Quarterly Business Review (QBR): The Complete Guide

Every quarter, account teams and leadership face the same question: what did we achieve, and what comes next? A quarterly business review makes that conversation easier.

It gives teams and their stakeholders a chance to assess performance, discuss what's working, address challenges, and agree on priorities for the next quarter.

For customer success and account management teams, that means showing clients the value they've received, identifying risks to the relationship and finding opportunities to grow the account. For internal teams, it's a chance to review business results, evaluate progress against goals and decide where to focus resources.

This guide is the starting point of our QBR series. It covers what a QBR is, how it differs from an MBR or EBR, what to include and the stages of the process.

Three chapters go deeper from there: how to prepare and run a QBR, QBR templates and examples, and the best tools for building QBR decks and reports. You'll also find free QBR templates for customer-facing and internal reviews.

It's perfect for anyone who runs a QBR: the CSM presenting renewal numbers to a SaaS client, the agency account manager reporting campaign results or the HR lead reviewing hiring targets with leadership.

Table of Contents

• What Is a Quarterly Business Review (QBR)?
• Types of QBRs
• Why Are QBRs Important?
• What Every QBR Should Include
• Stages of the QBR Process
• What Do You Use To Make a QBR?
• QBR Best Practices and Common Mistakes
• Quarterly Business Reviews FAQs

What Is a Quarterly Business Review (QBR)?

A quarterly business review (QBR) is a structured meeting held every three months to evaluate performance against goals, discuss results and agree on priorities for the next quarter. Account teams conduct QBRs with clients, while leadership teams use them internally to review departmental or company-wide performance.

Unlike routine check-ins, QBRs focus on the bigger picture. They bring together performance data, business outcomes, challenges and future priorities to help stakeholders make informed decisions.

For example, a customer success manager might review a client's product adoption data, identify a decline in active users and work with the client's leadership team to agree on steps to improve adoption over the next quarter.

What Is the Purpose and Objective of a QBR?

Every QBR is built around four objectives:

• Review performance. Compare actual results with the goals and targets agreed upon at the previous review.
• Demonstrate value. Connect performance to business outcomes such as revenue growth, cost savings, productivity or customer satisfaction.
• Identify risks and opportunities. Discuss challenges that could affect future performance and opportunities for improvement or growth.
• Set priorities for the next quarter. Agree on goals, actions, responsibilities and timelines.

What happens in a quarterly business review if one of these is missing? The meeting turns into a status update, and everyone leaves without knowing what happens next.

QBR vs. Monthly Business Review (MBR) vs. Executive Business Review (EBR)

QBRs, MBRs and EBRs are all structured business reviews. The difference is how often they happen, who attends and how deep they go. A QBR reviews quarterly performance with day-to-day stakeholders. An MBR is a lighter monthly check on progress. An EBR is a less frequent strategic meeting between senior leaders.

Many teams use these terms interchangeably, and some run all three. Which one do you need? It depends on the account size, the relationship and how fast things change. A SaaS company might hold monthly MBRs with a fast-growing enterprise client, QBRs with mid-market accounts and a yearly EBR before each large renewal.

These reviews can complement one another. For example, a SaaS company might hold monthly business reviews to monitor product adoption and resolve operational issues, and quarterly reviews to assess progress against customer goals. An annual EBR would also be useful for discussing the broader partnership and future investment.

Some organizations combine QBRs and EBRs, particularly when executive stakeholders are actively involved in quarterly planning.

Many sales teams pair an MBR with a monthly sales report to support regular performance reviews.

Types of QBRs

Quarterly business reviews generally fall into two categories: customer-facing QBRs and internal QBRs.

A customer-facing QBR is run by an account manager or CSM with a client. An internal quarterly business review is run by leadership to assess team or company performance.

Both share a repeatable structure, data that changes every quarter and the need to stay on brand and get approved before they go out.

Within these categories, QBRs can take different forms depending on the team, relationship or business function being reviewed.

For example, customer success QBRs typically focus on product adoption, customer outcomes and account health. Partner and vendor QBRs examine the performance of business relationships, while internal sales, marketing, HR and IT QBRs review departmental results.

The structure may be similar, but the metrics and discussion points vary. A sales QBR might focus on pipeline, revenue and win rates, while an HR QBR could examine hiring targets, employee retention and engagement.

Internal vs. Customer-Facing QBRs

Customer-Facing QBR Example

A customer-facing QBR shows the client what they gained from working with you over the last quarter. It's most common in SaaS, agencies, consulting and B2B services, where renewals depend on proving results.

The focus stays on the client's goals, not your product features. Which outcomes did they care about at the start of the quarter? Report on those first. If a client signed up to cut onboarding time in half, open with how close they got.

If adoption has declined, focus on what's causing the drop and what both teams can do to improve engagement next quarter.

Who attends: the account manager or CSM, the client's day-to-day contact and an executive sponsor on each side. If the client's budget owner isn't in the room, any decision on renewals or expansion has to happen twice.

Internal QBR Example

An internal QBR helps leadership see how each team performed and where to adjust. Sales, marketing, HR, IT and support teams all run them. A marketing team, for example, might review pipeline contribution, cost per lead and campaign results against the quarter's budget.

For example, a marketing team might review pipeline contribution, campaign performance, cost per lead and results against the quarterly budget. The discussion could identify which campaigns deserve more investment, where spending should be reduced and what needs to change in the next quarter. A concise executive summary and well-organized performance data help keep the conversation focused on decisions.

Who attends: department heads, team leads and the executive who owns the budget.

Visme has free QBR templates for both types, including client, partner, vendor, sales, marketing, HR and IT reviews. See templates for each type in our QBR templates and examples guide in the next chapter.

Why Are QBRs Important?

QBRs matter because most B2B growth now comes from existing accounts.

Gartner found that 73% of chief sales officers are prioritizing growth from existing customers. The QBR is where that growth is protected and planned. It also gives clients and leaders a regular, structured moment to confirm value, flag risks and agree on next steps.

Thera Martens, VP of Marketing at Visme, sees every QBR as part of the renewal conversation:

"Every CSM is customer-facing. Every QBR, onboarding deck, product update brief, and renewal narrative that leaves the building is either strengthening or weakening a relationship that determines NRR."

Here are seven outcomes that depend on running QBRs well.

Renewals are easier to secure

A client who sees proven results every quarter has fewer reasons to leave. Skip the QBR, and the renewal conversation becomes the first time anyone discusses value. By then, the client may already be talking to a competitor. That's a real risk.

Forrester's 2024 State of Business Buying report found that 81% of buyers are dissatisfied with the providers they chose.

Churn risks surface early

QBRs show warning signs while there's still time to act. Low adoption, a new decision-maker or a missed goal all come up in a well-run review. A champion who left the company is easier to replace in month two than in month eleven. Even a declined QBR invitation tells you something.

As David Karnstedt, CEO of Branch, shared in a Forbes Business Council article: "If you've been doing quarterly business reviews and suddenly they don't want one, that's a signal."

Connect customer needs to growth opportunities

QBRs open the door to upsell and cross-sell conversations based on results, not sales pitches. When a client hits their goals, the next question is what they want to achieve next. A team that doubled its output with one product is often ready to talk about the next tier.
For example, a customer who has improved team productivity with one product may be ready to expand its use across other departments. This creates a natural opportunity to discuss account expansion without turning the QBR into a sales pitch.

Executive sponsors stay engaged

Day-to-day contacts change roles and leave companies. A QBR keeps senior stakeholders informed, so the relationship doesn't depend on one person. When your main contact moves on, the VP who has seen four quarters of results is still there.

Teams stay aligned on goals

Internal QBRs make sure sales, marketing, customer success and product work toward the same targets. Without them, each team tracks its own metrics. Sales chases new logos, customer success chases renewals and no one sees the full picture.

Decisions are based on data

A quarterly review forces teams to collect, clean and present their numbers. That matters, because only 35% of sales professionals fully trust their organization's data, according to Salesforce's State of Sales report. Regular QBRs give teams a reason to fix data gaps before they affect forecasts and budgets.

Accountability is built in

Documenting decisions, assigning responsibilities and setting deadlines gives teams a way to track commitments after the meeting. Reviewing those actions at the next QBR helps stakeholders assess progress and address unfinished work.

What Every QBR Should Include

A strong QBR includes an agenda, a summary of results, KPIs against goals, wins, challenges and a plan for next quarter. The exact metrics change by team and client, but the structure stays the same.

For example, for a B2B SaaS customer, the QBR deck should also cover product adoption, usage trends, support activity, ROI against the customer's goals and renewal or expansion plans.

Here are eight components to include in your QBR, along with examples of how to present them.

1. Agenda

What will the QBR meeting cover?

Share the agenda a few days before the meeting and include it as the first page of the QBR document. List each topic, the presenter and the time allotted, so attendees come prepared. Leave at least half the time for discussion and decisions.

A 60-minute customer QBR might spend 5 minutes on objectives, 15 on results, 10 on challenges, 20 on next quarter's goals and 10 on action items.

This is what a typical QBR agenda looks like:

2. Executive Summary

What does the QBR document cover and what are the key insights?

Open with a short summary of the quarter's key results. Executives often read only this part, so lead with the three or four numbers that matter most. For a SaaS client, that might be active users, hours saved, tickets resolved and days until renewal. For an internal sales QBR, it might be revenue against target, win rate, pipeline for next quarter and the one risk leadership needs to know about.

Many readers skim the summary, glance at a chart or two and move on, so the first page has to stand on its own. A one-page summary you can email before or after the meeting also works well, especially if the QBR is asynchronous or hybrid. These one-pager templates are a good starting point.

4. Performance Metrics and KPIs

What does the data show?

Show the numbers that connect to the client's or team's goals. For customer-facing QBRs, this usually means adoption, usage, ROI and support trends. For internal QBRs, it means revenue, pipeline, retention and budget. Keep it to five to eight KPIs, and show each one against the target and the previous quarter so the trend is clear. Explain any number that moved sharply before someone asks.

Visuals make metrics easier to read. Charts, progress bars and dashboards built with data visualization tools help attendees spot trends in seconds. For tips on framing numbers, see this guide to data storytelling.

5. Wins and Milestones

What part of the data is the most important?

Highlight the quarter's biggest achievements. Tie each win to a business outcome, such as time saved, revenue gained or a project delivered early. "Your team now closes month-end reporting in two days, down from five" says more than a list of features. Credit the people on the client's side who made it happen. It gives your champion something to share with their boss.

6. Challenges and Risks

What problems did the data bring to the surface?

Address problems openly. Explain what happened, the impact and what you're doing to fix it. Clients and leaders trust teams that raise issues before they're asked. For each issue, show the cause, what you've already done and what you need from the other side. Give every risk an owner and a date, so the conversation moves to solutions.

7. Next-Quarter Goals and Roadmap

What comes next and what does the team commit to?

Propose goals for the next 90 days and show how they connect to longer-term plans. For customer-facing QBRs, include upcoming product releases or services that support the client's priorities. Keep it to three to five goals, each with a number and a date. For internal QBRs, tie each goal to the budget or headcount needed to reach it.

8. Action Items and Owners

Who owns each action for the next quarter?

Close with a list of next steps, each with an owner and a due date. Send it in a recap within 24 hours of the meeting. List the client's actions as well as yours, since many follow-ups stall while waiting on the customer. Open the next QBR by reviewing this list.

Need more formats for your quarterly data? Browse these quarterly report templates, sales report templates and progress report template along with our extensive library of free QBR templates.

Stages of the QBR Process

A QBR runs in a cycle of five phases: prepare, build, share, meet and follow up.

Most teams start two to three weeks before the meeting. The action items agreed at one QBR become the starting point for the next, so the cycle repeats every quarter.

1. Prepare (2 to 3 weeks before). Set the meeting’s objective. Pull the quarter’s data from your CRM, customer success platform and finance tools.
2. Build (1 to 2 weeks before). Turn the data into a QBR report or deck that follows the structure in the section above.
3. Share (2 to 3 days before). Send the agenda and share the QBR as a link so attendees can read it ahead of time.
4. Meet. Follow the agenda and keep the focus on outcomes. After a short walkthrough of the results, leave most of the time for discussion.
5. Follow up (within 24 hours). Send a recap with decisions, owners and due dates. Track progress until the next QBR, where the cycle starts again.

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 For the complete step-by-step guide including how to prepare the data, build the narrative, and handle difficult conversations in the room, see How to Prepare and Run a Quarterly Business Review.

What Do You Use to Make a QBR?

Most teams use a mix of tools for a QBR: one where the customer data lives, one to build the presentation and one to track the actions agreed in the meeting. The right mix depends on how many accounts you manage, how much data you report on and who sees the final QBR.

For many CSMs, pulling numbers from the CRM, the customer success platform, spreadsheets and usage dashboards takes hours before they write a single line of the client's story.

Having the right tool at the right time can make the process much more efficient.

For a full comparison of QBR creation tools with features, pricing and ratings, see Best QBR Tools and Software.

QBR Best Practices and Common Mistakes

Effective QBRs focus on outcomes, invite discussion and end with clear decisions. Routine QBRs repeat data everyone has already seen, and attendance drops over time.

That's a common problem with meetings in general. Atlassian research found that meetings are ineffective 72% of the time.

Best Practices for Creating and Running QBRs

• Start with the audience's goals. Open with what the client or leadership team set out to achieve, then show progress against it.
• Lead with outcomes, not activity. Report on ROI, cost savings and revenue impact before ticket counts or feature usage.
• Keep the deck short. Aim for 10 to 15 slides or pages. Move detailed data to an appendix or a one-page summary.
• Make it a conversation. Ask questions throughout. What's changed in their business this quarter? Which priorities have shifted?
• Customize for each account or team. Clients notice when they get the same deck as everyone else. Use templates for structure and tailor the content.
• Look ahead, not only back. Spend at least a third of the meeting on next-quarter goals and opportunities.
• End with growth questions. Praneeth Kudithipudi, EVP at Sacumen, suggests closing every review with forward-looking questions in a Forbes Business Development Council article: "Every quarterly business review should end with three questions: What problem are you solving next? Who else in your network faces it? Which partner should we introduce you to?"

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Creating and Running QBRs

• Reading slides aloud. Attendees can read faster than you can talk. Use the time to explain what the numbers mean.
• Too much data. Fifty metrics hide the five that matter. Pick the KPIs tied to the goals.
• Hiding bad news. Skipping a missed goal damages trust when it surfaces later. Address it with a plan.
• Inviting the wrong people. Without a decision-maker in the room, the meeting can't approve the next steps.
• Turning it into a sales pitch. Upsell conversations should follow from results, not replace the review.
• No follow-up. Action items without owners and deadlines rarely get done.
• Running it on autopilot. If attendees start sending delegates or skipping the meeting, the format needs to change.

How to Make QBRs Consistent Across Your Team

Make QBRs consistent across your team by giving everyone the same template, metrics and review process. Start from one shared QBR template with your brand applied, define the five to eight KPIs every QBR must show, and set an approval step before the meeting. Each CSM then tailors the content, not the structure.

Property management company Wellcome works this way. Every department builds from one shared library of branded templates, and locked assets keep outdated versions out of circulation. The team saves 35 to 40% of its time on content as a result.

• Use one shared template. Save a QBR template to your team's library so everyone starts from the same layout. Retire old copies, so no one presents last quarter's numbers or an outdated logo.
• Lock in your brand. Apply logos, colors and fonts with the Brand Wizard.
• Swap the details, not the design. Use Dynamic Fields as placeholders for client names, dates and figures, so each CSM fills in the account details without touching the layout.
• Add an approval step. Use Workflows to route each QBR to a manager for review and approval before it goes out.

Quarterly Business Reviews FAQs

Build QBR Materials That Win Renewals and Drive Growth with Visme

The QBR is one of several types of business reports your team produces each year.  In this guide we covered all the critical information you need to get started with your own QBRs, from what the lifecycle looks like to what it needs to include for it to be effective.

Using Visme as your content platform makes the QBR production process faster, simpler and easy to scale. With just one QBR template that follows your brand, guidelines and guardrails,  your team can create many more at scale.

Ready to build your next QBR and optimize the process for your team? See how Visme helps sales and account teams create branded presentations and reports in less time.

Written by Orana Velarde

Orana has been a writer for Visme since 2018, covering topics like design, visual marketing, data visualization and visual content creation. Orana has a background in graphic and web design, makeup artistry for film and theater and ongoingly takes courses on digital marketing, UI/UX and other related topics. See Orana’s work at www.oranavelarde.com.