PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Know which clients are profitable
By refining scope management, aligning pricing with value, and supporting consistent billable hours, engineering firms, architecture practices, and law offices can unlock stronger, more sustainable profits. We help you identify where you’re making money and improve the areas that need attention.
Where professional businesses can unlock more revenue
Your engineers are designing, your architects are drafting, your attorneys are billing hours, and your team is engaged. You need to ensure that everyone’s effort consistently translates into strong financial results.
Often, it’s small, well-intentioned moments that add up: a valued client’s “quick questions,” or a project that evolves beyond its original scope. These reflect great service and quality work, but they can quietly absorb time and value if there isn’t clear structure.
Standard financial reports show revenue and profit, but you need deeper visibility into each client, project, and practice area that provides the information required to support good decisions.
Our team can give you better guidance on intentional management to align your efforts with profitability and build a more sustainable path to growth.
COMMON CHALLENGES
Finding overlooked income opportunities
Scope creep that impedes project profitability. That engineering project started with clear deliverables. Then the client asked for “one more analysis.” The architect delivered three rounds of revisions even though the contract said two. The legal matter that should’ve taken 20 hours hit 35. You need to level the balance of the work-to-project ratio.
Utilization rates vary wildly. Your senior engineer bills 80% of available hours. Your mid-level architect? 50%. Your associate attorney struggles to hit 60%. You need to know who’s generating the most profit.
Client profitability is unclear. That developer client brings in steady work, but constant calls, scope changes, and rush requests eat hours. Is the relationship actually profitable? Your law firm’s biggest retainer client might be subsidizing less demanding clients. You need real tracking.
Partner compensation feels random. In multi-partner firms, how do you split profits fairly? Who’s bringing in the business? Who’s doing the work? Who’s managing the firm? You need data to conduct fair compensation.
THE SOLUTION
What if you knew which work was actually profitable?
We’ll deliver client-by-client profitability for your engineering projects, architectural commissions, and legal matters. With project-by-project tracking, utilization rates by team member and practice area, you’ll have strategic guidance from a team who understands that professional firms operate on time, expertise, and client relationships.
How we help engineering, architecture, and law firms stay profitable
Client & project profitability
Project tracking & scope control
Utilization & productivity tracking
Rate analysis & pricing strategy
Partner compensation & growth
Know which clients and projects make money
Track revenue and costs by client and by project. See true profitability on that civil engineering job, that commercial building design, or that litigation matter. Factor in all the hours—billable and non-billable—plus any fee reductions or free consultations you’re giving away.
For architecture firms, understand profitability by project type—residential, commercial, and institutional. For engineering firms, see which service lines are most profitable—structural, civil, and mechanical. For law offices, track by practice area—litigation, transactional, estate planning.
Get regular reports showing which clients make you money and which ones drain resources. Make informed decisions about rates, engagement letters, and which relationships to prioritize.
Stop giving away unbilled hours
Track actual hours against estimated hours on every project. See when that structural analysis is running over, when architectural revisions are eating into profit, or when legal research is exceeding the quoted fee. Get alerts while you can still address scope changes with clients—not after the project closes unprofitably.
We help you document scope changes, track amendments to agreements, and ensure you’re billing for the work you’re actually delivering. Better tracking means fewer write-offs and healthier margins on fixed-fee engagements.
Understand who’s driving firm profitability
Track billable hours as a percentage of available hours by professional. See which engineers, architects, or attorneys are hitting utilization targets and who’s falling short. Understand whether your team has capacity for new projects or if you’re already maxed out.
Target utilization varies by role—partners might aim for 60%, senior professionals for 75%, associates for 85%. We help you set realistic targets and track against them. This data informs decisions about hiring, workload distribution, compensation, and promotion.
Price your expertise based on actual data
Analyze profitability by billing method and rate structure. Are your hourly engagements more profitable than fixed-fee? Which services command premium rates and which barely break even? Should you raise your engineering rates from $185 to $210? Your architecture fees by 15%? Your associate attorney billing rates?
We help you model the financial impact of rate changes before you implement them. Test scenarios like “what if we raised rates by 12% and lost one client?” Make pricing decisions based on financial modeling, not fear of client pushback.
Scale your firm strategically
For partnerships, we help you structure compensation that’s fair and data-driven. Track each partner’s origination, production, and administrative contributions. Make compensation decisions based on metrics, not politics.
Planning to hire another engineer, bring on a junior architect, or add an associate attorney? We model the financial impact—salary, benefits, overhead allocation, ramp-up time, and billable hour targets. Grow with confidence, knowing the numbers work.
WHAT OUR PROFESSIONAL SERVICE CLIENTS ARE SAYING
“PrimeNumbers has been a partner and critical component in our companies growth since its inception. Beyond providing timely and accurate accounting services, their guidance on business metrics such as time utilization, time tracking and long-term business planning has helped us grow our business.”
OUR MODEL
Everything professional firms need in one place
Our virtual CFO model combines client profitability tracking, project monitoring, utilization analysis, rate optimization, and strategic planning—all built around how engineering firms, architecture practices, and law offices generate profit.
You get a dedicated team that understands professional services businesses, modern technology that tracks time and profitability in real time, and consistent communication so you always know where you stand. No generic small business advice. Just guidance tailored to firms that sell expertise and time.
Choose your virtual CFO Professional Services package
Our pricing is based on the level of service that fits your needs and provides the exact amount of support your professional service business requires. Each level below is an additional package of services that complement our fundamental vCFO packages. Every client receives a customized package to meet specific needs during discovery.
Professional Essentialsstarting at $1,500 p/month |
Professional Plusstarting at $3,500 p/month |
Professional Premiumstarting at $5,500 p/month |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Get started | Get started | Get started | |
Accounting |
|||
Department profitability analysis |
 |
|
|
Break-even analysis |
|
|
|
Controller |
|||
KPI development |
|
| |
Employee utilization analysis |
|
|
|
Chief Financial Officer (CFO) |
|||
Custom compensation models |
|
||
Capacity planning |
|
Common questions from professional firms
How do you track profitability for engineering, architecture, and legal projects?
What's a good utilization rate for our professionals?
How do you help with partner compensation in multi-partner firms?
Can you help us decide if we should raise our rates?
Do you work with solo practitioners and larger partnerships?
Ready to understand which clients are profitable?
Let’s talk about your current challenges and what better financial visibility would mean for your firm. No sales pitch—just a real conversation about how we can help you run a more profitable practice.