The pipeline slide in a board deck has one job: show whether the pipeline supports the number the company committed to. Most versions fail at it by presenting a total pipeline figure and a coverage multiple, which tells a director how much is in the system and nothing about whether it will convert.
What the slide has to answer
A board reading the pipeline slide needs four things it can act on.
- Coverage against target, with the ratio the company has historically needed rather than a generic rule. - Age profile, showing how much of the pipeline has stopped moving. - Concentration, showing what share of the number depends on the largest few deals. - Composition, showing which stages the pipeline sits in and which segments it came from.
Coverage alone will not carry the slide
Across ORM's customer base, pipeline coverage runs between 3x and 5x, with most companies near 3.5x and some customers as low as 1.4x. The spread is the point. A ratio that works for one company's conversion profile is dangerously loose for another's, and applying a borrowed rule produces false confidence in both directions.
Two ORM figures put the standard slide in perspective. More than 10% of the typical pipeline has not been touched in twelve months, which means a meaningful slice of every coverage calculation is dead weight. And of the pipeline carrying in-quarter close dates on day one of a quarter, roughly 20% actually closes in that quarter. That leaves 80% of the day-one value unrealized, so a slide implying the visible pipeline is the quarter is wrong before the quarter starts.
Deal values compound the problem, because most deals close for less than the value they carry in the CRM. Take a pipeline with an average deal size of $80,000 against $40,000 on closed-won business. Coverage computed on inflated values overstates itself by the same margin.
Show where the period actually comes from
The stronger slide decomposes the period into its real sources: carry-over deals already in pipeline coverage on day one that are expected to close, business that has to be created and closed inside the period and is not visible yet, and deals pulled forward from future periods.
Most teams over-trust the visible pipeline and under-model the invisible portion. Naming all three sources with a number against each turns the slide from a status report into an operating plan. Pull-forward deserves its own line because it carries a cost in discounting and in the hole it leaves next period.
Pair the composition with the risk. Reporting the value exposed to deal slippage is what separates a slide the board trusts from one it interrogates. The case against treating a coverage ratio as an answer is laid out in why the 3x pipeline coverage rule is wrong.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should a board deck pipeline slide show?
Coverage against the target, the age profile of the pipeline, the stage mix, concentration in the largest deals, and a split of the period into carry-over deals, business that must be created and closed in-period, and any deals being pulled forward. That set answers whether the number is supported. A total pipeline figure with a multiple beside it does not.
Is pipeline coverage enough for the board?
No. Coverage is an input to the forecast, never the conclusion. A company can hold 4x coverage and still miss badly when the pipeline is aged, concentrated in a few large deals, sitting in the wrong segment, or carrying deal values well above what deals actually close for. Coverage without composition makes executives feel informed while masking the risk.
How do you show pipeline risk without alarming the board?
Quantify it and pair it with the action. Naming the amount of pipeline that has gone untouched, the value concentrated in the top three deals, and what the forecast does if those deals slip reads as control rather than panic. Boards react badly to risk they discover on their own, and well to risk that arrives with a number attached and a plan behind it.
Should the slide show pull-forward deals?
Yes, with their cost. Pulling deals from a future period usually requires discounting and leaves a hole in the next quarter. Reporting the closed number without disclosing how much of it came from future periods sets up a miss the board has no way to see coming until it arrives.
Put these metrics to work
ORM builds custom revenue forecast models that turn concepts like board deck pipeline slide into prescriptive action for your team.
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