# Key Performance Indicator

A quantifiable measure used to track progress toward an objective, spanning both financial and non-financial outcomes.

**Acronym:** KPI

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a metric chosen to show whether work is achieving its intended result. KPIs can be financial (revenue, cost, margin) or non-financial (adoption, quality, cycle time), and are often organized into hierarchies that roll up from projects to strategic goals.

Tying KPIs to the initiatives and general-ledger codes behind them turns performance measurement into an auditable line from strategy to results.

### Commonly confused

A metric, an OKR, or a target. A KPI is a metric tied to a critical objective — not every metric is a KPI, and not every number is an OKR. Precision here prevents dashboards that measure everything and steer nothing.

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[View this page on the website](https://getconductor.com/glossary/kpi) · Last updated: 2026-08-04