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Financial management software

Finance Software Built for UK Management Consultancies

Get complete visibility of project profitability, consultant utilisation, and cash flow in one integrated system. Access Financials connects your project delivery with financial management, giving you the real-time insights consultancies need to protect margins and scale sustainably.

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Accounting software trusted by professional service providers across the UK

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What’s Holding Back Your Consultancy’s Profitability?

  • Disconnected Systems: Time tracking, project management and accounting don’t talk to each other — costing you 20+ hours/month in reconciliation.
  • Fixed-Price Project Risk: Scope changes and cost overruns only show up at month-end — when it’s too late to fix them.
  • Invisible Utilisation Rates: Without real-time data, you can’t see who’s underused or overbooked — or how it’s affecting margins.
  • Retrospective Budget Tracking: Budget overruns are discovered after the damage is done.
  • Manual Billing Workarounds: Managing multiple billing models across clients and projects creates admin overhead and revenue leakage.

Ready to solve these challenges? 

Book a personalised demo

See Every Project's True Profitability, in Real-Time

Access Financials connects your project delivery directly to financial management. Rather than reconciling data between separate systems, your project costs, time tracking, and financial reporting exist within a single integrated platform designed for consultancies.

Real-Time Profitability Tracking

  • Monitor margins as engagements progress, not weeks after completion  
  • Adjust scope, reallocate resources or accelerate billing when needed

Consultant Utilisation Visibility

  • See who’s fully booked and who has capacity  
  • Track billable vs non-billable time by consultant, project or client

Scope Change Control

  • Document changes and see cost impact immediately  
  • Protect margins on fixed-price projects with change order workflows

Integrated Billing

  • Bill hourly, milestone or retainer — all from the same system  
  • Track unbilled WIP and automate invoicing

Features Designed for Management Consultancies

Integrated Project Accounting

  • Monitor work-in-progress by engagement, client, and service line
  • See actual costs against budget in real-time
  • Forecast final project outcomes based on current run rates
  • Support time and materials, fixed-price, milestone-based, and retainer billing within the same system
  • Eliminate manual workarounds and spreadsheet supplements

Resource Utilisation Visibility

  • Track utilisation rates by consultant, practice area, or office
  • See billable versus non-billable activities across the team
  • Allocate consultants to projects with full visibility of existing commitments and capacity
  • Connect time tracking directly to project costing and invoicing
  • Eliminate reconciliation between separate systems

Real-Time Project Profitability Dashboards

  • Identify underperforming engagements while there's still time for corrective action
  • Adjust resource allocation, renegotiate scope, or accelerate billing when needed
  • Compare actual performance against quoted estimates to improve future pricing
  • Drill down from practice-level P&L to individual project details with full audit trail

Multiple Billing Method Support

  • Bill hourly, on fixed-price milestones, or retainer schedules from the same system
  • Handle mixed billing arrangements within the same client engagement
  • Track unbilled work-in-progress to ensure consistent invoicing cycles
  • Optimize cash flow through regular, automated billing processes

Scope Change Financial Impact

  • Document scope changes with immediate visibility of cost and budget implications
  • Track approved changes separately from original project scope to maintain accountability
  • Use change order functionality to protect margins on fixed-price engagements
  • Flag cost impacts before they consume project profitability

Integrated Time, Expense, and Invoicing

  • Time and expenses automatically flow through to project costing, WIP valuation, and client invoicing
  • Eliminate duplicate data entry and reconciliation between systems
  • Support project-specific expense categories
  • Automatic client recharge for out-of-pocket costs

The Financial Impact of Integrated Systems

The difference between profitability and underperformance often comes down to visibility. Consultancies with real-time project financial data make better decisions about resource allocation, pricing, and client selection.

Right-Sized for Growing Consultancies

Access Financials gives you the power of enterprise project accounting, without the cost or complexity.

  • Built for UK consultancies with £2M–£200M turnover  
  • No unnecessary features like manufacturing or inventory  
  • Modular design — start with what you need, scale as you grow  
  • UK GAAP, MTD and Companies House compliant  
  • Hosted in UK data centres with ISO 27001 certification

With 25+ years supporting UK organisations with £2M-£200M turnover, Access understands growing consultancies' specific requirements. You need proper project accounting and resource utilisation tracking, not manufacturing production planning or inventory management.

Fast, Low-Risk Implementation

  • UK-Based Implementation Team: Experts who understand your billing models and reporting needs
  • 8–12 Week Deployment: Go live quickly with a proven methodology tailored to consultancies
  • Hands-On Training: Role-specific training for finance, PMs and partners
  • Data Migration Support: Migrate historical and active project data with confidence
  • Ongoing Support: 250+ UK-based support staff and online resources
  • Scalable Platform: Add users and modules as your consultancy grows

Go Beyond Finance with Access Evolve

As your consultancy grows, so do your operational needs. Access Evolve connects finance with HR, payroll, expenses, and CRM in one AI-powered platform, eliminating the data silos that slow down growing firms.

Expand beyond finance with:

  • HR & Talent: Manage recruitment, performance and learning  
  • Payroll: One-click payroll integrated with finance  
  • Expenses: AI-powered expense approvals and policy compliance  
  • CRM: Track client relationships and project profitability  
  • Analytics:  Make smarter decisions across your entire business
Discover Access Evolve

Frequently Asked Questions

Which accounting software is best for IT services companies?

Project profitability tracking monitors the financial performance of each consulting engagement by comparing actual costs (consultant time, expenses, subcontractors) against project revenue. For consultancies, this means understanding margin by project, client, and service line in real-time rather than discovering profitability only after project completion. Effective project profitability tracking connects time tracking directly to financial management, automatically calculating project costs as consultants record their hours.

How do consulting firms track billable versus non-billable time?

Consultancies track billable versus non-billable time by categorizing time entries when consultants log hours. Billable time includes client project work that can be invoiced. Non-billable time covers internal activities: business development, training, administration, and proposal writing. Access Financials integrates time tracking with project accounting, automatically flowing categorized time through to project costs, utilisation reports, and invoicing without manual reconciliation between separate systems.

What software do management consultancies use for finance?

Management consultancies require integrated project accounting and financial management software. Solutions range from basic accounting tools (Xero, QuickBooks) to enterprise ERP systems (SAP, Oracle NetSuite) to mid-market options like Access Financials. The best fit depends on firm size and complexity. Access Financials targets UK mid-market consultancies (£10M-£200M turnover) needing sophisticated project accounting without enterprise ERP cost and complexity.

How do you manage fixed-price consulting projects financially?

Fixed-price projects require careful budget monitoring because revenue is fixed while costs can vary. Track actual costs against budget throughout the project, document scope changes with cost implications, and set budget alerts at 75-80% consumption. Access Financials provides real-time cost tracking for fixed-price engagements, alerting finance teams when costs approach budget thresholds—enabling corrective action before margins erode completely.

What is WIP (work in progress) in professional services?

WIP represents consulting work completed but not yet invoiced. For time-and-materials projects, WIP accumulates as consultants log billable hours between invoicing cycles. For fixed-price projects, WIP reflects percentage-of-completion based on milestones achieved. Accurate WIP valuation is essential for balance sheet reporting and cash flow management. Access Financials calculates WIP automatically based on recorded time, expenses, and billing rules.

How can consulting firms improve project margin visibility?

Improve project margin visibility by integrating time tracking with project accounting for real-time cost capture, establishing budget alerts at 75-80% consumption, conducting weekly project financial reviews, comparing actual costs against estimates throughout delivery, and implementing scope change controls with financial impact documentation. Access Financials connects these elements, automatically calculating current margins and comparing performance against estimates as work progresses.

What is utilisation rate in consulting and why does it matter?

Utilisation rate measures how effectively consultants' time generates revenue by tracking billable hours as a percentage of total available hours. It directly impacts firm profitability—each 5% utilisation improvement can significantly boost bottom-line performance. Low utilisation indicates consultant capacity for additional work or inefficient deployment. High utilisation (above 85%) may signal burnout risk. Access Financials provides utilisation dashboards by consultant, practice, and time period.

What reports do consulting finance directors need?

Consulting finance directors require both standard financial reports (profit and loss, balance sheet, cash flow) and consultancy-specific reports: project profitability by engagement and client, consultant utilisation by individual and practice, work-in-progress aging analysis, days sales outstanding, revenue by service line, and billable versus non-billable time analysis. Access Financials provides these reports with drill-down capability from summary to transaction detail.

Can you integrate time tracking with invoicing for consultancies?

Integration between time tracking and invoicing eliminates manual data transfer and reduces billing cycle time. When consultants log time against projects, that time automatically flows through to unbilled WIP, then generates invoice line items when billing cycles run. Access Financials provides this integration natively, converting approved time entries directly into client invoices based on billing method (hourly, fixed-price, or milestone).

Is Access Financials compliant with UK accounting standards?

Access Financials supports UK GAAP compliance including FRS 102 revenue recognition, UK statutory reporting formats, and Making Tax Digital for VAT. The software handles UK-specific requirements natively: automatic VAT calculations for domestic and international clients, HMRC-compatible reporting, UK GAAP-compliant financial statements, and Companies House filing formats. Data is hosted in UK data centres meeting security and data residency requirements for UK consultancies.