Finance KPI dictionary template

A finance KPI dictionary is a shared list of the metrics your organization reports, each with a plain definition, a calculation, a source and an owner. It is one of the simplest ways to stop the same metric from meaning different things in different reports. The template below covers the fields to include and 30 common metrics for finance and banking teams.

Most teams already have a dictionary, scattered across SQL comments, spreadsheet tabs and people's memory. Writing it down in one place is the first step toward numbers that match.

Fields every entry needs

1. Name. The one name everyone uses.
2. Definition. One or two plain sentences.
3. Calculation. The formula, with any exclusions spelled out.
4. Source. The system and fields it comes from.
5. Owner. One named person.
6. Frequency. How often it's calculated and reported.
7. Last changed. The date and the reason.

30 metrics to start with

Each metric below has a starting definition. Replace the wording with your own once your owners agree on it.

General finance (16)

• Revenue. Income recognized in the period under your revenue recognition policy.
• Gross margin. Revenue minus cost of revenue, divided by revenue.
• Operating expense. Costs to run the business, excluding cost of revenue.
• EBITDA. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.
• Net income. Profit after all expenses, interest and taxes.
• Operating cash flow. Cash generated by core operations in the period.
• Free cash flow. Operating cash flow minus capital expenditures.
• Days sales outstanding. Average days to collect receivables.
• Days payable outstanding. Average days to pay suppliers.
• Budget variance. Actual result minus budget, in amount and percent.
• Forecast accuracy. How close the forecast was to the actual result, under an agreed error measure.
• Annual recurring revenue. Annualized value of active recurring contracts.
• Net revenue retention. Recurring revenue this period from customers active a year ago, divided by those customers' recurring revenue a year ago.
• Customer count. Number of active customers under your agreed definition of active.
• Headcount. Number of employees at period end, by your agreed counting rule.
• Close cycle time. Business days from period end to final close.

Banking (14)

• Net interest income. Interest earned minus interest paid.
• Net interest margin. Net interest income divided by average earning assets, often on a tax-equivalent basis.
• Efficiency ratio. Non-interest expense divided by the sum of net interest income and non-interest income.
• Return on assets. Net income divided by average total assets.
• Return on equity. Net income divided by average shareholders' equity.
• Loan to deposit ratio. Total loans divided by total deposits.
• Cost of deposits. Interest expense on deposits divided by average deposits. Decide whether the base is total or interest-bearing deposits.
• Core deposits. Deposits your bank defines as stable, typically excluding brokered and large time deposits under your policy.
• Deposit growth. Change in deposits over the period, by segment.
• Nonperforming loan ratio. Nonperforming loans divided by total loans.
• Net charge-off ratio. Charge-offs minus recoveries, annualized, divided by average loans.
• Allowance to loans ratio. Allowance for credit losses divided by total loans.
• CET1 ratio. Common equity tier 1 capital divided by risk-weighted assets.
• Liquidity coverage ratio. High-quality liquid assets divided by projected 30-day net cash outflows. Required only of larger banks.

How to keep it current

1. Review the dictionary each quarter.
2. Add a metric only when someone owns it.
3. Log every definition change with a date and a reason.
4. Link each report to the dictionary entries it uses.

How Preql helps

Preql turns agreed definitions like these into governed logic mapped across your systems, with owner approval and version history, so reports and AI tools work from the same definitions.

FAQ

How many metrics should we start with?

The ones that reach leadership and the board. For many teams that's 15 to 30.

Spreadsheet or tool?

Start in a spreadsheet. Move to a tool once definitions need to stay in sync with live reports.