KPIs for Accounting Firms
These are the KPIs an accounting or bookkeeping practice tracks for capacity, pricing and cash. Recurring work makes retention and realisation especially important.
The KPIs to track
Utilisation rate
Chargeable hours divided by available working hours.
Realisation rate
The value billed divided by the value of recorded time at standard rates.
Recurring revenue share
Revenue from regular engagements (bookkeeping, payroll, annual accounts) divided by total revenue.
Work in progress age
How long recorded time has been waiting to be invoiced, usually banded by age.
Days sales outstanding is the average number of days it takes to collect payment after a sale.
Formula and SQL query on the Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) page.
Client retention rate
Clients at the start of a period who are still clients at the end, divided by clients at the start.
Revenue per employee is annual revenue divided by average headcount, a rough measure of workforce productivity.
Formula and SQL query on the Revenue per Employee page.
Revenue per client
Total revenue divided by the number of active clients, which shows pricing and mix over time.
Where the data usually lives
Practice management software, time recording, billing and the firm's own ledger.
Measurement mistakes to avoid
- Busy seasons make monthly utilisation uneven; compare with the same period last year.
- Fixed-price engagements need the hours spent, not just the fee, to show profitability.
- Client counts need a rule for dormant clients before retention is calculated.
Questions to ask your data
You can type these as plain questions. SchemaChat turns each one into SQL against your connected database or uploaded file, runs it, and shows the SQL and the figures it used so you can check the answer before you share it. Check that the result matches how your business defines each KPI.
- What is realisation by service line this year?
- How old is our unbilled work in progress?
- Which clients are least profitable after time cost?
- What share of revenue is recurring?