An architecture firm of over 500 employees offering multiple services has acquired multiple smaller firms over the past couple of years. Everyone had their own way of reporting, working and understanding the numbers coming out of the system. In addition to this, they were having a hard time obtaining a complete picture of what was in their project portfolio, and of what was coming up in the pipeline versus what had already been committed to and what had already been completed.
Thankfully, a project accounting solution specifically developed for architecture firms could help them overcome their challenges.
The issue: Nobody’s reporting would match up
Since this architecture firm has been acquiring numerous firms across North America, the need to manage projects across multiple companies and multiple currencies was essential. By not having everything in a unified system, it was hard to get everything to match up.
The executive committee needed reports that were reliable and complete. They were asking for reporting based on discipline, service, market, utilization levels and ultimately profitability by market, and it was taking up too much time for management to report on all these different metrics.
The solution: An integrated system for all departments across their organization
JOVACO Solutions has been helping professional services firms optimize their operations for over 35 years. The operations of this architecture firm required the complete solution, which leverages the Microsoft Dynamics platform to create and manage all the various project phases:
- Opportunity and proposal management
- Project estimation and creation
- Project planning and human resources
- Project costing and other accounting functionalities
- Timesheet management
- Billing
- Reporting
By leveraging the robust Microsoft platform and adding the JOVACO Project add-on, the client now benefits from a complete solution requiring few customizations. This was important to the client as ease of maintenance was an important factor in the selection of their solution.
How we were able to help
Since JOVACO has been doing this for a long time, we could speak the language of both the finance and operations departments to help find the middle ground between what each group really needed in terms of reporting and autonomy. This reduced the reliance on asking other departments for specific information to complete their reports for the executive team.
JOVACO was also able to add structure to their organization. Since the firm has been growing organically, they needed a system that could support their new processes and the governance the executive team was trying to put into place. What was important to this firm was adding structure but maintaining the flexibility needed for the different business units to operate based on their specific service needs. For example, some divisions were working on multi-million-dollar infrastructure projects spanning multiple years, while others were doing small interior design projects. The system had to be able to support both without creating limitations for one group or the other.
Reporting for everyone
With an integrated system, reporting becomes easier for all. This allows the different groups to be autonomous while accessing their information quickly. Every level of the organization now has reporting that is appropriate for them: finance has more accounting-driven numbers, operations has a global picture in real time of project status, and business development has a central area where the information they enter can be easily centralized and reviewed. By having the information centralized in Microsoft Dynamics 365, JOVACO has been able to adapt and contextualize the data based on the employee or client, accelerating the process and analysis.
Is your organization facing similar issues?
Read more about the different . Your firm can also benefit from more streamlined operations while maintaining the flexibility you need to not hinder your operational requirements.
About JOVACO Solutions
JOVACO Solutions is a leading ERP and CRM solution provider operating in Quebec for over 35 years. As a specialist of Microsoft Dynamics business management solutions, we offer a wide range of products and services to meet all the needs of professional services firms and project-based organizations. We also offer specialized project management tools and timesheet add-ons fully integrated to Microsoft Dynamics solutions. Visit or for more information.
