Even when you are done using my vacuum cleaner, you still might remember me. The memory might be sour because it was such a rotten vacuum cleaner, or it might be good. Profit is only the end result of an enormous amount of activity. If you want to create profit, you should focus on the things that are driving profit. Money is only one of many possible proxies for measuring human action, and I don't think it's an especially good one, because it sheds little light on vital processes.
Profit is a commonly used measure.
However, profit is only the end result of an enormous amount of activity. If you want to create profit, you should focus on the things that are driving profit. And that tends to be the intangible assets and the things people know and do. The idea is to get a broad picture that lets you monitor your progress in building intellectual capital. Don't focus simply on investing in a new computer system to handle data, but on how you can use it to spread knowledge more effectively throughout the organization.