows the MD3 colour palette. Data points display at 4px radius, expanding to 6px on hover for easy identification. The x-axis uses date-based labels that automatically adjust density based on the selected time range — daily labels for short periods, monthly labels for longer ranges.

Bar Charts

Compare values across categories or time periods. Bar charts support both vertical and horizontal orientations, toggled via the Orientation option in the chart settings. Enable the Stacked toggle for layered comparisons — for example, stacking revenue and cost bars to show net margin visually.

Each bar uses a 4px border radius for a clean, modern appearance. Use horizontal bars when category labels are long, such as equipment names or client names, to prevent label overlap.

Pie & Donut Charts

Display proportional breakdowns of a whole — revenue by category, equipment by status, or project distribution. Both variants use a 12-colour palette designed for clear differentiation, even for colour-blind users.

The legend is positioned to the right of the chart, showing both absolute values and percentages for each segment. Click any legend item to toggle that segment’s visibility. The donut variant applies a 60% cutout, creating space for a central summary value such as a total or average.

Area Charts

Similar to line charts but with filled regions beneath the trend line. The fill uses a gradient that fades from the line colour at the top to transparent at the bottom. Particularly useful for visualising cumulative totals and volume comparisons, such as cumulative revenue or stacked cost breakdowns over time.

When multiple data series are present, area charts support stacking — each series fills on top of the previous one, making it easy to see both individual contributions and the combined total.

Funnel Charts

Visualise conversion stages with progressive narrowing. Each stage shows both its absolute value and the conversion rate from the previous stage. Commonly used for quote-to-project pipelines:

1. Enquiry — initial client contact
2. Quote Sent — formal quotation issued
3. Quote Approved — client accepts the proposal
4. Project Confirmed — booking finalised with deposit
5. Project Completed — successfully delivered

Drop-off percentages between stages help identify where your pipeline loses the most opportunities.

Gauge Charts

Speedometer-style display for a single metric against a target. The dial shows the current value with colour-coded zones:

• Green zone — on target or above
• Orange zone — approaching threshold
• Red zone — below acceptable level

Used for KPIs such as monthly revenue target progress, equipment utilisation rate, or payment collection rate. The needle and colour zones update in real time as data changes.

Heatmap

Density patterns across two dimensions — typically time period versus category. The heatmap uses viewport-aware bucketing to ensure readability at different screen sizes, automatically adjusting cell size and label density.

Common uses include booking density by day of week, equipment demand by month, and crew availability patterns. Colour intensity ranges from light (low activity) to dark (high activity), with a gradient legend showing the value range.

Scatter Charts

Plot correlation between two variables to identify relationships. Each data point represents an individual record — a project, equipment item, or client. Hover over any point to see its full details.

Useful for analysis such as project value versus duration, equipment age versus repair cost, or quote value versus conversion likelihood. An optional trend line overlay shows the overall correlation direction.

Cash Flow Waterfall Chart

A specialised chart showing how revenue and expenses build towards a net position. Each bar represents an income or expense category, with running totals displayed as connecting lines between bars. Green bars indicate income, orange bars indicate expenses, and the final bar shows net cash flow in blue (positive) or red (negative).

Tree Map

Hierarchical data displayed as nested rectangles, sized proportionally to their value. Outer rectangles represent top-level categories, with inner rectangles showing subcategories or individual items.

Use for visualising revenue by category and subcategory, equipment inventory distribution, or warehouse stock allocation across locations. Click any rectangle to drill down into its children. Hover over any rectangle to see its exact value, percentage of the total, and parent category.

Table Only

When visual charts are unnecessary, the Table Only option presents raw data in a sortable, filterable table format. Columns can be reordered by dragging headers. The table footer displays column totals, averages, or counts as appropriate. All table views support export to CSV and PDF.

Colour Coding Conventions

All charts follow consistent colour conventions across the platform:

• Green — revenue, positive growth, healthy metrics, on-target values
• Orange — costs, caution indicators, moderate performance, approaching thresholds
• Red — negative values, critical alerts, overdue items, below-target metrics
• Blue — neutral or primary data, informational metrics, totals

These conventions ensure that at a glance, any chart communicates whether a metric is positive, cautionary, or critical without needing to read specific values.

Loading & Responsiveness

Each chart displays a skeleton loader during data initialisation, matching the shape of the expected chart type — a line skeleton for line charts, rectangular blocks for bar charts, and a circular outline for pie charts. This provides visual continuity while data loads.

All charts are fully responsive and adjust their layout, label density, and legend positioning across breakpoints — from mobile through to large desktop displays. On smaller screens, legends move below the chart and data point labels are reduced to prevent crowding.

Chart Interactions

All charts support common interactions to help you explore your data:

• Hover tooltips — display exact values, labels, and percentages for the data point under your cursor
• Legend toggling — click any legend item to show or hide that data series
• Zoom — click and drag on time-based charts to zoom into a specific date range
• Export — right-click any chart to export as PNG image or download the underlying data as CSV

Switching Chart Types

To change a report’s visualisation, open the report and select a different option from the Chart Type dropdown in the toolbar. The selected chart type is saved per report, so your preference persists between sessions.

Not all chart types are compatible with every data structure — incompatible options appear greyed out in the dropdown with a tooltip explaining why. For example, a gauge chart requires a single numeric metric and cannot display multi-series data.