# KPIs in Communicate

> Add a one-sentence summary.

Communicate · 17 min read · Updated 2026-11-03

A KPI tile puts one number front and center on a dashboard: the value, how it moved since the last period, and a sparkline of how it got there. Build a row of them and anyone opening your dashboard knows how the business is doing before they read a single chart.

![A Sales Scorecard dashboard with three KPI tiles: Revenue up 44.9%, Profit at 83% of its Q4 target, and Units sold tinted green](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483290246-01-kpi-scorecard.png)

### When to use KPIs

- **The Monday scorecard.** Your sales lead opens one dashboard and sees revenue, profit and units for the latest quarter, each with its change from the quarter before.
- **Tracking against a target.** Finance sets a profit goal of $35K. The tile shows how far along you are ("83% of Q4 target") and draws the goal line through the sparkline.
- **Flagging what needs attention.** With 8 KPIs on a board, KPI glow outlines the one that's furthest off, so nobody has to scan for it.
- **The top of a story.** A row of KPIs above the detail charts gives every reader the headline first.

If the first thing your viewers ask is "so how are we doing?", put a KPI at the top.

### Add a KPI

1. Add a chart to your dashboard. On a blank dashboard, choose **Begin in the fields**. On a busy one, right-click the canvas and choose **Add Chart**.
2. With the chart selected, open the **More charts** menu (the **…** at the end of the chart types) and choose **KPI**.
3. Open **Fields** and drag a measure (Sales, Profit) onto **Value**.
4. Drag a date onto **Trend By** to draw the sparkline and turn on comparisons.

![The More charts menu with KPI highlighted between Sankey diagram and Box plot](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483300591-02-chart-type-kpi.png)

![The Encoding tab for a KPI, with Sum(Sales) on Value and Quarter(Order Date) on Trend By, next to the Revenue, Profit and Units sold tiles](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483307106-03-value-trend-shelves.png)

A KPI takes 2 fields: **Value** holds the measure, and **Trend By** holds the date. Plain dimensions like Region don't drop onto a KPI.

From chat:

```
Add a KPI for total profit with a sparkline by quarter
```

### Build a row of KPIs

Select a KPI, open its **⋮** menu and choose **Duplicate**. Then drag a different measure onto the copy's **Value**. Drag each tile by its body next to the one before it, and the layout snaps them into a row.

Starting fresh? **Layout templates** has a **KPI Row + Charts** layout: metrics at top, charts below.

![The Choose a Layout dialog with KPI Row + Charts selected](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483336827-04-kpi-options.png)

### KPI options

Select a KPI, open **Options**, then expand **KPI options**. Everything below lives there.

![The KPI options section of the Format pane](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483344754-05-sparkline-types.png)

| Option | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Show label** | Shows the measure name above the number. |
| **Footnote** | A short line of context under the value. |
| **Show sparkline** | Draws the trend from **Trend By**. On by default. |
| **Sparkline type** | **Line**, **Bar** or **Area**. |
| **Show comparison** | Shows the change from an earlier period. On by default. |
| **Comparison period** | Which period to compare against (see below). |
| **Show period labels** | Names the periods, so the comparison reads like "Q4 2025 vs Q3 2025". |
| **Change shows** | The change as **%**, as a **Value**, or **Both**. |
| **Value shows** | What the big number is (see below). |
| **Show goal** | Adds a target, with a **Target value** and a **Label**. |
| **Align** | **Left** or **Center**. |
| **Size** | The number's size. **Auto** fits it to the tile. |
| **Font** | The number's typeface. |
| **Value color** | A fixed color for the number. |
| **Conditional formatting** | Colors the number by thresholds or by trend. |

### Sparkline type

![The Revenue KPI drawn three ways: a Line sparkline, a Bar sparkline, and an Area sparkline](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483351336-05-sparkline-types.png)

Line is the default. Bar works well for a few periods; Area gives the trend more weight.

### What the number shows

**Value shows** decides the big number:

| Choice | The number is |
| --- | --- |
| **All records** | The measure across all your data. The default. |
| **Latest period** | The most recent period on **Trend By** (the latest quarter, say). |
| **Total (Sum)** | The sum across all records. |
| **Average** | The average across all records. |
| **Minimum** / **Maximum** | The smallest or largest value. |
| **NPS Score** | A Net Promoter Score. Only available when **Value** is a 0 to 10 rating; otherwise the menu reads "NPS Score (requires 0–10 rated measure)". |

> **Tip:** A comparison needs periods to compare. With **All records**, the tile shows one total and no change. Switch to **Latest period** and the change appears: "+44.9% vs previous period $198.2K".

### Comparison period

![The Comparison period menu open, listing Previous period through Year to date vs last year](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483361849-06-comparison-period.png)

Choose **Previous period** (the one before, at whatever grain **Trend By** uses), **Previous day**, **Previous week**, **Previous month**, **Previous quarter**, **Previous year**, or **Year to date vs last year**.

If your filters leave only one period, the tile says so ("Only one quarter left after filters, so no previous quarter to compare") rather than showing a made-up change.

### Goal

Turn on **Show goal**, enter a **Target value** and give it a **Label**. The tile shows progress as a bar and a chip ("83% of Q4 target"), and the sparkline gets a dashed goal line.

![The Profit KPI at 83% of its Q4 target with a progress bar and dashed goal line, next to the Goal settings: Show goal on, Target value 35000, Label Q4 target](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483367648-07-goal.png)

### Conditional formatting

Turn on **Conditional formatting** to color the KPI by how it's doing:

- **Color based on:** **Value thresholds** (you set a **Low threshold** and **High threshold**, and **Colors** for low, mid and high) or **Trend direction** (green for up, red for down).
- **Show color on:** **Number only**, **Number and card tint**, or **Number and left edge**.
- **Invert colors** flips them, for measures where down is good (returns, churn, cost).

![The Units sold KPI with a green number and a green-tinted card, next to the settings: Color based on Trend direction, Show color on Number and card tint](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483374193-08-conditional-formatting.png)

### KPI glow

KPI glow is a setting for the whole dashboard. Press Esc so nothing is selected, open **Themes** in the right panel, and expand **KPI glow**.

It compares every KPI on the dashboard against its goal, or against its change from the previous period when it has no goal, then outlines the ones that stand out.

![The KPI glow settings: Glow set to Single standout, Show set to Negatives and positives, Style Outline, with Negative and Positive colors](https://app.goldenanalytics.com/api/help/public-image?object=035cd529-4aca-41d2-b893-f60416e1e55e%2F1793483379196-09-kpi-glow.png)

| Option | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| **Glow** | **Off**, **Single standout (the one most off)**, or **All below (or above) goal or trend**. |
| **Show** | **Negatives and positives**, **Negatives only**, or **Positives only**. |
| **Style** | **Outline** or **Fill**. |
| **Negative color** / **Positive color** | The glow colors. Red and green by default. |

In the scorecard at the top of this page, Profit glows red (it's short of its target) and Revenue glows green (up 44.9%).

### Do it from chat

Chat can add KPIs and change every option above. Ask in plain words.

**Add KPIs**

```
Add a Profit KPI
```

```
Add a KPI for West region sales
```

```
Put the KPIs in a row across the top
```

**Compare and set goals**

```
Compare to last month
```

```
Show year to date vs last year
```

```
Set a goal of 1M labeled "FY target"
```

**Style**

```
Show the sparkline as bars
```

```
Make the KPI number green
```

```
Color the value red below 100
```

```
Make the KPI that's furthest off target glow
```

A few things chat does on purpose:

- **"A KPI for West region sales" is built as a West-only measure**, not as a filter, so the tile keeps showing West even when someone changes the dashboard's filters.
- **If a measure name only partly matches**, chat asks instead of guessing.
- **Ask for an "icon metric"** and you get a KPI with the same measure. That's the card Golden uses for single numbers now.

### Sharing, publishing and viewers

- **Viewers see exactly what you set.** Comparisons, goals, conditional colors and glow all render in the published dashboard.
- **Dashboard filters apply to KPIs.** Filter to one region and every KPI recalculates. If a filter leaves a single period, the comparison steps aside and says why.
- **Navigation tabs can show a KPI.** In a tabbed dashboard, card-style tabs have a **Headline metric** setting that repeats a KPI's value on the tab, so viewers see the number before they click.

### FAQ

**Why doesn't my KPI show a comparison?** Check 2 things: a date on **Trend By**, and **Value shows** set to something period-based like **Latest period**. **All records** has nothing to compare.

**Why is Show sparkline grayed out?** The KPI has no date to plot. Drag a date onto **Trend By**.

**Can a KPI count down, like costs or churn?** Yes. Turn on **Invert colors** under conditional formatting so a drop shows green.

**Does KPI glow change the numbers?** No. It only outlines tiles. The values, comparisons and goals stay as they are.

Source: https://goldenanalytics.com/docs/imported-mvwxlx6m