18 KPIs every business should track

You don't need to track all of them at once. You need to know they exist — and choose the right ones for where your business is right now.

I've organized them into four groups. Start with the one that connects most directly to your current pain point.

Group 1: Money (Financial health)

1. 1Monthly revenue (MRR/Revenue) — How much comes in each month. The most basic metric, yet surprisingly many business owners don't know the exact number.
2. 2Gross margin — Revenue minus the direct costs of delivery. Shows whether your delivery model is viable.
3. 3Net margin — What's left after everything: fixed costs, variable costs, taxes. The number that pays your bills.
4. 4Burn rate — How much goes out each month. If it's more than what comes in, you're burning through reserves.
5. 5Runway — With your current cash and monthly burn, how many months can you survive. The indicator that prevents fatal surprises.

Group 2: Customers (Acquisition and retention)

1. 1CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) — How much it costs to bring in a new customer. Marketing plus sales spend divided by the number of customers acquired.
2. 2LTV (Customer Lifetime Value) — How much a customer generates over the entire relationship. If LTV < CAC, every new customer is a loss.
3. 3Churn — How many customers leave per period. 5% per month sounds small. Over a year, you've lost 46% of your base.
4. 4Conversion rate — Of everyone who arrives (leads, visitors), how many become customers. Measures funnel efficiency.
5. 5NPS or satisfaction — Do customers recommend you? Indicates relationship health and likelihood of retention.

And the other 8?

Revenue per employee, average ticket size, rework rate, monthly growth, LTV/CAC ratio, recurring vs. one-time revenue, delivery time, and break-even point — all important, but they depend on where your business is right now.

How to use this:

Don't track everything at once. Choose 3 to 5 indicators that answer the most urgent question your business faces today. Surviving? Group 1. Growing? Group 2. The right indicator at the right moment is worth more than a spreadsheet with 50 metrics nobody looks at.

The dashboard calculates all 18 — you choose the ones that matter now.

Open the Painel de KPIs and enter your numbers. All 18 indicators appear calculated instantly — pick the ones that matter most right now. No sign-up required.