This session provided a transparent look into how lighting design firms—from solo practitioners to multi-studio teams—use Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to understand financial health and make informed business decisions. Panelists emphasized that KPIs aren’t abstract accounting exercises; they are practical navigation tools that help owners understand where the business stands today, anticipate challenges, and steer toward long-term stability.

A core theme was clarity around what KPIs are and are not. KPIs must be specific, measurable, and tied to strategic business goals—not vague aspirations or one-off metrics looked at once a year. They evolve with the firm, differing widely between small studios and larger organizations, yet every business benefits from consistently tracking the right numbers. Examples included cash-in vs. cash-out, accounts receivable aging, backlog and runway, proposal win rates, sector diversity, project profitability, and pipeline health.

Cash flow surfaced as the most critical KPI across the board. Even profitable businesses can collapse if payments arrive late. Firms discussed actively managing retainers, phased billing, and implementing stop-work policies when receivables age. They also stressed the value of a line of credit—not as a weakness, but as a strategic risk-management tool during slow collections or stalled projects.

Another major insight centered on visibility into proposals: tracking which sectors they serve, how competitive each pursuit is, and what the win ratio reveals about market shifts. Proposal volume alone is misleading without context.

Finally, panelists shared tools and systems—from Deltek and Monograph to QuickBooks and custom spreadsheets—emphasizing that sustainability matters more than sophistication. If reporting takes too long, people stop doing it. KPIs work only when they are simple, consistent, and reviewed regularly.

Across all firm sizes, KPIs were framed as essential—not to replace intuition, but to strengthen it with clarity and foresight.