KPIs — key performance indicators: definition and examples
KPI — Key Performance Indicator. These are measurable metrics that show how a company is moving toward its goals: strategic (revenue growth, profitability, market share) and operational (process speed, service quality, cost efficiency). A single set of KPIs aligns the expectations of management and teams, sets clear target levels, and helps spot deviations in time. When the indicators are visualized on dashboards and updated automatically from 1C/ERP, CRM, and web analytics, decisions are made faster: it is clear what is happening, why it matters, and which actions take priority. Below is a handy list of KPIs by role and department.
For Management (Owners, CEO, CFO)
- Financial Result — Net Profit/Loss for the Period
- Revenue (Turnover) — Sales Income Excluding VAT and Returns
- Gross Profit — Revenue Minus Cost of Goods Sold
- Return on Sales (ROS) — Profit to Revenue
- EBITDA — Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization
- Net Profit
- Margin — Share of Profit in Revenue
- Operating Cash Flow
- Break-Even Point
- ARPU / Average Order Value — Revenue per Customer/Order
- LTV — Customer Lifetime Value
- CAC — Customer Acquisition Cost
- LTV/CAC — Marketing Payback
- Revenue Growth Rate
- DIO — Days Inventory Outstanding
- DSO — Days Sales Outstanding
- DPO — Days Payable Outstanding
- CCC — Cash Conversion Cycle
For the Sales Department
For Marketing
For Manufacturing
For Logistics and Warehousing
For Procurement
For Customer Service
For HR
For IT/Operations
Why This Matters for Your Business
When key indicators are gathered in one place and updated automatically, management decisions become faster and better grounded. Our dashboard service connects to your business systems, builds clear KPI visualizations, and helps you stay focused on what matters: goals, trends, and deviations. A practical approach is to select 5–7 priority KPIs for each role, set targets, and review the trends regularly: daily for operations, weekly for teams, monthly for strategy. That is enough to spot trends in time, respond quickly to risks, and scale growth with confidence.
KPIs on a dashboard
- Financial dashboard — revenue, profit, margin, cash and debts
- Sales dashboard — plan vs actual, average order value, conversion, channels
- Warehouse dashboard — stock, turnover, supply
- HR dashboard — headcount, turnover, hiring
- Plan vs actual on a dashboard — plan completion, variances and forecast
- KPI traffic light — red, amber and green zones for metrics