How Time and Expense Management Software Improves Profitability
- Christiano Gherardini
- 5 days ago
- 7 min read
I’ve yet to meet a professional services firm that actually enjoys chasing down timesheets and expense reports.
It’s the business version of herding cats: consultants forget to log their hours, receipts get crumpled in glove compartments, and when it comes time to bill, the project team has already shifted gears, leaving finance to fill in the blanks.
That’s why time and expense management software isn’t just a back-office convenience anymore; it’s the foundation of accurate billing, predictable cash flow, and strong project margins.
But let’s look at the bigger picture: managing time, expenses, and invoicing shouldn’t be about survival.
With the right tools, firms can move from spreadsheet triage (patching together late entries and fixing billing errors) to forecasting mode, where leaders have real-time visibility into profitability and can focus on growth.
That shift, from scrambling to strategic, is what separates firms that struggle with billing chaos from those that thrive with confident, data-driven project accounting.
Many professional services organizations know this struggle all too well. Between project demands, client expectations, and billing deadlines, administrative work can quietly drain profitability.
That’s why more teams are turning to time and expense management software that integrates directly with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central—connecting project delivery, billing, and accounting in one streamlined process.
The result?
Less friction, faster cash flow, and better visibility across every stage of the engagement.
What Are the Best Project Accounting Features for Professional Services Firms to Improve Billing Accuracy and Cash Flow?
When your organization runs on billable hours, accuracy is everything. Small errors in time or expense tracking can snowball into delayed invoices, write-offs, and awkward client conversations.
But there’s good news: Modern ERP systems like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are built to simplify these processes, without sacrificing control or visibility.
Here are the features that make the biggest difference:
Easy, accurate time tracking with web and mobile entry that lets consultants log hours from anywhere. Approval workflows help maintain accountability and eliminate end-of-month guesswork.
Streamlined expense reporting with built-in automation, digital receipt capture, and compliance checks. No more hunting down crumpled receipts or manual reimbursement forms.
Simplified, accurate invoicing through milestone or project-based billing. This ensures you bill on actual progress, not assumptions.
Integrated systems connecting finance, payroll, and client portals so data flows seamlessly... and you can finally retire those fragile spreadsheets for good.
When these features work together, they don’t just save time.
They strengthen cash flow and reduce costly billing errors.
You see, when time tracking and invoicing are connected to project budgets, organizations gain real-time insight into both earned revenue and resource utilization. Leaders can instantly see which projects are trending profitable, and which may need intervention before the next billing cycle.
This level of visibility turns data into strategy—helping teams plan proactively rather than reactively.
For firms expanding into new service lines, integrated tools support scalability and compliance without adding administrative overhead.
How Do Modern ERP Systems Like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Handle Time Tracking, Expense Reporting, and Invoicing for Billable Projects?
Traditional accounting systems weren’t built for the complex needs of project-based businesses. That’s where ERP for professional services comes in.
Solutions like Dynamics 365 gather time tracking, expense management, and invoicing under one roof.
A centralized system ties project budgets to actual time and expenses, giving you a clear view of progress and profitability in real time.
Full integration eliminates double entry and reduces the risk of manual errors across modules.
Visibility into billable vs. non-billable time ensures you know exactly where your resources are going—and where revenue might be leaking.
Legacy systems often require multiple logins, disconnected spreadsheets, and time-consuming manual reconciliations. A unified ERP brings every moving part—projects, people, and profitability—into one connected ecosystem.
This reduces data silos and ensures accuracy across departments. In fact, the best ERP for professional services integrates financials, resources, and billing in real time, so you always have a single version of truth to guide decisions.
When you remove the friction between these systems, teams spend less time reconciling and more time delivering value.
For more about how project management and accounting are designed to work hand-in-hand, check out Microsoft Learn – Manage Projects in Dynamics 365 Business Central.
What’s the Difference Between Project Accounting and Regular Accounting, and Why Does It Matter for Consulting or IT Services Firms?
If you’ve ever tried to manage project profitability in a traditional accounting system, you’re familiar with the frustration.
Regular accounting is designed to track company-wide financials—what you’ve earned and what you’ve spent as a business.
Project accounting, on the other hand, drills down into the financial heartbeat of each engagement.
With project accounting, every hour logged, expense submitted, and invoice issued is tied back to a specific project. It’s about more than the bottom line.
It’s about understanding which clients and projects are the most profitable and why.
This level of insight helps prevent write-offs, supports better forecasting, and gives leaders the data they need to make smarter resourcing decisions.
Simply put, project accounting software helps professional services organizations measure success where it really happens.
The right time and expense management system complements project accounting by connecting daily operational data with long-term financial metrics.
This combination helps leaders align billable utilization with profitability goals, ensuring that effort, cost, and value stay in sync.
When you're juggling multiple clients or service lines, this type of visibility can be the difference between steady margins and unexpected shortfalls.
Which Tools or Software Integrations Make Expense Reporting and Client Invoicing Faster and Less Error-Prone?
Tools don’t just make work easier—they make results better. The right integrations turn expense reporting and invoicing from time sinks into real advantages for both your team and your clients.
Automate Expense Reporting for Speed and Compliance
Automation has changed the game for professional services organizations. With automated expense reporting, submissions are accurate before they even reach the approval stage.
Mobile-first tools let consultants capture receipts and submit expenses from anywhere, while built-in policy compliance ensures nothing slips through the cracks.
As Forbes points out, modern expense solutions now use hyperautomation and conversational interfaces to remove friction and make reporting faster and more intuitive.
For example, a consulting organization using automated expense reporting can process approvals in minutes instead of days.
Expenses flow straight into project costs, allowing managers to see budget impact instantly, building transparency and trust with clients.
Streamline Client Invoicing with Integrated Systems
Once time and expenses are captured, the next step is getting invoices out accurately and efficiently.
Modern ERP solutions simplify this by generating client invoices directly from recorded time and expenses—no manual reconciliation required.
Automated matching of time, expenses, and billing rates ensures accuracy before invoices go out, and when time tracking and invoicing are connected within a single platform, every hour worked translates into revenue with minimal delay.
The Result: Faster Billing and Stronger Client Relationships
Together, these tools create a streamlined billing cycle that’s faster, cleaner, and far more transparent.
They reduce disputes, speed up payments, and give clients confidence that every bill reflects the real work completed—because in professional services, trust is the ultimate deliverable.
How Can Project Managers Forecast Profitability and Prevent Write-Offs with Project Accounting Dashboards and Reporting Tools?
Here’s where project accounting becomes proactive instead of reactive. Real-time dashboards and reporting tools give project managers the power to spot issues before they turn into losses.
Profitability dashboards highlight margin risks early, before they show up in the monthly close.
Real-time reporting connects time and expense data directly to project budgets, providing a clear picture of earned value versus cost.
Forecasting tools improve visibility into cash flow and help leaders adjust in-flight projects to protect profitability.
With the latest generation of project accounting software, project managers can filter data by client, region, or service type to uncover patterns and anticipate future needs.
This helps improve utilization rates and reduces revenue leakage—key drivers of growth in the ERP for professional services market.
So instead of waiting for end-of-month reports, decision-makers can act in real time, keeping both clients and margins healthy.
The Business Impact of Time and Expense Management Software on Profitability
Let’s face it: invoicing delays and data errors don’t just affect the accounting team.
They ripple across the entire organization.
Faster invoicing cycles improve cash flow and build client trust.
Automation reduces errors and eliminates tedious manual work.
Stronger project margins and smoother operations mean happier clients and less burnout for your team.
For finance leaders, these gains go beyond efficiency. They translate into healthier balance sheets, fewer revenue leaks, and stronger forecasting accuracy.
When time tracking and invoicing are fully automated, leaders gain a clearer understanding of where profit originates—and where it’s being lost.
Advanced dashboards make it easy to track utilization, margin contribution, and overall financial health in real time.
The right time and expense management software doesn’t just streamline processes; it changes the trajectory of your business.
Future-Focused Advantage: Why Firms That Modernize Now Are Better Prepared for Growth
Professional services organizations that modernize their project accounting software are setting themselves up for agility. As client demands evolve, so do expectations around accuracy, transparency, and timeliness.
Scalability allows growing teams to manage complex projects without adding overhead, while transparency builds stronger client relationships through real-time visibility into billing and progress.
Both are essential for firms that want to deliver value consistently, even as workloads and client portfolios expand.
Cloud-based ERP systems like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central give organizations the flexibility to modernize at their own pace—adding automation, analytics, and AI-driven insights as their needs evolve.
As I discussed in Professional Services ERP: How to Improve Margins, businesses that invest in digital transformation today position themselves for sustained profitability tomorrow.
Modern ERP isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about preparing your organization to adapt and thrive in whatever comes next.
Conclusion
Project accounting entails more than tracking time and expenses. Done right, it empowers professional services organizations with accuracy, visibility, and efficiency—the ingredients that drive profitability and keep clients happy.
The best ERP for professional services isn’t just a technology investment—it’s a growth strategy. When systems, people, and data work together seamlessly, professional services teams can focus less on administration and more on innovation.
With the right time and expense management software, you can move from chasing down details to making confident, data-driven decisions.
That’s how you transform project accounting from a necessary function into a true competitive advantage.
Don’t settle for outdated tools or manual processes that chip away at your profitability.
Modern time and expense management software, like Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, gives professional services organizations the visibility and efficiency they need to stay ahead.
If you’re ready to take a closer look at how these capabilities can strengthen your margins and improve client satisfaction, reach out! I’d be glad to help you evaluate your current systems and map out the right path forward.
Better billing, fewer write-offs, stronger margins—it’s possible, and I’d be glad to show you how.
About the Author
Christiano Gherardini, CEO of Turnkey Technologies, applies cutting-edge technology to help B2B mid-sized enterprises optimize their data and processes to achieve more in less time with less expense.
A thought leader in the Microsoft space for nearly 30 years, Chris and his team have enabled hundreds of businesses to achieve their goals and attract sustainable growth.
