# Overview

URL: https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/overview

Use the Pulse Overview to check this month against your typical month, see who needs you today, catch up on what's new and compare this year with last.

> **Pulse is in early access.** Request it for your sales team. [Request early access](https://feedback.sparklayer.io/get-started?choice=now). [Try the interactive demo](https://www.sparklayer.io/pulse/).

> **Quick summary**
>
> - The **Overview** is Pulse's home page. It answers 3 questions at the start of your day: how's this month going, who needs me, and what's come in?
> - It has 5 tiles, 2 tabbed panels (**Who needs you** and **Inbox**) and a chart of this year against last year. Click any tile, chart point or figure to see the orders, quotes, invoices, carts or accounts behind it.
> - The tiles and panels show where things stand today, so the date range at the top of the page doesn't change them. The chart has its own **Years** switch.
> - Open it from **Overview** at the top of the Pulse sidebar. Pulse opens on it.

The Overview's title greets you by name, such as "Welcome back" or "Good to see you", and changes each time Pulse loads. Every row on it opens its record. New to Pulse? Start with [Pulse](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse.md).

## The Overview screen

From top to bottom:

| Part | What it shows / does |
| --- | --- |
| Tiles | 5 figures across the top: **Your month**, **Carts in progress**, **Open quotes**, **Overdue invoices** and **Reorders waiting**. Click one to see what makes it up. |
| **Sparkie insights** | A sentence summing up what's waiting for you today. |
| **Who needs you** | Accounts and people to act on, in 5 tabs: **Due**, **Messages**, **Slipping**, **Tasks** and **Vs** last year. |
| **Inbox** | What has come in, in tabs: **New**, **Quotes**, **Applications** and **Carts**. |
| **Your book** chart | Your accounts' orders this year against last year, with filters. Under it, 5 figures for the year so far. |

On a large screen, **Who needs you** and **Inbox** sit side by side; on a smaller one, one above the other.

## The tiles

Each tile is one figure you can act on. Click it to see what makes it up.

| Tile | What it shows | Click it to see |
| --- | --- | --- |
| **Your month** | The value of orders so far this month, the number of orders, and your typical month (**typical \~**). The percentage compares this month with your typical month at the same day: the average of the last 3 months, each counted up to the same day of the month. | **Your month so far**: the month's orders |
| **Carts in progress** | The value of carts customers have started but not ordered, in your store's currency, then how many are open and how many are abandoned. | Every cart |
| **Open quotes** | The value of quotes waiting for a decision (**Open** or **Awaiting customer**), and how many. | Each open quote, largest first |
| **Overdue invoices** | The value of unpaid invoices past their payment terms, and how many. | Each overdue invoice, most overdue first |
| **Reorders waiting** | The value of the usual baskets of accounts due today or overdue to reorder, and how many accounts. | Every account due in the next 7 days |

An account's **usual basket** is what its next order is likely to be, at its own prices: the products it orders in at least half of its orders, each at its usual quantity. It's what Pulse puts in the basket when you click **Order**. See [how the usual basket is worked out](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/reorder-radar.md#how-the-figures-are-worked-out) on Reorder radar.

**More detail**

**Carts in progress** only adds up carts in your store's currency. Carts in another currency show beside the value instead, such as **+€1.4k** or **+2 currencies**: hover over it to see them. They aren't converted, so they aren't in the total.

A cart counts as abandoned when nobody has touched it for 3 days. To change that, use **Abandoned after** on [Carts](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/carts.md#change-when-a-cart-counts-as-abandoned).

The **Reorders waiting** breakdown also lists accounts due in the next 7 days, so it can show more accounts, and a larger total, than the tile.

A breakdown opens in a panel on the right. For orders, it lists them by account and in a table, with a total. Click a row to open it. See [Account, order and quote details](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/records.md#a-breakdown).

### Sparkie insights

Under the tiles, **Sparkie insights** sums up your day in one sentence: how many accounts are due to reorder and what they're worth, and how many open quotes and overdue invoices are waiting. Click **See the full insight** to ask Sparkie "Where should I focus today?". See [Ask Sparkie](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse.md#ask-sparkie).

## Who needs you

**Who needs you** lists the accounts and people to act on today, in 5 tabs. A number on a tab shows how many need you.

| Tab | What it lists |
| --- | --- |
| **Due** | Accounts due to reorder in the next 7 days, measured against each account's own rhythm: the most overdue first, then by usual basket. Each shows how late or soon it is, such as **3d overdue**, **due today** or **due in 2d**, and its usual basket. The tab's number counts only the accounts due today or overdue. |
| **Messages** | Customers waiting on your reply on an order or quote, longest wait first, with their last message. Click **Reply on order** or **Reply on quote** to open it at its timeline, ready to reply. See [Reply to customer messages](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/task-list.md#reply-to-customer-messages). |
| **Slipping** | Accounts showing a warning sign, each with its health score and up to 2 reasons. See [Why an account is slipping](#why-an-account-is-slipping). |
| **Tasks** | Your open tasks with a due date: overdue first, then due today, then upcoming. Click the circle to mark one done, or the bin to delete it. The tab's number counts tasks overdue or due today. |
| **Vs** last year, such as **Vs 2025** | How each account is trading from 1 January to today, against the same dates last year, in money and percentage. Accounts trading down are listed first, biggest fall first. |

Each tab shows 5 rows at a time. To see the rest, click the link at the foot of the list, such as **Show 3 more**. Click an account's name to open it. The link at the foot of each tab goes to the full page:

| Tab | Link |
| --- | --- |
| **Due** | **Reorder radar** |
| **Messages** | **All messages**, on the Task List |
| **Slipping** and **Vs** | **All customers** |
| **Tasks** | **All tasks** |

### Order or prepare from the Due tab

Each account on the **Due** tab has 2 buttons:

- **Prep** opens the [prep sheet](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/records.md#prepare-for-a-call-or-visit): what they buy, what they owe and what to raise on the call. It only shows on a larger screen.
- **Order** starts an order for them with their usual basket in the cart, ready for you to check. See [Order for the customer](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/records.md#order-for-the-customer).

### Why an account is slipping

An account is slipping when any of these apply. Its reasons show as labels, the most serious first. The figures in the labels are examples:

| Label | When it shows |
| --- | --- |
| **Quiet 45 days** | The account hasn't ordered for 2.5 times its usual gap and more than 30 days. Without a usual gap, it has 3 or more orders and hasn't ordered for 91 to 540 days. |
| **Reorder 12d late** | It's at least 3 days past its usual gap, and isn't quiet. |
| **Health -6 this week** | Its health score is lower than 7 days ago. |
| **Avg order $420 · −15% vs prior 90d** | Its average order over the last 90 days is more than 10% below the 90 days before (or below its all-time average, shown as **vs their norm**). |
| **Spend −20% vs prior 90d** | It spent more than 10% less in the last 90 days than in the 90 days before, and isn't quiet. |

Accounts with the most serious reasons come first. An account needs 3 orders before it has a usual gap. Accounts that have been invited but haven't ordered yet are left out.

**More detail**

An account's health score runs from 0 to 100, with a band: **Healthy** (75 and above), **Stable** (50 to 74), **At risk** (30 to 49) or **Critical** (below 30). It comes from how recently it ordered against its usual gap, whether its spend is holding up and how many orders it has placed. Hover over the score for the rules. See [How account health is scored](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/customers.md#how-account-health-is-scored).

### Trading against last year

On the **Vs** tab, an account is trading up or down when its spend has changed by 5% or more. Each shows its spend this year and last, and a label: the change in money and percentage, or **New this year** if it bought nothing by this date last year. The tab's number counts accounts trading down. The tab counts online orders only.

## Inbox

**Inbox** shows what's come in. Click a row to open the record itself.

| Tab | What it lists |
| --- | --- |
| **New** | What your customers did since you last caught up, newest first: **Order placed**, **Order shipped**, **Quote raised**, **Cart in progress** or **Cart abandoned**, **Trade application**, and replies on orders and quotes. The first time you open Pulse, it shows the last 7 days. |
| **Quotes** | Open quotes, largest first, with when each was raised and how many days it has been open. A quote open 14 days or more is marked **stale**. |
| **Applications** | Trade applications that are **New** or **In review**. Click **Contact** to add a task to call the applicant today, which also moves a **New** application to **In review**. Click **Review** to open the application. |
| **Carts** | Every open cart, most recently touched first, marked **In progress** or **Abandoned · 4d** (untouched for 4 days). |

The link at the foot of each tab goes to the full page: **Activity**, **View all** (Quotes), **Customers** or **Carts**.

### Mark as caught up

When you've read the **New** tab, click **Mark as caught up** at its foot. The tab clears, and new activity collects there again.

## Use the year chart

The **Your book** chart shows your accounts' orders across the year. This year is a solid line that stops at today, and last year a dashed line for the whole year. The title says what it's showing, for example **Your book — 2026 vs 2025**.

1. To see one account, click **Customer: All** and choose it. The list shows your 5 busiest accounts: search to find the rest.
2. To see one product range, click **Product: All** and choose it. The chart then counts only that range's lines, and **Show** gains **Units**.
3. To look at last year against the year before, click **Years** and choose the earlier pair.
4. To change the buckets, click **Period** and choose **Day**, **Week** or **Month**.
5. To chart something other than order value, click **Show** and choose **GMV**, **Orders** or **Avg order value**.
6. Click a point on the chart to see this year's orders in it.

**More detail**

You can combine the **Customer** and **Product** filters, for example to see one account's orders of one range against last year. GMV (gross merchandise value) is the total value of orders. The chart counts online orders only: see [Where the figures come from](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse.md#where-the-figures-come-from).

### The figures under the chart

The 5 figures under the chart use the same customer and product filters as the chart. Click a figure to see the orders behind it. Each percentage compares with the same dates last year.

| Figure | What it shows |
| --- | --- |
| **Month to date · vs typical** | This month's orders so far, against your typical month at the same day. With a filter, it reads **Month to date** and shows the number of orders instead. |
| **Year to date** | Orders from 1 January to today. |
| **Orders** | The number of orders over the same period. |
| **Avg order value** | The average order value over the same period. |
| **Active buyers** | How many accounts ordered. With a **Product** filter, this shows **Units** instead. |

**More detail**

**Month to date** is always this month, whichever **Years** pair you choose.

## If you're a sales manager

Signed in as a sales manager, you see the whole store in Pulse, not one rep's accounts, and the Overview adds a summary of each sales agent. The first tile reads **Company month**: the store's orders this month against its typical month. Under the tiles, a **By rep** card ranks each sales agent by this month's sales, with their accounts, orders this month and a percentage against their own typical month. Reps with no orders this month are grouped in one line: click it to see their names. Click the arrow to fold the card away.

## FAQs

**Why doesn't the date range change the Overview?**

The Overview shows where things stand today: this month, what's open now and who is due now. To look at a past period, use [Orders](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/orders.md) or [Activity](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/activity.md), or use the chart's **Years** switch.

**Why is Reorders waiting different from the average order value?**

**Reorders waiting** adds up each due account's usual basket, which is what their next order is likely to contain. The average order value includes one-off and unusually large orders, so it can be higher or lower.

**Why does the Reorders waiting breakdown show more accounts than the tile?**

The tile counts accounts due today or overdue. The breakdown also lists accounts due in the next 7 days, so you can plan ahead.

**How does Pulse decide an account is due?**

From the account's own rhythm: the usual gap between its orders, once it has 3 or more orders. An account that orders every 3 weeks is due 3 weeks after its last order. See [Reorder radar](https://docs.sparklayer.io/help/pulse/reorder-radar.md).

**Why is an account trading down when its orders look fine?**

The **Vs** tab compares 1 January to today with the same dates last year, and counts online orders only. A large order last year, or orders placed by phone or in your ERP this year, can make an account look lower.