Architecture Firm Health Scorecard

Score your practice against real industry benchmarks in about two minutes.

Why this exists. The benchmark data exists in paid industry reports. Nothing free lets a small firm owner see where they actually stand.

Region

United States, Canada and UK

Operating profit margin (%)

Utilisation rate (%)

Net multiplierNet revenue divided by direct labour cost.

Overhead multiplier

Realisation rate (%)What you actually billed as a share of what you could have billed.

Days to get paid (days)

Backlog (months)

Proposal win rate (%)

Share of work that comes from referrals (%)

Everything here is calculated in your browser. Your numbers are never sent anywhere, stored or seen by us.

Practice health gradeC (71 / 100)Weakest area: Win rate.

Where you stand against published industry benchmarks
Measure	You	Industry	Score
Operating margin	15.0%	avg 19.9%, strong 24%	70 / 100
Utilisation	60.0%	58.9% to 64%	76 / 100
Net multiplier	2.80×	avg 3.1×, strong 3.3×	66 / 100
Overhead multiplier	1.60×	avg 1.5×	80 / 100
Realisation	85.0%	avg 83%, strong 90%	79 / 100
Days to get paid	65 days	49.4 to 73.2 days	70 / 100
Backlog	5.0 months	about 7.6 months reported	79 / 100
Win rate	30%	45% median for architecture firms	57 / 100
Referral dependence	80%	lower is more resilient	63 / 100

Fix win rate first. It is the furthest below benchmark and usually the cheapest to move.

Benchmarks come from BQE architecture benchmarking and the Deltek Clarity annual A and E study. The two disagree on several measures because the samples differ, so ranges are shown rather than a single target.

How this is calculated

Scores are relative to published benchmarks for architecture and engineering firms, which skew toward larger practices than a typical small studio. A sole practitioner should read the direction rather than the grade.
Referral dependence is scored inversely. High referral share is not bad work, it is concentration risk, because you cannot schedule a referral.

This is a planning estimate, not professional advice. Read the full disclaimer.

A grade is only useful if something changes after it.

A free growth audit takes the weakest number here and works out what it would take to move it.

Talk to the founder

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The thinking behind it

Where this number comes from.

Practice

Where an architecture firm’s margin actually leaks

Six places the fee disappears between the proposal and the bank, the published benchmark for each, and the uncomfortable finding that the two metrics everyone tracks barely predict profit at all.