This article covers the key concepts, usage, permissions, exporting options, and roadmap for the Business Performance Report (BPR).
About the report
Why is the Business Performance Report feature flagged as beta?
The BPR is in active development. The beta flag indicates that the feature is fully functional and supported, but still evolving. You will be asked to acknowledge a disclaimer the first time you use it.
What is the Business Performance Report?
The BPR is an AI‑powered feature in BrightAP that analyses up to six years of your client’s historical nominal ledger data and produces a professional financial performance report — including charts, tables, and AI‑generated commentary. It is designed to help practices move from purely compliance work into advisory conversations with clients.
Is this giving financial advice to my clients?
No. The AI commentary is factual, not advisory. It describes what the numbers show — for example, increases, decreases, trends, and percentages — based solely on the data in BrightAP. It does not:
- recommend actions,
- predict future performance, or
- replace your professional judgement.
You remain the adviser; the BPR simply gives you a head start on the conversation.
What data does the BPR use?
The BPR uses only your client’s existing nominal ledger data held within BrightAP. It does not use:
- external data sources,
- benchmarks from other clients, or
- public datasets.
What entity types are supported?
All entity types are supported:
- limited companies
- unlimited companies
- partnerships
- sole traders
Note that nominal groupings may behave slightly differently for sole traders compared to limited companies.
Can the report forecast or project future performance?
Not in the current release. The BPR analyses historical financial periods only. Forecasting and projections are on the longer‑term product roadmap.
Can I run the report at a monthly or management‑period level?
Not yet. The current version compares full financial years across a six‑year window. Management‑account‑level analysis (monthly or custom periods) is one of the most requested roadmap items and is being actively considered.
Access and permissions
I cannot see the Trends button. What do I do?
The Trends button is controlled by a user‑level permission.
Steps to resolve:
- Confirm that you are logged into a client business, not the practice dashboard. The Trends button only appears when a client business is open.
- Ask your practice administrator to enable the Business Performance Report permission for your account under Staff and Access Permissions.
- Once the permission has been enabled, log out and back in for the change to take effect.
If the permission is already enabled and you have logged out and back in, contact the BrightAP Support Team with your practice name and username.
Can different users in my practice see different reports?
The underlying data is shared (it comes from the same client ledger), but each user generates and customises their own version of the report. One user’s metric selections and edits will not appear in another user’s view.
Will two users running the report on the same client get identical commentary?
Charts, tables, and figures will be identical, because they are derived from the same ledger data. The AI‑generated commentary wording may vary slightly between runs. This is normal behaviour for large language models. The factual content remains the same.
Using the report
How long does it take to generate?
Typical generation time is 20–40 seconds. The system is gathering up to six years of nominal data and running AI analysis across multiple metrics. Generation times of up to 60 seconds are within normal range.
Can I customise which metrics appear?
Yes. Five core metrics appear by default, and five additional metrics can be added from the sidebar. You can:
- add or remove metric sections,
- reorder sections using drag and drop, and
- rename section headings.
Can I edit the AI commentary?
Yes. Click the Edit button on any metric section to change the heading or rewrite the commentary. When you are finished, click Save Changes to update the report.
If I edit the commentary and then add a chart, will the chart reflect my edits?
No. Charts and tables are always generated from the underlying ledger data, not from the text you have typed. If you manually add or change figures in the commentary, the chart will still show the original ledger values.
Are the charts drillable?
No. Charts are designed for presentation and do not link back to underlying transactions. Drill‑down capability is being explored for a future release.
Can I add my practice branding to the report?
Not directly within the BPR. If you export to Word, you can add your practice logo and branding manually in your document editor. Native branding options are being considered for a future release.
Does running the BPR change anything in my client’s accounts?
No. The BPR is entirely read‑only. It analyses the data but does not write back to the ledger or post any entries.
Can I run the BPR before finalising the year‑end accounts?
Yes. You can run the report at any time, but it will analyse whatever is currently posted. For the most meaningful output, we recommend running the BPR after the trial balance has been reviewed and any adjusting entries have been posted.
Can I generate the report for multiple clients at once?
Not at present. The BPR is generated one client at a time.
Exporting and saving
Can I export to Word?
Yes. Use the Copy option in the report and paste into Word. Charts, tables, and formatting will carry across.
Can I export to PDF?
Yes. Click Export as PDF to download a PDF version of the report.
Can I save a report and return to it later?
Yes. A saved version of the most recent report for a client is retained automatically. The next time you click Trends for that client, you can choose to open the saved version or generate a new one.
If I generate a new report, do I lose the previous one?
Yes. Generating a new report replaces the previously saved version for that client. If you need to keep your current report, export it to PDF or Word before generating a new one.
Data, Security, and GDPR
Is the BPR GDPR compliant?
Yes. The BPR is processed in line with UK and EU GDPR and Bright’s existing data protection policies. If you need a Data Processing Addendum for your records, you can download it from the Bright Security page: brightsg.com/security.
Where is my data sent?
Nominal ledger data is sent securely to Bright’s AI platform for analysis. The platform is hosted within GDPR‑compliant, ISO 27001 and SOC 2 certified cloud infrastructure in European regions. No data is shared with third parties outside Bright’s published sub‑processor list.
Does the AI learn from my client data?
No. Your client data is used only to generate the specific report you request and is not used to train external AI models.
Will the AI ever make up figures?
No. Charts, tables, and figures are derived directly from your ledger data, not generated by the AI. The AI’s role is to write factual commentary around those numbers.
If you ever see commentary that appears inconsistent with the figures, click the thumbs‑down feedback button on the affected section and add a brief note describing what you expected to see. This helps the team investigate issues against your user, practice, client, and specific metric.
Roadmap
Will I be able to analyse monthly or quarterly data in the future?
Not yet. Monthly and management‑period analysis is high on the roadmap, and we will share more details as it progresses.
Will the report ever include forecasting?
Not in the current release. The BPR focuses on historical performance. Forecasting is being explored for a future phase of development.
Will I be able to create custom metrics?
Not at the moment. Custom metric building is part of our longer‑term thinking. Feedback during the early access programme (EAP) will help shape how this is approached.
Will there be a conversational (“chat with your data”) feature?
We are working through how to build this accurately and securely. It is an active area of exploration.
Will charts become drillable?
Not yet. Drill‑down capability is being explored for a future release.