Batchelar McDougall Consulting (BMC) chose Projectworks as their professional services automation software with a single, measurable goal: Reduce project invoicing time from two weeks to three days, and move invoicing ownership from admins to project managers.

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Less than a year later:

• Project managers now own project invoicing from start to finish.
• 560 hours of admin overhead time was reduced to zero.
• One professional services automation platform has replaced 5 separate time-tracking, invoicing and resourcing systems.

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This is how they did it - and the unexpected benefit they unlocked with Projectworks' PSA software. 

How BMC Cut The Project Invoicing Process Down From 2 Weeks To 3 Days.

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For years, BMC spent half of every month on the invoicing process. Roughly five full time admin staff were involved in a two week cycle of printing timesheets, highlighting, drafting, checking, and re-entering data into Xero. Project managers weren’t contributing to the process, and no one had a consistent, real time view of what was billable or being written off.

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For new CEO Ian McKnight, this wasn’t just about switching one Professional Services Automation software for another. He wanted this to be a reset moment, taking BMC from founder-led family business to a professional consulting firm ready for its next chapter of growth.

BMC Swapped 5 Separate Business Resource Systems For A Single PSA Platform

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Ian wanted a tool that would make their lean team more productive, not just reduce their admin overheads. He also wanted to professionalise the way BMC ran its projects, so when growth returned, they’d be ready to scale.

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Ian selected Projectworks as the professional services automation software that would:

• Arm project leaders to own the entire project lifecycle, from initial scope to final project invoice.
• Combine their separate invoicing, time tracking and resourcing into a single source of truth for their projects.

BMC Gave Project Managers Full Ownership of Project Invoicing.

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BMC’s leadership team committed to making invoicing a core part of the project manager role by using Projectworks.

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With Projectworks as BMC’s primary invoicing platform, project managers can now:

• Use Projectworks to see actual time tracking against each job and phase.
• Decide what is recoverable and what is not.
• Raise and track variations when scope changes.
• Draft invoices directly in the system for leadership to review and approve.

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Now that the entire team uses it, Projectworks has totally changed the way project invoicing happens at BMC.

Projectworks now acts as BMC’s project invoicing hub.

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With all of BMC’s time tracking, budget and job information on one platform, project managers can start projects more quickly because they are working with accurate, real-time project data.

This shift in ownership started in project invoicing and spread from there - Projectworks transformed the ownership of the financial performance of BMC’s projects, and it’s showing in their financial health.

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In a lean consulting market like the one BMC has been operating in for the past few years, that level of ownership is essential to survival.

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Thanks to Projectworks' PSA software, BMC can now:

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• Invoice more accurately.
• Reduce unnecessary write offs.
• Use project variations to prevent scope creep.

How Projectworks' Time Tracking Unlocked A More Productive Team.

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BMC started with invoicing, but an even bigger payoff came 12 months later, thanks to the data that comes with a modern PSA software like Projectworks.

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Because all BMC’s time tracking, project invoicing and resource management now flows through the same professional services automation platform, they now have a real-time, trustworthy and accessible dataset on:

• Individual billability and productivity.
• Project recovery and write offs.
• Margin, not just hours, at both project and person level.

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Performance conversations at BMC aren’t just about billable hours anymore - consultants are rewarded for their productivity. It’s allowed BMC’s leadership team to create alignment between their consultants and project managers, and focus the entire team on the same core metric - margin.

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Project Software That’s Growing With BMC.

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Projectworks started as a way for BMC to reduce admin overheads, optimize project invoicing, and lift productivity during lean times. As market conditions improve, it’s also becoming the PSA tool that’ll help them scale their business.

Batchelar McDougall Consulting chose Projectworks to solve a very specific invoicing problem. In doing so, they rebuilt the way work, money and responsibility flow through the business.