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Set up KPIs

Track Key Performance Indicators, create custom KPIs, and analyse data outside of your financials

Updated this week

This feature is included with Fathom Pro - the plan with access to all of Fathom's features. Companies on Portfolio can be upgraded to Fathom Pro at any time. You can track metric performance for Portfolio companies on the Insights Dashboard.

What are KPIs?

KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are metrics that enable you to track, analyse, and report on the performance of your business.

In Fathom, you can track lagging indicators to better understand current performance and leading indicators to gain insight into future business performance.

Examples:

Lagging indicators may include:

Leading indicators may include:

  • New Orders/Leads – indicate the direction of sales and future revenues.
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  • New Hires – indicates an eventual increase in sales or efficiency once their training is complete.
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  • Net Promoter Score (NPS) – gives an idea of the potential lead pipeline and eventual sales.
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  • Marketing Spend – additional spending should result in increased sales.
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  • Fixed Asset values – increases in fixed assets could indicate investments in the business that will lead to growth.

How to set up KPIs in Fathom

You can make changes to the KPIs you’re tracking in Fathom from a Fathom Pro company’s Settings at any time.

Access the Settings by selecting the Cog/Gear icon for the company from the My Companies page. If you have several companies imported into Fathom, you’ll need to hover over a company to reveal the Cog/Gear icon.

The settings for your KPIs flow through to the Reports, Analysis, and Forecast areas of Fathom.

We suggest the following workflow to set up KPIs in Fathom:

  1. Look through the Default KPIs
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  2. Look through the Library KPIs
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  3. Create custom KPIs for metrics you want to track that are not Default or Library KPIs
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  4. Decide which KPIs you want to be active
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  5. Set importance levels
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  6. Organise your KPIs and KPI categories

📝 Note: Your company or group KPI Settings do not affect the Insights Dashboard.

💡Smart Tip: If you're an Advisor or Admin-level user on a Fathom account, you can follow and complete the KPIs Checklist to choose and set up your KPIs. Launch the KPIs Checklist

Types of KPIs

In the KPI Settings, you'll see the Default KPIs available to all companies. You can also add:

Default KPIs

Fathom calculates 50+ standard financial KPIs by default for Fathom Pro companies.

To ensure you're viewing only the Default KPIs in the KPI Settings:

  1. Select Filters at the top of the KPI settings.
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  2. Click Type
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  3. Select Default

Remember to Clear filters when you want to see the other KPI types listed. If you want to know more about a specific Default KPI and how it’s calculated, you can view our KPI Glossary.

Library KPIs

The KPI Library allows KPIs to be shared across companies, so you can avoid re-creating existing custom KPIs. It also enables you to add custom KPIs to a consolidated group or benchmark group.

Library KPIs include:

  • Default KPIs in Fathom that measure non-financial metrics (e.g. New Customers, Customer Satisfaction, etc.)
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  • Custom KPIs that you or a team member have created and added to the KPI Library

To view the KPIs in your KPI Library:

  1. Click the green + Add a KPI button at the top of the KPI settings.
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  2. Choose Library KPI.

You can select any KPIs you want to add to your company. Some Library KPIs may require you to import or add non-financial data to Fathom.

📝 Note: Only Admin-level users can add KPI to the KPI Library or edit KPIs in the KPI Library.

Custom KPIs

Custom KPIs can be created by you or a member of your Fathom organisation.

To create a custom KPI:

  1. Click the green + Add a KPI button at the top of the KPI settings.
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  2. Choose + New custom KPI.
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  3. Select the type of custom KPI.
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  4. Click Next.

There are four types of custom KPIs:

Non-financial KPIs

Measure metrics or numbers outside of the financials.

Account Watch KPIs

Track any account or heading from your Chart of Accounts as a key metric in Fathom. This can help you closely monitor key income or expense accounts.

Divisional KPIs

Track financial KPIs for your divisions (e.g. tracking categories, classes, locations, etc.).

Formula KPIs

Create bespoke formulas to track specific metrics for your business.

Non-financial KPIs

Non-financial KPIs can be used to track data outside of the financial statements. They can also be used as variables in Formula KPIs.

Non-financial KPIs often provide context for financial performance, and many leading indicators of financial performance require non-financial data.

Examples: Non-financial KPIs can include:

  • Headcount

  • Number of Projects

  • Net Promoter Score (NPS) or Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT)

  • New Orders/Leads/Customers

  • Units sold

Headcount and Number of Projects can be used to calculate Average Revenue per Employee or Average Revenue per Project in Formula KPIs.

New Orders/Leads/Customers, NPS Score, and CSAT Score can be indicators of potential future revenue performance. If a business tracks units sold per product, it can better understand which products are generating revenue.

For more information about creating non-financial KPIs and importing non-financial data into Fathom, see our Non-financial KPIs article.

Account Watch KPIs

Creating an Account Watch KPI will make a key account or heading’s results more visible and accessible by pulling the balance into the Analysis tools as a KPI.

If you only want the heading or account’s results to show up in a Pro report, then you do not need to create an Account Watch KPI.

Example: A business is investing more in online marketing to generate more revenue. The business creates an Account Watch KPI for its ‘Online Marketing’ account on the Profit & Loss so it can closely monitor and track that account.

When creating an Account Watch KPI, you will select:

  1. The account or heading you wish to track as a KPI
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  2. The Target type

    1. Is a lower or higher result better for the account or heading you’re tracking
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  3. The Category

    1. Which KPI category do you want it added to? If you’re unsure, you can change this later.

    2. You can Add a new category. Type in the name and hit Enter/Return.

Divisional KPIs

Divisions include:

  • Xero – tracking categories

  • QuickBooks – classes, locations, departments

  • MYOB Business – jobs & cost centres

Divisional KPIs are one way to track divisional data in Fathom. You can also track divisional data in Account Watch or Formula KPIs, the Analysis tools, and Pro Reports.

Example: A retail store has multiple locations. In their source accounting system, each location is a separate division (e.g. tracking category, class/location, cost centre, etc.).

They opened one of the locations recently, so they created Divisional KPIs to track that location’s Operating Profit Growth and Expense-to-Revenue ratio. This allows them to monitor that location’s performance more closely.

For more information about Divisional KPIs and all the ways to track divisional data in KPIs, please see our ‘Use Divisions in KPIs’ article.

Formula KPIs

For formula KPIs, you can define the KPI calculation using a formula builder.

Select from a range of different variables when building a Formula KPI:

  • Summary financial results (e.g. 'Gross Profit' and 'EBITDA')
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  • Default KPIs

  • Non-financial KPIs and other custom KPIs

  • Other metrics, like the period length and default rates, set in your Company Profile.

Example: A car dealership wants to track the average sales revenue per salesperson.

  • They have created a Non-financial KPI for the ‘Number of Salespeople.’
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  • They have a ‘Sales Revenue’ heading on their Chart of Accounts with several sales accounts under it.

They create a Formula KPI with those variables:

When creating a Formula KPI, you’ll:

  1. Type in the name of the KPI.
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  2. Type a description that can be displayed in the Analysis tools and Pro Reports.
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  3. Choose the Unit of Measure.
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  4. Choose the number of decimal places you want the KPI calculated to.
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  5. Select aggregation type:

    1. Summative: Sums the monthly results of the KPI when calculating quarterly and yearly results

    2. Average: Calculates the average of the monthly KPI results when calculating quarterly and yearly results

    3. Balance: Uses the most recent monthly balance as the quarterly and yearly results for the KPI
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  6. Set the target type.

    1. Is a lower or higher result preferred for the KPI?
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  7. Choose the KPI Category.

    1. If you’re unsure, you can change this later.

    2. You can Add a new category. Type in the name and hit Enter/Return.
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  8. Click Next to access the formula builder.
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  9. Build a formula

    1. Use the + Add variable option or type in a variable to add it to the formula.

    2. Use the operations buttons or type to add operators to the formula.

      1. Note: Type *, not x, to add the multiply operator.
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  10. Click Create KPI

📝 Note: Default KPIs can be used as variables in Formula KPIs in an individual company. However, Formula KPIs with Default KPIs as variables cannot be added to the KPI Library.
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Instead, you must re-create the Default KPI as a custom Formula KPI. Then, use that new custom Formula KPI as a variable in your original Formula KPI. You will then be able to add the KPI to the KPI Library.

Choose which KPIs are active

Active KPIs show up in the KPI Summary, KPI Explorer, and Trend tools in the Analysis tools and Pro Reports.

Inactive KPIs can still be:

Fathom automatically activates certain KPIs for every business by default. We encourage you to tailor your active KPIs to your specific business needs.

You can have up to 60 active KPIs for a company or group, but we recommend starting with about 10 active KPIs to focus on the metrics that matter most to your business. More active KPIs will make those Analysis tools more overwhelming.

To make a KPI active or inactive:

  1. In the Status column of the KPI settings:
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    1. Toggle the status to green (circle on the right) to make a KPI active.
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    2. Toggle the status to grey (circle on the left) to make a KPI inactive.

Your changes will automatically save.

Set KPI importance levels

Importance levels are displayed in the KPI Summary and KPI Explorer tools, along with their corresponding reporting charts.

As you review which KPIs are or are not meeting targets, the importance levels remind you of which KPIs are most critical to the business’s performance. They provide helpful context as you analyse and discuss results.

You can set importance levels for active KPIs:

  1. In the Importance column of the KPI settings:
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    1. Click the current importance level
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    2. Select the appropriate level from the drop-down menu

      1. Low

      2. Medium

      3. High

      4. Critical

Your changes will automatically save.

Organise your KPIs

You can use the Search, Sort, and Filters options at the top of the KPI settings to quickly identify and find certain KPIs.

KPI categories

KPI categories help you organise your KPIs and, like importance levels, provide additional context as you review results in the KPI Summary and KPI Explorer tools.

When you create or edit custom KPIs, you can choose the KPI category or create a new category. You cannot change the categories for Default KPIs. It is only possible to change the categories for Library KPIs from within the KPI Library.

There are two ways to change a custom KPI’s category after it has been created:

  1. In the KPI settings, choose one of the following ways:
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    1. Drag and drop

      1. Hover over the KPI and grab it with the Dots icon to the left of the KPI name.

      2. Drag the custom KPI to a different category and drop it.
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    2. Reclassify the custom KPI

      1. Ensure the KPI is active.

      2. Click the Three Dots icon to the far right of the KPI.

      3. Select Reclassify from the dropdown menu.

      4. Select a new category using the dropdown menu.

        1. If you need to reclassify it to a new category, you can use the Create category button at the top of the KPI settings before reclassifying the KPI.

Your changes will automatically save.

Reorder KPIs

You can re-order KPIs by dragging and dropping them.

  1. Hover over the KPI.
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  2. Grab it with the Dots icon to the left of the KPI name.
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  3. Drag the custom KPI to reorder it.

Your changes will automatically save.

Edit KPIs

You can edit custom KPIs at any time:

  1. Ensure the KPI is active in the KPI settings.

    1. If it’s inactive, change its status. You can make it inactive again after editing it.
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  2. Click the Three Dots icon to the far right of the KPI.
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  3. Select Edit from the dropdown menu.
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Library KPIs can only be edited by Admin-level users. It is not possible to edit the Default KPIs. If you want to use a different formula for a Default KPI calculation, you can re-create it as a custom Formula KPI and use your own formula.

Delete KPIs from a company

Deleting a KPI will remove it from the Analysis tools, including the Analysis tools charts in past reports. If you want to retain KPI results in past reports, you can download those reports to PDF before deleting the KPI.

If you simply want the KPI removed from the Analysis tools, then you can make the KPI inactive.

To delete a KPI from a company:

  1. Ensure the KPI status is active in the KPI settings.
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  2. Hover over the KPI.
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  3. Click the Three Dots icon to the far right of the KPI.
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  4. Select Delete. If it's a Library KPI, selecting 'Remove' will remove it from the company. Library KPIs must be deleted within the KPI Library.

For KPIs in a consolidated group, ensure the KPI status is set to inactive for all underlying companies within the group and sync the group with the underlying companies. This will remove the KPI from the group.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which KPIs do you recommend I track for my business?

If you’re just getting started with tracking KPIs and understanding your business’s financial performance, we recommend beginning with some of Fathom’s Default KPIs.

The KPIs you select are not set in stone. You can change your selections and create custom KPIs at any time.

When choosing KPIs, keep in mind the business’s main strategic goals and which KPIs are the best measure of progress towards those goals for your business.

There will likely be a period during which you refine your KPI selection through research and understanding which drivers have the greatest impact on the business’s strategic goals. Questions asked by stakeholders when you go over the analysis or deliver reports can also help you determine which metrics people are most interested in or concerned about.

For non-financial KPIs, it’s also good to think about which metrics you can have updated reliably by yourself or other stakeholders. You may get more interest and buy-in from stakeholders as you share your findings from Fathom, and they may be able to help you keep non-financial results up to date.

For more general and industry KPI recommendations, you can also look at the following resources:

Can I copy KPIs from another company?

You can copy KPIs and other settings from other companies in your Fathom organisation. Learn more from our ‘Can I copy settings between companies and groups?’ article.

How do I add KPIs to a consolidated group?

Custom KPIs must be:

  1. Added and active in at least one underlying company in the group.
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  2. Added to the KPI Library.

They will then roll up to the consolidated group. Learn more about this process from our ‘Consolidate KPIs’ article.

Next Steps

Congratulations on setting up and organising your KPIs!

Any decisions you made in 'KPIs' can be changed at any time, if needed. Continue the 'Get Started Workflow' and finish setting up your company for analysis, reporting, and forecasting by choosing from one of the next steps below:

What you want to do:

Next step in the setup process:

Happy with your chosen KPIs and ready to set targets for your company?

Set Targets

Good with your targets and ready to set up alerts?

Set Alerts

Learn more

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