Timesheets for Management Consulting
Time
is money for any business … but particularly for a management
consultancy. A consulting firm is a business with mostly fixed costs –
you hire a bunch of talented people, and how much profit you make
depends on how well you make use of their time on client work. Keep
utilization and billability high, and your firm will make excellent
profits. Let it slip too low, and your firm starts bleeding cash.
Timesheet software,
also known as time tracking or time management software, helps
management consulting firms track and bill their time. Since time is,
quite literally, money for a consultancy then it is evident that
choosing the right timesheet solution is a critical business decision.
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Timesheets boost your revenue
With the right timesheet
solution, a management consulting firm can dramatically improve its
revenue. Effective time management boosts a consultancy’s revenue in
several ways, including:
- Billing more of the time you spend on client work
- Scheduling the right resources on the work
- Charging the appropriate rate in all instances
- Scoping and pricing its projects better
Timesheets control your costs
Look at the profit and loss
(P&L) statement of a typical consulting practice, and it quickly
becomes apparent that employee costs make up the vast majority of their
cost structure. Choosing the right timesheet system enables a
consultancy to control its costs by:
- Catching scope creep or project management issues early
- Reducing the opportunity cost of time spent on unbillable activities
- Understanding how its internal practices (e.g. meetings) impact on staff utilization
- Reducing the overhead and administration associated with managing time
Are you still using spreadsheets to track your time?
If so, you
wouldn’t be the only one. It’s frightening how many management
consulting firms still use
spreadsheet time tracking. Sure, it
is an easy way to get started but as your business grows the problems
escalate and you end up wasting billable time across the organization –
consultants take longer to fill in their time, admin staff have to
consolidate and re-enter data, the finance team is forever sending out
new spreadsheet versions with the latest job codes, and management has to do their
own spreadsheet analysis to get the data they need in the right format. Don't you
need a proper time tracking solution?
These days there are many powerful timesheet solutions that are
easy to use, cost effective, and accessible from anywhere you have an
internet connection. You’ll be amazed how much time you save on admin
alone, let alone the significant benefits that can come from
understanding and managing your billable time more effectively.
Find the right timesheet solution for your consulting firm
There
are many choices you will face in
choosing the right timesheet
software. Should it be
installed on your servers or hosted by the
vendor? Do you need internet or mobile phone access? Should
expenses be managed through the same system? Will you invoice through
the timesheet system, or do you need it to integrate with your
accounting package? And many other questions…
Rather than trawling through the many available options yourself, why not use SoftwareShortlist’s
free software recommendation and comparison service to find timesheet software that is right for you?
SoftwareShortlist helps you build a shortlist of the best timesheet systems to meet the unique needs of your management consulting practice – quickly and easily. Time is money, after all!
