Abstract: The results of the accuracy measurements of phase differencing bathymetric sonar (PDBS) system in shallow waters are presented in the article. The measurement results were compared with the theoretical calculations for sonar system accuracy and international standards for hydrographic surveys. The proposed formulas enable to assess a priori sonar system performance using system quality factor (SQF), which takes into account influence of variable environmental conditions and auxiliary sensors on depth accuracy in a real-life scenario. The proposed SQF can be used in survey planning process to predict the swath width.