Find Out Which Engagements Are Actually Worth Taking
A quarterly report comparing what you billed and collected against what each engagement actually cost — so the patterns that are quietly affecting your margins become visible before they compound.
Start a ConversationA clear view of where your firm's margin is actually being made — and lost
Every practice has clients that feel profitable and clients that feel difficult. This analysis tells you which is which — in numbers rather than impressions — by comparing billed and collected revenue against the direct and allocated costs of each engagement.
The quarterly report includes visual breakdowns by client and engagement type, flags patterns in scope creep, write-downs, and collection delays, and gives firm leaders the data they need to make considered decisions about client relationships and pricing — without guessing.
A structured report delivered each quarter with enough history to identify patterns, not just single-period noise.
Breakdowns by client and engagement type — formatted for a partner meeting, not an accounting review.
Findings framed around decisions — which relationships to invest in, which pricing to revisit, which patterns to address.
Revenue tells you what came in. It doesn't tell you what it cost to earn it.
In professional services, the gap between billed revenue and profitable revenue can be significant — and it rarely shows up in the financials without deliberate effort. Scope creep gets absorbed. Write-downs happen at invoice time. Slow-paying clients look fine on the accrual books. The costs of specific engagements get pooled rather than allocated.
Over time, this creates a situation where the firm is growing revenue while margin erodes — because the decisions that would change the trajectory aren't being made with the right information. Not from lack of care, but from lack of visibility.
A long-standing client relationship that feels like a cornerstone — but whose engagements consistently run over scope
Fixed-fee work priced based on estimates that haven't been tested against actual cost data
Write-downs absorbed at invoice time without anyone tracking which clients or project types they cluster around
Collection delays on certain accounts that are accepted as normal but represent a real cost in working capital
Engagement-level analysis that connects revenue to cost — by client and by type
Each quarter, we pull together billed revenue, collected revenue, direct costs (time costs by professional), and allocated overhead for each client engagement — then compare them. The result is an engagement-level margin view that most firms have never seen in this form.
Beyond the numbers themselves, the analysis looks for patterns: which clients consistently generate scope additions, which engagement types realize below their billed rate, which accounts pay slowly relative to peers. These are the observations that inform better decisions about pricing, scope management, and client relationships going forward.
Margin by Engagement
Each engagement ranked by margin — revenue collected against direct and allocated costs. High-margin and low-margin relationships identified clearly, with supporting data.
Pattern Recognition Across the Portfolio
Scope creep, write-down frequency, and collection delay patterns surfaced by client and engagement type — not just flagged in the current quarter but tracked over time.
Visual Breakdowns for Partner Review
Charts and visual summaries organized by client and engagement type — formatted to support a productive partner discussion rather than require one to interpret the data first.
Narrative Summary with Observations
Each report includes a written summary of notable findings — not just data tables, but context for what the numbers suggest and where it may be worth looking more closely.
What you receive each quarter — and what to do with it
The analysis covers a rolling three-month period and is delivered within ten business days of quarter close. It's structured to be reviewed in a partner meeting — with enough detail to answer follow-up questions and enough clarity that the conversation can focus on decisions rather than interpretation.
Portfolio summary
Total revenue billed and collected, aggregate margin, and a one-page overview of how the quarter compared to prior periods. A starting point before the detail.
Engagement-level breakdown
Each active engagement with its billed revenue, collected revenue, direct costs, allocated overhead, and calculated margin — sorted from highest to lowest.
Pattern analysis
Write-down frequency, scope addition patterns, and collection timing by client and engagement type — with trend lines where multiple quarters of data are available.
Observations and context
A written summary of what the data suggests — which relationships are performing, which patterns warrant attention, and where a pricing or scope conversation might be worthwhile.
A note on the first report: The initial quarter produces the baseline. By the second and third reports, trend lines become meaningful — and that's typically when the analysis becomes most useful for partner discussions about pricing and client strategy.
$550 per quarter
One quarterly report covering all active client engagements for the period. No per-engagement charges, no variation based on firm size within the scope below.
Full engagement-level margin analysis for all active client work in the period
Billed vs. collected revenue comparison with direct and allocated cost breakdown
Visual breakdowns by client and engagement type formatted for partner review
Pattern analysis covering scope creep, write-down frequency, and collection delays
Written narrative summary with observations and context for each period
Trend line tracking across quarters as history builds — most useful by the second or third report
This service works as a standalone engagement or alongside the Firm Accounting monthly service. When combined, the data foundation is already in place and no additional setup is needed.
How the analysis is built — and why the structure matters
Engagement profitability analysis requires careful decisions about what counts as a cost and how overhead gets allocated. A report that uses only direct costs overstates margins. One that uses arbitrary overhead allocations produces numbers that can't be relied on. The methodology here is transparent — you'll see the allocation rules and can question them.
Revenue reconciliation — billed and collected separately
Billed revenue and collected revenue are tracked independently. The gap between them — uncollected billed amounts, write-offs, collection delays — is part of the analysis, not hidden in a net figure.
Direct cost assignment by engagement
Time costs — based on recorded hours multiplied by loaded staff cost rates — are assigned directly to each engagement. This is the most reliable cost figure and the most decision-relevant.
Overhead allocated on a consistent basis
Overhead is allocated using a methodology agreed at the outset — typically revenue-weighted or time-weighted — and applied consistently across all periods so that trends are meaningful.
Pattern flags reviewed quarter-over-quarter
Each quarter's results are compared to prior periods. A single quarter of high write-downs on one engagement may be unremarkable. Three quarters of the same pattern is a conversation worth having.
The report should be useful — not just complete
A profitability report is only as valuable as the conversations it enables. If the first report doesn't land clearly — if the allocation methodology needs adjustment, if the format doesn't suit how your partners prefer to review data — we revise it before moving to the next quarter.
Report revision if the format misses the mark
If the first quarterly report isn't structured in a way that supports your partner discussions, we'll adjust the format and reissue — before charging for the second quarter.
Walk-through on request
For any quarter, we're available to walk through the findings with the partnership — either before a meeting to prepare, or during the meeting itself if that's more practical.
What happens after you reach out
Initial call
We talk through your firm's current data setup — what's available in your accounting system, how engagements are tracked, and what existing cost records look like. This determines whether the analysis is ready to begin or needs some groundwork first.
Data review and methodology agreement
We review the available data, agree on the overhead allocation method, and confirm which engagements should be included. You approve the methodology before any analysis begins.
First report delivered
The first quarterly report is delivered within ten business days of the quarter close. We'll walk through it with you and adjust the format if needed before the next quarter begins.
This service is available as a standalone engagement or alongside the Firm Accounting monthly service. If you're already a Firm Accounting client, setup for this analysis is straightforward — the data foundation is already in place.
See which client relationships are worth growing — and which to reconsider
If your firm's client portfolio has grown without a clear picture of which engagements are actually driving margin, a quarterly analysis is a reasonable place to start.
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