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When to Use a Computed Metric?


Sometimes when a specific metric you’d like to track is not readily available, but can be calculated using other existing metrics, you can create a “Computed Metric” to achieve that and enable more in-depth analysis. For example, you might want to look at the ratio of two metrics or compute for a more complicated metric using multiple metrics.


This is often useful when different organizations employ different mechanisms for computing the same metric. For example, the calculation of CLTV in one company can be drastically different from that in another company given their own unique business context and objectives. Therefore, computed metric allows for more flexible computation of a certain metric in a way that makes the most sense to your organization.


In Natero, a computed metric can be calculated for each individual account (Per account) or across all the accounts (Across account). Once saved, it will become available in the Chart Explorer for charting and analytics as well as in account health score.



Create a Computed Metric


To create a computed metric, go to "Explorer" -> "Manage Lists & Charts" -> "Manage Computed Metrics". Click "New" on the top right.



  1. Name the metric.
  2. Define the formula for this metric.
  3. Specify if this metric should be calculated for each individual account or across all the accounts. 
  4. Save the metric.


For example, you can create a per account computed metric called “Acceptance Rate” that is calculated as “# of Jobs Accepted” divided by “# of Jobs Offered”. 




Units of Financial Metrics in Computed Metrics


Note that financial metrics such as MRR and ARR that are displayed in dollars throughout the product, when used in computed metrics, will be set to its default units other than the more readable units. When financial metrics are used in computed metrics, Natero will convert dollar to cents (times 100).


Therefore, if you'd like the computed metric to display the more readable units, you should do the division to the preferred units as part of the computation. 



Availability of Computed Metrics


Computed metrics are available in the "Chart Explorer" for tracking trends across your accounts. You can find all the saved computed metrics in the "Metrics" drop-down "Computed" section. Select the metric you want and plot historical trend with your preferred account list and timeframe, you can further break down the results by choosing any account-level dimensions. 


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Computed metrics can also be added to account custom views as a separate reporting column or included in an account health score calculation.


***Note that computed metrics are evaluated on-demand based on their constituent parts. If one of the parts is missing or has been deleted, then the computed metric will no longer work. Computed metrics are best viewed in the Chart Explorer. They are based on the computation that is saved for the metric and relies on the underlying metric/dimension data being present.