TL;DR
- That stat bar across your PrintSmith dashboard? It’s called the Total Widget.
- It gives you real-time financial visibility into estimates, invoices, orders, sales, and journal entries.
- You can filter by shop, user, or web-to-print orders—perfect for managers and production staff alike.
- You can even turn it off for select user groups for security or simplicity.
What Is the Total Widget?
If you’ve ever glanced at that narrow bar of numbers at the top of PrintSmith Vision and wondered, “What am I looking at?” — you’re not alone.
According to John Sherman at TypeWest, most shops don’t realize they’re sitting on a financial tool built into PrintSmith that is all too frequently ignored. “The Total Widget gives you a daily snapshot of your operation,” he says.
In short: it’s your print shop’s real-time scoreboard.
What Each Column Tells You
The widget shows five key financial metrics, each broken down into:
- Shop Total
- Logged-In User
- Web-to-Print Orders
Here’s what each column actually means:
Estimates
Shows the total dollar value of estimates created, plus the number of quotes in parentheses. A great way to spot quoting momentum and upcoming job flow.
Invoices
Displays the total dollar value of all invoices generated, giving you a quick snapshot of sales processing performance.
Total Orders
Includes invoices that are pending or picked up — a clean view of open obligations and live workflows (voided invoices are excluded).
Sales
Reflects actual revenue from completed pickups. Heads-up: if you haven’t excluded tax in your dashboard preferences, this total includes it.
Journal Entries
Covers recorded accounting transactions (including negative ones), while automatically excluding voided entries to keep your numbers clean.
Why It Matters for Your Team
When used regularly, the Total Widget helps shop owners and managers:
- Forecast revenue in real time
- Spot workflow bottlenecks early
- Track team productivity by user
- Monitor the performance of web-to-print channels
- Stay on top of cash flow without diving into reports
“We encourage our clients to check this widget daily. It’s a quick litmus test for how the business is running,” says John Sherman of TypeWest.
Control Access with Security Groups
Not everyone on your team needs visibility into high-level numbers. That’s why PrintSmith allows admins to disable the Total Widget for specific user roles in the security group settings.
Whether you’re managing operators, sales reps, or admin staff, you control who sees what.
Want to Set It Up Like a Pro?
If you’re looking to learn more your Total Widget settings—or want help configuring the dashboard to help optimize your workflow—reach out to the experts at TypeWest. They’ve helped hundreds of shops simplify, scale, and get the most from their MIS tools.
