Project-based businesses

Project-based businesses

How consultancies, agencies, law firms and accountancy practices win work, plan resources, record time, bill and protect margin with Microsoft Dynamics 365.

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What project-based businesses have in common

Consultancies, agencies, law firms and accountancy practices sell different things, but they make money the same way: by delivering work for clients with their own people's time. Profit depends on pricing that work well, keeping people busy on the right projects and billing everything that was done.

The trouble usually starts when sales, timesheets, projects and invoicing live in separate tools. Time goes unrecorded, budgets overrun without warning and margin only becomes clear once the job is finished. Running the whole cycle in connected systems means the estimate, the hours, the costs and the invoice can all be seen together while there is still time to act.

How it works

From first enquiry to final margin

Every project-based firm runs the same six steps. Margin is won or lost in the gaps between them.

  1. 1

    Win the work

    Track enquiries, proposals and client relationships, so you know what is likely to land and when people will be needed.

    CRM for professional services
  2. 2

    Estimate and price

    Build estimates from roles, rates and expected costs, and agree how the work will be billed before it starts.

    Margin control from estimate to invoice
  3. 3

    Plan and resource

    Turn won work into a project with a budget, tasks and the right people booked by skill and availability.

    Utilisation and resource planning guide
  4. 4

    Record time and costs

    Capture time, expenses and supplier costs against the project as they happen, not at the end of the month.

    What the Time and Expense Agent does
  5. 5

    Bill and get paid

    Invoice on time and materials, fixed fees, milestones or retainers, and chase what is owed without re-keying.

    Order to cash process guide
  6. 6

    Measure margin

    Compare actuals with the estimate by project, client and team, and feed what you learn into the next quote.

    Finance metrics and accounting basics
Sectors

Guides for each type of firm

Each sector has a CRM guide and an ERP guide, covering what the system does, where the value sits and how to choose one.

Systems

The Microsoft Dynamics 365 systems behind them

Smaller firms often run everything in Business Central. Larger firms add Project Operations for scheduling and contracts. All of them connect to Microsoft 365.

Articles

More on project-based businesses

Our articles on project margin, time and expenses, and how law firms, accountancy practices and agencies use Microsoft Dynamics 365.

Projects, time and margin

How to protect margin from the first estimate to the final invoice, and how AI is starting to take the effort out of time and expense entry.

Law firms, accountancy practices and agencies

How Business Central and Dynamics 365 CRM support firms that sell their people's time, from client relationships to billing and reporting.

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FAQ

Frequently asked questions

A business that earns its revenue by delivering pieces of work for clients, usually priced on time, a fixed fee, milestones or a retainer. Consultancies, agencies, law firms, accountancy practices, IT services, engineering and architecture firms all work this way.

Business Central suits most small and mid-sized firms: its projects features cover budgets, time sheets, resources and billing alongside the full accounts. Dynamics 365 Project Operations suits larger firms that need detailed resource scheduling, contracts and a tight link between the sales pipeline and delivery. Some firms use Project Operations with Business Central as the finance system.

Professional services automation (PSA) is software that runs the business of delivering projects: winning work, planning resources, capturing time and expenses and billing clients. Dynamics 365 Project Operations is Microsoft's PSA application.

Record time and costs against the project as they happen and compare them with the estimate or budget. When time, expenses and supplier costs all land on the project in the same system, margin can be checked weekly rather than discovered at the final invoice.

Yes. Business Central and Dynamics 365 Project Operations both support different billing arrangements on different projects, so a firm can bill one client on time and materials and another on a fixed fee or milestones. The right set-up depends on how your contracts are written.

Start where money leaks most. For many firms that is time that never gets recorded or billed, or projects that run over budget without anyone noticing. Getting time capture and project budgets right first gives you the data to improve pricing, resourcing and cash flow.