Metrics
Teach Orcabase what your numbers mean. Once.
Define revenue, active customers or churn one time. Every dashboard and every answer uses the same definition, so your numbers always agree.
In plain words
What is a metric?
A number with a fixed recipe. “Revenue” sounds simple until you ask: before refunds or after? Only paid orders? Write the recipe down once, and the number means the same thing everywhere.
The problem it solves
Two “revenues”. Zero trust.
Your sales dashboard counts refunds. Your finance spreadsheet doesn't. Define it once and there's only one answer.
Sales dashboard
Revenue
All orders
counts refunds as revenue
Finance spreadsheet
Revenue
Paid orders only
leaves refunds out
Revenue
✓ certifiedPaid orders, minus refunds.
owner: you · version 3
Describe it once
Break it down any way. Add up what matters.
Tell Orcabase, in business words, what your data can be broken down by and what it can add up. Then you (or the agent) can explore it any way you like.
your data
Orders
Break down by
Add up
- Number of ordershow many
- Amount chargedeverything billed
- Money keptpaid orders, minus refunds
Four kinds of metric
Almost any number fits one of four shapes.
No need to memorize these. They're here to show that almost any question becomes a metric.
Simple
Revenue
= paid orders, added up
One thing, added up. Most metrics.
Ratio
Refund rate
= refunded orders ÷ all orders
One number divided by another.
Combined
Net revenue
= revenue − refunds
Built from other metrics.
Running total
Customers to date
= every signup so far
Keeps adding up over time.
Why AI needs this
Your definitions are the agent's vocabulary.
Without them, an AI guesses, confidently. With them, it uses your recipe every time.
Without a definition
The AI guesses: “add up every order.”
With your definition
The AI uses your recipe: “paid orders, minus refunds.”
Trust you can see
Every metric has a status and a history.
Certify the definitions you trust, and Orcabase keeps them honest.
Draft
Proposed by you or the agent. Nothing relies on it yet.
Certified
Checked and approved by you. Everyone uses this one.
Changed
Edit it and it goes back to draft, so nothing shifts silently.
Retired
No longer used, but kept so old reports still make sense.
Everything else
Built to be used, not just written down.
Explore any metric
Point and click
The agent drafts them
Everywhere you look
Right, or it tells you
Full history
Do I have to define metrics before using Orcabase?
How many should I start with?
Do I need to be technical?
What happens when I change a definition?
Agree on the numbers. Then grow them.
Start with the five numbers you check every Monday.