Management accounts and margin per desk reporting

Most agency owners get one set of accounts a year, months after the year has ended. They are technically correct and almost useless for running the business. By the time they arrive, the consultant who was not covering their cost has been on the payroll for another nine months.

Management accounts fix that. They are the same numbers, produced while they still matter, in a format built around how a recruitment agency actually makes money.

What you get every month or quarter

• A one page summary: billed, paid out to contractors, gross margin, overheads, and what is left for you.
• Margin per desk: net fee income by consultant, set against what each consultant costs, including salary, commission and on-costs.
• Margin per client: which accounts earn, which accounts are slow payers, and which ones are profitable on paper only.
• Perm against contract: the two halves of the business shown separately, because they behave completely differently.
• Key ratios: gross margin percentage, debtor days, overheads as a share of net fee income, and the trend on each.
• A written commentary, by a person, explaining what moved, why, and what we would look at next.

An example of the commentary

"Margin held at 23%, but running costs are up £2,100 on February. You billed more and kept less. Two clients have moved to 60 day terms, which puts you roughly £18,000 short in week three of April. Decide on the new consultant after that, not before."

That is the standard. Not a pack of reports you have to interpret, but a plain answer to "how are we doing, and what should I do about it?" The example is illustrative.

Why margin per desk matters more than turnover

Turnover is a vanity number in contract recruitment. A desk billing £40,000 a month on a 12% margin earns less than a desk billing £20,000 at 28%. Commission schemes, hiring decisions and pricing should all be driven by net fee income, and most agencies cannot see it by consultant without a spreadsheet someone rebuilds every month.

We tag income and costs to consultant and client in the ledger as the work is done, so the split comes out of the accounts rather than out of a spreadsheet. Our guide on how to read your agency's P&L walks through the lines that matter.

Pricing

All prices exclude VAT. Full tier details are on the price card.