Free QBR Template for MSPs: The 60-Minute TBR Agenda

Search for an MSP QBR template and you will mostly find slide decks: a title slide, a ticket volume chart, an SLA summary, a backup status table, and a "next steps" slide that usually stays blank. They make a meeting look organized. They do not make it produce anything.

A useful QBR template is not a deck. It is a process: what you prepare before the meeting, what happens in each part of the hour, which questions you ask, and what you send afterward. That is what our free Technology Business Review (TBR) template contains, and this post walks through all of it so you can see exactly what you get before you download it.

QBR, TBR, or EBR: Which Meeting Is This Template For?

Most MSPs use "QBR" for any quarterly client meeting. The vCIO Framework splits that into three distinct meetings, because they have different audiences and different jobs:

Meeting	Audience	Cadence	Purpose
QBR	IT manager or operations contact	Quarterly	Operational review: tickets, SLA, project status
TBR	Business owner or budget holder	Quarterly	Strategic alignment: roadmap, gaps, budget planning
EBR	CEO, COO, or C-suite	Annual	Business outcomes and a 3-year technology strategy

This template is for the TBR - the quarterly meeting with the person who controls the budget. If your current "QBR" is a ticket report delivered to an IT contact, this is the meeting that should replace it with your budget holders. The operational review still has a place; it just does not generate revenue. For the annual executive meeting, see our EBR template.

What Is in the Template

The template has four working parts, plus an overview:

1. A 45-minute pre-meeting prep protocol. What to review, in what order, before you walk in.

2. A 6-section, 60-minute agenda with talk tracks. The same structure for every client, every quarter.

3. A discovery question bank. Business-first questions grouped by theme, so the conversation starts with the client's business instead of your ticket queue.

4. A post-meeting follow-up protocol. A timed checklist from the first two hours after the meeting through day seven, including a follow-up summary template.

Part 1: The 45-Minute Prep Protocol

The review is won or lost before the meeting starts

A vCIO who walks in without current data, a reviewed roadmap, and a prepared discovery angle is running a check-in, not a strategic review. The template sets 45 minutes of structured prep as the minimum:

Step	Time	What happens
Data pull	10 min	Health score, Standards Library alignment, backup success, patch compliance, open security alerts, and MRR trend
Gap and roadmap review	15 min	Roadmap items due for a decision, worsening gaps, one or two items ready to propose with a budget estimate, EOL items and compliance deadlines
Agenda and education prep	10 min	Pick one education topic, draft three tailored discovery questions, frame recommendations in business terms, send the agenda
Logistics confirmation	5 min	Budget holder confirmed, 60 minutes protected on both calendars, PSA open to log action items live
Discovery review	5 min	Client news, regulatory changes in their vertical, one business event to open with, their top three priorities

Part 2: The 6-Section Agenda

Sixty minutes, same structure every time, sent 48 hours ahead

Section	Time	Purpose
1. Opening	5 min	Confirm the agenda and check the client's priorities
2. Performance snapshot	5 min	Health score summary - no ticket report
3. Client discovery	15-20 min	Business events, goals, and changes driving technology decisions
4. Education	5-10 min	One relevant topic: security, compliance, AI, or an industry trend
5. Recommendations	10-15 min	Roadmap items tied directly to discovery findings
6. Close	5 min	Action items, owners, deadlines, and the next TBR booked

Notice the balance. Performance gets five minutes. Discovery gets up to twenty. That is the single biggest difference between this template and a typical QBR deck, which spends most of the hour on what already happened.

The performance snapshot uses a Red, Yellow, Green health score rather than ticket charts - see our guide to the MSP client health score for how to build one. Recommendations work best presented as three priced options per finding; our post on Good, Better, Best QBR recommendations covers how.

Part 3: The Discovery Question Bank

Start with their business, not your service

The question bank is grouped into five themes so you can pick the few that fit each client. A sample from each:

Business growth and change: "What has changed most significantly in your business since we last met?" and "Are you planning any headcount changes - hiring, restructuring, or new locations?"

Risk and compliance: "How confident are you in your ability to recover from a ransomware event in the next 30 days?" and "When your cyber insurance renewed, did they ask about any controls you don't have in place yet?"

Technology decisions and AI: "Are there manual processes in your business right now that you wish were automated?" and "Has anyone on your team started using AI tools - Copilot, ChatGPT, or anything similar - in their day-to-day work?"

Budget and investment: "When does your fiscal year end, and when do technology decisions need to be made to make this year's budget?" and "Are there capital expenditures you've been putting off that I should be helping you plan for?"

Relationship and satisfaction: "Is there anything we should be doing differently that we're not?" and "What would make you confident enough to refer another business owner to us?"

The budget questions matter most for revenue. A recommendation that arrives after the client's budget is set waits a year. A recommendation that arrives while the budget is being built gets funded.

Part 4: The Follow-Up Protocol

The meeting is not finished when the call ends

The template includes a timed checklist that runs from the first two hours after the meeting through day seven. The core commitments: a written follow-up summary goes to the client within 24 hours, every action item is logged in your PSA with an owner and a date, and any action item owned by the client is checked on within the week. The summary template is included, so the follow-up looks the same whichever vCIO ran the meeting.

The Five Non-Negotiables

The template ends with five rules that keep reviews from drifting back into status calls:

1. The agenda goes to the client 48 hours before every TBR - no exceptions.

2. The budget holder or business owner is in the room. IT contacts belong in the operational review.

3. The six-section agenda is used for every TBR. No custom formats that drift.

4. The next TBR is confirmed and in both calendars before leaving the current meeting.

5. The follow-up summary goes out within 24 hours, with all action items in the PSA.

How to Roll It Out

Start with your Tier A (Always Engaged) clients - they get the deepest review cadence and will show you fastest where the template needs adjusting for your market. Run one full quarter with them, then extend it to Tier B (Betterment Focused). Tier C (Core Consistent) clients can often run a lighter version on a longer cadence. Our guide on how to run a QBR (TBR) that generates revenue covers the scoring and revenue side in more depth.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should an MSP QBR template include?

At minimum: a preparation checklist, a fixed agenda with time allocations, a set of discovery questions about the client's business, a recommendations section tied to documented risks, and a follow-up process. A slide deck alone covers only the presentation, which is the smallest part of a productive review.

How long should an MSP QBR be?

This template runs 60 minutes for the meeting itself, plus 45 minutes of preparation. Shorter reviews usually cut discovery, which is the part that surfaces new projects.

Who should attend a QBR?

For a strategic review, the business owner or budget holder, led by your vCIO. If only an IT contact attends, you are running an operational review - useful, but it will not generate budget decisions.

Is the template free?

Yes. The Technology Business Review Template is free on our Downloads page, with no account required. It downloads as a document you can print or copy into your own meeting materials, and it is part of the vCIO Framework v1.15.

Can I use this template with my QBR software?

Yes. The template is tool-neutral. Use it to define the meeting, then deliver it in whatever platform you already use. Our vCIO and QBR software comparison covers the main options.

Download the free TBR template, or take the free vCIO assessment to see where your current client reviews stand.