The Scenario
You are a finance analyst. Your company is migrating to SimpleKPI and the first blocker is measurement units. Your KPIs track revenue in USD, EUR, and GBP, headcount, customer satisfaction scores, and several percentage-based ratios. Twelve custom units need to exist in SimpleKPI before a single KPI can be configured.
You have the unit definitions in a Google Sheet: unit name in column A, entry format in column B, display format in column C.
The bad version:
- Open SimpleKPI, navigate to unit management
- Click "Add unit," enter the name, set the entry and display formats, save
- Repeat for 11 more units
- Realize you mixed up the entry and display formats on unit 4 and have to go back and edit
- Twenty minutes later you have 8 units created and two of them need fixing.
The fast version is one prompt.
The Easy Way: One Prompt in SheetXAI
SheetXAI reads your units sheet and creates every measurement unit in SimpleKPI in one pass.
Open the SheetXAI sidebar and type:
Create a KPI unit in SimpleKPI for each row in this sheet using the unit name in column A, entry format in column B, and display format in column C. Write the returned unit ID or error into column D.
SheetXAI creates all 12 units and writes the IDs into column D. Those IDs are what you will reference in column C when you create your KPI definitions next.
What You Get
A complete set of custom measurement units in SimpleKPI:
- 12 units created — one API call per row, in one pass
- Column D filled — the SimpleKPI unit ID for each created unit, or the specific error
- A unit ID reference — the sheet now maps unit names to IDs, ready for KPI creation
The ID reference in column D is immediately useful. Your KPI definition sheet references unit names. Once column D is filled, SheetXAI can use a VLOOKUP-style lookup to match names to IDs and create all your KPIs in the next prompt, without you manually copying any IDs.
What If the Data Is Not Quite Ready
Unit definitions come from finance specifications, accounting system configs, and ad-hoc decisions. They are rarely consistent.
When unit names have currency symbols already in the name
Some units are named "USD Revenue" and some are named "$Revenue." You want them standardized before creating.
Normalize the unit names in column A: replace "$" with "USD" and "€" with "EUR" and "£" with "GBP." Then create a SimpleKPI unit for each row using the normalized name, entry format in column B, and display format in column C. Write the unit ID into column D.
When entry and display formats need to be inferred from the unit type
Your sheet only has the unit name. You want SheetXAI to infer reasonable formats.
For each row in this sheet, infer a reasonable entry format and display format based on the unit name in column A (e.g., currency units get a number format with two decimals, percentage units get a 0-100 entry format with a % display). Create the SimpleKPI unit with the inferred formats. Write the unit ID and the formats used into columns B, C, and D.
When some units already exist and should not be duplicated
The account has a few units from initial setup. Only create the ones that are missing.
List all existing SimpleKPI units. Then for each row in column A that does NOT already exist, create a new unit using entry format in column B and display format in column C. Write "Created — ID: [id]" or "Already exists — ID: [id]" into column D.
When you need units created and KPIs built in one pass
Your sheet has unit definitions in columns A through C and KPI definitions in columns E through H. You want units first, then KPIs, using the created unit IDs.
Create a SimpleKPI unit for each row in columns A, B, and C. Write the returned unit IDs into column D. Then create a KPI for each row using the name in column E, description in column F, the unit ID from column D, and target in column H. Write each KPI ID into column I.
The pattern: create the dependencies first, capture their IDs, and use them immediately in the same prompt.
Try It
Get the 7-day free trial of SheetXAI and open your units setup sheet, then ask it to create the measurement units in SimpleKPI. The SimpleKPI integration is included in every SheetXAI plan. For related workflows, see how to bulk-create KPIs from a definition sheet or the SimpleKPI in Google Sheets overview.