An owner KPI scorecard is a single page with nine numbers on it, each defined by an exact formula, each assigned to one person, each reviewed on a fixed cadence and coloured against thresholds the business has agreed in advance. It replaces the habit of checking the bank balance and guessing. When we install one during a financial clarity engagement, the first benefit is usually not a number at all; it is the argument about how each number should be calculated, which surfaces disagreements the team did not know it had.
The worked numbers below come from a hypothetical 20-person Canadian service company billing about $3.2 million a year, with 14 people doing billable work. They are illustrative; use your own figures.
The nine measures at a glance
Each line answers a different question. Together they cover cash, profit, capacity, sales and quality.
| KPI | Formula | Owner | Cadence | Example | Example thresholds (green / amber / red) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cash runway | Cash on hand ÷ average weekly fixed outflow | Owner | Weekly | 4.0 weeks | 6+ / 3–6 / under 3 |
| Days sales outstanding | Receivables ÷ revenue for last 90 days × 90 | Controller | Weekly | 47.3 days | under 40 / 40–55 / over 55 |
| Gross margin % | (Revenue − direct costs) ÷ revenue | Controller | Monthly | 35.1% | 35%+ / 30–35% / under 30% |
| Labour utilisation | Billable hours ÷ paid hours | Operations lead | Weekly | 75.0% | 75%+ / 65–75% / under 65% |
| Revenue per employee | Trailing 12-month revenue ÷ average headcount | Owner | Quarterly | $160,000 | target set annually |
| Quote win rate | Quotes won ÷ quotes decided | Sales lead | Monthly | 34.6% by count | 35%+ / 25–35% / under 25% |
| Rework rate | Jobs needing correction ÷ jobs completed | Operations lead | Weekly | 7.9% | under 5% / 5–8% / over 8% |
| Customer retention | Start-of-period customers who bought again ÷ start-of-period customers | Owner | Quarterly | 81.5% | 85%+ / 75–85% / under 75% |
| Backlog | Signed, unstarted work ÷ average weekly revenue | Sales lead | Weekly | 8.8 weeks | 6–12 / 3–6 or over 12 / under 3 |
The thresholds are examples. A company with lumpy project work will set wider bands than one with steady contract revenue.
Cash and collections: runway and days sales outstanding
These two lines come first because they change fastest and hurt most.
Cash runway measures how many weeks of fixed commitments the bank balance covers. The example company has $180,000 in the operating account. Its weekly fixed outflow, averaging payroll, rent and loan payments across a month, is $45,000. Runway is $180,000 ÷ $45,000 = 4.0 weeks: amber. The 13-week cash forecast guide shows how to see which weeks will be tightest.
Days sales outstanding (DSO) measures how long customers take to pay. Receivables are $410,000 and revenue for the last 90 days was $780,000. DSO is $410,000 ÷ $780,000 × 90 = 47.3 days: amber. If DSO fell to 38 days, receivables would be about $329,000 ($780,000 ÷ 90 × 38), releasing roughly $81,000 of cash without selling anything extra.
Profit and capacity: gross margin, utilisation, revenue per employee
These three tell you whether the work you do pays, and whether your people have room for more.
Gross margin %. Last month the company billed $265,000 with direct costs of $172,000. Gross margin is ($265,000 − $172,000) ÷ $265,000 = 35.1%: green, just. Define direct costs once, in writing, and keep the definition fixed; the margin by service line guide explains how to split this figure by line of work.
Labour utilisation. Fourteen billable staff each paid for 160 hours in the month gives 2,240 paid hours. Billable hours were 1,680. Utilisation is 1,680 ÷ 2,240 = 75.0%. Every percentage point here matters: one more point is 22.4 hours a month, which at a billing rate of $95 is about $2,128 of revenue capacity.
Revenue per employee. Trailing 12-month revenue of $3,200,000 divided by an average headcount of 20 gives $160,000. Read it as a trend rather than against other companies; it rises when the team gets more productive or pricing improves, and falls when you hire ahead of demand.
Sales and demand: win rate and backlog
These lines warn you about revenue two to three months before it shows in the accounts.
Quote win rate. In the month, 52 quotes were decided (won or lost, not still pending) and 18 were won. Win rate by count is 18 ÷ 52 = 34.6%. By value, $410,000 was won out of $1,450,000 decided, or 28.3%. When the value figure is well below the count figure, as here, the company is winning small jobs and losing large ones, which is worth a conversation about pricing or proposal quality.
Backlog in weeks. Signed, unstarted work is $540,000. Average weekly revenue is $3,200,000 ÷ 52 = $61,538. Backlog is $540,000 ÷ $61,538 = 8.8 weeks: green. Under three weeks means crews may soon be idle; over twelve can mean you are underpriced or under-staffed.
Quality and loyalty: rework and retention
These two protect margin and future revenue, and are the easiest to neglect.
Rework rate. Of 140 jobs completed in the month, 11 needed a return visit or correction. Rework is 11 ÷ 140 = 7.9%: amber. If each correction averages four hours at a loaded cost of $47 an hour plus $60 in travel, the 11 corrections cost about $2,728 (11 × ($188 + $60)) in a single month. The process mapping guide shows how to trace where they start.
Customer retention. The company had 260 active customers at the start of the year; 212 of them bought again during the year. Retention is 212 ÷ 260 = 81.5%: amber. Each point of retention is 2.6 customers; if an average customer spends $9,000 a year, one point is worth about $23,400 in annual revenue.
Adjusting the scorecard for a seasonal business
Many Canadian companies earn most of their revenue in two or three seasons, so a single set of thresholds turns lines red every quiet month. The answer is to compare each week with the same week last year, not with the previous week.
For utilisation and backlog, set separate bands for the busy and quiet seasons. For cash runway, keep one threshold all year, because payroll and rent do not shrink in winter. A runway of four weeks in the busy season may be acceptable; the same four weeks entering a slow quarter is a warning.
Step-by-step: building your first scorecard
- Write each formula in one sentence and agree it with the people who will report it.
- Name one owner per line. One person, not a department.
- Pull the last 12 weeks or months of each number by hand, to see the normal range.
- Set thresholds from that history and from what the business needs, not from published benchmarks.
- Fix the cadence. Weekly lines are updated before the Monday meeting; monthly and quarterly lines are shown with their last value until updated.
- Review in 20 minutes. Only red and amber lines are discussed, each owner explains their line and states one action.
- Revisit definitions after one quarter. Most scorecards need one or two formulas tightened once real data arrives.
Common mistakes
- Too many lines. Past ten, nobody reads the bottom half.
- Vague definitions. "Sales" can mean quotes, signed contracts or invoices; pick one.
- Shared ownership. If two people own a number, neither does.
- Thresholds copied from elsewhere. They should reflect your cash, your history and your plan.
- Reporting without action. A red line with no named action next week is decoration.
A short checklist
- Nine lines or fewer, on one page
- A written formula for each
- One named owner per line
- A cadence for each line
- Green, amber and red thresholds agreed by the leadership team
- A 20-minute weekly review in the calendar
- A definition review booked for the end of the first quarter
Putting the scorecard to work
A scorecard is only as good as the decisions made in the room where it is read. In our engagements it is built during the business diagnostic or financial clarity phase, then used every week during implementation support to track whether the agreed changes are working. If you would like help defining your nine lines and thresholds, call, text or email. A text to (604) 632-4959 with the three numbers you check most often today is enough to start the conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Why only nine KPIs?
Because an owner reads nine numbers every week and ignores twenty-five. Nine measures cover cash, profitability, capacity, sales and quality. Anything more detailed belongs on a department report underneath the scorecard.
Who sets the red, amber and green thresholds?
The owner and the leadership team, using the company's own history, its cash position and its targets. The thresholds in this guide are examples only. Revisit them once a year or after a major change.
Where does the data come from?
Mostly from systems you already have: the bank, the accounting system, payroll or timesheets, the quoting tool or CRM and job records. The first version is often a spreadsheet filled in by hand for a few weeks, which is fine.
Is this the same as financial statements?
No. Financial statements are prepared under accounting rules for lenders, tax and owners. The scorecard is a management tool. It uses some of the same figures but is built for weekly decisions. Your accountant remains responsible for the statements.