NSCA’s Financial Analysis of the Industry Updated for 2025

NSCA has released its 2025 Financial Analysis of the Industry report, offering valuable insights into the business performance of commercial integration firms across North America. Based on data from 99 companies, the report highlights trends such as a major shift toward negotiated/direct sales, rising profit margins, improved cash flow, and the growing impact of recurring revenue models. Smaller firms are operating at full capacity, while larger firms are adapting staffing strategies to balance workloads and maintain efficiency.

Designed to help systems integrators make data-driven decisions, the report enables members to benchmark their financial ratios, refine pricing and labor utilization strategies, and enhance profitability. NSCA will also host a special webinar on November 18, 2025, featuring key industry leaders who will discuss how to leverage these insights for stronger business outcomes.

 NSCA, the leading not-for-profit association representing the commercial integration industry, just released its 2025 Financial Analysis of the Industry report. The highly anticipated report provides valuable, industry-specific information for systems integrators on key business fundamentals like markets served, systems and technologies offered, sales trends, labor breakdowns, and company financial health.

Drawing on insights from nearly 100 integration firms across 31 states, three Canadian provinces, and Puerto Rico, the 17th edition of NSCA’s Financial Analysis of the Industry report continues to deliver updated intelligence for integrators that want to refine their business models and stay competitive.

Key findings in this year’s report include:

• Industry shifts in sales strategies: The 2025 report reveals a continued move away from competitive bidding and toward negotiated/direct sales, which now account for approximately 72% of total industry revenues.
• Improved profitability and cash flow: Despite economic unpredictability, median gross profit margins improved to 34.2%, while cash-on-hand saw a healthy boost, signaling stronger financial resilience overall.
• Diverging employment trends: When it comes to utilization rates, smaller firms especially report operating at or over capacity, while larger firms show more signs of underutilization and workforce reconfiguration as they adjust staffing levels to fluctuating workloads.
• Recurring revenue growth: Recurring revenue now represents the largest share of revenue ever. This reflects a strategic shift toward managed services and more predictable income streams.

NSCA worked with ESG Professional Accountants, an independent research firm, to preserve confidentiality while developing this report. The firm helped collect data from the 99 integration firms that participated in the 2025 Financial Analysis of the Industry survey.

The information presented in the 2025 Financial Analysis of the Industry report provides an in-depth look at integrator operations and dynamics; it also helps NSCA members better understand the financial health and performance of their companies compared to others. For example, this data can be used by integrators to:

• Compare their own financial ratios to industry medians and percentiles to identify strengths and weaknesses
• Refine pricing and project bidding strategies in response to market trends
• Evaluate and adjust staffing strategies or optimize labor-utilization rates based on comparative data segmented by firm size
• Spot inefficiencies, refine material purchasing, and improve job costing practices to protect profit
• Optimize project-review processes and recognition programs, comparing frequency, method, and outcomes of post-job reviews to high-performing companies

“The data in this report can’t be found anywhere else in our industry,” explains NSCA Executive Director Tom LeBlanc. “Our members use it to see where they excel and where adjustment is needed. Only when you understand where you stand among your peers can you begin to target areas for improvement and prioritize actions that build a healthier, more competitive business.”

After downloading the Financial Analysis of the Industry report, NSCA encourages members to join an exclusive webinar on Nov. 18, 2025, where we go inside the 2025 report to hear insights from NSCA Executive Director Tom LeBlanc, Solutions360 President Joel Harris, and AVI Systems CFO Chris Mounts. We’ll guide you through the report, its most important findings, and how to use it to improve business.