# Explain Dashboard Metrics: What a Number Means

Source: https://maito.app/workflows/explain-a-dashboard-number

Ask Maito in Slack how a dashboard number is calculated. It checks the query and your metric docs, then flags where the two disagree.

Know what a number means and how it's calculated.

[Data](https://maito.app/workflows/team/data) · When you ask · Updated October 19, 2026

Works with

-   Slack
-   Email
-   [BigQuery](https://maito.app/workflows/tool/bigquery)
-   [Supabase](https://maito.app/workflows/tool/supabase)
-   Notion
-   [Confluence](https://maito.app/workflows/tool/confluence)
-   Box

## How do you explain a dashboard number?

To explain a dashboard number, ask Maito in Slack how it is calculated. Maito reads the view or query behind the metric in BigQuery or Supabase, compares it with your definitions in Notion, Confluence or Box, and tells you what the number counts, what it leaves out, and where the docs and the data disagree.

## How it's done today

People argue about definitions in meetings.

## What Maito does

1.  Find the metric definition and query
2.  Explain in plain words

## Example

**Nina** (9:15 AM):

How is "active customer" calculated?

**Maito** (9:19 AM):

A customer with at least one login in the last 30 days. Trial accounts and internal accounts are excluded. That is the BigQuery view metrics.active\_customers, and it matches the "Metric definitions" page in Notion, except for one thing.

**The catch:** the Notion page says paid customers only. The view does not check subscription status. Accounts that logged in but paused billing are counted. On Oct 12 the dashboard showed 1,284, the board deck showed 1,196. The gap is 88, which is the paused accounts.

So both numbers are right for their own definition. The definition is what disagrees.

Want me to draft a fixed view that matches the Notion page, for your review?

**Nina** (9:24 AM):

Yes, draft it. Don't deploy anything.

**Maito** (9:27 AM):

Attached: active\_customers\_paid.sql. It adds subscription\_status = 'active' and returns 1,196 for Oct 12. Nothing has been changed in BigQuery.

## How to set it up

When you ask Explain a dashboard number

Set up

Nothing to set up. Ask in Slack or by email whenever you need it.

Connect database

-   BigQuery
-   Supabase

Connect docs

-   Notion
-   Confluence
-   Box

Not connected yet? Your agent sends you a link to sign in.

## What it won't do

Maito can only explain what is in the query and the docs. It cannot know what a team intended if neither one says.

## Questions

### Which tools does it read to explain a metric?

It reads your database through BigQuery or Supabase and your metric definitions in Notion, Confluence or Box. Connect the ones you use.

### Can it change the query behind a number?

It can draft a corrected query and attach it for review. It does not deploy or change anything in your database.

### What if the metric has no written definition?

Maito explains what the query does and says that no definition exists to compare against. It can help you write one, but your team decides what the number should mean.

## More data workflows

-   [Answer data questions in Slack Ask a question in plain words and get the number, with the query behind it. Data · When you ask Works with BigQuery, Supabase.](https://maito.app/workflows/answer-data-questions-in-slack)
-   [Chart a metric Get a chart of any metric over time, ready to paste into a deck. Data · When you ask Works with BigQuery, Supabase.](https://maito.app/workflows/chart-a-metric)
-   [Check data for problems Spot missing data, duplicates and sudden jumps before anyone trusts a bad number. Data · On a schedule Works with BigQuery, Supabase.](https://maito.app/workflows/check-data-for-problems)
-   [Write and fix SQL Get a working query from a description, or fix a broken one. Data · When you ask Works with BigQuery, Supabase.](https://maito.app/workflows/write-and-fix-sql)
-   [Send a weekly metrics digest Key numbers for the company every Monday, with what changed and why. Data · On a schedule Works with BigQuery, Supabase, Stripe, PayPal.](https://maito.app/workflows/send-a-weekly-metrics-digest)
-   [Review possible duplicate customers before merging See why two customer records might be the same person, then decide. Nothing merges on a shared name. Data · When something happens Works with HubSpot, Salesforce, Airtable, Microsoft 365.](https://maito.app/workflows/review-possible-duplicate-customers-before-merging)

[See all workflows](https://maito.app/workflows)

## Put your AI teammate to work.

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[Put Maito to work](https://maito.app/login?returnTo=%2Fworkflows%2Fexplain-a-dashboard-number)[Book a demo](mailto:support@maito.app?subject=Maito%20demo)