NAICS code for consulting: which one fits your firm

The NAICS code for most consultants is 541611, administrative management and general management consulting services. It covers strategy, operations, organizational and general business advice. Specialist consultants have their own codes: 541612 for human resources, 541613 for marketing, 541614 for logistics, 541618 for other management consulting and 541690 for scientific and technical consulting. IT consulting falls under computer services, 541511 or 541512.

Describe the work in the NAICS code calculator and it returns the code, which helps when your practice spans two specialties.

Consulting NAICS codes at a glance

Size standards are from the SBA Table of Size Standards (13 CFR 121.201), in average annual receipts.

How to choose between them

Ask what the client is paying you to improve.

• The whole business or its management (strategy, operations, finance, turnarounds, fractional executive advice): 541611.
• People and pay (compensation design, benefits strategy, HR policy, executive search strategy): 541612.
• Customers and markets (go to market plans, pricing, brand strategy, market research led advice): 541613.
• The flow of goods (supply chain design, warehouse layout, lean manufacturing, freight optimization): 541614.
• A specific management area not listed (such as site selection, utilities or telecommunications management): 541618.
• A technical or scientific field (energy, agriculture, economics, safety, physics): 541690.

Consulting on environmental issues has its own code, 541620, environmental consulting services. Engineering advice is engineering services, 541330. Architecture is 541310.

Consulting versus doing the work

NAICS draws a clear line between advising and doing. Consultants in 5416 advise and help implement. Firms that run the function for the client belong elsewhere.

When your practice spans two specialties

Many firms do more than one kind of consulting. A boutique that sells strategy projects and HR compensation studies, or a supply chain advisor who also writes marketing plans for the same clients. Use the code for the work that brings in the most revenue as your primary code, and keep it on your tax return and loan applications.

Look at a full year of invoices rather than the last few months. Consulting revenue is lumpy, and one large engagement can make a secondary specialty look like the main business for a quarter. If you bid on federal work, list both codes in SAM.gov so you can compete under each, since every solicitation names a single code.

IT consulting

The phrase "IT consulting" covers several NAICS codes. If most of your revenue is building or customizing software for clients, you are 541511, custom computer programming services. If it is planning and designing systems, integrating hardware and software, or advising on technology choices, you are 541512, computer systems design services. Both carry a $34.0 million size standard. Selling packaged software you own is software publishing, 513210 in NAICS 2022.

Solo consultants and fractional executives

A solo consultant uses the same code as a large firm doing the same work. A fractional CFO advising small companies on finance and operations is 541611. A one person HR advisory practice is 541612. A freelance marketer who builds strategy is 541613, and one who mostly executes campaigns is 541810 or 541613 depending on which earns more.

The entity type does not change the code. An LLC, an S corporation and a sole proprietorship doing the same work share a code. Our page on the NAICS code for an LLC covers this in more detail.

On a tax return, the IRS list groups these. Schedule C uses 541600 for management, scientific and technical consulting, 541510 for computer systems design and related services, and 541990 for other professional services. Our page on the NAICS code on your tax return explains how the lists line up.

Size standards and federal contracts

If you plan to bid on federal work, the code matters more. Each contract is tied to one NAICS code and its size standard, and you can only compete as small under codes where you meet the standard. Consulting standards range from $19.0 million to $29.0 million in average annual receipts, so most independent firms qualify comfortably. List every code you plan to bid under in your SAM.gov registration. Our page on SBA size standards by NAICS code covers how receipts are averaged.

How lenders view consulting firms

Lenders generally like consulting. Margins are high, capital needs are low and receivables are owed by businesses rather than consumers. The challenge is collateral: a consultancy has few hard assets, so lenders lean on cash flow, client concentration and contract length. A firm with three clients providing 80% of revenue looks different from one with thirty.

Financing consultancies use

Firms with government contracts often pair a line of credit with receivables financing, since federal payments arrive on a schedule but not always quickly. Start an application and the AI matches the deal to lenders that fund your code.