Dashboards and KPIs · Track 3 · Tutorial 4 of 5

Use leverage and risk KPIs

Leverage KPIs show how much of the group is funded by others, which lenders and investors watch closely. They read closing balances, so each one is a snapshot of the balance sheet at the month end.

You will needA group with its actuals loaded. To change Pulse, the Administrator or Dashboard Admin role.
By the endA Funding section in Pulse Key Metrics with Debt Ratio, Equity Ratio, Debt-to-Equity Ratio and Financial Leverage.

1Add the KPIs to Pulse

  1. Open Pulse → Key Metrics with Your Group selected, and click the Edit icon (the pencil).
  2. Click Add Section, type Funding, and click Add.
  3. In the new section, click Add Metric, then click Leverage to list those KPIs. Debt Ratio and Financial Leverage are under Risk, Total Liabilities under Financial.
  4. Click a KPI to read its description and formula, then click Add. Repeat for each KPI you want.
  5. Click Save.
Adding Metric with Leverage chosen: Debt-to-Equity Ratio selected, with its description and formula, and Add
Leverage (1), Debt-to-Equity Ratio (2), its description and formula (3), and Add (4).

In the formula each part is an account section, such as REVENUE, with how it is read: (Current Month) is the movement of the period, (Current Balance) the closing balance, (Average) the average of the opening and closing balance, and (Last Month) the earlier period. The same KPIs are offered on a dashboard KPI card and as a report KPI row; see Set up dashboards and KPIs and Add KPI and operational data rows.

2Know the leverage and risk KPIs

Debt RatioTotal liabilities ÷ total assets, as a percentage. The share of the assets funded by what the group owes.
Equity RatioEQUITY ÷ total assets, as a percentage. The share funded by the owners.
Debt-to-Equity RatioTotal liabilities — CURRENT LIABILITY, NON CURRENT LIABILITY, ACCOUNTS PAYABLE, TAXES PAYABLE and PAYROLL PAYABLE — ÷ EQUITY, as a percentage: 150% means the group owes 1.5 times its equity.
Financial LeverageTotal assets ÷ total equity, as a number such as 2.5: the assets carried for each unit of equity.
Non-Current Liability to Total AssetNON CURRENT LIABILITY ÷ total assets, as a percentage. The share funded by long-term obligations.
Total LiabilitiesAll liability sections at the closing balance.

Liabilities here are all of them, trade payables, tax and payroll included, not only borrowings. Each KPI reads closing balances, so MTD and YTD show the same figure: the position at the end of the month. Compare it with earlier months in Vs LM, or click the KPI name to see its trend.

3Check a figure

Check

On the Balance Sheet at Oct-2026, total liabilities divided by total assets equals Debt Ratio, and Total Liabilities equals the KPI of that name.

4If something goes wrong

What you seeWhat to do
There is no pencil icon on Key MetricsChanging Pulse needs the Administrator or Dashboard Admin role. Ask one to add the KPIs, or use a dashboard KPI card.
No KPIs match the current filters.Clear the search box or click All.
This KPI is already in use here.The KPI is already in another section. Key Metrics holds each KPI once; drag it to the section you want.

Want more detail? See the documentation