Opening Pipeline Value
Total pipeline value at the start of the period — the baseline against which the period's pipeline flow (+ new opportunities − won − lost = closing) reconciles. Equal to the prior period's closing pipeline by construction. Surfaces in sales.pipeline_flow as the `start` slot. Common pitfall: restating opening pipeline to retroactively "clean up" stale deals masks the hygiene problem rather than addressing it; cleanup should happen via explicit "old-deal scrub" lines in the flow, not by editing the opening baseline. — Sales KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).
I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier)
No public third-party standard anchors this KPI yet, so I'mBoard authors and maintains the definition — transparently labeled as editorial tier. See the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system and the back-attribution workstream.
Rogue ID: sales.opening_pipeline_value
Type: Currency
Domain: Sales
Definition
Total pipeline value at the start of the period — the baseline against which the period's pipeline flow (+ new opportunities − won − lost = closing) reconciles. Equal to the prior period's closing pipeline by construction. Surfaces in sales.pipeline_flow as the start slot. Common pitfall: restating opening pipeline to retroactively "clean up" stale deals masks the hygiene problem rather than addressing it; cleanup should happen via explicit "old-deal scrub" lines in the flow, not by editing the opening baseline.
Formula
Opening Pipeline Value = Total pipeline value snapshot at period open = prior period's closing pipeline. Identity: opening + new_opps_added − closed_won_value − closed_lost_value − scrubs = closing pipeline.Why it matters
Without an explicit opening line, the pipeline flow has no anchor and the additions / removals cannot be audited. Boards expect the flow to reconcile to the penny period-over-period.
How to interpret
Compare opening pipeline to the period's quota — opening pipeline coverage (opening / quota) is a stronger leading indicator than current pipeline (which has had time for in-period additions). Coverage < 1.5× quota at period open is usually a warning that the period requires above-average in-period generation to land.
Related KPIs
sales.pipeline_valuesales.new_opps_added_valuesales.closed_won_valuesales.closed_lost_valuesales.pipeline_flow
Source
I'mBoard editorial — authored and maintained by I'mBoard, first published 2026-04-01. No third-party standard is cited for this KPI; when one emerges, the definition is back-attributed and promoted to the published tier (a minor version bump). Read the ontology methodology for the published vs editorial tier system, attribution rules, and dispute process.
Stage relevance
| Company stage | Priority |
|---|---|
| Series A | Recommended |
| Series B | Recommended |
| Series C+ | Recommended |
| Public | Recommended |
Suggested for stages: Series A, Series B, Series C+, Public.
Default owning functions
- Sales
Machine-readable
- This KPI as JSON:
/api/ontology/sales/opening_pipeline_value.json - All Sales KPIs:
/api/ontology/sales.json - Full catalog:
/api/ontology/index.json
New Opportunities Added
Total dollar value of new opportunities entering the pipeline during the period — the top-of-funnel inflow line in the pipeline flow. The single best read on the marketing-and-SDR engine's output. Common pitfall: counting inflated, un-qualified opportunities (e.g. every demo request) overstates the engine's output; restrict to opportunities that pass a defined qualification stage (typically SQL or higher) before counting. Boards expect this number to track forward quota — a quarter's top-of-funnel should be ~1× the same quarter's quota for a normal sales-cycle business. — Sales KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).
Pipeline Assumptions
Narrative documenting the key assumptions underlying the pipeline forecast — conversion rates by stage, expected sales-cycle length, segment-mix expectations, and any deal-specific dependencies (e.g. "we assume Acme renews their POC by end of month and signs the upgrade in Q3"). Common pitfall: leaving assumptions implicit makes the forecast non-falsifiable — if you don't list the assumptions, you can't identify which one broke when the forecast misses. Renders side-by-side with sales.pipeline_risk_factors in the TwoColumnTextarea widget (sales.pipeline_context_notes container). — Sales KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).