Pipeline Value
Sum of the dollar value of all active deals currently in the sales pipeline — unweighted (raw deal-value sum, not probability-weighted). Boards read this as the top-of-funnel sufficiency check: if pipeline coverage (pipeline value / forecast) drops below the historic conversion-rate-implied threshold, the forecast is at risk. Common pitfall: confusing pipeline value with weighted forecast — the unweighted number always exceeds the weighted, often by 3–5× depending on the stage mix. Always report both and the implied conversion ratio. — 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.pipeline_value
Type: Currency
Domain: Sales
Definition
Sum of the dollar value of all active deals currently in the sales pipeline — unweighted (raw deal-value sum, not probability-weighted). Boards read this as the top-of-funnel sufficiency check: if pipeline coverage (pipeline value / forecast) drops below the historic conversion-rate-implied threshold, the forecast is at risk. Common pitfall: confusing pipeline value with weighted forecast — the unweighted number always exceeds the weighted, often by 3–5× depending on the stage mix. Always report both and the implied conversion ratio.
Formula
Pipeline Value = Σ (deal_value) across all open opportunities in stages between qualification and signature (excludes closed-won and closed-lost). No probability weighting — for that, see sales.weighted_forecast.Why it matters
The capacity number for the forecast — without sufficient pipeline value, the forecast is structurally unachievable regardless of close-rate execution. Coverage ratio (pipeline / quota) is the first read on whether the team can hit the period.
How to interpret
Typical SaaS pipeline-coverage benchmark is 3× quota for the current quarter and 4–5× for the next quarter (industry folk-wisdom — varies meaningfully by historical win rate; the right multiple is 1 / historical-win-rate, not a fixed number). Coverage below the historic-conversion-implied threshold is the canonical "you will miss" signal.
Related KPIs
sales.weighted_forecastsales.pipeline_deal_countsales.average_deal_sizesales.win_ratesales.quarterly_forecastsales.pipeline_stage_metrics
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 | Core |
| Series B | Core |
| Series C+ | Core |
| Public | Core |
Suggested for stages: Series A, Series B, Series C+, Public.
Default owning functions
- Sales
Machine-readable
- This KPI as JSON:
/api/ontology/sales/pipeline_value.json - All Sales KPIs:
/api/ontology/sales.json - Full catalog:
/api/ontology/index.json
Pipeline Stage Metrics
Container handle for the per-stage pipeline metrics grid — for each pipeline stage (qualification, discovery, evaluation, proposal, negotiation, closing) tracks dealCount, totalValue, closingProbability, winRateFromStage, and avgTimeToClose. The most diagnostic surface in the pipeline view: where deals are bunching, which stage is the bottleneck, where conversion math is breaking. Rendered via the StageMetricsGrid widget seeded from PipelineStageValues. Common pitfall: trusting unchanged stage probabilities even as the deal mix shifts — re-calibrate the per-stage close rates quarterly against actuals or the weighted forecast drifts unreliably. — Sales KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).
Quarterly Forecast
The team's expected closed-won dollars for the current quarter — usually a sales-leader judgment call informed by weighted forecast but adjusted for deal-by-deal commit confidence. Distinct from weighted_forecast (which is mechanical, stage × probability). Boards read both: a quarterly_forecast materially below weighted_forecast means the team has explicit negative judgment on specific big deals; above it means they're calling deals stronger than the stage probabilities suggest. Common pitfall: anchoring the call to plan rather than reality — boards quickly learn to discount "we will hit plan" forecasts and reward calibrated commit-vs-actual track records. — Sales KPI, I'mBoard-authored (editorial tier).