Consulting software from first conversation to final invoice
Consulting practice management for independent consultants and small firms: keep client relationships, project delivery, billable time, invoices, and financial visibility on one connected record. Solo practitioners comparing CRM options should read best CRM for one person alongside this page.
No credit card required · Operational billing and finances — not double-entry accounting
The spreadsheet gap between selling and delivering
Most consultancies run a familiar fragmented stack: contacts in a CRM or inbox, scope in documents, delivery in a task tool, hours in a tracker, and invoices in a spreadsheet or accounting product. Every new engagement means re-entering the same client context three times.
Corcava keeps the operating record connected from qualification through delivery and billing. Your accountant still owns the general ledger — Corcava owns the service-business workflow in between.
Six stages of a consulting engagement in one workspace
Corcava is not magic automation — you still create the project when a deal closes. Each stage shares the same client and engagement data.
1. Qualify the opportunity
Client, contact, deal value, stage, messages, and next action on one record. See CRM for consultants or the CRM pipeline.
Input: inbound lead or referral. Output: qualified deal with owner.
2. Create the engagement
When you win, create the client and project from the same context — manually triggered, not automatic. Assign owners, milestones, and tasks.
Input: won deal. Output: structured delivery project.
3. Deliver the work
Run tasks and boards on project management. Discuss internally; expose only selected items to the client.
Input: scope and assignments. Output: completed deliverables with audit trail.
4. Track effort
Timer or manual entry with billable status, task/project/client context, and pay/bill rates where set. See time tracking.
Input: work performed. Output: auditable hours with rates applied.
5. Invoice the client
Create one-time or recurring invoices from tracked time, fixed milestones, or manual lines. See invoicing.
Input: approved billable work. Output: sent invoice with status tracking.
6. Review the economics
Compare spent vs billed, uninvoiced work, expenses, and ledger activity in reports and Project Finances.
Input: delivery + billing data. Output: operational margin signals (not a single margin % dashboard).
How different consulting models use the same system
Independent consultant
One person owns CRM, delivery, time, and invoicing. Billable vs non-billable hours matter for utilization; client portal reduces status emails.
Boutique team (2–10)
Lead consultant runs the deal; specialists log time on shared tasks. Pay rates roll up to spent; bill rates drive client invoices.
Retainer-based consulting
Recurring invoice generation from tracked time or fixed retainer lines. Compare monthly effort against recurring revenue in reports.
Fixed-fee engagement
Milestone invoices on a fixed SOW; internal spent tracked against delivery cost. Scope creep shows up as uninvoiced or unplanned hours.
Hourly / T&M
Invoice from selected time entries at project bill rates. Uninvoiced reports drive weekly billing discipline.
Consultant + subcontractors
Client bill rate vs subcontractor pay rate on the same project. Team invoices and expenses appear in Project Finances.
Fractional / multi-client work
Several concurrent engagements with separate projects, permissions, and client portal access. Weekly targets help each fractional lead track recorded hours without claiming full resource planning.
Client collaboration with clear boundaries
Clients can see permitted project boards, time reports, invoices, and messages in the client portal — under your brand where configured.
- ✓Client-visible: task progress, approved time reports, invoices, portal chat
- ✗Internal-only: pay rates, internal notes, deal pipeline detail, uninvoiced team cost
- →Permissions are granular per client and project — a fixed-fee client may see milestones without hourly detail.
Time, rates, and financial visibility
Consulting margins live in the gap between what you bill and what delivery costs. Corcava connects the inputs on one project record:
- →Billable vs non-billable time on every entry
- →Pay and bill rates per member or project (pay-rate columns permission-gated)
- →Spent vs billed in reports
- →Uninvoiced work before month-end billing
- →Expenses on the engagement via expense tracking
- →Project Finances ledger for invoices in and costs out
Use the profitability calculator before quoting; use reports and Project Finances after delivery starts. Corcava is not full accounting software.
Worked example: six-week implementation engagement
Illustrative scenario for a three-person implementation consultancy. Corcava does not compute one headline margin percentage — you interpret spent, billed, and ledger totals together.
| Stage | What happens | In Corcava |
|---|---|---|
| Qualify | $42,000 fixed-fee ERP rollout opportunity | Deal on pipeline; client contact and notes attached |
| Engage | SOW signed; lead + specialist assigned | Project created from won deal; milestones as tasks |
| Deliver | Discovery, config, UAT over six weeks | Task board; client sees milestone tasks in portal |
| Track | Lead 80 h @ $95 pay; specialist 60 h @ $70 pay; 8 h OOS hourly | Spent: $11,800 internal; OOS hours flagged billable |
| Invoice | $21,000 milestone + $1,600 OOS @ $200/h + $240 travel expense | Two client invoices; expense on project |
| Review | Partner checks engagement health before final milestone | Reports: spent vs billed; uninvoiced final milestone; Project Finances ledger |
What Corcava replaces — and what it does not
| Workflow | Corcava role | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| CRM / contact context | Native operating record for clients, deals, messages | Not a marketing-automation or outreach-sequence suite |
| Projects / tasks | Native delivery workspace for engagements | Not enterprise portfolio planning or formal PMO tooling |
| Time and rates | Operational tracking with pay/bill rates | Pay-rate visibility is permission-controlled |
| Invoices / expenses | Service-operations billing workflow | Not a general ledger, payroll, or tax system |
| Client access | Portal for progress, time, invoices, chat | White-label scope follows plan-specific controls |
| Documents / contracts | Attach files to deals, projects, and tasks | No native e-signature, proposal builder, or contract lifecycle |
Frequently asked questions
What software do consulting firms need?
At minimum: client and deal context, project/task delivery, time tracking with bill rates, invoicing, and a way to see whether engagements are financially healthy. Corcava connects those on one record; accounting software handles the formal books.
Is Corcava suitable for independent consultants?
Yes. Solo consultants use the same CRM, projects, time, and invoicing workflow without a separate tool for each stage. The client portal reduces status-update email when you want client visibility.
Can consulting teams track both billable and non-billable time?
Yes. Every time entry can be marked billable or non-billable. Reports filter and group by either status so you can see utilization and client-billable effort separately.
Can clients see project progress?
Yes, through the client portal when you grant access. You control which projects, tasks, time reports, and invoices each client can view.
Does Corcava support fixed-fee and hourly engagements?
Yes. Fixed-fee work uses milestone or manual invoice lines; hourly work invoices from selected time entries. Both share the same project record for spent-vs-billed review.
Does Corcava replace accounting software?
No. Corcava handles consulting operations: time, invoices, expenses, and project financial visibility. Tax, GAAP reporting, and your general ledger stay in QuickBooks, Xero, or similar.
Can I manage subcontractor cost and client bill rates?
Yes. Set pay rates (internal cost) and bill rates (client value) per member or project. Team invoices and spent-vs-billed reports show whether subcontractor engagements earn after delivery cost.
Is there a CRM for consultant contacts and deals?
Yes. See CRM for consultants for the relationship layer, or the main CRM feature for pipeline details.
Can I import clients or projects from another system?
Corcava supports CSV import for common entities. See the Pipedrive migration guide for a documented path. Generic import is not a native two-way sync.
Related resources
CRM for consultants
Contacts, deals, and follow-ups for consulting relationships
Project Finances
Per-engagement ledger and spent-vs-billed context
Invoicing
Invoice from tracked time, milestones, or retainers
Time tracking
Billable hours with project and client context
Lead-to-invoice guide
Eight-stage client workflow
Migrate from Pipedrive
Import contacts and deals into Corcava
Agency management
Similar lead-to-invoice workflow for agency teams
Professional services automation
PSA category overview for billable service teams
Client portal
Client-visible progress, time, and invoices
Profitability calculator
Model margin before you send the SOW
Billable hours calculator
Six-minute increments and utilization math
Run consulting engagements without the tool handoffs
From first conversation to final invoice on one connected record.
Start free 14-day trial →No credit card required