From the numbers to the change
- Your numbers sayRevenue steady, margin falling, bench growing
- The cause underneathHired ahead of projects, work billed below its cost, scope creep, one client on long payment terms
- What changesUtilisation targets, rate and scope discipline, bench plan, receivables follow-up
- What to expectMargin per project visible, bench smaller, cash on time
An illustration of how the thinking runs, not a client result.
The numbers that matter most here
Track by project, role and client.
| Number | Why it matters in this business |
|---|---|
| Utilisation | Billable hours / paid hours; a major driver |
| Realisation | Billed rate vs standard; scope creep shows here |
| Project margin | Revenue less direct people cost, per project |
| Bench cost | Paid time not on a billable project |
| Debtor days and client concentration | Large clients often pay slowest |
What trouble usually looks like
| The numbers show | The cause is often |
|---|---|
| Revenue up, margin down | Fixed-price projects overrun, rates discounted for volume |
| Bench growing | Hiring ahead of signed work, or skills mismatch |
| Cash tight, profit positive | Milestones billed late, slow payers |
| Attrition cost | Replacement and ramp-up time unmeasured |
How we would sequence a turnaround
Project-level margin reporting,
monthly, with the owner for each.
Scope and change control
so extra work is billed.
Bench plan:
deploy, retrain, or release.
Billing discipline
on milestones and invoicing dates.
Review the pricing model
(fixed vs time and material) by client type.
Business under pressure? Let a CFO read your numbers.
A senior CFO reads them with you and tells you what is really going on. No cost, no obligation.
What is specific to IT and services
There are no stock or machines to blame. The product is time, and time can only be sold once. This makes the numbers very clear, once they are in the right format, and a turnaround can move quickly.
Related reading
On the main CFOSurge India site: IT, SaaS and professional services CFO services.
CFOAvatar complements every turnaround
A human CFO sees your business at the review. Problems do not wait for the meeting. CFOAvatar is connected to your accounting data and checks your numbers every day, so the scoreboard in a turnaround is always current. Ask it what an owner in trouble would ask:
What owners say after the numbers started talking
Working with CFOSurge has truly transformed how we look at our business finances. They helped us set up monthly business plans right down to the bottom line, which has given us so much more clarity and control. Highly recommend them to any business looking to get a real grip on their numbers!
Soatech has been an excellent partner to ideasurge for the last five years as our one-stop shop managing Accounts, Audit and Payroll. In addition, they have been instrumental in coordinating with a prior accounting firm and getting us up to date with all regulatory and statutory needs. Soatech now seamlessly operates as an extension of ideasurge for all Finance functions.
Soatech is perfect for a company like ours that doesn’t have an in-house Accountant / CFO. They are very professional and do things in a timely matter. They always get right back to you with an answer to your question.
Quoted word for word from our clients. Read more client words →
Questions owners ask us
What utilisation should an IT services firm target?
It depends on the model and roles. Track your own by role and project and look at the trend.
Why are my fixed-price projects losing money?
Usually estimation errors, scope creep and no change control. Project margin reporting shows which.
Do you work with SaaS companies?
Yes, though SaaS metrics such as churn and CAC differ. This page does not cover those.