Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for business consultants.
A checklist built from how business consultants work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Proposal and engagement letter
- Engagement tracker
- Client document room
- Meeting notes and action items
- Retainer and milestone invoices
- Pipeline and referrals
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For field engineers and sales executives
- For reporting managers
- For accounts assistants
- For owners
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Spend by head and month, set beside the month before
- Claims pending beyond the days you allow, by person and approver
- Advances given, adjusted and still outstanding
- Tax captured on expenses, listed for your tax adviser to review
- Expenses by customer, site, project or vehicle
- Reimbursements paid, with date, mode and reference
- Spend by branch, with the approver on each entry
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Accounting export
- SMS
- Bank transfer files
- Payroll software export
- Excel and CSV
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can it feed the books our accountant keeps?
- Does it read the amount and tax number off the photographed receipt?
- Can it capture the tax on a bill?
- Is it for field staff only, or office spend too?
- Is this a travel and expense system?
- What about corporate or prepaid card spend?
- How do cash advances work?
- Who owns the receipt images and claim history?
- What does it cost?
- We are six people and messaging works. Should we bother?
- How soon could field staff claim from their phones?
- What should accounts and the owner have in hand?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Engagements overrun without notice
- Retainer scope absorbs project work
- Client documents are scattered
- Retainer work drifts
- The practice’s own pipeline is informal
Prefer to talk it through? See the business consultants page.