Software for Professional Services Firms
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Capacity is the product
In a professional services firm the thing you sell is a finite number of skilled hours. Every operational problem is a version of the same one: committing capacity you do not have, or failing to sell capacity you do.
Which is why a beautiful CRM without a capacity view is a machine for creating delivery problems.
What to build, in order
- Capacity visibility. Who is committed to what, weeks ahead, by skill rather than by headcount.
- Frictionless time capture. If it takes more than seconds, it will be done on Friday from memory and be wrong.
- Live project profitability. Margin while the project runs, not after it finishes.
- Pipeline against capacity. The two numbers on one screen, which is the meeting that runs the business.
Time recorded on Friday from memory is fiction with a decimal point. The design goal is capture in under ten seconds, or it will not happen.
Time capture that people actually do
- Pre-filled from the calendar, needing confirmation rather than entry
- Mobile, because consultants are not at a desk
- Daily nudge, not weekly — memory decays fast
- Round to fifteen minutes; six-minute precision produces resentment and no better data
- Show them why it matters — their own utilisation, not just the invoice
Profitability while there is time to act
Most firms discover a project lost money at the end. The useful version shows margin weekly against the plan, so an overrun is visible in week three when the conversation is still possible.
- Budget versus actual hours by workstream, weekly
- Blended rate achieved against the rate quoted
- Scope changes logged with their hours, so the reason is visible
- A forecast to completion, which is the number that predicts trouble
What to buy rather than build
Accounting, payroll, document storage and e-signature. All commodities. Some practice management products are good and worth configuring rather than replacing.
Build the capacity and profitability layer if how you schedule and price is genuinely how you compete. For many firms it is, and it is the part every off-the-shelf product handles generically.
Typical shape and cost
| Phase | Cost | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity and scheduling | £15k–£40k | 8–14 weeks |
| Time capture and integration | £8k–£20k | 5–9 weeks |
| Profitability reporting | £10k–£25k | 6–10 weeks |
| Client portal | £15k–£45k | 8–16 weeks |
Frequently asked questions
We use a practice management tool already. Is this a replacement?
How do we get partners to record time?
Can this handle fixed-price as well as time and materials?
What about resource planning across offices?
Want software that fits how your sector actually works?
Tell us about your operation. We will tell you what to buy, what to build and what to leave exactly as it is.
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