Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyze the current state of the art and trends with regard to business process measurement by means of a systematic review of literature.Design methodology approach - The results are obtained through a systematic review carried out according to existing relevant guidelines. Additionally, a specific methodology through which to systematically obtain all the most important journals is followed. In total, 19 relevant articles are selected and later analyzed. A subsequent critical analysis of the data obtained is applied to identify the gaps in the current literature.Findings - A considerable effort has been made by researchers in the field of business process measurement, particularly in recent years. Many of the defined measures for business processes have been applied to models (approximately 77 per cent). Most of the initiatives concerning business measurement have been adapted from the software engineering field. A small percentage of the existing business process measures has been empirically validated.Originality value - The results presented contribute towards providing an updated overview of the current state of research into business process measurement, in order to identify existing research gaps and concerns on which ongoing and future research efforts on this topic can be focused.