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Professional services

A 60-second financial health check for your firm.

Margins, utilization, debt coverage, cash cycle — see how your practice stacks up against other accounting, legal, and consulting firms.

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Worth quotingProfessional services firms with DSO above 60 days lose more to working-capital cost than they typically realize — the implicit interest rate is often 8–12%.

Built for owners and analysts who say…

  • "Collections are dragging and tying up cash.
  • "Margins look fine — but partners aren't getting paid.
  • "Need a quick sanity check before partner draws.

What you'll get

  • Margins and DSO vs professional-services medians
  • DSCR check for SBA loans and lines of credit
  • Owner-lens memo of what to fix this quarter
  • PDF for partner meetings

People also ask

Common questions about professional services financials

What is a good gross margin for a professional services firm?+

Accounting, legal, and consulting firms typically run gross margin of 40–60%. Software-augmented firms (RPA, audit tech) push 55–65%. Below 35% suggests over-staffing relative to billable hours, or pricing that hasn't kept pace with salaries.

What is a healthy DSO for professional services?+

Target DSO is 30–45 days. Above 60 means collections are leaking working capital and partners are effectively self-funding the firm. Above 90 days, write-offs are usually understated.

How do banks evaluate accounting and law firms?+

Banks look at DSCR (target: 1.25× or higher), EBITDA margin after owner comp (target: 15–25%), and DSO. They discount partner draws heavily and underwrite to normalized salaries. Lines of credit are common for collections-driven working capital.

How can I tell if my firm is profitable enough to support partner draws?+

Compute EBITDA after market-rate compensation for all partners (not after current draws). If EBITDA after normalization is positive, the firm is genuinely profitable. If it's only positive because partners are under-paying themselves, draws are unsustainable.

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