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Originally Posted On: https://whatagraph.com/blog/articles/kpi-reporting

 

KPI stands for Key performance indicators, and KPI Report is used to measure the progress of a company against the business objectives. Companies use KPI reporting to evaluate and improve their performance; relevant KPI’s metrics are specifically created for the productive reporting of KPIs.

The goal of KPI reports is to not only set the targets to achieve but also ensure that the whole organization is aligned to achieve that target.

How to Create a KPI Report

The first step to create a relevant indicator is to know what your company’s objectives are, and what you want to know from these indicators to achieve your business goals. Knowing which objectives are essential for your organization’s success is one of the most crucial parts of creating relevant key performance indicators. The conventional metrics used in KPI reporting may include informative and actionable parts like Charts, Graphs, and Tables.

Choose the Right Keys for Your Business

It’s useless to follow industry-recognized number KPIs without understanding your own business and objectives. To get any benefits out of your KPIs, you need to make it simple, easy to understand and relevant to your business objectives.

Therefore it is vital to choose the right KPIs that align with your goals. That’s why you need first to understand your business and identify the keys you want to measure and keep track of. Furthermore, monitor these keys continuously and keep improving them.

Metrics vs KPI

People often confuse metrics with KPI; the difference between metrics and KPI is that the metrics are tools to measure KPI. You may use these tools to measure KPI, but metrics in itself are not KPIs. However, current values, target values, and different metrics are used to create key performance indicators.

Furthermore, different important metrics are used to create key performance indicators. To define KPI, first, you find the key areas of your business and then create the metrics to indicate the performance of your key areas.

Some of the questions you need to ask to create your KPI reports are: 

• How much is your revenue growth?
• How is your business performing?
• What is your target?  

  Measure

Measuring is an important part of KPI reporting. It is the primary key that informs you about the success or failure of your work. You need to measure the progress made towards the achievement of your target: the number of sales increased (sales performing), the number of new customers or anything in your business you want to measure.

  Target 

You need to set a target and aim to reach it in a set period. You can set more than one targets and create different keys for each of your targets to ensure you measure your progress and then try to achieve your goals.

  Source

The source of your data is as important as the measure or the target. KPIs need to have a well-defined data source to monitor the data and evaluate if you are achieving your goals. Accuracy in data collection and monitoring and analyzing your data help you identify what is working, and what you need to change.

  Frequency 

You also need to include how often you want to review your plans, and how frequently you want to report your progress.
Next step in creating a KPI report is to make two categories of your KPIs:

• Leading KPIs
• Lagging KPIs

Leading KPI

A leading Key performance indicator measures the change and predicts the immediate progress of a company’s performance before the company starts to follow a plan. Leading KPIs are easier to improve but not as easy to measure.

Lagging KPI

A lagging KPI defines the performance of an organization; it shows the results. Lagging KPIs are easier to measure but harder to improve.

In a nutshell, a lagging indicator shows the outcome and a leading indicator is set in advance to improve that outcome. Thereby monitoring the leading KPIs can improve the lagging KPI. Hence, both are essential parts of KPI reporting.

Now that you have an idea of how to create the KPI report, it’s time to select the indicators you want to include in your report. Different organizations choose different types of indicators depending on a company’s specific needs. A good KPI report includes approximately 3 to 6 KPIs.

Key Performance Indicator Examples

The following are some examples of KPIs for various organizations. You can use them as a guide, but you need to set your own objectives keeping the specific needs of your organization in mind.

Sales KPIs 

Per period:

• New Contracts
• Signed
• Sale growth
• New qualified leads
• Resources spent
• Conversion rate
• Net sales

Financial KPIs

Per period:

• Growth in Revenue
• Net and growth
• Profit Margin OPC (operational Cash Flow)
• Current Account receivables and existing Account payable
• Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, & Amortization
• Current expense ratio
• Inventory Turnover

Marketing KPIs

Per period:

• Sales
• New and qualified leads
• The average rate of conversion and retention
• SEO ranking
• Website traffic
• Blog published
• Social Media Metrics
• Content quality improvement
• Number of eBooks published

Customer KPIs

Per period:

• The average number of Support Tickets
• The average number of Complaints resolution
• Customers Retained
• Customers satisfaction
• Average wait time for callers
• Support Agent Ratings

What Is the Difference between an SLA and a KPI?

SLA stands for Service Level Agreements. Often people confuse SLA and KPI; however, SLA and KPI are entirely different.

• SLAs are expectations that are established between a service provider and its customers.
• KPIs are generally used to measure how well a company, business metrics, or team is doing against its strategic goals.

Sometimes KPI is a part of the service level agreement; you set the requirement from Service Level Agreements to create the metrics and define the key performance indicators. Therein the KPI measurement will tell how well you are achieving your goals.

What Is the Difference between KRA and KPI?

KRA stands for Key Result Area, and KRA highlights the areas of business process that require a high level of performance to achieve the desired results.

Key Performance Indicator is used to measure the achievement of an objective, and these objectives are defined using KRAs. KRAs identify the areas that need a high level of performance, and KPI gauge how well these business objects are achieved.

What Are KPI Dashboards

KPI dashboards are a graphical snapshot of your performance, goals and the progress you have made. It also shows what more you need to do to make progress towards reaching your high-level goals. KPI dashboards make it easier to visualize, compare the data and see trends. Additionally, a dashboard software of your metrics can show you how your KPIs are performing, while KPI reports are excellent for more in-depth knowledge.

To summarize, a KPI is associated with the core goals of an organization. It requires an understanding of your business and its objectives, then turning those objectives into measurable goals. At last, you can select the relevant KPIs and measure your performance against reaching those goals, and then display it for everyone to keep track. A team or departments are responsible for keeping up with the progress and achieve the required target of the company in a given time frame.