Make Predictable Margin Improvements

Project delivery never goes as planned. SpendPlan quantifies the impact of every change, empowering teams to meet or exceed margin goals.

Case Study 1: What Gets Measured, Gets Improved


Core Benefit
SpendPlan equips teams with the foresight to anticipate and address problems that would otherwise erode margins.

THE DILEMMA

Before using SpendPlan, the firm developed a price for a 4-month project based on estimated efforts and salaries, without assigning specific team members.

However, when a 20-person team was allocated in SpendPlan before the project’s start, the software revealed that the original plan would lead to only a 4.5% net profit margin — far below the expected double-digit target.

THE RESPONSE

The team used SpendPlan to rework their execution plan. They incorporated a number of strategies, such as integrating cost-effective part-time staff, to cut project costs by 18% and reduce total hours spent by 25% without compromising quality of work.

SpendPlan’s timely insights allowed for strategic adjustments which averted losses and increased profit by $28k per month.

Case Study 2: Help Teams Convert Insights into Margins

Core Benefit
Project teams possess deep insights into what’s possible on their projects. SpendPlan turns those insights and ideas into measurable margin growth.

THE OBSERVATION

While reviewing a project on SpendPlan, the manager spotted an inefficiency: a subcontractor was splitting hours evenly between junior and senior resources. She recognized that the junior analyst was capable of handling more of the workload, producing the same project outcomes but with improved margins.

THE ACTION

The PM used SpendPlan to see the impact of rebalancing hours on margins. The new forecasts were convincing — she discussed it with the contractor and successfully negotiated a favorable reallocation of hours.

This shift alone improved profitability by 32%, demonstrating how small adjustments can lead to major gains. Over time, these incremental changes add up — on this project, the team improved profitability by 144% overall.

Allocation After
63%
37%

Role

Analyst
Architect

Rate

$99/hr
$178/hr

Allocation Before
50%
50%

Case Study 3: Proactivity Fuels Margin Growth

Core Benefit
Routine monitoring of project costs and forecasts in SpendPlan reveals new opportunities for margin improvement.

THE CHALLENGE

Faced with 3 months left on an underperforming fixed-price contract, and a clear understanding of remaining tasks, the program manager turned to SpendPlan for a strategic review of staffing projections to enhance project profitability.

THE CHANGE

The manager optimized the team’s workload, scaling back on hours for herself, a technical writer, a project coordinator, and a system security officer, to maximize efficiency without sacrificing quality.

Next, using SpendPlan, she reviewed her team’s capacity and reallocated their efforts toward new projects and business development initiatives, ensuring productive use of everyone’s time.

Firms using SpendPlan have improved their overall net profit margin by 20% to 100%.