KPI visual in Power BI - Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

A KPI visual shows a key number that measures success, like sales or profit. It helps you quickly see if you are meeting your goals by comparing actual results to targets.

When you want to show monthly sales compared to the sales target on a dashboard

When you need to track if customer satisfaction scores meet a set goal

When you want to highlight if expenses are under or over budget

When you want a simple visual to show progress toward a yearly revenue goal

When you want to quickly spot if a key metric is improving or declining

Steps

Step 1: Click

- Visualizations pane

The list of available visuals appears

Step 2: Select

- KPI visual icon in the Visualizations pane

A blank KPI visual placeholder appears on the report canvas

Step 3: Drag

- The measure field (e.g., Total Sales) from Fields pane to the 'Indicator' well in the Visualizations pane

The KPI visual shows the current value of the measure

Step 4: Drag

- The measure or field representing the target value (e.g., Sales Target) to the 'Target goals' well

The KPI visual shows a comparison between actual and target values

Step 5: Drag

- The date or time field to the 'Trend axis' well

The KPI visual displays a trend line showing changes over time

Step 6: Resize and position

- The KPI visual on the report canvas

The visual fits well with other report elements and is easy to read

Before vs After

Before

Report canvas has no KPI visual; only raw sales data is shown in tables

After

Report canvas shows a KPI visual with current sales of $50,000, target sales of $60,000, and a trend line over the last 6 months

Settings Reference

Indicator

📍 Visualizations pane > Fields section > Indicator well

Shows the main value to track, like sales or profit

Default: None

Target goals

📍 Visualizations pane > Fields section > Target goals well

Sets the goal or target to compare the indicator against

Default: None

Trend axis

📍 Visualizations pane > Fields section > Trend axis well

Shows how the indicator changes over time

Default: None

Data colors

📍 Format pane > Data colors

Changes colors to highlight good or bad performance

Default: Green for positive, red for negative

KPI indicator

📍 Format pane > KPI indicator

Shows or hides the indicator value

Default: On

Common Mistakes

Not adding a target value to the KPI visual

Without a target, the KPI cannot show if performance is good or bad

Always add a target measure or constant to the 'Target goals' well

Using a non-date field in the Trend axis

The trend line will not display correctly without a proper time field

Use a date or time field in the Trend axis well to show changes over time

Making the KPI visual too small

The numbers and trend line become hard to read

Resize the visual to a size where text and lines are clear

Summary

KPI visuals show a key number compared to a target to quickly assess performance

Add an indicator, target, and trend axis to create a meaningful KPI visual

Use clear colors and proper sizing to make the KPI easy to understand