> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.terriqon.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Set Up KPIs and Activities in Terriqon > Define measurable success targets (KPIs) and the time-bound tasks that move them (Activities). Manual and bulk-import walkthroughs, with the immutable-field rules that matter. **KPIs** are the measurable targets that define what success looks like on a project. **Activities** are the specific, time-bound tasks that move each KPI forward. Together they're your measurement backbone: activity progress rolls up into KPI achieved-values automatically, KPI status colors your dashboards green / amber / red, and both feed the numbers that end up in your AI reports. This guide walks through creating both, one at a time or in bulk, and calls out the fields you can't change later. For how KPIs and Activities fit into the project as a whole, see [Projects → KPIs, activities, and reports](https://docs.terriqon.com/concepts/projects.md#kpis-activities-and-reports). ## Before You Start Two fields on these objects **cannot** be changed once you save. Get them right the first time: * **KPI Type** — Numeric, Percentage, or Binary. Locked immediately after save. Changing your mind means creating a new KPI and archiving the old one. * **The Associated KPI on an Activity** — an Activity is permanently tied to the KPI it was created under. Same rule: to move an activity to a different KPI, create a new one. Also worth thinking through before you click: * **Which project owns each KPI?** A KPI belongs to exactly one project. Multi-project measurement rolls up at the Portfolio level. * **What's the target and what's the baseline?** Baseline is optional but useful — it's the starting measure before your intervention (e.g. "literacy was 40% before the project") and it makes progress interpretable. * **Are you setting up one at a time or a batch?** Both KPIs and Activities support bulk import from Excel, which is much faster if you're setting up 15 KPIs at project kickoff. ## Creating a KPI **1. Open the KPI form** Two entry points: * Inside a project, open the **KPI & Activities** tab and click **+ KPI**. The KPI is pre-linked to that project. * Globally, go to **KPIs** in the left sidebar and click **Add KPI**. You'll pick the project in the form. **2. Fill in Basic Info** | Field | Required | Notes | | - | - | - | | **KPI Title** | Yes | Be specific. `# of Female Beneficiaries Enrolled in Vocational Training in Sindh` beats `Training KPI` — precision here improves AI report quality later. | | **Description** | No | How is this KPI measured? What counts as progress? Written for the person who reads the report six months from now. | | **Project** | Yes | Searchable dropdown. Pre-filled if you opened the form from inside a project. | | **Reporting Frequency** | No | Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, or Annually. Sets the cadence Terriqon expects updates at. | | **KPI Type** | Yes | Numeric, Percentage, or Binary. **Locked after save.** See [Choosing a KPI Type](#choosing-a-kpi-type) below. | **3. Set Targets and Baseline** Which fields appear here depends on the type you picked. | Field | Required for | Notes | | - | - | - | | **Target Value** | Numeric, Percentage | The goalpost — 500 beneficiaries, 80%, whatever the type demands. **Locked after save.** | | **Baseline Value** | Optional | Starting measure before intervention. Highly recommended for Percentage KPIs — it makes "80%" meaningful in context of what the number was before. | | **Unit of Measurement** | Numeric | "beneficiaries", "schools", "households", "metric tons" — whatever you're counting. | | **Binary Status** | Binary (edit mode only) | Incomplete or Complete. New Binary KPIs start Incomplete. | **4. Save** Click **Save**. The KPI appears in the project's KPI & Activities tab with an empty progress bar, ready for activities to feed it. ### Choosing a KPI Type Because the type is locked after save, this decision is worth making deliberately. | Type | Use when | Example | | - | - | - | | **Numeric** | You're counting discrete things and adding them up | `500 beneficiaries reached`, `100 schools inspected`, `2,000 vaccinations administered` | | **Percentage** | You're tracking a rate or ratio against a total | `80% of children vaccinated`, `95% of facilities passed inspection`, `60% completion rate` | | **Binary** | It's a yes/no milestone with no partial credit | `Policy signed: Yes/No`, `Phase 1 completed: Yes/No`, `MoU executed: Yes/No` | > [!TIP] > > If you're unsure whether something is Numeric or Percentage, ask: "is my ceiling a fixed count, or a proportion of a larger group?" 500 beneficiaries is Numeric (the ceiling is 500). 80% of a district's children is Percentage (the ceiling is the district's total). ## Bulk-Importing KPIs from Excel Useful when you're setting up several KPIs at project kickoff. **1. Open the bulk import flow** From **KPIs** in the left sidebar, click **Bulk Import** and select the target project. All imported KPIs will belong to this project. **2. Download the sample template** Click **Download Template** to get the Excel file. Columns match the manual form: title, type, target, unit, frequency, and so on. **3. Fill KPIs row by row** One KPI per row. Keep the column names as they are — the importer matches by column name. **4. Upload and review errors** Upload the completed file. The system validates every row and shows **row-level errors inline** — for example, an invalid KPI Type, a missing Unit on a Numeric KPI, or a bad project reference. Fix the flagged rows in the file and upload again. **5. Confirm** Once all rows pass validation, confirm the import. Every valid row becomes a KPI on the target project. ## Adding Activities to a KPI An Activity is a specific, time-bound piece of work under a KPI — the actual thing your team is doing on the ground to move that KPI forward. Every Activity must be linked to a KPI. Think of it like this: * **KPI**: Vaccinate 500 children * **Activities**: Outreach in Village A + Vaccination camp in Village B + Follow-up in Village C **1. Open the Activity form** Two entry points: * Inside a project, open **KPI & Activities**, expand the KPI, and click **+ Activity**. The KPI (and project) are pre-linked. * Globally, go to **Activities** in the left sidebar and click **Add Activity**. You'll pick the KPI in the form. **2. Confirm Strategic Alignment** | Field | Required | Notes | | - | - | - | | **Associated KPI** | Yes | Searchable dropdown. **Locked after save.** The activity is permanently tied to this KPI. | | **Project** | — | Read-only. Auto-filled from the KPI's project. | **3. Fill in Basic Info** | Field | Required | Notes | | - | - | - | | **Activity Title** | Yes | Specific. `Conduct Awareness Session in Sukkur District` beats `Outreach`. | | **Description** | No | Steps, scope, expected participants. | | **Status** | — | Auto-set to **Not Started** on creation. In edit mode: Not Started, In Progress, Completed, Cancelled. | | **Completion %** | Percentage KPIs only | Tracks partial progress toward the parent KPI (0–100). | | **Country** | No | Where the activity takes place. | | **State** | No | Unlocks after Country. | | **Cities** | No | Multi-select; unlocks after State. | **4. Set Timeline and Resources** | Field | Required | Notes | | - | - | - | | **Planned Start Date** | Yes | When the activity begins. | | **Planned End Date** | Yes | Must be after Start Date. Passing this date without the activity being Completed marks it **overdue**. | | **Budget Allocation** | No | Shown with your organization's currency symbol. | | **Expected Output** | No | Concrete deliverable: `100 households surveyed`, `30 participants trained`. | **5. Save** Click **Save**. The activity appears under its parent KPI in the KPI & Activities tab, and starts contributing to the KPI's progress as soon as its status moves. ## Bulk-Importing Activities from Excel One important difference from KPI bulk import: activities need to know which KPI they belong to. **1. Get the KPI IDs you'll reference** From the KPI list, copy the **KPI ID** for each parent KPI. You'll paste these into your Excel file so the importer can link every activity to the right KPI (and via the KPI, to the right project). **2. Download the Activity template** From **Activities** in the left sidebar, click **Bulk Import** and download the Activity Bulk Upload Template. **3. Fill activities row by row** One activity per row. Paste the KPI ID into the KPI column for each row — this is the field that ties the activity to its parent. **4. Upload and fix any errors** Row-level validation errors are shown inline, exactly like the KPI import. A common error here is a missing or misspelled KPI ID. ## How Activities Move KPIs Different KPI types accumulate progress differently. Knowing this helps you write activity titles and set completion values that actually move the needle. | KPI Type | What updates the KPI's achieved value | | - | - | | **Numeric** | The count entered on each activity is added to the KPI's running total. Ten activities of `50 households surveyed` push a `500 households` KPI to 100%. | | **Percentage** | Each activity's Completion % contributes to the parent KPI's overall progress. When an activity reaches 100%, it's marked Completed and the KPI advances. | | **Binary** | The KPI flips from Incomplete to Complete when its underlying activity is marked Completed. | Activity status auto-logic worth knowing: * **New activity** → automatically **Not Started**. * **Planned End Date passes without Completed** → activity is flagged **overdue** on the dashboard. * **Activity marked Completed** → counts toward the parent KPI according to that KPI's type (as above). ## Dashboard and Reports Once KPIs and Activities exist, they show up automatically in two places: * **The project Dashboard** — as KPI progress rings/bars with green/amber/red status, plus an Activity Timeline of what's running. See [KPI Dashboards](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/kpi-dashboards.md). * **AI Reports** — the KPI status section of every report is drawn from these values. Precise KPI titles (with numbers, target populations, and locations) produce noticeably better report narratives than vague ones. See [Approving Reports](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/reviewing-and-approving-reports.md). ## Editing Later What you can change after a KPI or Activity is saved, and what you can't: | Field | Editable? | | - | - | | KPI Title, Description, Reporting Frequency, Baseline, Unit | Yes | | KPI **Type** | **No** — locked after save | | KPI **Target Value** | **No** — locked after save | | Activity Title, Description, Status, Completion %, Location, Dates, Budget, Output | Yes | | Activity's **Associated KPI** | **No** — locked after save | If you need to change any of the locked fields, the answer is the same in both cases: create a new KPI (or activity) with the correct value, and cancel or delete the incorrect one. ## Next Steps With your measurement layer in place, everything else falls into a familiar rhythm: 1. [Field Officers collect data](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/collecting-data.md) — approved submissions on Numeric and Percentage KPIs start moving the achieved value. 2. [Monitor progress](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/kpi-dashboards.md) — catch amber KPIs before they turn red. 3. [Generate and approve reports](https://docs.terriqon.com/guides/reviewing-and-approving-reports.md) — KPI status is a headline section on every report type. This documentation is built and hosted on [Mintlify](https://mintlify.com), a developer documentation platform.