Professional services automation (PSA) is software designed to assist professionals, such as lawyers, auditors, and IT consultants, with

project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. Th ...

and

resource management In organizational studies, resource management is the efficient and effective development of an organization's resources when they are needed. Such resources may include the financial resources, inventory, human skills, production resources, or i ...

for client projects and

utilization rate In business, the utilization rate is an important number for firms that charge their time to clients and for those that need to maximize the productive time of their employees. It can reflect the billing efficiency or the overall productive us ...

management for billable staff. This is accomplished by developing metrics to quantify and qualify basic

business process A business process, business method or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...

es that can then be used to streamline and improve those processes. Typical PSA functions include

and documentation, time recording, billing, reporting, and resource utilization. These features are often integrated with accounting,

Customer Relationship Management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information. CRM systems compile data from a ra ...

(CRM) systems, and payroll systems in order to improve efficiency of overall operations. As a result, in addition to better managing client projects,

independent contractors Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any other ...

can prevent lost revenue and slow billing cycles. Ultimately PSA software suites allow users to integrate industry-appropriate metrics in order to better understand operations and, in turn, improve efficiency and profitability. As businesses grow, the size and complexity of their projects tend to increase as well. PSA software is used to provide visibility into mid-project profitability.

Software types

In its simplest form, PSA software may offer only timesheet systems (including expense reporting and project management). However, in their most robust incarnation they can also include

customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information. CRM systems compile data from a ra ...

(CRM),

, opportunity and

knowledge management Knowledge management (KM) is the collection of methods relating to creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve organisational objectives by making ...

Benefits

PSA software is designed to improve the performance and profitability of professional services firms. A recent end-user survey conducted by SPI Research showed significant improvement in key

performance indicator A performance indicator or key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement. KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity (such as projects, programs, products and other initiatives) in which it en ...

s such as: * Faster staffing and invoicing workflows * Lower project cancellation rates * Improved on-time, under-budget project delivery rates * Lower revenue leakage * Higher resource utilization rates * Improved project margins The study concluded with a return on investment (ROI) model for an average 172-person professional services firm. According to the research, over a five-year horizon, the firm could expect to invest just under $200,000 in implementation and software license costs. The return, however, was estimated at nearly $23 million in increased revenue and reduced costs.

Software awards

As in most software categories, the Software and Information Industry Association rates this category of software.

Software types

Benefits

Software awards

References

Further reading