--- title: "Professional Services Project Management | Orangescrum" description: "Professional services project management software for billable utilisation, margin per engagement, and timesheet to invoice billing." canonical: https://www.orangescrum.com/solutions/professional-service-project-management --- # Professional Services Project Management | Orangescrum > For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://www.orangescrum.com/llms.txt). [Home](/) / [Solutions](/solutions) / Professional Services Professional Services # Know Your _Utilisation and Your Margin_, Not Just Your Deadlines Track billable time at source, see which engagements actually make money, and turn approved timesheets into invoices without rekeying anything. Recommended editions[Cloud](/pricing "Cloud - included")[Self-Hosted](/self-hosted "Self-Hosted - included")Open Source [Start Free Trial →](/sign-up?utm_source=website&utm_medium=feature&utm_content=solutions/professional-service-project-management)[Book a Demo](https://calendly.com/orangescrum) Free forever plan · No credit card required · Set up in minutes ## What does professional services project management need? A services business sells time, so the numbers that decide whether it is healthy are utilisation and margin per engagement. Both come from the same place: time logged accurately against the right piece of work. Once that exists, staffing decisions, forecasting, and billing all follow from it. Orangescrum handles the whole chain, from the plan and the assignment through logged time and an approved timesheet to the client invoice, in one system rather than four. The problem ## Why services margin _leaks_ Utilisation is a guess until month end Nobody knows who is over committed and who is on the bench until the finance report lands, which is three weeks too late to act. ✓ Utilisation and workload from live logged time. Scope creep is done for free A client asks for one more thing, a consultant obliges, and the extra hours never reach the invoice. ✓ Work tracked against the engagement, with cost building as it is logged. Invoices wait on late timesheets Billing slips a fortnight every month because three people have not submitted, and cash flow moves with it. ✓ Timesheets with approval, then invoices generated from them. Staffing is decided in a spreadsheet Who is free next month lives in one manager's file, so two projects are promised the same senior consultant. ✓ Resource and workload views built from real assignments. Nobody knows which client is profitable Revenue by client is known, cost by client is not, so the least profitable account keeps getting the best people. ✓ Cost against budget per engagement. What matters here ## From logged time to _an invoice and a margin_ - ### Time at source Consultants log time against the task while doing the work, with a timer or manual entry, so it is captured rather than remembered. - ### Timesheets with approval Weekly timesheets a manager approves, which then feed cost and billing without anyone retyping hours. - ### Invoices from approved time Turn approved billable time and expenses into a client invoice with your rates applied. Premium in Cloud. - ### Utilisation and workload See who is over committed and who has capacity, from real assignments rather than a staffing spreadsheet. - ### Margin per engagement Budget against actual cost per project, so you know which engagements and which clients make money. - ### Clients and associates included Unlimited users on every plan, so subcontractors and client stakeholders are in the system without a license conversation. How it works ## How an engagement _runs_ 1 Set up the engagement Create the project, set the budget or fee, and define the billable rates. 2 Staff it Assign people from a workload view, so you can see who actually has capacity. 3 Log time as work happens Consultants record time against tasks daily, not reconstructed on a Friday. 4 Approve, bill, and review Approve the timesheets, raise the invoice, and compare actual cost against the fee. Who it's for ## Where services firms _use it_ Billable engagement delivery Plan, assignments, and time against a fee. [Learn more →](/timesheet) Resource and utilisation planning Who is booked, who is free, who is over committed. [Learn more →](/resource-management) Billing and margin review Approved time to invoice, and cost against budget. [Learn more →](/invoice-software) Availability ## Which edition includes _what_ Orangescrum runs as managed cloud, self-hosted on your own servers, or as the open-source Community Edition. Here is exactly what each one includes. Available in Cloud and Self-Hosted. Timesheets are on Pro, resource management and invoicing on Premium. | Capability | CloudManaged SaaS | Self-HostedOn-premise / private cloud | Open SourceCommunity Edition | | Projects, tasks, and boards | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | Time logging | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | | Timesheets and approval | Pro | ✓ | ✗ | | Budget and cost tracking | Pro | ✓ | ✗ | | Client access to their own project | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | | Resource management | Premium | ✓ | ✗ | | Workload management | Premium | ✓ | ✗ | | Client invoicing | Premium | ✓ | ✗ | Frequently asked questions ## Professional services project management _FAQ_ ### Can we measure billable utilisation? Yes, and it is the main reason services firms use us. Consultants log time against tasks as they work, that time rolls into weekly timesheets, and workload and resource views show who is over committed and who has capacity. Because it comes from logged work rather than a planning spreadsheet, the number is real. ### Does approved time turn into an invoice? Yes. Approved billable time and expenses feed straight into a client invoice with your rates applied, so nobody rekeys hours from one system into another. Invoicing is on the Premium plan in Cloud and included in Self-Hosted. ### Can we see margin per engagement? Yes. Set a budget or agreed fee on the project and define cost rates, and actual cost builds from logged time automatically. Comparing that to the fee tells you which engagements and which clients are actually profitable, while there is still time to change how an account is staffed. ### Is there a CRM or sales pipeline? No. Orangescrum starts once the work is won. There is no lead, opportunity, or pipeline management, no proposal builder, and no quote to cash flow from the sales side. Most firms keep their CRM and hand the engagement over to us at kick off. ### Does it run payroll? No. We are not a payroll or HR payroll system and we do not calculate pay, tax, or deductions. What we do is capture and approve the time, which you export for whichever payroll system you already run. ### Can clients see their own project? Yes. Client access gives a named client user visibility of their own project and nothing else, which cuts down the status emails without exposing anything internal. ### Do we pay per consultant? No. Pricing is a flat monthly plan with unlimited users: Basic 29 dollars a month, Pro 69, Premium 349. For a services firm that matters twice, because associates and subcontractors can be added for a busy quarter without the cost of the tool moving. ### Can we handle both fixed fee and time and materials work? Yes. Set a budget for fixed fee work and watch actual cost build against it, or bill logged billable hours for time and materials. Both use the same time capture, so a firm running a mix does not need two processes. ## See your utilisation and your margin in the same place Free 14 day trial, no credit card. Every plan includes unlimited users. [Start Free Trial →](/sign-up?utm_source=website&utm_medium=feature&utm_content=solutions/professional-service-project-management_cta)[Book a Demo](https://calendly.com/orangescrum) ## Related capabilities [TimesheetWeekly approval and export](/timesheet)[Resource managementCapacity and utilisation](/resource-management)[Invoice softwareBill from approved time](/invoice-software)[Budget and costMargin per engagement](/budget-and-cost-management)