How to Create and Update KPIs in Ninety

KPIs (key performance indicators) are the quantifiable metrics your team tracks on its Scorecard to monitor performance against goals. To add a KPI to your team's Scorecard in Ninety, you can either create a brand-new one or add one that already exists in your organization. Owners, Admins, Managers, and Coaches can create and configure KPIs. Team Members can enter data for KPIs assigned to them but cannot create new ones. Observers have view-only access.

Who can create and edit KPIs

Your role in Ninety determines what you can do with KPIs on the Scorecard. Here's how permissions break down by role:

• Owners, Admins, and Coaches: Create, edit, and manage KPIs across all teams in your organization.
• Managers: Create, edit, and manage KPIs for every team you're assigned to.
• Team Members: Enter data for KPIs assigned to you. You cannot create new KPIs or change KPI settings.
• Observers: View Scorecard data from your assigned teams. You cannot create KPIs or enter data.

If you don't see the New KPI button on your team's Scorecard, your role doesn't have permission to create KPIs. The button only appears for users with the Owner, Admin, Manager, or Coach role. To request a role change, contact your Admin or Owner — they can update your permissions through the Directory tool.

For the full permissions matrix, including what each role can and cannot do across every Scorecard feature, see Scorecard Permissions Explained.

How to create a new KPI

To create a new KPI, you'll work from within your team's Scorecard in the Data tool — not from the KPI Manager or the global Create button at the top of the app. The New KPI button lives on each group's card inside the Data tool.

1. Click Data from the left navigation.
2. Select your team from the Team dropdown.
3. Select the Scorecard timeframe you want the KPI to belong to (Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual).
4. Click the New KPI button at the top right of the group's card.
5. Select Create New KPI from the dropdown.
6. Enter a title for your KPI.
7. Choose a unit type (Number, Currency, Percentage, Yes/No, or Time).
8. Set a goal and goal orientation (greater than, less than, or equal to the goal).
9. Assign an owner (the person accountable for this metric).
10. Click Save.

Every team's Scorecard comes with four preset tabs: Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual. The KPI you create belongs to whichever tab you're currently viewing. For example, to create a monthly KPI, switch to the Monthly tab first. You cannot convert a KPI to a different timeframe after creating it. Also note that the New KPI button is located on the group's card inside the Data tool, not the global Create button in the top-right corner of the Ninety app (which creates items like To-Dos and Issues).

How to add an existing KPI to your Scorecard

If a KPI already exists in your organization (on another team's Scorecard, or previously created and then removed from a group), you can add it to your team's Scorecard without recreating it. Adding an existing KPI gives your team access to the same metric, including all of its historical data.

1. Click Data from the left navigation.
2. Select your team from the Team dropdown.
3. Click the New KPI button at the top right of the group's card.
4. Select Add Existing KPI from the dropdown.
5. Search for the KPI by name.
6. Check the box next to the KPI you want to add.
7. Click Add.

You can also click the Add existing KPI link at the bottom left of the group's card to go directly to the search.

How to edit a KPI

After creating a KPI, you can update its title, description, goal, goal orientation, and owner at any time. Editing a KPI's details does not affect its historical data.

1. Click Data from the left navigation.
2. Select your team from the Team dropdown.
3. Click the KPI's title to open its details card.
4. Make your changes — update the title, description, goal, goal orientation, or other fields as needed.
5. Click Save.

Assigning or changing the owner after creation

If you forgot to assign an owner when creating a KPI, or if ownership needs to transfer to someone else, there are two ways to update it:

From the profile photo:

1. Click the KPI's title to open its details card.
2. Click the profile photo at the top right of the card.
3. Hover over a Seat from the dropdown.
4. Click the user who should own this KPI.

From the KPI Owner dropdown:

1. Click the KPI's title to open its details card.
2. Click the KPI Owner dropdown toward the bottom of the details card.
3. Choose the new owner.
4. If the user sits in multiple Seats, select the relevant Seat from the Seat dropdown.

To automate calculations using data from other KPIs, you can turn any KPI into a Smart KPI with a formula. For step-by-step instructions, see Using the Formula Builder.

Adding notes to a KPI's entry

All licensed users can add notes to KPIs. Having notes available to provide extra context for a KPI's progress over time helps save time in meetings by having documentation readily available.

To add a note to a KPI:

1. Click Data from the left navigation.
2. Choose your team from the dropdown.
3. Choose a Scorecard (Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annual).
4. Right-click a cell.
5. Click Set custom Goal or note.
6. Write your note.
7. Click Save.

How to move a KPI from one team to another

Your organization's KPIs are fully accessible across your account, allowing any team to add any KPI to their Scorecard. For example, if you want to have a KPI that's on the leadership team's Scorecard added to a department team's Scorecard, simply:

1. Navigate to the Data tool.
2. Select the intended team from the Team dropdown.
3. Choose which group to add the KPI to or create a new group.
4. Click New KPI at the top right of the group.
5. Select add existing KPI from the options shown.
6. Search for the KPI, check its box on the left side of its row, then click Add.

KPI unit types

Every KPI uses a unit type that determines how its data is displayed and calculated on the Scorecard. You select the unit type when creating a KPI, and it cannot be changed after data has been entered.

The five unit types are:

• Number. A whole number or decimal. Use this for counts, quantities, or any metric that doesn't require a currency symbol or percentage sign (for example, "Calls Made" or "Units Shipped").
• Currency. A monetary value displayed with a currency symbol. Supported symbols are $, €, and £. Use this for revenue, expenses, or any financial metric.
• Percentage. A value displayed with a percent sign. Use this for ratios, completion rates, or any metric expressed as a percentage of a whole.
• Yes/No. A binary value for tracking whether something was done or not done. Use this for completion-based metrics (for example, "Weekly Report Submitted" or "Team Huddle Held").
• Time. A value expressed in hours and minutes. Use this for duration-based metrics (for example, "Average Response Time" or "Hours Billed").

Troubleshooting

Issue: I can't see the "New KPI" button. Solution: The New KPI button is only visible to users with the Owner, Admin, Manager, or Coach role. If you don't see it, your current role doesn't have permission to create KPIs. Check your role by opening your profile or asking your Admin. To request a role change, contact your Admin or Owner — they can update your permissions through the Directory tool.

Issue: I can't change a KPI's unit type (for example, from Percentage to Currency). Solution: Unit types are locked once data has been entered. To fix this, create a new KPI with the correct unit type, re-enter your data, and then remove or archive the old one. For help, see Removing and Deleting KPIs.

Issue: I created a KPI, but it's on the wrong timeframe (for example, weekly instead of monthly). Solution: Every team's Scorecard has four preset tabs — Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and Annual — and a KPI belongs to whichever tab you were viewing when you created it. You cannot move a KPI from one timeframe to another. To fix this, switch to the correct tab, create a new KPI there, and then remove the one on the wrong timeframe. For help removing KPIs, see Removing and Deleting KPIs.

Issue: A KPI I'm looking for doesn't appear in the "Add Existing" search. Solution: The search looks across all KPIs in your organization, but results depend on your team access. Try searching by the exact name of the KPI. If you still can't find it, the KPI may have been permanently deleted rather than just removed from a group. Check the KPI Manager for archived items, or contact support if you believe data was lost.

Issue: I edited a KPI and the change appeared on another team's Scorecard. Solution: If the same KPI appears on multiple teams' Scorecards (added using Add Existing KPI), it's a shared instance — edits to its title, goal, description, or other settings apply everywhere it's displayed. This is expected behavior. If you need an independent copy with its own settings and data, duplicate the KPI instead of sharing it. For details, see How to Share and Duplicate KPIs Across Team Scorecards.

KPI Examples

Ninety's leadership team recommends having every Seat in the organization own 3-5 KPIs. While KPIs can look different depending on your industry and many other factors, we wanted to offer some examples.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)