The Spreadsheet Conundrum:

In the delicate dance of business operations, spreadsheets often take centre stage — versatile… but not without their pitfalls. When they shift from simple tools into backbones for critical operations, they introduce some serious risks.

• Risk of inaccurate data - a statistic I’ve seen suggests as many as 88% of spreadsheets contain errors on average

• Risk of integrity - is the data I’m looking at correct or the current version?

• Security risks - just exactly who has a copy of this data?

• Not to mention challenges with collaboration (Google is great and Excel is terrible) and auditability.

My journey, spanning over 20 years across two distinct but related fields (architecting and implementing ERP systems and enhancing the operational efficiency of consulting firms I co-owned) has given me first-hand experience in dealing with such risks. I’ve had to unwind multiple spreadsheet disasters.

There was the unwinding of revenue across a portfolio of projects to try and determine what our reportable revenue was. Complicated by the need to consider deferred revenue, accrued revenue, billable expenses, non-billable expenses, and software sold as a reseller. Frustrating, time-consuming and hugely error-prone. Not ideal for something as important as revenue. And not a fun exercise to carry out each and every month…

Then there was the annual performance and salary reviews encompassing multiple teams and a total headcount north of 75 people which dissolved into a chaotic mess because of version control and data integrity issues. Thankfully the issues were resolved before we communicated outcomes to staff but it delayed the entire process by about a month and served as a massive distraction at a crucial time.

The list goes on but in short, where spreadsheets played a role in core business processes, at some point there has been chaos, confusion and pain.

The Quest for Solid Foundations:

This isn't merely about substituting one tool for another; it's about evolution. Spreadsheets have their place. But at some point the organisation outgrows them. Then it becomes a choice between an all-encompassing enterprise application or a best-of-breed approach. Having spent over 15+ years immersed in the world of enterprise applications, I've witnessed the allure of their integrated ecosystems. Yet, their "jack-of-all-trades" nature often means compromises are made. Conversely, best-of-breed solutions promise excellence in their niche, albeit with potential integration hurdles.

While I spent a long time in the enterprise application space my starting point for a growing services business is a best-of-breed approach for three reasons.

• Capability - the name gives it away… best-of-breed means you are getting the solution that provides the best capabilities in its domain.

• Flexibility - a growing services business will experience pain in different parts of the organisation at different times. In my experience, being able to address each in turn is far more manageable than trying to implement a platform across the breadth of the business.

• Cost - while over time you may find that the cost of several best-of-breed applications is higher than a single enterprise application I suspect that most businesses won’t cross this threshold until headcount gets close to 100. For the majority, I’d expect that in the short term, you’ll be in front.

A Blueprint for Change:

My journey over 15 years has distilled into a tech stack that is a step-change from days where spreadsheets ruled the roost. This stack, a harmonious ensemble of CRM, project management, HR, and financial management tools, represents not just a selection of technologies but a strategic orchestration that can flex and accommodate the needs of growing consulting operations.

What follows is the tech stack that I’ve implemented grouped by function. There are many standouts that I would go back to time and again. And there are several that serve but I’d think twice about if I were going through a selection process again. For what it’s worth I’ve also noted some alternatives I’ve used at various points along the way:

Sales & Marketing

CRM | Hubspot

• Whilst a good option when small, Hubspot can get expensive quickly
• Easy to set up, maintain & administer
• Integrates into Slack for workflows which is handy
• Mobile app is good with features to help note capture post customer calls

Alternatives:

• SAP Cloud for Customer: While my experience was a while ago, I wouldn’t rush back
• Vtiger: this was a good option. Very broad features (beyond CRM) and reasonably priced
• Salesforce: super powerful but I found overkill unless you had a serious sales operations

Sales Automation | Apollo

• Brilliant for contact discovery
• Whilst it has a depth of features for sales automation my experience with this showed that you really need to commit to derive value

Finance & Accounting

Accounting | Xero

• Perfect for a small organisation
• Project accounting features are basic but manageable
• Worth coupling with ChaserHQ for automated AR management

Alternatives:

• SAP ERP: a massive jump up and not one I’d recommend unless you’re an SAP partner
• NetSuite: still quite a jump and again probably not worth it for an SME consulting company unless you’re in the ecosystem

Expense Management | Airwallex

• Brilliant expense management tool that is continually evolving
• Eliminates the headaches of managing company cards for managers, salespeople etc.
• Simplifies supplier payments reducing reliance on accountant / bookkeeper

Alternatives:

• Volopay: at the time their budgeting features were a lot stronger but I had serious concerns regarding their approach to cybersecurity.

Budgeting & Forecasting | Fathom

• Another brilliant tool. With a little effort, you can build detailed budgets and forecasts including what-if analysis and cashflow forecasts.
• One of the easiest, most cost-effective and high-impact tools I’ve implemented in the finance space

Alternatives:

• MS Excel 😐🔫

People & HR

HRIS | HiBob

• Bob (the platform name offered by HiBob the company) is a great tool.
• It replaced three different systems and was far superior in all regards
• Staff loved it
• It simplified life for leaders at numerous levels. Eg Day-to-day: We could search for specific granular skills required for projects. Strategic: we could budget and manage salary reviews efficiently & coherently.

Alternatives:

• BambooHR: while it did what it was supposed to do it fell short in comparison to HiBob in terms of usability, features & pricing
• CrewMojo: we supplemented BambooHR with CrewMojo but was a disaster due to a horrible user experience. It’s probably been updated since but it didn’t deliver on the vision at the time

Recruitment (ATS) | Smartrecruiters

• The standout feature for Smartrecruiters is the ability to build communities of talent helping to become more strategic with hires

Alternatives:

• Greenhouse is a good tool that we used for a while but became cost-prohibitive as the platform evolved.

Delivery Management

Professional Services Automation (PSA) | Metric.ai

• Metric was a game changer. It delivered real-time visibility of business performance that allowed for considered decision-making
• Makes financial reporting for non-finance-minded folks a breeze
• Super simple to maintain
• The platform is continually evolving with new features added regularly.
• We continued to use JIRA for operational management of projects which integrates into Metric

Alternatives:

• Harvest + Forecast: good tools but they couldn’t support the business as we continued to grow
• SAP ERP: too complicated for small consulting business
• Netsuite: better than SAP but you need to be a reasonable size to justify the investment.

Knowledge Management | Confluence

• The default for many when it comes to collaboration.
• Not my favourite tool I have to admit… too admin heavy
(Whilst I haven’t used them in a team context if I had my time again I’d look closely at Google Sites or Notion)

Reporting

Dashboards | Databox

• You pay a premium for Databox compared to some of the alternatives but it’s worth it.
• The out-of-the-box integration is stellar. The pre-configured metrics are stellar. The mobile app is stellar.

Alternatives:

• Google Data Studio is worth a look if you’re ok building everything from the ground up
• Amazon Quicksight will take some work to set up but if you’ve got data residing in AWS datastores it might be worthwhile
• Tableau and Qlik are good but pricey

Financial Reporting | Fathom

• Provides the ability to generate detailed financial and management reports
• Cashflow and P&L forecasts are straightforward to set up and provide detailed insight into business performance (more detailed than what our accountants were providing at the time)

The Road Ahead:

Embracing a tech stack for your growing services firm is more than a tactical shift; it’s a strategic evolution. A shotgun approach will not work and therefore it requires time and energy to build a master plan before committing. For those at the crossroads of growth and efficiency, this blueprint hopefully offers food for thought. It’s worth noting that among the range of tools that have shaped this journey, Metric, HiBob, and Airwallex in particular have been standouts. So much so that I now partner with them to help other consulting businesses reap the value that I saw they are capable of delivering.

In sharing this story, my hope is that others may find some clarity and gain some confidence in navigating the complex landscape of business technology. And if you’d like to learn a bit more about how tools such as these can help your business then feel free to reach out.

TL;DR:

• Evolving beyond spreadsheets is crucial. While they serve basic operational needs, their over-reliance introduces inefficiencies and substantial risks, stifling business growth and operational integrity.

• In the consideration between a single, all-encompassing enterprise solution and a constellation of best-of-breed applications, lean towards the latter. Best-of-breed offers unmatched cost efficiency, flexibility, and specialised capabilities better suited to a growing services firm.

• A haphazard approach will not work. The strategic adoption of specialised applications is a transformative decision. It will require time and effort to get it right but the payback will be astounding.