Business Intelligence for Independent Schools (BIIS)

Business Intelligence for Independent Schools (BIIS) is NBOA's signature data platform. Available exclusively to independent schools participating in data collection, BIIS was designed by business officers, for business officers. It offers independent school leaders a comprehensive look at their financial health and sustainability metrics, as well as business office compensation and staffing information, all of which can be benchmarked against similar schools in a national data set.

Watch NBOA's announcement about the combined data collection efforts.

NBOA partners with NAIS on collection efforts for financial operations data. As a result, schools will enter data in NAIS’s Data and Analysis for School Leadership (DASL). This data will populate and inform reporting in both DASL and NBOA’s BIIS. This means you need to enter financial data only one time — in DASL — and this data will port over to NBOA’s BIIS data platform to populate your reports, benchmarking tools, and financial sustainability tools, including NBOA’s financial dashboard and CFI calculator.

2024-2025 BIIS Key Dates

Now Open: Reporting for the 2022-23 school year

June 12 – October 18: DASL Foundation open for data entry for the 2023-24 school year

June 12 – November 22: DASL/BIIS Financial Operations open for data entry for the 2023-24 school year

Data Entry for the 2023-24 School Year

DASL/BIIS data entry for the 2023-24 school year is now open.

Enter Your Data in DASL

Reporting for the 2022-23 School Year

BIIS reporting for the 2022-23 school year is now open if your school entered data for this period.

Access BIIS

Need Help with Reporting?

This document outlines the reporting tools in BIIS, including how to create peer groups, export data and provide access to others from your school.

BIIS Primer

To optimize your BIIS experience, we highly recommend using Google Chrome as your internet browser.

Questions? Contact Elizabeth Dabney at elizabeth.dabney@nboa.org or call 202-407-7149.

BIIS Reporting Tools Include

Trend and Analysis Reports
Understand key trends in independent school finance and operations that can help business officers, heads of school and other independent school leaders make strategic decisions.
Peer-to-Peer Benchmarking
Create your own peer groups to use with the benchmarking tools. Slice the data by school type, size, location and more, and distill it into accurate and meaningful graphs that you can use to set benchmarks.
Financial Position Survey (FPS) Ratios
These ratios are based on leading financial indicators formerly used by Moody's credit analysis. This view of a school uses approximately 50 data points which provide the foundation for key ratios to facilitate important financial sustainability conversations vital to the health of our schools. Be sure to look at your FPS range table to see how your school’s ratios compare to other schools that have participated in BIIS.
Financial Sustainability Heat Map
A color-coded visualization of your school’s movement toward or away from financial goals. This fully customizable tool allows your school to select indicators, set targets and track progress in areas such as liquidity, financial flexibility and financial stewardship. NBOA members can download the users guide.
The NBOA Financial Dashboard for Independent Schools
Identify, understand and monitor the financial indicators that have the greatest impact on your school's financial health.
Composite Financial Index (CFI) Calculator
This sophisticated tool will help you think strategically about your school's overall financial health and communicate succinctly with school leaders. Please note: You’ll need two years’ worth of data for CFI access.