Standard rate

The rate card value at which time is recorded before any discount, fixed fee or write-off.

DefinitionThe rate card value at which time is recorded before any discount, fixed fee or write-off.

Standard rate is the list price of an hour of a fee earner's time, and the value at which recorded time is first measured. Realisation is computed against it, which means every change to the card changes realisation with no change in what clients pay. Comparisons across periods are made at one fixed card, or on the realised rate in currency.

How it is used

The rate card value at which time is first recorded. Realisation is measured against it, so comparisons over time use one fixed card.

Example

An associate's standard rate rose from $500 to $550. Clients on agreed rates paid the same, so realisation fell by the amount of the rise.

Where it goes wrong

A rate card change read as partners giving more away.

Articles that use this term

Board and management reporting · Law firms

Realisation by client: the clients whose discount grew without anyone deciding it

How a law firm measures realisation per client from time entries and bills: billed value over worked value at standard rates, the write-downs and write-offs behind the gap, the trend per client and per partner, and the clients whose effective discount has widened year on year through a hundred small decisions that nobody made as a policy.

16 Sept 20262 min read Board and management reporting · Consulting and advisory

Ten questions a consulting firm managing director asks, and the table that answers each

The ten questions the managing director of a consulting or advisory firm puts to the practice leads, which clients use one practice, will the sold work fit the bench, which consultants are busy and unprofitable, which proposals cost more than they win, whose book depends on one client, which fixed fees overran, which practices hire while their neighbours bench, what is realisation per client, which clients have gone quiet, and what changed, each with the table from the time entries, the proposal log, the roster and the bills, and the answer to send back.

16 Sept 20262 min read Board and management reporting · Consulting and advisory

Utilisation against realisation per consultant: the busy and the unprofitable

How a consulting firm reads two figures together per consultant, utilisation, chargeable hours over available, and realisation, fees billed over chargeable hours at standard rate, from time entries and bills: the four combinations and what each means, the consultants at ninety percent utilisation on work billed at half rate, the practices where the two diverge, the fixed-fee engagements that consume the hours, and the identity that ties both figures to the firm's hours and fees.

16 Sept 20262 min read Board and management reporting · Law firms

Client and business development KPIs for law firms: ten measures that matter, each with its formula and the export it comes from

The ten client KPIs a law firm should run on, each with its formula, the export it comes from and what it tells you: practice areas per client against the norm, dormant clients by prior fees, billing and collection realisation by client, lock-up by client, partner book concentration, cross-referral between partners, matter profitability by leverage, client fee concentration, share of client legal spend, and new matter origination. Also the three measures most firms miss, the figures to drop, the identities, and who owns what.

17 Sept 20264 min read Board and management reporting · Consulting and advisory

Commercial KPIs for consulting and professional services firms: ten measures that matter, each with its formula and the export it comes from

The ten commercial KPIs a consulting or professional services firm should run on, each with its formula, the export it comes from and what it tells you: utilisation against realisation per consultant, proposal win rate by practice and source, sold work against the bench, cross-practice share per client, partner book concentration, repeat business rate, project margin against plan, backlog in weeks, client fee concentration, and day rate realised. Also the three measures most firms miss, the figures to drop, the identities, and who owns what.

17 Sept 20264 min read Board and management reporting · Tax and accounting

Practice KPIs for tax and accounting firms: ten measures that matter, each with its formula and the export it comes from

The ten practice KPIs a tax or accounting firm should run on, each with its formula, the export it comes from and what it tells you: service lines per client against the norm, fee per client against the norm for its size, season watch, deadline load per manager, advisory triggers acted on, realisation by client, client retention by fees, lock-up by client, scope creep on fixed fees, and new client onboarding time. Also the three measures most firms miss, the figures to drop, the identities, and who owns what.

17 Sept 20264 min read