Project KPIs

Flowtly Editorial Team3 min

A project KPI is a measure attached to one project that tells you how the project is doing against something you care about. Each KPI belongs to a single project. For KPIs computed from finances, the figures of the project's sub-projects are included.

Two kinds of KPI

Filled in by hand. You record dated readings, for example a customer satisfaction score each month. The current value of the KPI is the reading with the latest date, whatever order the readings were entered in.

Computed from project finances. The value is calculated from the project's own figures, so nobody has to type it in. One of the following:

Measure What it shows
Labour cost The cost of the time worked on the project
Billable value The value of the billable work on the project
Direct expenses Costs booked directly against the project
Gross margin What the project earns after its costs
Gross margin percent Gross margin as a percentage

A computed KPI is recalculated every time it is read, so it always reflects the current state of the project. It covers a period that runs, unless you set it otherwise, from the project's start date up to today.

Targets

A KPI can carry an optional target together with a direction:

  • Higher is better: the KPI is on track when its value reaches the target or goes above it.
  • Lower is better: the KPI is on track when its value stays at the target or below it.

Otherwise the KPI is off track. A KPI without a target is shown without an on track / off track status.

Who can do what

Three permissions control project KPIs. You assign them to people through permission groups.

Permission What it allows
KPI Manager Define, change and delete project KPIs and their targets.
KPI Contributor Record values for project KPIs that are filled in by hand.
KPI Viewer See project KPIs and how they compare with their targets.

Each permission includes the one below it: a KPI Manager can also record values, and a KPI Contributor can also see KPIs.

  • Account managers have KPI Manager automatically.
  • In a newly created organisation, the default permission group for the business owner includes KPI Manager.

Two further rules apply to everyone, whatever their KPI permission:

  • You see KPIs only on projects you can see.
  • Money values need profitability access. The value of a KPI measured in money (labour cost, billable value, direct expenses, gross margin) is shown only to people who may see project profitability. Others still see the KPI, but without its value.

Example use cases

  • A delivery lead tracks gross margin percent on a fixed-price project with a target of 30% and "higher is better", to catch cost overruns early.
  • A project manager records a monthly client satisfaction score by hand, and team members with KPI Contributor add the readings.
  • A finance team holds KPI Manager to set targets, while project staff hold KPI Viewer and follow the KPIs of the projects they work on.

Connection map

Refers toDerived fromPart ofPlanned vs actual
Documented hereDocumented elsewhere
budget covers project. counterparty defaults to project. invoice billed from project. project is of type project-type. project identified by project-reference. project staffed by person. project-rate rates person. project-rate applies on project. time-entry tracked against project. task belongs to project. project-folder groups project. project linked to budget. project-template creates project. project measured by project-kpi. project-phase is a child project of project. project needs role. booking planned vs actual time-entry.coversdefaults tobilled fromis of typeidentified bystaffed byratesapplies ontracked againstbelongs togroupslinked tocreatesmeasured byis a child project ofneedsplanned vs actualBBudget — The financial envelope an engagement is measured against — what was planned, versus what has actually been spent.BudgetPProject — The core organizational unit for a business initiative, client engagement or internal work. Everything tracked — time, cost, invoicing, profitability — hangs off one.ProjectCCounterparty — The other side of a financial document — a client billed, or a supplier owed.CounterpartyIInvoice — A sales document issued to a client: line items, dates, tax. It is created, reviewed, previewed and then sent.InvoicePProject type — Fixed-price, Time & Material, Non-billable or Internal. It decides how the project's tracking and reporting behave.Project typePProject reference — An optional key a project carries so systems outside Flowtly can name it. Unique within the organisation, and never reused once it has been given to a project.Project referencePPerson — An employee. The central record the rest of the workforce data hangs off — profile, documents, leave, benefits, rates.PersonMMember rate — A team member's billing or cost rate on a project. Rates are per member, so the same person can cost differently on two projects.Member rateTTime entry — What actually happened — work time logged against a project.Time entryTTask — A unit of work inside a project.TaskPProject folder — A grouping of projects, for organisations running more than a handful.Project folderPProject template — A reusable blueprint for a project: its phases, task lists and tasks, with timings held as day offsets rather than dates. It carries no client, no team and nothing financial.Project templatePProject KPI — A measure attached to a project, either filled in by hand as dated readings or computed from the project's finances, optionally compared with a target.Project KPIPPhase — A stage a project runs through. A phase is itself a child project, so everything true of a project is true of a phase.PhaseRRole — One job to be done on a project. It may be open, partly filled, filled or over-filled, and it exists whether or not anyone is booked on it.RoleBBooking — One person committed to one role for a stretch of weeks, at a percentage of their time. A booking is a plan, not a record of work done.Booking

Related terms