Metric Catalog

A metric catalog is a centralized library of standardized metrics and KPIs, each with a clear name, formula, and description. Think of it as a reference guide that ensures everyone in your organisation measures progress the same way.

In depth

A metric catalog goes beyond a simple list of numbers. It serves as the single source of truth for defining and calculating the metrics that measure business performance. Each entry in the catalog typically includes:

Metric name: A concise, descriptive title.
Definition: A natural-language description explaining why the metric matters.
Formula or calculation: The exact steps or SQL query used to derive the value.
Data source: The raw tables, files or services the metric draws from.
Metadata: The tags, owner, certification status, and refresh schedule.

By organizing and structuring this essential information, teams avoid the confusion caused by duplicate or inconsistent metric definitions. Data analysts can be confident in the logic behind the numbers and business users can trust the values they see in reports and dashboards.

Modern metric catalogs often integrate with a semantic layer or metric platform, enabling self-serve analytics without sacrificing governance. In an AI-ready setup, a catalog might power natural-language queries, automatic lineage tracking, and error propagation.

Pro tip

Use consistent naming conventions and add tags for departments, data owners, and business goals. This makes it easy for users to search for and filter metrics when building dashboards.

Why Metric Catalogs matter

Without a metric catalog, teams risk inconsistent reporting, wasted time reconciling different versions of the same KPI, and reduced trust in data.

A well-built catalog fosters:

Data confidence: Everyone works from the same definitions.
Faster insights: Users find and reuse metrics instead of creating new, potentially-duplicate ones.
Better governance: Data teams retain control while empowering business users to perform self-serve analysis.

Metric Catalog - In practice

Imagine your marketing and finance teams both track “monthly recurring revenue (MRR)”. Without a catalog, the marketing team might calculate MRR based on subscription orders, while the finance team uses billing dates.

A metric catalog ensures both teams reference the same MRR definition, sourced from a central data warehouse, certified by the analytics team, and available in self-serve dashboards. This alignment speeds up monthly reports and helps leaders make confident decisions.

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Metric Catalog and PowerMetrics

Klipfolio PowerMetrics includes a curated metric catalog. In the catalog, users can:

See a list of the metrics you have access to and get a quick view of their value, trend, and refresh status.
Access metrics for analysis, based on your user role and set of permissions.
See which metrics are certified (approved for use).
View existing tags and add new ones to metrics for better organization and faster searching.

Related terms

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A key performance indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that shows how effectively your organization is achieving its most important objectives. Think of KPIs like the gauges on your car dashboard—each one gives you real-time feedback to help you maintain your engine and stay on course.

Data Governance

Data governance is the system of people, policies, and tools that keeps data accurate, secure, and available. Think of it like hiring a skilled librarian for a massive library. Every book is cataloged, protected, and accessible to those with the right permissions (a library card). In analytics, data governance enables your team to work with consistently-defined data that’s accessed based on user-specific roles and permissions.

Knowledge Graph

A knowledge graph is a structured network that represents real-world entities (people, places, products, metrics) and the relationships between them. It adds context to data, so systems and people can make smarter decisions.

Measure

A measure, in the context of data, is a quantifiable numeric value used to track and analyze data. It represents a calculation—like sum, average or count—that’s performed on raw data points.

Ontology

Ontology, in the context of data and metrics, is the shared vocabulary that defines your business entities, metrics, relationships, and rules. It gives every term a single, trusted meaning across dashboards, queries, and AI powered analytics.

Metric Tree

A metric tree is a visual or conceptual model that maps how key business metrics relate to each other. It links a top‑level outcome, like revenue or retention, to the contributing drivers that explain changes underneath. You get a clear, shared view of cause and effect across teams.

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