Your quote is out. Keep the next conversation moving.
A customer has the estimate, but the office cannot tell who is making the next call.
Explore the workflow and its current limitations.
The Forge for professional services
Your expertise is the work. Chasing the details should not be.
A proposal becomes a project. Revisions arrive in email. Keep the client conversation, agreed work and next responsibility connected.
For advisory firms, consultants and client-service teams.
Between the proposal and the invoice
The client remembers one conversation. Your team needs the whole story.
The request. The decision. The person who needs to follow through.
When a new request arrives, the next person should be able to find the client record and the work already agreed. The Forge tracks customers, deals and other business records with access controls.
Business records (CRM)Available
Teams track customers, deals, and other business records stored so only their own business can see them, with per-field access controls.
Start with the client, not another search through email.
Workflow illustration · not a product screen.
A request, the agreed work and the next person responsible. Review how shared customer records would support that handoff in your business.
- Find the customer’s details.
- Review the related work.
- Identify the next responsibility.
Shared business coordination, not a specialised industry application. No industry-specific product screen is shown.
Give the next client handoff somewhere to land.
A workflow to review for your business. Expand a step for its purpose and current availability.
Understand the inquiry
Keep customers, deals and the business records your team needs within your own workspace.
Business records (CRM)Available
Review the agreed work
Track the estimate or quote with its own status and a link to a lead or job.
Native estimates & quotesAvailable
Assign the next responsibility
Follow work through its job status, assigned person and schedule.
Native jobs & work ordersAvailable
Connect delivery to billing
Keep the customer invoice attached to the job, with draft, issued and paid status.
Native job/customer invoicingAvailable
Start with the work you need to connect.
Bring one job, customer question or repeated admin task. We’ll review who handles it, which tools you use and what The Forge can help you keep, replace or connect.
Review plans and current pricing before choosing. Features depend on plan, configuration, permissions and current availability.
Forge Pro
$799/moBroader coverage — several teams and locations connected, with approvals you control and a quarterly review to keep improving how you run.
A starting point for your Fit Review. Check the plan’s current features, provider requirements and rollout status against the work you need to do; an industry recommendation does not guarantee that every described workflow is available.
- Up to three locations, thirty operator users
- Unlimited view-only users
- Everything in Core
- Advanced workforce, scheduling, and capacity planning
- Advanced payroll and wage-summary visibility
- Role-specific dashboards and advanced reporting
- Thirty workflows, eight integrations, and API access
- Reviews and reputation from your connected Google Business Profile
- Prospecting audit reports, social publishing, and in-composer image generation
- A daily deck of 20 ready-to-post marketing ideas
- Configurable business-process approvals and advanced permissions
- Priority support and quarterly optimization review
Commonly added
- Advanced integrations
- Advanced reporting
- Priority support
Every plan launches Guided or Managed — see plan and launch-path details for the full comparison.
Can we keep the systems we already use?
Keep what works. Replace what does not. Connect the rest through The Forge. Review current connector availability and your industry requirements in a Forge Fit Review.
What does this product example demonstrate?
Local demo capture · sample records. An interface illustration, not a live customer journey. Independent sample records include unavailable or loading areas. This capture does not verify a completed engagement or transaction.
How do we choose the right starting plan?
Bring a real business handoff and the systems your team uses to a free Forge Fit Review. Check current pricing, plan features and availability before choosing a configuration.
Keep · Replace · Connect
Keep the systems that earn their place.
Keep the specialist tools your clients and professionals rely on. Review the handoff between your client records, agreed work, accounting and document systems before changing how the team works.
Keep what works. Replace what does not. Connect the rest through The Forge.
Check current connector availability ↗- Accounting and invoicing software
- Document management and e-signature platforms
- Calendar and scheduling systems
- Email and communication platforms
- Project-management and task-tracking tools
- Payroll and HR systems
These are systems to discuss in your Fit Review, not a list of verified ready-to-connect integrations. Setup and provider support vary.
For the person evaluating the details.
Review the detailed requirements, configuration and roadmap with your team. Not every described workflow is available today. Plan, provider and rollout limits apply; check current availability before relying on a feature.
Optional deep diveDetailed industry requirements
Roles, workflows, requirements and launch considerations for your team to review.
The business and its requirements
A proposal becomes a project, then revisions and extra requests arrive in email. The Forge connects the client conversation, agreed scope, assignments and billing so your team can see what is due and what needs a decision. Carry the client’s inquiry through proposal, delivery and billing. Keep scope, responsibilities and recorded time together when the work changes.
How can professional-services firms improve client delivery and stop losing revenue in operational gaps?
The Forge gives each client one record that carries the inquiry, proposal, signed scope, deliverables, time entries, approvals, invoicing, and renewal timeline. Follow-up is queued automatically (outbound messages send once an email or SMS provider is connected), scope changes are documented before work begins, billable time ties to engagements, and partners see utilization, pipeline value, and client profitability without assembling reports by hand.
Management questions to review
What management can see
Pipeline value and stage
Total value of open proposals and where each sits in the sales cycle, by partner and service line.
Utilization rate
Billable hours as a percentage of available hours, by consultant, team, and service line.
Engagement profitability
Revenue versus logged hours and cost per engagement, visible before the engagement closes.
Scope-change frequency
How often engagements expand beyond original scope, and whether the additional work is billed.
Approval cycle time
Average time from deliverable submission to client approval, by client and engagement type.
Renewal forecast
Engagements approaching expiry, renewal likelihood, and the revenue at risk if not renewed.
Plan requirements to discuss
Forge Pro
$799/moBroader coverage — several teams and locations connected, with approvals you control and a quarterly review to keep improving how you run.
Professional-services firms live and die on utilization, realization, and role-based visibility across delivery staff — capabilities that require workforce and scheduling data, not just a client record. Forge Pro adds employee and contractor management, role-based dashboards, and advanced reporting on top of the core client-lifecycle layer, which matches how a multi-consultant firm actually needs to see utilization, engagement profitability, and approval cycles without assembling it by hand.
- Up to three locations, thirty operator users
- Unlimited view-only users
- Everything in Core
- Advanced workforce, scheduling, and capacity planning
- Advanced payroll and wage-summary visibility
- Role-specific dashboards and advanced reporting
- Thirty workflows, eight integrations, and API access
- Reviews and reputation from your connected Google Business Profile
- Prospecting audit reports, social publishing, and in-composer image generation
- A daily deck of 20 ready-to-post marketing ideas
- Configurable business-process approvals and advanced permissions
- Priority support and quarterly optimization review
Commonly added
- Advanced integrations
- Advanced reporting
- Priority support
Every plan launches Guided or Managed — see plan and launch-path details for the full comparison.
Speaking the language of this industry
Engagement
A contracted body of work for a client, with its own scope, timeline, team, and billing terms — the core unit the firm sells and delivers against.
Utilization rate
Billable hours as a percentage of a consultant's available hours — the primary measure of whether staff time is being sold or absorbed as overhead.
Realization rate
The percentage of billed value actually collected against the standard rate, after write-downs and discounts — a truer profitability signal than utilization alone.
Retainer
A recurring fixed fee paid in advance for ongoing availability or a defined scope of work, rather than billing for each discrete task.
Scope of work
The documented boundary of what an engagement includes — the reference point used to determine whether new work is in-scope or a billable change.
WIP (work in progress)
Hours and expenses that have been logged against an engagement but not yet invoiced — unbilled value sitting on the books.
Billable hours
Time logged against client work that can be invoiced, as distinct from internal, administrative, or business-development time.
Change order
A documented amendment to an engagement's scope, timeline, or fee, created when requested work falls outside the original agreement.
Engagement letter
The signed document establishing an engagement's scope, fee, and terms — the formal record a firm relies on if scope or billing is later disputed.
Signs you're outgrowing your current setup
- Referrals go uncontacted for days because no one owns the follow-up
- Partners ask 'whatever happened with that proposal?' weeks after it was sent
- Scope discussions happen verbally and never make it to the contract record
- Consultants reconstruct timesheets from memory at the end of the week
- A client approval sits in someone's inbox for two weeks with no visibility
- No one knows which clients are profitable until the annual P&L review
- Renewal dates pass without a prepared re-engagement conversation
- A departing team member takes the full client relationship context with them
- Partners build the same utilization summary in a spreadsheet every Monday
Other places this industry loses time and margin
Inquiries and referrals do not convert to discovery calls
Every inquiry — web form, referral, email, or phone — creates a prospect record and enters a follow-up sequence so staff can choose a follow-up owner and due date; response time depends on the team.
See how The Forge fixes lead follow up →Proposals are sent but never systematically followed up on
Open proposals get follow-up on a timed schedule, with escalation to the responsible partner when a proposal ages past its window.
See how The Forge fixes lead follow up →Scope creep happens without documentation or billing adjustment
Any scope change is captured as a change record on the engagement, requiring acknowledgment before additional work begins and automatically updating the billing estimate.
See how The Forge fixes work falling through cracks →Billable time goes unrecorded or is recorded days later
Time entries tie to engagements and tasks, and the system surfaces unlogged days so consultants record hours while the work is still fresh.
See how The Forge fixes profitability visibility →Client approvals stall in email threads for weeks
Deliverables requiring approval are tracked on the engagement record with queued reminders (they send once an email or SMS provider is connected) and escalation, so a stalled approval is visible to the delivery lead — not buried in an inbox.
Unprofitable clients are invisible until the engagement ends
Logged hours, scope changes, and billed revenue are visible per engagement in real time, so a client consuming more hours than the fee supports is flagged before the engagement closes.
See how The Forge fixes profitability visibility →Renewal conversations happen reactively or not at all
Engagement end dates trigger a renewal workflow weeks in advance, giving account managers time to prepare a re-engagement proposal instead of scrambling at expiry.
Institutional knowledge leaves when a team member leaves
Client history, deliverables, decisions, and communications live on the engagement record — not in a departed consultant's inbox or personal drive.
Information to review for this workflow
Client
The contracting entity, carrying contact history, billing details, active and past engagements, and firm-wide relationship notes.
Prospect
An inquiry or referral that has not yet converted to a signed engagement, tracked through discovery and proposal stages.
Proposal
A priced scope of work sent to a prospect or existing client, tracked for age, value, and follow-up status until accepted or declined.
Engagement
A signed, active or completed piece of client work, carrying scope, team assignment, billing terms, and change history.
Time entry
A logged block of hours tied to a specific engagement and task, feeding utilization reporting and invoicing.
Deliverable
A discrete work product submitted for client review, tracked through approval status and revision history.
Invoice
A billed amount generated from logged time, fixed-fee milestones, or retainer terms against a specific engagement.
Renewal
A tracked upcoming engagement expiry or retainer term-end, carrying the re-engagement conversation status and outcome.
Workflow and automation details
Example workflows
- 1
Inquiry to signed engagement
An inquiry creates a prospect, triggers discovery-call scheduling, produces a proposal, queues automatic follow-up (it sends once an email or SMS provider is connected), and converts to a signed engagement with scope, timeline, and billing terms — one thread from first touch to kickoff.
- 2
Scope change to billing adjustment
A requested scope change is documented on the engagement, acknowledged by the client, and reflected in the billing estimate before additional work begins.
- 3
Delivery to client approval
A deliverable is submitted for review, a structured approval request is queued for the client (it sends once an email or SMS provider is connected), and the response is captured on the engagement with automatic follow-up if approval stalls.
- 4
Engagement close to renewal
An approaching end date triggers the renewal workflow — account review, re-engagement proposal, follow-up — so the conversation starts weeks before expiry, not after.
Automation ideas to confirm before use
- 1
Unbilled-time nudge
When logged time on an engagement crosses a firm-defined WIP threshold without an invoice generated, the responsible partner and billing admin are notified before the value ages further.
- 2
Proposal-aging escalation
An open proposal that passes its follow-up window without a response is escalated from the assigned consultant to the responsible partner, so it does not go quiet.
- 3
Engagement-letter expiry alert
As an engagement approaches its documented end date without a signed extension or renewal, the account manager is alerted to start the re-engagement conversation.
- 4
Unlogged-time reminder
A consultant who has not logged time against an active engagement by a defined point in the day receives a reminder, reducing end-of-week reconstruction.
- 5
Approval-stall escalation
A deliverable awaiting client approval that sits past a defined number of days without a response is flagged to the delivery lead for a status check.
- 6
Scope-change acknowledgment gate
Work logged against a change order that has not yet been client-acknowledged is held from invoicing until the acknowledgment is on file, preventing billing disputes.
Proposed views to review
Partner Utilization Dashboard
A rolling view of billable-hours utilization by consultant, team, and service line, so partners can see where capacity is being sold versus absorbed.
- Utilization rate by consultant
- Utilization rate by service line
- Available versus billed hours
- Trend versus prior period
Engagement Profitability Board
A per-engagement view of billed revenue against logged hours and cost, visible while the engagement is still open rather than after it closes.
- Revenue versus logged hours
- Realization rate
- Scope-change frequency
- Margin trend during the engagement
Pipeline and Proposal Board
Every open prospect and proposal by stage, value, and age, so partners know what is actively moving and what has gone quiet.
- Pipeline value by stage
- Proposal age
- Win rate by partner
- Average time to close
Renewal Forecast Board
Engagements and retainers approaching expiry, with renewal likelihood and revenue at risk, surfaced weeks ahead of the end date.
- Engagements expiring in 30/60/90 days
- Revenue at risk
- Renewal-conversation status
- Historical renewal rate
Who can see and do what
Partner / Principal
- Views firm-wide pipeline, utilization, and engagement profitability across all service lines
- Approves proposals above a firm-defined value threshold
- Sees client-profitability and realization-rate reporting for every partner's book
- Can reassign engagement ownership and delivery teams
Delivery Consultant
- Views assigned engagements and their scope, deliverables, and deadlines
- Logs time and expenses against assigned engagements only
- Submits change-order requests for partner or account-manager approval
- Cannot view firm-wide pipeline, other consultants' utilization, or client billing rates
Account Manager
- Views the full client relationship for their assigned accounts, including engagement history and open proposals
- Manages renewal workflows and prepares re-engagement proposals
- Sees approval-cycle status for deliverables tied to their accounts
- Cannot approve engagements or view other account managers' client books without firm-wide access
Billing / Operations Admin
- Views unbilled time (WIP) and invoice status across all engagements
- Generates and sends invoices from approved time and milestones
- Flags time entries or expenses that fall outside engagement scope
- Cannot edit engagement scope, pricing, or client relationship notes
Firm Leadership / Managing Partner
- Views every engagement, client, proposal, and financial metric firm-wide
- Sets utilization and profitability targets used in reporting thresholds
- Configures role-based visibility for partners and delivery staff
What this industry has to stay ahead of
- Client confidentiality and conflict-of-interest tracking when the firm serves competing clients or related parties
- Engagement-letter documentation on file for every active engagement, in case scope or billing is later disputed
- Data-retention schedules for client records, work papers, and communications that meet the firm's professional or contractual obligations
- Trust-accounting separation for firms holding client funds or retainers subject to fiduciary handling rules
- Access controls limiting which staff can view privileged or sensitive client information, consistent with the firm's confidentiality obligations
- Audit trail of who approved a scope change, proposal, or fee adjustment, in case of a later billing dispute
- Professional-liability documentation showing what was delivered, when, and with whose sign-off
What may be replaced, and what stays
What The Forge may replace
Tools and manual processes that may no longer be necessary.
- A CRM used only for tracking prospects
- Spreadsheet-based proposal and pipeline trackers
- Manual follow-up reminders in calendars or sticky notes
- Disconnected time-tracking applications
- Email threads used as approval workflows
- Per-partner client lists that no one else can see
What The Forge may integrate with
Systems you keep — The Forge becomes the layer above them.
- Your accounting and invoicing platform
- Your document-management or e-signature tool
- Your calendar and scheduling system
- Your email and communication platform
- Your project-management or task-tracking tool
Illustrative week — not customer results
A 14-person management consultancy with three partners
Illustrative example, not a demonstrated automatic workflow or customer result. A referral from an existing client arrives by email on Tuesday afternoon. By Wednesday morning the prospect has a follow-up call scheduled. The discovery call produces a proposal that is sent Thursday, with a queued follow-up the next week (it sends once an email or SMS provider is connected). Once signed, the engagement record carries the scope, timeline, assigned consultants, and billing terms. Two weeks in, the client requests additional analysis — the scope change is documented, acknowledged, and the billing estimate is updated before the work begins. A junior consultant logs hours daily against the engagement; the partner sees utilization across the team without asking anyone. When a deliverable is submitted for review, a structured request is queued for the client and the partner is alerted if approval stalls past three days. Six weeks before the engagement ends, the renewal workflow starts — the account manager reviews satisfaction, prepares a re-engagement proposal, and queued follow-up continues until renewal is confirmed. On Monday morning the managing partner opens one view showing pipeline value, team utilization, engagement margins, and upcoming renewals — no spreadsheet assembly required.
Proposed launch stages — agree scope and timing
Client and engagement migration
1-2 weeksExisting client records, active engagements, open proposals, and historical billing data are migrated so the firm starts with one complete client record instead of a blank system.
Engagement-workflow configuration
1-2 weeksProposal follow-up cadences, change-order rules, approval routing, and billing terms (hourly, fixed-fee, retainer) are configured to match how the firm actually runs engagements.
Integration connections
1 weekAccounting/invoicing, e-signature, calendar, and communication systems the firm keeps are connected so time, billing, and documents flow without re-entry.
Training and go-live
1 weekPartners, delivery staff, and billing admins are trained on their role-specific views before the firm cuts over from its prior tools.
Typical timeline for a business of this profile — not a contractual commitment. Actual duration depends on data readiness, integration count, and whether you choose Guided or Managed Launch.
Where this typically goes next
Where professional-services firms typically grow next inside The Forge
- 1Add a second office or practice area as a distinct entity, moving to Forge Operations for cross-entity reporting and permissions
- 2Layer on advanced reporting for deeper realization and client-profitability breakdowns as the partner group grows
- 3Add advanced integrations for firm-specific systems (specialized accounting, industry-specific document management) beyond the standard set
- 4Expand communication capacity as intake volume grows beyond what the core plan's messaging covers
- 5Adopt priority support once the firm's dependence on uptime and turnaround during business hours increases
Explore by the problem you feel most
We are losing leads
Inquiries arrive, then scatter across an inbox, a phone, and someone's memory. The follow-up that would have closed the job never happens.
ExploreWork falls through the cracks
A job is sold, then it depends on someone remembering to hand it off, order the parts, and schedule the crew. When one step is missed, the work stalls and nobody notices until the customer calls.
ExploreWe do not know what is profitable
Revenue comes in. Expenses go out. But nobody can say which jobs, services, clients, or crews actually make money — and which ones quietly lose it.
ExploreReports take hours to build
Every week someone exports data from three to five systems, pastes it into the same spreadsheet, fixes the column headers, and presents numbers that are already stale by the time the meeting starts.
ExploreProfessional Services — questions
Bring the client handoff that keeps landing in your inbox.
Ask about professional services
Ask The Forge is an AI assistant. Answers are generated from published Forge information and may be incomplete. Do not submit confidential, regulated, or customer-specific information.
Start with the work that is slowing you down
The job is done. Give billing the details it needs.
The crew finished the work. The office is still collecting the information needed to prepare the invoice.
Explore the workflow and its current limitations.
The customer is waiting. Who owns the reply?
A new message sits unanswered because the office and field team each assume the other is responding.
Explore the workflow and its current limitations.