Mastering KPI Reports for Creative Teams in 2025

There's a difference between running your agency and growing it. The difference is in how you try to meet all clients’ goals, keep them happy, and maintain a reasonable profit margin.

If you lead a creative agency, there's a good chance you've unsuccessfully tried to prove your team's impact. Your team satisfies every client, and you get referrals (and actually onboard new clients) thanks to that. 

But it's still difficult to know if your agency is growing, if your services have enough profit margin to run the show and pay yourself, and if there are projects you waste more time than necessary on. 

In this guide, I'll explain how to track these metrics with the right indicators. 

You'll learn:

• What KPI reports are.
• The most valuable KPIs for creative teams.
• How to build effective KPI reports from scratch.
• Which KPI reporting tools and templates will save your team time.

What are KPI Reports?

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable values that agencies can use to track the progress of their business goals. 

For example, if you wonder how many percent of total clients your agency retains every year, you can track a KPI like client retention rate. Just to know if you keep clients happy enough to stay with your agency. 

KPIs bring you back to the drawing board to know what's working, what's not, and how to make them work. 

Now, what are KPI reports?

KPI reports are structured documents that track your agency’s KPIs over a time period (weekly, quarterly, or monthly performance reports). Unlike general reports that summarize your activities, KPI reports zoom in on what drives outcomes, like client results, team performance, and project efficiency.

Creative Agency KPIs That Matter

There’s a lot of metrics to track. However, blindly tracking every indicator can set you off your trail. A good KPI focuses on what’s predictive, actionable, and aligned with your goals, some of which are: 

1. Client KPIs

These measure how well you deliver value from the client's perspective. Some of them include: 

• Client Satisfaction Score (CSAT): 

Measures how satisfied your clients are with your service, or after an interaction with your team. 

You can get this score by asking clients to rate your work on a short feedback form, usually on a scale of 1-5 or 1-10.

You can ask "How satisfied are you with the service you received?" The higher the score, the more likely you are to retain clients. 

• Net Promoter Score (NPS): 

NPS assesses client loyalty level by asking how likely they are to recommend your agency to others on a scale of 1-10. 

Clients that rate with 0-6 are called Detractors (unhappy clients), 7 - 8 are Passives (satisfied but unenthusiastic clients), and 9-10 are Promoters (loyal enthusiasts that would use your service again and refer to people who need your service). 

If your NPS is below 7, you're at high risk of churn, because clients that won't refer will most likely not purchase your services again.

• Client Retention Rate (CRR): 

Measures how many clients renewed or rebooked over the last quarter.

CRR= (Customers at end of period − New customers during period/Customers at start of period )×100

For example, if you start with 100 clients, gain 10 new clients, and end with 95 clients, your retention rate is 95-10/100 = 85%. 

• Average Response Time (client-facing):

Measures how quickly your team responds to client emails, requests, or approvals after they reach out. 

You can calculate it by dividing the time it takes to respond to all client inquiries by the numbers of inquiries during that period. 

For example,  if four client requests took 10, 15, 25, and 20 minutes to respond to, the average response time would be (10+15+25+20)/4 = 17.5 minutes. Long delays damage trust, and it's easy for emails to get lost in the crowd when you talk to many clients. 

With ManyRequests, you can centralize all client communication in one dedicated portal instead of scattered email threads, so requests never get lost in crowded inboxes. You can also track your response rate:

The platform also sends real-time notifications for new messages and requests, making sure your team sees client messages and can respond immediately. 

2. Project & Design Team KPIs

These project management KPIs measure how you deliver to clients.

• On-Time Delivery Rate: 

Measure the percentage of projects that hit the agreed deadline.

Formula:

(Number of projects delivered on or before the agreed deadline / Total number of projects delivered)×100

For example, if you completed 100 projects last quarter and 85 were delivered on time, your on-time delivery rate is: 85/100 × 100 = 85%. If this drops below 80%, you likely have a scope, resourcing, or approval problem.

• Revision Rounds per Project: 

Are you averaging 2–3 rounds or more like 5–6? More than 3 may suggest unclear briefs, poor internal QA, or misaligned expectations.

• Design Throughput: 

How many deliverables per designer (per week or month)? Use this to benchmark productivity without micromanaging.

• Average Time from Kickoff to First Draft: 

Measures how quickly your team moves from project initiation to producing tangible outputs. If your team completed three projects in 5, 7, and 6 days respectively, the average time would be 5+6+7/3= 6 days. 

3. Financial & Agency Performance Metrics

These metrics measure your agency's financial health and profitability.

• Billable Utilization Rate: 

Measures the percentage of time spent on client-paid work vs admin or internal tasks. If you record under 70%, you’re bleeding time (and profit).

• Project Profitability: 

Measures revenue minus all associated costs (including hours worked). Some projects feel great, but lose money on review rounds and resourcing.

• Average Revenue per Client: 

Helps you spot which clients generate the most value—and which ones take too much effort for too little return.

• Sales Pipeline Value: 

If you’re forecasting upcoming projects, tracking this monthly helps balance team capacity and new business needs.

Read more: The 13 KPIs To Master for Creative & Marketing Agencies

How to Create a KPI Report (Step-by-Step)

Here's how to build KPI reports that actually drive agency decisions:

1. Set Up Your Data Collection Systems

Start with the basics first. You can't track what you don't measure.

For Client KPIs:

• Create simple feedback forms using Google Forms or Typeform for CSAT and NPS scores. You can also use the ManyRequests review feature to collect feedback from clients. 

You can trigger it after you mark a project as complete, so clients have to write about their experience working on the project with your team. It looks like this:

• Set up a client database in your CRM to track retention dates and contract renewals.
• Use time-tracking tools like ManyRequests to monitor response times to client requests.

ManyRequests automatically tracks time logged against each request or task so your billable and non-billable time are up to date. You can also handle feedback requests and CSAT surveys from its client portal. When clients score you, it shows directly in your dashboard. 

For Project KPIs:

• Track project start dates, deadlines, and actual completion dates in your project management tool.
• Create a simple spreadsheet column for "revision count" that gets updated with each round.
• Log when first drafts get delivered compared to kickoff dates.

However, you can also automate this via ManyRequests. Through your requests dashboard, you can see the total number of projects you have, when they were assigned, and when they were completed:

This way, you get a single view for your projects and can track all deadlines easily. 

For Financial KPIs:

• Pull revenue data from your accounting software (QuickBooks, Xero, etc.).
• Track billable vs non-billable hours through the ManyRequests time-tracking system.

• Maintain a sales pipeline in your CRM with projected values and close dates.

2. Choose Your Reporting Frequency and Format

Monthly performance reports work best for most agencies. Weekly may make your team feel like you're micromanaging them, and you may miss problems too late if you make it quarterly. 

Once you decide, create two report types:

• Dashboard view: A one-page visual summary for quick team meetings.
• Detailed analysis: A 2-3 page deep dive for strategic planning.

You can section your dashboard layout to show: 

• Top section: Client satisfaction scores and retention rate.
• Middle section: Project delivery metrics and revision counts.
• Bottom section: Financial performance and pipeline value.
• After the report, write a short commentary on what's improved, what isn't, and suggest what needs attention. Make sure they are easy to read and the audience can easily understand what they're seeing. 

3. Build Your Data Collection Process

Your data collection process should be simple and organized. Here's a simple template: 

• Week 1 of each month: Send out client satisfaction surveys to all active clients.
• Week 2: Pull project completion data from your PM tool and calculate delivery rates.
• Week 3: Gather financial data and calculate profitability by client/project.
• Week 4: Compile everything into your report template and analyze trends.

Pro tip: Assign one person to own this process. When everyone's responsible, no one is.

4. Create Your Report Template

Start with these essential sections:

Executive Summary (2-3 sentences)

• Overall agency health this month.
• Biggest win and biggest concern.

Client Health Metrics

• CSAT score: X/10 (↑/↓ from last month)
• NPS: X percent (↑/↓ from last month)
• Retention rate: X% (↑/↓ from last month)
• Average response time: X hours (↑/↓ from last month)

Project Performance

• On-time delivery: X% (↑/↓ from last month)
• Average revision rounds: X.X (↑/↓ from last month)
• Days from kickoff to first draft: X.X (↑/↓ from last month)

Financial Performance

• Billable utilization: X% (↑/↓ from last month)
• Revenue per client: $X,XXX (↑/↓ from last month)
• Pipeline value: $XX,XXX (↑/↓ from last month)

5. Set Your Benchmarks and Red Flags

Track the numbers and make sure you understand what they mean. Use the red-amber-green method to know what's below the line and what's flourishing. For instance: 

Green flags mean you're doing well. This could be your agency's: 

• CSAT above 8/10
• NPS above 7
• On-time delivery above 85%
• Billable utilization above 75%

Amber flags tell you to pay attention. This is when:

• CSAT scores are between 6-8.
• Average revision rounds above 3.
• Response time above 4 hours.
• Retention rate below 85%.

Red flags show that you need to fix the problems immediately. For example: 

• NPS below 7
• On-time delivery below 70%
• Billable utilization below 60%
• More than 5 revision rounds average

6. Make It Actionable

Create a clear plan for each KPI result that's below average. 

• If you have low CSAT scores, schedule one-on-one calls with unhappy clients within 48 hours.
• If your team misses deadlines frequently, review the project scoping process and resource allocation.
• If they go through too many revision stages, improve your creative brief template and approval process.
• If your team records poor response time, subscribe to tools like ManyRequests to centralize client communication. 

ManyRequests is an all-in-one client portal and project management tool that puts your team, clients, and tasks in one platform without one stepping on the other. 

The system uses a dashboard that tracks all tas ks, assignees, priority levels and deadlines. There's also a client portal where your team can discuss with clients directly, and clients can interact with their project at all times. 

7. Share and Review

Share reports with your whole team, not just leadership. Everyone should understand how their work connects to agency success. 

To do this: 

• Hold monthly KPI review meetings for about 15 minutes. Talk about trends and actions you want each team member to take for the next month. 
• Track your metrics. If you find certain KPIs never change or don't drive decisions, stop measuring them. Good KPIs predict problems before they become crises.

The goal is to make better decisions, not generate perfect data. Start simple, stay consistent, and adjust as you learn what matters most for your specific agency.

KPI Reporting Tools & Templates

These are some tools that simplify how you create KPI reports: 

1. Google Looker Studio

Looker Studio is a free tool for building dashboards and visual data stories. It's best for visualizing project management KPIs and trend analysis. It also integrates well with ManyRequests to deliver detailed monthly performance reports.

2. ManyRequests

ManyRequests is a client portal, time tracking, task management, analytics, and reporting tool—all in one.

It tracks the time your team spends on a project automatically and allows you to send satisfaction scores in-app to track client satisfaction, among many others. 

Sign up for a 14-day free trial (no credit card needed) to see how it works. 

3. AgencyAnalytics, DashThis, and Other Reporting Tools

These platforms offer plug-and-play dashboards customized for agencies, with templates for marketing, SEO, and more. If you already use tools like CRMs or SEO platforms, these tools centralized the signals in one dashboard.

4. Zapier + Google Sheets

If you use ManyRequests or other tools (like Trello or Airtable), Zapier can help sync your data automatically into Google Sheets, which you can then surface via Looker Studio.

Conclusion 

KPI reports keep creative agency on the right track, but it's important that the KPIs you measure matters to your agency growth. 

The agencies that track the right metrics know their client satisfaction scores, meet deadlines, and know which projects drain their resources more than others. And when these indicators are off, KPI reports show them what's wrong, to improve it early. 

ManyRequests makes tracking most of these KPIs automatic. You can track your client satisfaction scores, response times, project deadlines, and billable hours in one platform without switching between tools. Sign up for a 14-day free trial (no credit card needed) to see how it works.

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Originally Published: May 20, 2021