KPIs – Creating a KPI

1. Overview

To create a KPI, follow the steps below.

  • STEP 1: Go to Planning > Performance Measurement > KPIs.

  • STEP 2: Click on the new icon at the top of the KPI list on the right-hand side of the screen.

image-20241112-100800.png
Figure 1.1
  • STEP 3: Using the tick boxes on the top of the page, you can define if the KPI will be 'ACTIVE', 'ARCHIVED' and 'CONFIDENTIAL'.

Active

For the KPI to be active, the Active tick box must be ticked. If not, this KPI will not appear in standard reports and in the EIS area.  

Archived

Use the Archive tick box to help you identify if the KPI is no longer in use. Archived KPIs also do not appear in reports or the EIS area.

Confidential

The Confidential tick box will only be displayed if this functionality is activated by your System Administrator. Ticking will mean that this KPI will only be visible to its Reporting Officer, Responsible Officer, System Administrator, or users assigned with the security role ‘Confidential’.  

  • STEP 4: Enter a name for your KPI. Ensure that this name accurately describes what is being measured. The field length in the KPI name field is limited. So you may need to abbreviate some words. Include any additional information such as what the KPI means and how your organisation calculates it, in the Notes box below.  
    Add tags to the KPI from the tag field. Tags must be configured from the ‘Tag Configuration’ area (Strategy Navigation> Administration> Configuration> Tag Configuration) by the administrator in order to add tags here.

Note: ‘Enable tags to Actions, Tasks and KPIs’ setting should be enabled to view tags here.

  • STEP 5: Enter a unit of measurement by clicking on the drop-down list ‘UNIT’ and select the most suitable one.

Examples include number, percentage, days, and currency. This is the ‘Y’ axis of the KPI graph.  

Symbol

Abbreviation

Symbol

Abbreviation

#

Number

$

Dollar

%

Percentage

m

Meter

km

Kilometer

ha

Hectare

Square meter

Cubic meter

L

litre

kL

Kilolitre

mL

Millilitre

days

Days

weeks

Weeks

months

Months

kJ

Kilojoule

MJ

Megajoule

mW

Milliwatt

  • STEP 6: Select a period which indicates how often you want to measure this indicator.
    For example, is it Monthly, Quarterly or Annually?  It is important that this is chosen correctly in the first instance as it cannot be modified once created.    

  • STEP 7: Choose your aggregation method from the available options: Cumulative, Normal and Average.

    • The cumulative method will result in the system summing up values based on the time frames selected.  

    • The normal method will return the figure for the last closing reporting period within the selected time frame.

    • The average method will display data as an average of the period of analysis. 

Important: If you have changed the KPI aggregation at any time after setting it up, you will need to resave the targets and actuals tab (resave the current data) in order for the calculations to be refreshed and reflect correctly within other screens/reports, etc.

  • STEP 8: Select the calculation method for the KPI which determines the rules behind the traffic light reporting. You can choose Less is better, More is better or Goal Post as the calculation method.

2. KPI Performance Calculations

Calculation Method

Description

Formula

Calculation Method

Description

Formula

Less is Better

  • Where it is desirable to get the lowest possible value for the KPI Actual.

  • Where a result lower in value to the target will result in a green light.

  • Example: Interest ratio (interest on borrowings/total expenditure).
    Target 10% | Actual 8%

If (Target = 0)

          If (Actual <= 0) then 100

         Else 0

If ( Target > 0

          1 – (Actual/Target) + 1

Else

          Actual/Target

More is Better

  • Where it is desirable to get the highest value possible for the KPI Actual.

  • Where a result higher in value to the target will result in a green light.

  • Example:  Customer Satisfaction.
    Target 85% | Actual 95%.

If (Target = 0)

          If (Actual >= 0) then 100

         Else 0

Else

         Actual/Target

Goal Post

  • Where it is desirable to get the KPI Actual around the Target value within the Variance.

  • Where achievement of the target results in a green light.

  • Example: Achievement of Budget.
    Target $3,000,000 ± 5% | Actual $2,950,000.

If Actual < LB then: (Actual/LB)

If Actual > UP then: LB-(Actual – UB)/LB

 

UB (Upper Boundary) = Target +(Target*Variance/100)

LB (Lower Boundary) = Target - (Target*Variance/100)

The below table explains how the calculations are reflected in traffic lights, which uses different colours to denote the performance.

Calculation Methods

Green

Amber

Red

Calculation Methods

Green

Amber

Red

Less is Better

Performance >= 100

(100 - Variance) >= Performance < 100

Performance < (100 - Variance)

More is Better

Performance >= 100

(100 - Variance) >= Performance < 100

Performance < (100 - Variance)

Goal Post

Performance = 100

 N/A

Performance <> 100

  • STEP 9: Click on the Time Horizon drop-down list in order to choose how the KPI graphs and values are displayed.

This is an optional field which can be activated by CAMMS if requested as part of your Scoping Day. There are three options; YTD, Period and Rolling. If not activated, the Time Horizon will be set to Period as default.

3. Time Horizon

There are three options YTD, Period and Rolling.

  • YTD will always show beginning of the financial year to Date To chosen, regardless of Date From selected.
    Example 1: - YTD KPI; Period - Monthly, Aggregation - Cumulative.

Month

Target

Actual

Month

Target

Actual

July

10

5

August

30

3

September

20

4

October

10

3

November

20

20

If Date From = 1/7/08 and Date To = 30/11/08 the calculation would ignore Date From (as it is a YTD KPI), and therefore calculate it as Jul + Aug + Sep + Oct + Nov.

  • Period will always show the period Date From and Date To.
    Example 2: Period KPI; Period - Monthly, Aggregation - Cumulative.

Month

Target

Actual

Month

Target

Actual

July

10

5

August

30

3

September

20

4

October

10

3

November

20

20

If Date From = 1/8/08 and Date To = 30/11/08, the calculation would be just for those months (August + September+ October+ November).

  • Rolling is a time period for the KPI for when it cumulates or averages, e.g. 5 month cumulative KPI would display as follows:
    Period 6 shows the sum of period 2 to period 6 (5 periods).

Period

Target

Variance

Actual

Rolling 5 months Actual

Period

Target

Variance

Actual

Rolling 5 months Actual

1

100

10

91

91

2

100

10

61

152

3

110

10

92

244

4

111

10

100

344

5

120

10

150

494

6

100

10

120

523

7

180

10

60

522

8

 50

10

70

500

9

90

10

90

490

10

100

10

100

440

11

100

10

87

407

12

100

10

95

442

13

 98

10

92

464

14

 97

10

95

469

15

 96

10

97

466

  • STEP 10: Click on the Actual drop-down list to choose what value should be displayed within the system with regards to the KPI's actual.

There are three options: Actual number, Actual Variance percentage or Actual variance number.

  • Actual # is the usual actual that is used within the system. It shows the actual that you have entered or the actual which has been calculated (for calculated KPIs) or the actual which has been imported via integration.

  • Actual Variance # will display KPI graphs and in EIS the variance of the actual entered to the target entered as an absolute number. Calculated as Actual minus Target (taking the aggregation method of the KPI into consideration).

  • Actual Variance % will display KPI graphs and in EIS the variance of the actual entered to the target entered as a percentage. Calculated as ((Actual minus Target)/ Target) *100 (taking the aggregation method of the KPI into consideration).

This is an optional field which can be activated by CAMMS if requested as part of your Scoping Day. If not activated, the KPI Actual will be set to the Actual number which is the most commonly used type in the system by default.  

 The below shows an example of a cumulative KPI:

Period

Target

Actual

Cumulative Target YTD

Cumulative Actual YTD

Cumulative Variance YTD

Cumulative Variance % YTD

Period

Target

Actual

Cumulative Target YTD

Cumulative Actual YTD

Cumulative Variance YTD

Cumulative Variance % YTD

1

998700

933340.74

998700.00

933340.74

-65359.26

-6.54

2

1636300

1813289.05

2635000.00

2746629.79

111629.79

 4.24

3

1410281

1293574

4045281.00

4040203.79

-5077.21

-0.13

4

1707735