Growing, but not getting richer?
MarginKeel helps owner-led agencies and professional-services firms turn revenue into profit. We find where the margin goes, then install the KPIs, structure and pay plans that keep it. We install, not just advise.
A $5M agency, same revenue, better operations
Illustrative arithmetic, not a client result: $5M × (25% − 18%) = $350K.
Average after-tax net margin in 2025: 19% for agencies under 10 people, 9% for agencies with 25–49. Margins tend to fall as agencies grow.1
Audited utilization often runs near 40% against a realistic 60% billable target, in practitioners’ experience.2
Share of agencies that track margin on individual projects. The other 41% are steering profit without project-level numbers.1
Sound familiar?
These are the moments owners usually call us. One is a signal. Three is a pattern.
The gap is operational, and owners can fix it.
Thin margins rarely come from one bad client. They come from three causes that compound, and each one maps to a workstream.
No visibility
Time isn’t tracked well, so you can’t see utilization or margin by client, project or person. You find out a client was unprofitable after the year is over.
Workstream · KPIs and time trackingUnclear structure
Roles and job descriptions grew by accident. Work and decisions bottleneck on the owner, and good people leave because they can’t see a path.
Workstream · Structure and rolesMisaligned pay
Bonuses aren’t tied to profit, so the team is rewarded for activity, not for the margin the agency needs.
Workstream · Incentive and bonus plansStart small. Prove it. Then build.
Every engagement starts with a diagnostic, so you see the numbers before you commit to more.
Profit Diagnostic
A scorecard against benchmarks and a ranked fix list. Credited toward a project signed within 60 days.
Focused project
One workstream: KPIs and time tracking, structure and roles, or incentive and bonus plans.
Full transformation
All three workstreams, rolled out together so the numbers move as one system.
Operating partner
Monthly KPI review, a leadership meeting and coaching to keep the gains.
Owner-led firms that sell people’s time.
Marketing, creative, digital, web and development, and PR agencies, plus other professional-services firms that run on billable people.
15–50 people
$3M–$10M in revenue, founder or partners still in the day-to-day.
Profitable, but thin
Under 15% net, or margins sliding as you grow.
Strained
Turnover is hurting delivery and the owner is the bottleneck.
Under 10 people
Or holding-company networks with their own finance teams.
Find out where your margin is going.
Take the free Profit Check, or book a 30-minute call. Either way you’ll leave with a clearer picture of your numbers.
- Promethean Research, “How Profitable Are Digital Agencies?” (April 2026), drawing on its State of Digital Services surveys of agency owners and managers (2026 edition: 119 respondents, 74% US, 12% Canada). Agency industry survey; net margins are after tax.
- Agency Management Institute, profitability webinar summary with Parakeeto (Sept 2025). Practitioner opinion from webinar notes, not a benchmark study; no sample size published.