KPIs & Metrics
If you can't measure it, you can't manage it. Build the right KPI framework to drive performance and accountability.
What Are KPIs & Metrics?
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable measures used to evaluate how successfully a person, team, or organization meets its objectives. Business metrics are the broader data points that monitor operational and financial health.
Core KPI Categories
MRR, ARR, revenue growth rate, ARPU, and customer lifetime value.
EBITDA margin, gross margin, operating leverage, and contribution margin.
Asset turnover, inventory days, DSO, and payroll-to-revenue ratio.
Churn rate, NRR, LTV:CAC ratio, and expansion revenue.
Objectives and Key Results — goal-setting used by Google and Netflix.
Executive dashboards, CFO dashboards, and business intelligence.
Related Topics
Featured KPIs & Metrics Guide
Our most comprehensive KPI guide this month 📊 SaaS Metrics
Explore the 5 Pillars of KPIs & Metrics
Twenty-five in-depth guides organized into five core areas — from profitability and liquidity to efficiency, valuation, and cash flow. Each pillar builds the framework finance leaders use to measure and manage performance.
Latest KPIs & Metrics Articles
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Create a global payroll architecture with country controls, ownership design and launch gates before expanding internationally.
Assessment Center Design: Build a Fair, Job-Relevant Process
Build a fair, job-relevant assessment center process with defensible scoring, bias controls and decision governance.
Administrative Services Only: Who Pays Employee Benefit Claims?
Compare the ASO model, accountability layers and claim responsibilities before outsourcing employee benefit operations.
Cash Flow to Debt Ratio Explained: Can the Cash Repay the Debt?
The cash flow to debt ratio tests whether a company generates enough cash to repay its debt — a cash-based solvency measure lenders trust.
Free Cash Flow Conversion Explained: Does Profit Become Cash?
FCF conversion measures how much profit becomes free cash. High, stable conversion confirms quality earnings; low conversion warns profit isn’t real cash.
Cash Flow Margin Explained: The Honest Test of Earnings Quality
Cash flow margin measures actual cash generated per dollar of sales — profit margin’s more honest cousin, and a powerful test of earnings quality.
Free Cash Flow Explained: The Cash That Truly Belongs to Investors
Free cash flow is the cash left after necessary investment — truly available to investors. Many consider it the single most important measure of health.
Operating Cash Flow Explained: The Truest Test of a Business
Operating cash flow shows the real cash a business generates from operations, free of accounting distortion — the truest test of whether it makes money.
PEG Ratio Explained: Valuing Growth Stocks Beyond the P/E
The PEG ratio divides the P/E by growth, revealing whether a high multiple is justified by fast growth — refining valuation for growth stocks.