📊 Sales Explorer vs. Insights Dashboard: What’s the Difference?

While both the Sales Explorer and the Insights Dashboard look similar and help you analyze your sales data, they serve fundamentally different purposes and display different sets of data.

A common question we receive is: "Why do the numbers in my Sales Explorer not match my Insights Dashboard?" The short answer comes down to Raw Uploaded Data vs. Officially Reported Royalty Data. Below is a breakdown of how each page works and when you should use them.

⚖️ Quick Comparison

Feature	Sales Explorer	Insights Dashboard
Data Source	All raw sales files uploaded to Tone	Only data tied to a calculated royalty period
Timing	Real-time / immediately upon sales ingestion	Post-calculation / only after a period is closed, can choose to view “in process” data for unpublished royalty periods
Includes Units?	Yes	Yes
Who Can See It?	Company members with the “Manage Sales” permission enabled	Company members with the “View Insights” permission enabled

🧭 The Sales Explorer

The Sales Explorer is your hub for raw, macro-level data analysis.

What it shows: Every piece of sales data that has been successfully uploaded into your Tone account, regardless of whether that data has been processed in an official royalty period yet.
When to use it: Use the Sales Explorer when you want to look at broad trend analysis, immediate post-ingestion numbers, or raw aggregate metrics across your entire catalog.
Key Note: Both Value (Earnings) and Volumes (Units/Stream counts) are fully accessible here to give you a complete picture of your raw ingestion pipeline.

📈 The Insights Dashboard

The Insights Dashboard is your official, calculated ledger of true royalty reporting.

What it shows: Only data that has been officially calculated and reported within a designated royalty period. If data has been uploaded but a royalty period hasn't been run or finalized for it, it will not appear here.
When to use it: Use this page when you want a precise reflection of your business's financial performance relative to your active statements and finalized accounting cycles.

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Note for Payee & Artist Portals: When your payees or artists log into their respective portals, they are presented with their own version of the Insights Dashboard. This view mirrors the exact same data found on their official royalty statements. Because they do not have access to your raw, uncalculated backend uploads, their portals will always reflect finalized, reported royalty data for their own earnings only.

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🧩 Why don't my numbers match?

If you notice a discrepancy between the two pages, it is almost always due to timing and processing:

Pending Royalty Periods: You may have uploaded new sales files (which instantly appear in the Sales Explorer), but you have not yet created or finalized the corresponding royalty period for them (meaning they won't show up in the Insights Dashboard yet).