®Metrics glossary
Understand the contact, matter, revenue, advertising, funnel, and return metrics used across Superpractice.
How to use this glossary
The same word can mean different things in an advertising platform, a CRM, and a revenue report. Before comparing two numbers, check:
- the selected date range
- the date each report groups records by
- the active filters
- the attribution source
- the denominator
A metric without enough data may appear as an em dash rather than zero.
People and funnel
| Metric | Meaning in Superpractice |
|---|---|
| Contact | A person or organization record. A contact is not automatically a qualified lead or client. |
| Lead | A prospective-client contact in the intake journey. Some dashboards use “new contacts” as the measurable lead count. |
| Meeting booked | A scheduled meeting associated with the reporting period and available meeting data. It does not necessarily mean the person attended. |
| Matter created | A matter record whose creation date falls in the selected period. |
| Retained matter | A matter moved to a retained or won outcome with the relevant retained date and value. |
| Retained client | A distinct contact with at least one retained matter. One client can retain the firm for more than one matter. |
| Client | A contact with client history, usually established by a retained matter. Check the view's label because some geographic reports let you switch between all contacts and clients. |
Revenue and pipeline
| Metric | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Revenue retained | The value recorded for retained matters in the selected period. This is not necessarily cash collected. |
| New matter revenue | Retained matter value attributed to newly retained work in the period. |
| New matter value | The value of matters created in the period, whether or not all have been retained. |
| Pipeline value | The value of open opportunities or matters still capable of closing. |
| Average matter value | Revenue or value divided by the qualifying matters in that view. Check whether the view uses created or retained matters. |
| Average time to close | The average elapsed time from the beginning of the measured intake or matter journey to retention. |
| Forecast | A planning estimate based on available pipeline and performance information. It is not booked revenue. |
| Goal progress | Actual retained revenue recorded against the configured goal for the period. |
When a matter has service line items, their price multiplied by quantity supplies the detailed matter value. Keep those items, the matter stage, and the close date current.
Advertising delivery
| Metric | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Impressions | The number of times the advertising platform says an ad was shown. |
| Clicks | The number of ad clicks reported by the platform. |
| Click-through rate (CTR) | Clicks divided by impressions. |
| Cost per click (CPC) | Spend divided by clicks. |
| Platform conversion | A conversion reported by the advertising platform according to that account's conversion setup. It is not automatically a retained client. |
| Spend | Advertising cost reported for the selected account and period. |
| Budget pacing | How actual spend compares with the budget and elapsed portion of the period. |
Acquisition cost
| Metric | Typical calculation |
|---|---|
| Cost per contact / cost per lead | Spend divided by attributed contacts or leads |
| Cost per meeting | Spend divided by attributed booked meetings |
| Cost per retained matter | Spend divided by attributed retained matters |
| Client Acquisition Cost (CAC) | Spend divided by attributed retained clients |
| Cost per acquisition (CPA) | Spend divided by the acquisition outcome named in that view; check whether it means a platform conversion, contact, or retained result |
Costs become more volatile when the denominator is small. An em dash commonly means there was no valid denominator.
Conversion and return
| Metric | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Conversion rate | The next-stage count divided by the prior or starting-stage count shown in that funnel. Read the labels to identify the denominator. |
| Close rate | Retained outcomes divided by the qualifying opportunities in that view. |
| Show rate | Attended meetings divided by meetings included in the view. |
| Return on ad spend (ROAS) | Attributed retained revenue divided by advertising spend. |
| LTV-adjusted ROAS | Modeled lifetime value attributed to acquired clients divided by advertising spend. |
| Prior-period change | The current period compared with the immediately preceding period of equivalent length unless the view states otherwise. |
Immediate ROAS answers what retained value is visible now. LTV-adjusted ROAS is a longer-term model and depends on Settings > Data Model. It should not be treated as cash already collected.
Channel and attribution terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Channel | A broad source category such as Google Ads, Meta Ads, organic search, or referral. |
| Campaign | The marketing campaign associated with a touchpoint or advertising record. |
| Attribution | The connection between a contact or business outcome and the marketing source credited in the report. |
| Practice-area performance | Results grouped using your practice-area and campaign mappings. |
| Uncategorized spend | Spend that cannot yet be placed in the intended practice-area category, often because mapping is missing. |
Attribution reports answer the question defined by that report. They may differ from an advertising platform because the systems use different events, dates, identity matches, and reporting windows.
Operating metrics
| Metric | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Response time | The elapsed time between an incoming lead or activity and the qualifying response recorded by the product. |
| Sales velocity | How quickly and efficiently qualifying pipeline progresses toward retained revenue. |
| Pending pipeline | Open matters or opportunities grouped for follow-up and planning. |
| Operating P&L in Rainmaker | Retained revenue less reported advertising spend for the selected view. It is not the firm's accounting profit-and-loss statement. |
| Client sentiment | A meeting-analysis indicator for the client side of analyzed meetings; use it for review and coaching, not as a factual statement about a person's intent. |
| Host talk time | The portion of an analyzed meeting attributed to the host speaking. |
| Process adherence | A meeting-analysis indicator showing how consistently the expected meeting process appeared in eligible analyzed meetings. |
Why two screens may show different numbers
Differences are often legitimate. Check whether the screens:
- use different date fields, such as contact created date versus matter retained date
- count people, matters, meetings, or platform conversions
- use different attribution windows
- include different channels, owners, clients, or practice areas
- use synced platform data that has not finished updating
- count distinct clients versus every retained matter
For a durable correction, update the underlying contact, matter, meeting, service, or mapping. Do not change a record solely to make two unrelated denominators match.
Related guides
MCP & API
Give Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, or Codex secure access to your firm's data. Ask questions in plain English — "what was our Google Ads spend last month?" — and let it create tasks, update contacts, book meetings, and more.
Main dashboard
Use the main dashboard for the daily brief, goals, priority work, meetings, and voice-agent activity.