Running a consulting business is no easy task. Aside from identifying a niche and bringing the right mix of generalist and specialist talent on board, numerous operational matters need attention before the firm can run smoothly – which means being able to serve clients’ needs effectively while capturing all possible revenue opportunities.
Doing all these tasks manually can be incredibly complicated and consume a lot of manpower, time, and resources. While many software programs on the market accomplish specific tasks, such as time tracking, payroll, and project management, using separate software introduces a whole new set of problems. These software rarely ‘communicate’ with each other, making it difficult to coordinate across different functions. In the end, significant manual effort is still needed, which somewhat defeats the purpose of using software.
According to Mark Parinas, CEO and Founder of California-based software developer CuraeSoft, consultancy firms of all sizes – from global giants to independent firms with a handful of staff – lack an integrated system to manage their businesses. Various functions, including timekeeping, billing, project management, planning, resource allocation, and profitability calculations, are being done on separate platforms, resulting in inefficiencies and frustration among the staff. Research from CuraeSoft shows that 82% of projects overshoot their original timelines due to project management hurdles, and efficiency decreases by 30% when using manual processes and disjointed systems.
CuraeSoft’s flagship product is coAmplifi, a workforce management software platform that combines all the functions needed to run a modern business into a single package. Parinas says that coAmplifi can give consulting businesses a financial edge by providing a clearer look at their bottom line and how it is affected by various actions and factors.
One of coAmplifi’s features is the time-tracking module, which captures all billable hours, solving one of the largest pain points of the consulting industry. Oftentimes, billable time can fall through the cracks, resulting in lost revenue. coAmplifi’s time-tracking module automates the process with each completed billable action automatically attributed to a client and registered for billing. The module also allows consultancies to plan and organize their time accordingly, helping with resource allocation and management. Consultants can easily plan out their schedule on the platform, and managers can easily see who’s booked and who’s available to work on a particular task.
Another major boost for consulting firms is the profitability simulator module, which minimizes trial and error on their end. Before signing a contract with a client, they can calculate the potential project’s profitability on coAmplifi’s system. This eliminates guesswork and reduces the chance of having to adjust mid-engagement for things that were unaccounted for. For example, setting the wrong rate for a service can have a huge negative financial impact on the company, and coming back to the client and asking for a higher price is incredibly damaging to the client relationship and the consultancy’s reputation.
“The profitability calculator module allows you to do modeling internally, whether before, during, or after an engagement,” Parinas says. “It takes into account various scenarios to help users determine how to make a particular project profitable, as well as which resources should be allocated to it – whether time, financial, material, or human.”
The coAmplifi suite also includes various functions required by all businesses, such as payroll, project management, and business intelligence. By providing an all-in-one and centralized business software solution, the coAmplifi VOHQ (coAmplifi virtual operating headquarters), enables consulting firms to have a remote or hybrid workforce while maintaining accountability. In turn, this allows firms to recruit and retain talent from a wider pool.
According to Parinas, having all these functions rolled into a single platform provides cost savings for businesses, as they no longer have to pay for multiple licenses. In line with its ethos of accountability and transparency, coAmplifi can track the whole consulting process, allowing the consultant to share with the client how each engagement is conducted and billed.
“Because everything is tracked within coAmplifi, it’s easy to generate a report about the entire engagement, which lets the client know exactly what they’re paying for, down to which staff member did a particular task,” Parinas says. “This eliminates any ambiguity regarding the billing, building trust and a better business relationship between consultancy and client.”
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