How to Create a KPI Card in Power BI

What is a KPI Card?

A KPI Card in Power BI is a highly customizable visual element used to display key performance indicators (KPIs) in a concise, visually impactful format. It highlights a single metric or a set of related metrics, often accompanied by contextual cues such as comparisons, icons, and conditional formatting. Unlike the traditional KPI visual, the KPI Card offers extensive design flexibility, making it ideal for storytelling, executive dashboards, and branded reports.

Example of a KPI Card

Step-by-Step Guide

Using the Sample - Superstore data, lets create a new measure “Revenue” – by summing all Sales.

Create a new column “Month_Year”, returning Order Date as the first day of the month. Note this new column will be used when computing the current and last month revenue as well as when filtering revenue by month.

Add Card (new) to the view and add Revenue as value.

Add Month Year slicer as shown below.

Next, compute a new measure Last Month (LM) Revenue as shown below.

Create another measure computing percent change between current month revenue and last month revenue as shown below.

Create another measure conditional formatting (CF) to format the percent change value computed above.

Add percent change and last month revenue values to the card as follows.

Select the card >> under format visual >> select Reference labels.

Under cards select “Revenue” and add the two measures namely percent change and Last Month (LM) revenue as shown below.

(See the changes on the card as shown below)

Under the Reference labels settings.

• Hide the title for both percent change and last month revenue.

• Next, remove the background color and divider.

See the resulting view.

Lastly, lets format the percent change value based on the conditional formatting (CF) measure.

• While still under Reference labels - select percent_change under Select label.

• Under value >> go to color and select conditional formatting.

Under format style chose “Field value”.

And select the field to format with, in this case conditional formatting (CF).

Note the percent change value is formatted based on whether there is a positive or negative growth between the current and last month revenue as shown below.

Conclusion

Creating KPI Cards in Power BI isn’t just about displaying numbers - it’s about delivering clarity, impact, and insight at a glance. With their rich formatting, dynamic comparisons, and storytelling potential, KPI Cards empower analysts and decision-makers to track performance with precision and style.

Whether you're building executive dashboards, operational reports, or branded visuals for clients, mastering KPI Cards gives you the flexibility to highlight what matters most. By combining DAX measures, conditional formatting, and thoughtful layout, you can transform raw data into compelling visual narratives.

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