Business Targets
Set revenue goals, profit margin targets and utilization assumptions so Nabu can show whether your clinic is on track, behind, or ahead of plan.
What are business targets?
Business targets are the goals you set for your clinic's financial performance. They give Nabu a benchmark to compare your actual results against, so it can show you whether you're on track, falling behind, or ahead of plan.
Targets in Nabu cover three areas:
- Revenue goals — how much you want to bring in each month or year
- Profit targets — the monthly profit you want to keep, and the lowest contribution margin you accept
- Operational targets — average appointment value, how busy you expect your providers to be, and how many clients you expect to rebook
Without targets, Nabu can still show you exactly what happened. With targets, it can also tell you whether what happened was good enough.
Why targets come right after Business Costs
Business targets use the same cost baseline you just entered. To know what margin is achievable, Nabu needs to know what your costs are. Setting targets before costs would be guesswork — the cost baseline is the foundation.
Fields to fill in
| Field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Monthly revenue goal | The revenue you want to hit each month. Start with what feels achievable, not a stretch goal. Financials compares each period's revenue with this goal, prorated to the days in the range. |
| Monthly profit goal | The net profit you want to keep each month, after all costs. Example: $12,500 on a $50,000 revenue goal is a 25% profit margin, which the Target Summary shows beside it. Financials compares each period's net profit with this goal, prorated the same way. |
| Minimum margin % | The lowest contribution margin you accept: revenue after the variable cost of delivering it, before rent, overhead and other committed costs. Financials compares each period's contribution margin with it, and Profitability flags a service whose margin falls below it. |
| Average appointment value | The revenue you expect per appointment. The Dashboard compares your average ticket with it. |
| Provider utilization target % | The share of providers' bookable hours you expect to be booked. Profitability and the Dashboard judge utilization against it. |
| Rebooking rate target % | The share of clients you expect to book again. |
| Working days per month | Can match what you entered in Business Costs; used to turn monthly targets into daily ones. |
| Business hours per day | Can match the open hours per day in Business Costs. |
| Treatment rooms | How many treatment rooms you're planning to have active. Can also match Business Costs. |
The Target Summary beside the form calculates the rest: Appointments needed is the monthly revenue goal ÷ average appointment value, and Avg per day is that ÷ working days per month. You don't enter them.
How targets affect what you see in Nabu
Once you set targets, they power several features:
- On track / Off track on the dashboard — the projected revenue for the selected range set against your goal for the whole range, and what it would take to close the gap
- Forecasting's plan for next period — sized to the shortfall against your revenue goal when there is one; Ask Nabu also states your goal beside the forecast
- Capacity and margin judgments — Profitability judges provider utilization only against the target you set, and service margins against your minimum margin (market-standard bands of 30%, 20% and 10% when you have not set one)
Break-even is calculated from your costs, not your targets, so it shows on Financials either way. The forecast itself does not use your goals.
If you leave targets blank, the dashboard still shows you your actual results — you just won't see the comparison indicators.
Confirming this section
When you're done, click Mark as reviewed. If you're not ready to set targets yet, you can mark the section as "Not applicable" and come back to it later.
Common questions
Do I have to set targets? No. Targets are recommended but not required. Without them, Nabu won't show goal comparisons or judge utilization against a target, and service margins are judged against market-standard bands instead of your own. Break-even, the forecast and your actual results all still work.
How do I know what profit to target? The industry benchmark for aesthetic clinics is roughly 20–35% net profit margin after all costs. Where you land depends on your cost structure, location, and service mix. If you're just starting, a monthly profit goal of about 20% of your revenue goal is a reasonable first target. You can adjust it as you learn what your clinic can realistically achieve.
What's the difference between contribution margin and net margin? Contribution margin is revenue minus the variable cost of delivering it: products and supplies, per-service provider pay and commission, and payment fees. Net margin is what's left after committed costs too, such as rent, overhead, base pay, equipment and marketing. The minimum margin % is a contribution margin, so it sits above your net margin; the monthly profit goal is a net figure, after everything.
Can I set different targets for different months? Not yet. Nabu uses a single monthly target as the baseline. Seasonal variations show up in your actuals, and you can see how each month compared to the same target.
Business Costs
How to enter your clinic's fixed operating costs — rent, utilities, payroll, software, and everything else that keeps the lights on.
People & Payroll
Add providers and staff with their pay arrangement and hours so Nabu can cost labor correctly, keeping committed pay apart from variable pay.