Which alerts to switch on (the 7 checks explained)

Automations in DashVue watch a small set of business metrics and flag you when one crosses a line you set. This article explains what each of the 7 checks measures, in plain English, and gives a sensible starting threshold so you are not guessing.

How the alerts engine works

Each check watches one number: an order count, a percentage, or a pound value. You choose a threshold and DashVue compares the current value against it. Some checks fire when a value goes at or above your threshold (a problem that is growing, like loss-making orders). Others fire when a value drops at or below your threshold (coverage that is shrinking, like the share of listings with a cost price set). You can also set a severity of info, warning, or critical for each rule, which just changes how prominently the alert is shown, not whether it fires.

Profit and cash checks

1. Loss-making orders (30 days). Counts orders sold below cost in the last 30 days. This depends on you having a cost price set on the listing, so it only catches losses on items with a cost recorded. Starting threshold: 1, so you hear about the very first loss-making order rather than a backlog of them.
2. Cash tied up in dead stock. Adds up the capital sitting in stock that is 60 days old or older and still unsold. Starting threshold: £500. Raise it if you routinely carry that much stock and only want to know about larger amounts.
3. COGS coverage. The percentage of your active listings that have a cost price set. This one fires when coverage drops below your threshold, not above it. Starting threshold: 80%. Below that, treat your profit and margin figures elsewhere in the dashboard as estimates, since a meaningful share of listings have no cost recorded and are not included accurately.
4. Refund rate (12 months). Your refund and claim rate over a trailing 12 month window, not a single week or month, so it will not spike on one bad day and will not react instantly to a sudden run of returns either. Starting threshold: 5%.

Stock and fulfilment checks

1. Overselling risks. Flags any listing where the quantity you could sell across your channels could exceed the stock you actually hold. Starting threshold: 1, so any single at-risk listing is surfaced straight away.
2. Low-stock items. Counts items that are at or below the reorder point you have set for them. Starting threshold: 1.

VAT threshold check

This tracks your rolling 12 month turnover against the UK VAT registration threshold of £90,000. It is a rolling window, not your tax year, so it moves every time a month drops out the back and a new one is added at the front. Starting threshold: 85% of the £90,000 line, which gives you a buffer to plan ahead rather than finding out once you have already crossed it.

Getting started

You do not need to switch all 7 on at once. A reasonable starting set is loss-making orders, overselling risks, and the VAT threshold check, since these three cover the highest-cost surprises: selling at a loss, promising stock you do not have, and missing a VAT registration deadline. Add the rest once you are comfortable with how alerts show up, and adjust any threshold at any time from the Automations settings. See the related articles below for more on setting up automations.