- Growth While AI Dominated Headlines, These Industries Quietly Got Stronger AI dominated headlines. New tools. Automation. Predictions about which industries would win and lose. But the updated 2025 iCFO data revealed a quieter… Read essay
- Liquidity Data-driven benchmark insights for advisors Advisors are often asked whether a business’s liquidity position is “healthy.” The challenge is that liquidity norms vary dramatically by industry —… Read essay
- Growth Higher Revenue. Same Returns. What the Data Reveals. Across industries, revenue is clearly moving higher. Based on iCFO’s firm-level data across 2,600+ industries — cross-referenced against U.S. Bureau of… Read essay
- Leverage High Revenue Per Employee. Almost No Profit. What the Data Reveals. Sales per Employee is one of the most commonly used productivity benchmarks — and one of the most misleading.A cattle feedlot generates nearly $1… Read essay
- Liquidity Industries Where Profitability Is Strong but Liquidity Is Tight Some of the most profitable businesses in the U.S. would struggle to survive a bad month. Industry benchmarking consistently reveals a pattern across… Read essay
- Leverage Most Industries Need Capital to Grow. These Don't. Growth usually comes with a tradeoff. In most industries, expanding the business means raising capital, increasing leverage, or diluting ownership. But… Read essay
- Leverage Performance Variation by Size Advisors are often asked whether a business’s profitability or asset efficiency looks “strong” or “weak.” What’s frequently overlooked is howbusiness… Read essay
- Leverage Profitability vs Liquidity: The Industry Tradeoff Advisors Should Watch When reviewing client financials, advisors often assume that strong profitability should naturally coincide with strong liquidity. Our analysis of… Read essay
- Liquidity Profitability vs Liquidity: The Industry Tradeoff Advisors Should Watch (Part 2) One of the most consistent patterns in our dataset of 1M+ U.S. companies is how asset efficiency changes as businesses mature. Across many… Read essay
- Leverage Some Industries Are Profitable. Scaling Them Is the Hard Part. Profitability is often seen as a signal of growth potential. But industry data tells a different story. In some sectors, businesses… Read essay
- Leverage The 7 Most Leveraged Industries in the U.S. When a mortgage broker shows 13x leverage on their balance sheet, is that a red flag — or just Tuesday? The answer depends entirely on the industry. In… Read essay
- Leverage The Industries Built to Win Q1 2026 Benchmarking often surfaces something that surprises clients: within the same industry, the most successful firms don’t just outperform the median… Read essay
- Liquidity Where Profitability Meets Financial Strength The conventional assumption is that businesses have to choose:chase high returns or maintain a strong balance sheet. Benchmarking data across 1M+ U.S.… Read essay
- Liquidity Where ROA Is Strongest Across Industries CPAs and business advisors are often asked a deceptively simple question: “Is this ROA good?” The challenge is that ROA norms vary widely by industry… Read essay
- Leverage Where Top Firms Generate Far Greater Earnings Power Benchmarking often surfaces something that surprises clients: within the same industry, the most successful firms don’t just outperform the median… Read essay
- Liquidity Why Young Firms Often Show Higher ROA One of the most consistent patterns in our dataset of 1M+ U.S. companies is how asset efficiency changes as businesses mature. Across many… Read essay
- Profitability What Traditional Return Metrics Missed About Earnings Power Between 2022 and 2025, several professional service industries showed substantial deterioration in traditional profitability metrics. Return on Sales… Read essay
- Liquidity Where Working Capital Is Highest — and Lowest Business advisors often hear: “Is our working capital healthy?” The answer depends entirely on the industry. Based on analysis of 1M+ U.S. companies in… Read essay
- Growth What Surprised Us Most in the 2025 Data As we finalized our newest benchmark release reflecting 2025 performance data across more than 1 million U.S. businesses and 2,500+ industries, we… Read essay
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