How does your firm stack up?
The numbers that define a healthy consulting business — utilization, margins, win rates, and collections — with the ranges top firms actually hit.
The headline numbers
Healthy consulting firms sustain 70–75% billable utilization, deliver projects at 35–45% gross margin, realize 85–95% of their standard rates, win 30–50% of qualified proposals, and collect invoices in 40–50 days. Firms below these ranges typically lose revenue to untracked time, scope creep, and underpricing rather than weak demand.
Utilization
Average billable utilization across professional services firms. Top-quartile firms sustain 75%+ without burnout.
Source: SPI Research, Professional Services Maturity Benchmark
Typical targets: 80–85% for junior consultants, 70–80% for senior consultants, 40–50% for partners who carry sales responsibility.
Source: Industry standard staffing models
Hours typically unrecorded due to delayed timesheet entry. Firms that track time daily capture measurably more revenue than weekly-entry firms.
Source: Harvard Business Review time-tracking studies
Margins & Rates
Healthy gross margin range for consulting engagements. Below 30% usually signals underpricing or scope creep.
Source: SPI Research, Professional Services Maturity Benchmark
Typical operating margin for well-run boutique consultancies (5–50 staff). Top performers exceed 30%.
Source: Consulting industry M&A benchmarks
Share of standard rates actually billed and collected after write-downs and discounts. Below 85% indicates pricing or scoping issues.
Source: Professional services billing benchmarks
Sales & Pipeline
Typical win rate for qualified consulting opportunities. Sub-25% win rates suggest weak qualification; above 60% may mean underpricing.
Source: Consulting sales benchmarks
Median time from first conversation to signed SOW for mid-size consulting engagements ($50k–$500k).
Source: B2B professional services sales data
Share of annual revenue from existing or returning clients at healthy firms. Heavy reliance on new logos increases cost of sale.
Source: Professional services growth benchmarks
Delivery & Operations
Roughly a third of professional services projects overrun budget. Real-time budget-vs-actuals tracking is the single biggest corrective.
Source: SPI Research, Professional Services Maturity Benchmark
Median collection time for consulting invoices. Automated invoicing from approved time entries reduces DSO by 10+ days.
Source: Professional services finance benchmarks
Annual revenue per billable consultant at boutique-to-mid-market firms; strategy firms can exceed $400k.
Source: Consulting industry compensation and revenue surveys
Frequently Asked Questions
Track these numbers automatically
CommandOS computes utilization, margin, realization, win rate, and DSO in real time from the work your team already logs — no spreadsheets.