What a Good KPI Report Actually Looks Like

Imagine walking into a meeting where everyone is prepared to discuss specific topics based on facts, not feelings. Sounds ideal, right? BCG found that only 26% of companies have the tools and capabilities to push their AI and analytics initiatives past pilot projects and into real value. That’s why KPI reports matter. They’re a simple and practical way to bridge this gap, turning raw data into a clear story about performance and progress. A good KPI report shows where you are, how you got there, and where you’re headed next.

Prefer listening? Watch this week’s Solo Session where I expand on the topic.

What Is a KPI Report?

For those who aren’t familiar, a KPI report is a structured way to tracking progress against your goals. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are how we tell the story of our business through data. Most of the time, these reports are shared with senior leadership, board members, or owners who many not see dashboards day to day.

Think of these reports as pulling the most important pieces into one place so decision-makers can understand what’s happening without digging into the weeds. The key here is that KPI reports must tell a story, not just deliver the news. We have to create a report that connects the results back to our goals while providing context about what matters most.

What does a KPI Report Include?

Traditionally, KPI reports are full of lagging indicators… here’s what happened. But the real value comes when you also identify leading indicators because that’s how you forecast where you’re headed.

Let’s take a revenue team for example. Their KPI report might include lagging indicators like revenue booked las month and leading indicators like calls made, quotes generated, or customer touches completed.

Back to leading vs lagging indicators, if history shows that months with high inbound activity usually translates into higher revenue, tracking those leading indicators will help you predict what’s coming.

The same idea applies in operations. Lagging indicators might be throughput, orders shipped, or on-time delivery. Leading indicators could be unplanned downtime, labor efficiency, mix of incoming orders, etc.

How to Measure and Build a KPI Report

1. Define Your Goals

Everyone must understand the purpose of this report… what’s our why? How will this help the business? Whatever you do, please don’t skip this step! Otherwise you risk creating reports that take resources to create but never actually move the needle.

2. Choose the Right KPIs

This is where many organizations go wrong, more KPIs doesn’t mean more accurate or better. Too many measures creates noise and confusion. Pick the handful that truly drive results, and give ownership to the person or team responsible for influencing each one.

3. Collect and Organize Your Data

Understanding where your data will come from and if you’re already collecting it is a big step. If you’re not already collecting the data you need, you’ll need to decide if this requires long-term tracking or something you need temporary visibility on. Long-term will most likely require a system where short-term might just call for a legal pad and tally marks.

4. Create Your KPI Report

The best advice here is to tailor this report to your audience. What detail to d they need to understand the story without coming back to you for an explanation? Use visual where they add clarity, and keep the layout clean. Add commentary, trends, benchmarks, and most importantly, what the numbers mean.

5. Review, Revise, Repeat

Ask: is this still valuable? Do we need to adjust leading or lagging indicators? Does it help solve customer problems or just track internal efficiency? Keep improving until it adds real value.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day, a KPI report shouldn’t be about filling up slides with numbers or checking a box for senior leadership. It should be about creating something useful and solving problems, sharing the story of your business through data that helps people make better decisions.

The real value of these reports is when you go beyond “delivering the news” by including leading indicators, tying these measures back to your goals. When we make the information actionable, we move from reporting to influencing outcomes.

Keep it simple, keep it relevant, and keep it tied to what matters most for your business and your customers. If a KPI report isn’t helping you move the needle, it’s just noise and a waste of resources.

That’s it for today.

See you all again next week!

Dave