QBR meaning in business: quarterly business review
In business, QBR stands for quarterly business review. It's a meeting every three months to go over how the last quarter did and agree on the plan for the next one. In American football, the same letters are ESPN's quarterback rating.
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Filed under Q and R jargon.
What a QBR is
The quarterly business review
A QBR, short for quarterly business review, comes around once a quarter. It goes over results against targets and what went wrong. Then it sets the plan for the next quarter.
The dates follow the quarters of your company’s year. If that year starts in January, QBRs come early in January, April, July and October.
In an internal QBR, a team reports up to leadership. A client QBR is a supplier presenting to a customer.
The client QBR
In software and services, the client QBR is where the account manager shows the customer what the product did and brings up the renewal. Some companies also hold a bigger executive business review, or EBR, once or twice a year, with senior people from both sides.
What goes in the deck
A QBR deck starts with a summary and a scorecard that marks each target red, amber or green. The wins and the problems come next. It closes on the plan and the action items, every next step with a name and a date beside it. On a new account, the first QBR is often the supplier’s chance to get the ball rolling on a bigger contract.
How a QBR goes
Slide 31 of 40
A two-hour QBR slot holds a 40-slide deck. The slide everyone came for is number 31.
80% of knowledge workers say most meetings could lose half their length. Nobody believes it more than someone at minute 95 of a QBR.
The fix is a pre-read sent two days ahead and a meeting that starts with questions.
The meeting before the meeting
A big QBR brings smaller meetings with it. There’s the prep call, the dry run and the slide review where somebody changes a green to an amber. A level set at the start of the QBR keeps the room from re-arguing the numbers.
The deck still gets its final edits ten minutes before the start.
The Q4 QBR
The Q4 QBR often slides into January. In December, half the room is on vacation and the other half is still chasing EOY targets. Most QBRs could be sent as an email instead. In our meeting or email game, you get to send meetings back as emails.
QBR in football
ESPN’s quarterback rating
In American football, QBR means Total QBR. That’s ESPN’s rating for what a quarterback does on every type of play, adjusted for how strong the defenses he faced were.
| Total QBR | Value |
|---|---|
| Rating scale | 0 to 100 |
| Action plays per team game to make ESPN’s season table | At least 20 |
Two QBRs, one January
The football playoffs and the Q4 business reviews both run through January. Only one of the two QBRs comes with a rating scale. Sports have lent corporate jargon plenty of terms, like touch base and the ballpark figure.
A QBR invite
Invite: Northwind account review, Thursday 2:00 to 4:00 pm
Agenda for the Q3
QBRquarterly review, two hours: results against targets, the renewal timeline, roadmap preview. Please send your slides by Tuesday noon so I can merge them into one deck. Pre-read attached, 31 pages.
QBR in a sentence
I'm prepping slides for the QBR.
The client's QBR is Tuesday, Kojo. Bring the renewal numbers and the outage report.
Finance wants the Q4 QBR deck by Friday, Hanne, with next year's targets in the appendix.
The customer skipped our QBR again, Jorge. Third quarter in a row, and they still renewed.
Questions about QBRs at work
What does QBR stand for in corporate?
Quarterly business review. Every three months, the team checks the last quarter's numbers against its targets and agrees on priorities for the next one. With a client, it's also where the renewal comes up.
What is considered a good QBR?
At work, a good QBR ends with decisions. Every next step has a named owner and a date, and the client still wants to renew. In football, Total QBR runs from 0 to 100, and higher is better.
How do you run a QBR?
Send a short pre-read a few days ahead and open with the three numbers that matter. Spend most of the time on problems and next quarter, then close by reading back the action items with owners and dates.
What is the difference between an MBR and a QBR?
An MBR is a monthly business review, the same kind of meeting held every month. It goes over last month's results and fixes small problems early. A QBR steps back to the whole quarter and sets the plan for the next three months.
What should be discussed in a QBR?
Results against last quarter's goals, the key numbers, what went wrong, and the plan and action items for next quarter. A client QBR adds the value the customer got and, near the end of a contract, the renewal. Every action item leaves the room with an owner and a date.