Using Uku data for pricing conversations

Raising fees is one of the most uncomfortable conversations in professional services. It is much easier when the conversation starts with data rather than intuition. “We are spending 40% more time on your account than we did 18 months ago” is a very different opening from “we think our prices need to go up.”

Uku gives you the data to have the first kind of conversation. This guide explains where to find it and how to use it.

Quick answer

Four data sources feed pricing conversations: (1) Monitoring — are you consistently over your service targets? (2) Time reports — how much actual time per client per month? (3) Billing data — what are you currently charging vs. what you are delivering? (4) BI Analytics — broader revenue and utilization signals (Elite plan). Combine these into a simple client-specific view before any pricing discussion.

Who does this

• Company Admins and Company Owners on the Team plan can access Monitoring and time reports.
• BI Analytics requires the Elite plan and Company Admin or Company Owner access.

Step 1 — Review Monitoring history for the client

Monitoring is the most direct data source for a pricing conversation. It compares what was agreed (your service commitment) against what was delivered (actual hours). A client who has consistently been in the Over status for 6+ months is by definition under-priced relative to the work being done.

1. Open Monitoring from the main navigation.
2. Filter to the client in question.
3. Step through the last 12 months of periods and note the pattern: is this client consistently Over, On track, or Under?

A consistent Over pattern (more than 4–5 months in a row) is your strongest argument for a fee increase. The data shows that the scope of work has grown beyond what the current fee covers. You are not raising prices arbitrarily — you are aligning the price with the actual delivery. See How to use Monitoring.

Step 2 — Pull the actual time per month

Go to Report > Time tab and filter by client and date range (typically the last 12 months). Note:

• Average monthly hours over the period
• The trend — is time increasing, stable, or decreasing?
• The topic breakdown — which services are consuming the most hours?

Calculate your effective hourly rate: total fees invoiced to this client in the period ÷ total hours tracked. Compare that to your target hourly rate. If the effective rate is significantly below target, pricing needs adjustment. If the effective rate is above target (you are delivering efficiently), you may have room to position the value conversation differently. See Reports — Time tab.

Step 3 — Review extra-work history

Extra work flags on tasks and time entries indicate scope that went beyond the contracted service. A client with frequent extra-work entries suggests that the contracted scope no longer matches the actual service being delivered.

Go to Report and filter by client with extra-work flag enabled. If this shows up consistently, it is evidence that the current contract definition is too narrow. The fee adjustment conversation is really a scope clarification conversation: “Here is what we agreed to. Here is what we are actually doing. Let us align the contract with reality.”

See How to mark extra work.

Step 4 — Check Missed Billing history (what you did not charge)

If you have run the Missed Billing report regularly, you may have historical data on work that was completed but never invoiced. For some firms, reviewing their full-year missed billing gives them a clearer picture of revenue left on the table — and motivation to address it structurally through better pricing rather than individual reclaims.

See How to find and manage missed billing.

Step 5 — Use BI Analytics for firm-wide pricing health (Elite)

If your firm is on the Elite plan, BI Analytics provides broader signals that contextualize individual client pricing conversations:

• Revenue per client — are your best clients also your most profitable, or are some high-revenue clients actually low-margin?
• Utilization — what percentage of billable capacity is being billed? If utilization is high across the firm, you have pricing power.
• Revenue by service type — are some service lines systematically under-priced relative to the market?

See BI Analytics overview, Revenue category, and Utilization category.

Having the conversation

Data is necessary but not sufficient. How you present it matters as much as what it shows.

Frame around shared history, not demand

“Over the last 12 months, we have been spending an average of X hours per month on your account, compared to Y hours two years ago when we set the current fee. The scope of your business has grown, and we have grown with it — which is a great thing. To continue doing that sustainably, we need to align the fee with the current reality.”

Present options, not ultimatums

Give clients a choice: a fee increase that covers the expanded scope, or a scope definition that fits the current fee. Most clients, when presented with clear data, will choose the fee increase rather than a reduction in service.

Export the data for the meeting

Use Export to Excel from the time report or monitoring view to give clients something concrete to look at. A simple spreadsheet showing month-by-month hours is often more persuasive than a conversation about abstract patterns. See How to export reports.

Building pricing-review checkpoints into your year

Rather than waiting until you are frustrated with a client’s profitability, build regular pricing reviews into your year:

• Annual review: For every client, run the monitoring and time analysis at year-end. Flag any clients who are consistently over target. These become Q1 pricing conversations.
• Contract renewal: Every time a client’s contract comes up for renewal, treat it as an opportunity to align price with scope.
• Scope change trigger: Any time the client adds a new service or their business grows significantly, revisit pricing proactively rather than waiting for the annual review.

See Year-end close checklist for how to integrate the pricing review into your annual close process.