5 Signs It Is Time To Switch From Spreadsheets To PSA Software

Spreadsheets are the perfect tool for a small firm just starting out. They are a free solution that you already know how to use, and flexible enough to work when you are still sorting out your processes.

But as your firm grows and you add more consultants and clients, the limitations and risks start to appear. You have to add more formulas and links, updates become hard to manage, and there’s always the uncertainty that you are not working with the latest, most accurate data.

Here are the 5 most common signs your consulting firm has outgrown spreadsheets and is ready for a dedicated PSA software solution:

You Have Multiple Versions Of The Same Spreadsheet

The most obvious sign you have a version control problem with your data is the existence of files named “timesheet_final_v3.xlsx”. If all of your consultants created a new timesheet every week, and entered accurate data the first time, AND stuck with the right naming convention, this wouldn’t be much of a problem.

But since we are all human and updates happen, you wind up with multiple versions of the same file, leaving you wondering if the data is accurate or up to date. Worse yet, you don’t know until it is too late that the data is incorrect, so any planning or billing work that relies on that data needs to be updated, too.

This is the primary business problem that PSA software like Projectworks solves. Automated time tracking ensures that there is up-to-the-minute, accurate data from  your entire team that your business can rely on.

Billing Takes Multiple Days To Complete

Billing and reconciling with spreadsheets involves gathering time log files, invoice templates, contracts, and copying and pasting data from one platform to another. Not to mention double checking all of the timesheet data has been entered correctly, and managing multiple file versions to handle last-minute updates.

With a PSA solution like Projectworks, invoicing is integrated directly with your automated time tracking data, enabling you to create an accurate, professional invoice in minutes instead of days without manually checking all of the data in spreadsheets and building invoices by hand.

You Have To Check And Update Formulas

Since using spreadsheets is a manual process, every instance of a consultant entering data could cause errors to occur. The worst type of error is “silent” – the kind you don’t notice because it is not obvious. It could be a new row that didn’t copy over the SUM formula, or added cells that are out of range in the formula calculation. In any case, if each instance of a timesheet isn’t checked, you could be losing thousands of dollars per year in profit simply because a sum was calculated using all of the data.

Using PSA software instead of spreadsheets removes this risk - the calculations are always correct, and data entry errors are easy to see and fix. Projectworks’ PSA software protects your data integrity and revenue.

You Have To Guess When Planning Resources

Visualizing time in a spreadsheet is difficult. The cells in a spreadsheet are made for data entry, not drag and drop on a grid, and getting a sense of which consultants are overloaded and which are underutilized requires time-consuming customization. And that customization needs to be redone every week as the dates progress and consultants complete or take on more work.

PSA software like Projectworks provides a visual resource planning tool that enables you to see exactly how your client hours are allocated to your team. The dashboard  updates automatically with the integrated time tracking data, and you can make drag and drop adjustments to your consultants workload so your utilization is high and risk of burnout is low.

You Can’t Monitor Project Progress In Real Time

Time tracking using spreadsheets is an inherently backwards-looking process. You can see what already happened last week, but not what is happening right now. You won’t know the projects that are lagging behind or consuming the budget too quickly until well after that fact.

Dedicated time tracking software like Projectworks calculates your projects progress and burn rate in real time, giving you the ability to make adjustments and preserve your profitability.

Switching from spreadsheets to software is a milestone in a consulting firm’s growth journey. You can reach that milestone today with a free trial of Projectworks, or let us demo Projectworks for you,  and show you how switching from spreadsheets to software can fuel your next stage of growth and profitability.

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