The 2024 Best Practices Study tier benchmarks are the current-vintage reference for agency valuation. When an analyst anchors a 2026 valuation, the 2024 vintage is the appropriate comparison — recent enough to reflect current-market conditions, methodologically consistent with the prior vintages for trend analysis. This page covers the current-vintage tier structure and the vintage-discipline that keeps the analysis valid.
Under $1.25M to Over $25M.
The BPS tier structure, with the two-column average/top-quartile reporting:
| Tier | Net revenue band | EBITDA-margin trend |
|---|---|---|
| Code 1 | Under $1.25M | Lowest tier margin; least operating leverage |
| Code 2 | $1.25M–$2.5M | Margin building as staff leverage develops |
| Code 3 | $2.5M–$5M | Professionalized operations; margin expansion |
| Code 4 | $5M–$10M | Strong operating leverage |
| Code 5 | $10M–$25M | Institutional infrastructure |
| Code 6 | Over $25M | Highest tier margins |
The EBITDA-margin progression up the tiers is the structural fact behind the multiple bands. Larger agencies achieve higher Pro-Forma EBITDA margins through operating leverage — fixed costs (leadership, technology, infrastructure) spread across a larger revenue base. This is why the institutional multiple bands climb with size, and why a PE platform's aggregation thesis works: combining sub-scale agencies into a larger platform lifts the blended margin toward the higher-tier benchmark.
Where the multiple premium lives.
The top-quartile column is where the multiple premium lives. An agency benchmarking at the tier average commands the average multiple band; an agency benchmarking at top-quartile EBITDA margin, organic growth, and Rule-of-20 commands the premium band.
The two-column structure is the valuation lever. For each tier, BPS reports the average (the typical agency) and the top quartile (the top 25% of performers) for EBITDA margin, organic growth, retention, and productivity. A seller's positioning question is which column their agency benchmarks against — average performance earns the average multiple; top-quartile performance earns the premium. The competitive seller benchmarks against the top quartile and builds the case for the premium band.
Cite the year, always.
The methodological discipline: always cite the BPS vintage explicitly. Multiples, margins, and growth rates shift across vintages with market conditions — the 2022 vintage reflected the bubble-era environment, the 2024 vintage reflects the new-normal stabilization. A valuation anchored on a stale vintage systematically mis-reads the current market. The current-vintage 2024 data is the appropriate anchor for 2026 valuation work; the prior vintages support trend analysis but not current-market benchmarking.
The 2024 tier benchmarks pair with the 2022 vintage (for trend comparison), the trend analysis (the cross-year longitudinal view), and the BPS methodology page. The dedicated per-tier data briefs publish the actual benchmark figures for each of the six tiers.