Client context
A 25–40 person consulting/engineering firm running projects and invoicing through spreadsheets and fragmented systems.
Company type: professional services firm (consulting / engineering / expert services)
Size: 25–40 employees (consultants/engineers + support team)
Model: projects billed fixed-fee, time & materials, or a mix (retainer + delivery)
Organization: rapid growth, increasing client demand, rising project complexity.
Initial situation (tooling):
Sales tracking via spreadsheets + emails + disconnected tools
Projects managed in files or non-integrated tools
Time & expenses captured manually (sometimes only at month-end)
Invoicing delayed due to approvals and manual consolidation.
Problems (pain points) and symptoms
Disconnected tools and manual workflows created blind spots in profitability, delayed billing, and weak cross-team coordination.
Management control & profitability
- No real-time visibility on project margins, budget vs actual variances, or profitability by client
- Hard trade-offs: project overruns are “felt,” but recognized too late.
Execution & capture (timesheets / expenses)
- Timesheets and expenses are incomplete or submitted late
- Administrative workload falls on consultants
- Risk of errors and non-rebilled costs.
Cross-team coordination
- Sales sells → Delivery discovers constraints too late
- Finance invoices → Delivery has not validated deliverables
- Contracts, SOWs, change orders: information scattered.
Invoicing & cash
- Inconsistent invoices (formats, rules, terms)
- Recurring delays → cash flow pressure
- Higher DSO (Days Sales Outstanding) because invoicing happens late.
Business objectives (what the client wants)
Create a scalable lead-to-invoice operating model with real-time profitability visibility, faster billing, and less admin work.
- Real-time visibility into project profitability and team performance
- Standardize the full cycle: lead → contract → delivery → invoice
- Speed up invoicing (and reduce errors)
- Reduce admin work for consultants
- Implement KPIs and operating rhythms (utilization, margin, WIP, forecast).
UnifyX approach
Structure first: we design the operating model (workflows, roles, KPIs) before implementing any system—so adoption is fast and outcomes are measurable.
Step 1 — Rapid diagnostic (1–2 weeks)
Map the service lifecycle: Lead → Deal → Contract → Plan → Deliver → Invoice → Collect
Identify breakpoints (Sales/Delivery/Finance handoffs, approvals, missing data)
Review current indicators vs expected ones.
Deliverable: Diagnostic + “Operating Model Blueprint” (processes, roles, approvals, KPIs).
Step 2 — Operating model design (2–3 weeks)
Define target workflows for:
qualification / proposal / contract
project kickoff / milestones / status reporting / deliverables
timesheets & expenses (rules + approvals)
invoicing (fixed-fee, time & materials, milestones, change orders)
RACI matrix (who does what, who approves what)
KPIs and rhythms: pipeline review, project review, margin review, capacity & workload forecast.
Deliverable: Process maps + RACI + KPI pack + business rules.
Solution implemented (functional scope)
An integrated lead-to-invoice system covering CRM, delivery execution, time & expenses, automated billing, and profitability reporting.
CRM & Sales
Lead/opportunity management
Standardized stages + scoring
Pipeline forecasting
Interaction history + documents.
Quotes, SOWs & contracts
Quote/contract templates, terms, appendices
Approval workflow (minimum margin, discounts, exceptions)
Change order management.
Project delivery
Projects structured by milestones / phases / tasks
Billable milestones with attached deliverables
Budget vs consumed tracking.
Timesheets & expenses
Simple entry (mobile/desktop)
Rules: allocation, categories, rebilling
Manager approvals + monthly cut-off.
Automated invoicing
Billing for:
time & materials
fixed-fee by milestone
monthly retainer
reimbursable expenses
Invoice generation driven by rules & approvals
Fewer errors and better standardization.
Dashboards & profitability
Margin by project / client / team
Utilization (billable vs non-billable)
WIP (work in progress)
Capacity and workload forecasting.
Outcomes & impact
Earlier detection of project overruns, shorter billing cycles, and improved utilization through consistent execution.
Margin visibility & early warning
Earlier detection of projects drifting off-track
Better decisions: staffing adjustments, renegotiation, change orders.
Faster and more reliable invoicing
Reduced “month-end close → invoice sent” cycle time
Standardized rules → fewer disputes.
Reduced administrative workload
Consultants spend less time on manual reporting
Finance saves time on consolidation.
Improved collaboration
Sales → Delivery: structured handoff
Delivery → Finance: “invoice-ready” data.
Steering KPIs
A focused KPI set to monitor profitability, utilization, billing speed, and delivery predictability—weekly and monthly.
- Utilization rate (per consultant, team, month)
- Project gross margin (planned vs actual)
- Budget burn (% consumed)
- Invoice cycle time (period close → invoice sent)
- DSO (Days Sales Outstanding)
- Timesheet compliance (completion rate + submission delay)
- WIP (work performed but not invoiced)
- Forecast accuracy (capacity & revenue).
ROI model
A focused KPI set to monitor profitability, utilization, billing speed, and delivery predictability—weekly and monthly.
Illustrative assumption for 30 employees, including 22 billable staff.
- Annual revenue: $2.5M
- Average invoicing delay: 10 days
Admin time saved:
- 22 consultants × 1h/week × 48 weeks = 1,056 hours/year
- internal value at $80/hour ≈ $84,480/year
- Reduced leakage (unbilled time/expenses): 1% of revenue = $25,000/year
- Cash impact (faster invoicing): improved cash position (depending on DSO), not counted as profit but significant.
- Conservative estimated annual benefit: $84,480 + $25,000 = $109,480/year
- If total project cost (implementation + adoption) ≈ $35k–$70k, payback is often < 12 months.
Why it worked
A focused KPI set to monitor profitability, utilization, billing speed, and delivery predictability—weekly and monthly.
- Structure first: real workflows, not a tool-centric implementation
Teams adopted because:
- less friction in time/expense entry
- simpler invoicing
- clear rules and consistent approvals
- Leadership finally had an economic view: margin, utilization, WIP, forecast.
Why it worked
Because we started with structure—workflows matched real operations, making adoption fast and performance measurable.
Phase 0 — Diagnostic (1–2 weeks)
- Workshops + mapping + blueprint
Phase 1 — Foundations (2–4 weeks)
- CRM + quotes/contracts + project structure + roles + rules
Phase 2 — Delivery & Finance (3–6 weeks)
- timesheets/expenses + invoicing + dashboards
Phase 3 — Adoption & optimization (4–8 weeks)
Training, operating rhythms, continuous improvement, stabilized KPIs.
Risks & mitigations
Because we started with structure—workflows matched real operations, making adoption fast and performance measurable.
Timesheet resistance → simplify capture + clear rules + minimal but useful reporting
Historical data → “smart” migration (active clients/projects only at first)
Billing variations → standardize 80%, manage 20% exceptions via approval workflow
Lack of executive sponsor → set up a steering committee + weekly rituals for 6–8 weeks.