For finance
For delivery
Financial management for AEC firms: Manage cashflow with accuracy
evergreen and empower are the core components of sa.global’s AEC financial management software offering which is powered by Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance. It gives finance leaders and billing managers one connected view of project financials, billing, and revenue. This enables them to protect margins, control cash flow, and support confident decision-making.
Meet Lisa and Neil, the finance leaders behind every project
Lisa, a finance manager, is responsible for the firm’s overall financial health; project financials, budgets, consolidations, and reporting. She needs to know whether projects are on budget, which clients and sectors are most profitable, and how today’s decisions impact the firm’s long-term goals.
Neil, a billing manager, oversees billing and invoices for multiple projects. He makes sure contracts are set up correctly, time and expenses are billed accurately, and revenue is recognized in line with milestones and accounting rules. Yet both Lisa and Neil often work from different slices of the truth, using spreadsheets and disconnected systems to piece together what is really happening.
The financial challenges that Lisa and Neil face every day
Complex project financial setup with limited visibility later
Lisa must establish project financials, organizational budgets, and consolidations at the start, as well as customer and vendor rules. But once projects are underway, it is hard to trace whether actuals, postings, and billing truly align with those original setups.
Manual transaction posting and reconciliations
Project transactions, GL entries, and customer and vendor settlements are posted across multiple systems or through manual uploads. This makes reconciliations slow and increases the risk of errors that only appear at month-end or year-end.
Limited real-time financial monitoring across projects
Lisa needs to continuously track project financials and control costs, but she often sees only periodic snapshots. Comparing actuals versus forecast across many projects and offices is time-consuming, delaying interventions when projects start to drift.
Billing rules that are hard to configure and enforce
Neil reviews project contracts with project managers and the finance team to set billing structures and rules, but each contract can be different; time and materials, fixed fee, milestones, retainers, or combinations. Configuring these rules consistently and keeping them in sync with changes is difficult.
Time and expense validation that slows invoicing
Neil has to validate time and expense entries against contract terms and billing rules. When information is scattered, this becomes a manual review of spreadsheets and reports, slowing down invoicing and increasing the risk of missed or incorrect billings.
Invoicing and revenue recognition under constant pressure
Generating project invoices, reviewing accuracy, tracking status, and handling adjustments is a constant cycle. At the same time, Neil must ensure revenue is recognized correctly against billing and milestones, and provide detailed reports for Lisa and project managers. Any misalignment between billing, revenue, and project performance leads to difficult conversations.
Reporting and analysis that takes too long to compile
When leadership asks, “How are we doing by client, sector, or region?” Lisa has to pull data from multiple sources. Providing timely, reliable financial insights for decision-making and project analysis is harder than it should be, especially when data quality and definitions vary.
How evergreen and empower transform Lisa and Neil’s finance strategy
evergreen is at the core of sa.global’s AEC financial management software, connecting project, billing, and financial data within the Microsoft Industry Cloud for Architecture and Engineering Firms offering. Built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, it gives Lisa and Neil one system for project financial setup, billing, revenue recognition, and reporting, which is aligned with how AEC firms actually work.
evergreen serves as the foundation for project financial configuration, billing structures, transaction posting, and revenue rules. Along with empower (our decision intelligence layer), it helps gauge the impact of financial analytics with real-time dashboards on project profitability, cash flow, and performance, so finance leaders can act early instead of reacting late.
With a unified platform, Lisa and Neil can:
Establish project financials with confidence
- Configure project financials, organizational budgets, and consolidations once, using templates aligned to AEC delivery models.
- Set up customer and vendor processing rules that flow through to billing, postings, and settlements.
Automate transaction posting and reduce errors
- Post project transactions, GL entries, and customer and vendor settlements directly from project and billing activity.
- Reduce manual journal entries and reconciliations, improving accuracy and auditability.
Monitor project financials in real time
- Track project costs, revenues, and margins continuously across portfolios, sectors, and offices.
- Compare actuals versus forecast to identify projects that need attention before issues escalate.
Configure flexible billing rules that match contracts
- Review project contracts and configure time and materials, fixed-fee, milestone, or hybrid billing structures.
- Tie billing rules to project budgets and cost categories so invoices reflect agreed commercial terms.
Streamline time, expense, and invoicing cycles
- Validate time and expense entries against contracts and approvals before they reach invoicing.
- Generate project invoices, review accuracy, track status, and manage adjustments in a single workflow.
Align revenue recognition with project delivery
- Apply revenue recognition rules based on billing, milestones, or percentage-of-completion.
- Provide project managers and finance leaders with detailed project reports that reconcile billing, revenue, and performance.
Deliver clear, timely financial insights
- Use dashboards and reporting to show profitability by project, client, sector, and office.
- Support leadership decisions on pricing, investments, and resource allocation with up-to-date financial data.
Outcome: Together, evergreen and empower are comprehensive AEC financial management software that help finance teams move from manual, reactive reporting to being proactive. This protects margins, improves cash flow, and gives leaders the confidence to grow.
Core capabilities of our AEC financial management software
Ready to see how we can connect billing, project accounting, and cash flow across your firm? Explore these finance management capabilities in more detail:
Project accounting and WIP
Track project costs, work in progress, and margin in real time so finance and project managers see the same numbers and can act before issues escalate.
Billing and revenue
Configure flexible billing rules, be it time and materials, fixed fee, milestones, or task-based billing, and align revenue recognition with how work is actually delivered.
AR, collections, and cash flow
Gain visibility into receivables, aging, and collections activities so you can accelerate cash, reduce disputes, and improve working capital.
Realization, write-offs, and profitability
Analyze billed versus worked time, write-offs, and realization by project, client, and sector to understand where profitability is strong and where it is leaking.
Expense, AP, and procurement
Connect project expenses, payables, and procurement so committed costs and actual spend roll up cleanly into project and firm-level financials.
Governance, compliance, and controls
Apply consistent financial policies, approval workflows, and audit trails across projects and entities, strengthening governance while reducing manual control checks.
The ripple effect across the entire finance team
With fewer manual postings, reconciliations, and spreadsheet consolidations, finance teams spend more time analyzing and advising, and less time chasing data. Month-end and project reviews become faster, more predictable, and less stressful.
Lisa and her team gain a clearer view of how projects are performing financially, while Neil and his billing team can cycle invoices and revenue recognition more efficiently, improving cash flow and reducing disputes.
Less admin, more analysis
Automation handles repetitive postings, invoice generation, and basic reconciliations, freeing time for deeper financial work.
Faster, more accurate billing and closes
Billing cycles shorten, disputes fall, and month-end closes become more reliable.
Better decisions across the firm
Leaders get timely, trustworthy financial insights to guide pricing, hiring, and investment decisions.
Stronger cash flow and risk control
Tighter grip on WIP, AR, and revenue recognition improves cash predictability and reduces financial surprises.
Finance as a strategic partner
With real-time visibility into project performance and profitability, finance becomes a key voice in shaping firm strategy, not just reporting on past results.
What the CFO or head of finance needs to know
Can we improve project profitability and margin visibility?
Yes. By connecting project financials, billing, and revenue recognition, the platform shows margins at the project, client, and portfolio level, helping you intervene before profits erode.
Will this simplify compliance and audit readiness?
Absolutely. Standardized posting rules, consistent billing structures, and traceable revenue recognition support compliance and make audits more straightforward.
Can we speed up invoicing and cash collection?
Yes. Automated validation of time and expenses, clearer billing rules, and better invoice tracking reduce delays and increase billing accuracy, improving cash flow.
How quickly can we see benefits?
Most firms see earlier visibility into project performance, fewer billing disputes, and smoother month-end closes within the first few reporting cycles after going live.
Firm-wide benefits beyond the finance team
Project managers get clearer, real-time views of budgets, actuals, and margins, enabling better decision-making in delivery.
Operations and resource management can use financial signals alongside utilization to fine-tune staffing and workload.
Business development gains insight into which types of projects and clients deliver the strongest returns, guiding pursuit strategy.
Executives see a unified picture of financial health across regions, sectors, and practices, supporting long-term planning.
Clients benefit from accurate, timely invoices and fewer billing-related issues, strengthening trust.
evergreen and empower vs traditional finance and billing tools
| Capability | evergreen + empower | Traditional finance and billing tools |
|---|---|---|
| Project financial setup | AE-focused templates for project financials, budgets, and consolidations, tied directly to delivery. | Generic project codes and cost centers requiring extensive customization. |
| Transaction posting | Automated posting of project transactions, GL entries, and settlements from connected workflows. | Manual journal entries and batch uploads from multiple systems. |
| Financial monitoring | Real-time dashboards for project costs, revenues, and margins across portfolios. | Periodic reports compiled from spreadsheets and disconnected systems. |
| Billing configuration | Flexible billing structures (T&M, fixed fee, milestones, hybrid) linked to project contracts. | Rigid or manually configured billing rules maintained per system. |
| Time, expense, and invoicing | Integrated validation, invoice generation, status tracking, and adjustments in one workflow. | Separate tools for time, expenses, and invoicing, with manual reconciliations. |
| Revenue recognition | Rules-based revenue recognition aligned with billing and milestones, with clear audit trails. | Ad-hoc spreadsheets and manual calculations to align revenue with delivery. |
FAQs
How does this help with project accounting and WIP?
Using the capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance, the platform connects project budgets, costs, and billing so work in progress (WIP), over/under billings, and project margins are visible in real time instead of only at month-end.
Can we support different billing models, including task-based billing?
Yes. You can configure time and materials, fixed fee, milestone, and task-based billing rules at the project or contract level and tie them directly to revenue recognition methods.
How does this improve AR, collections, and cash flow?
Accurate, timely invoices and clear WIP visibility reduce surprises and disputes, while AR and aging views help the team prioritize collections and forecast cash more reliably.
Can we track realization, write-offs, and profitability by project and client?
Yes. Realization, discounts, and write-offs are captured at the project level, letting you see where billed work converts to collected revenue and where profitability is leaking.
How are expense, AP, and procurement connected to project financials?
Project-related expenses, supplier invoices, and purchase orders flow into project accounting automatically, so committed and actual costs are reflected in WIP and margin analysis.
What about governance, compliance, and financial controls?
Standardized approval workflows, posting rules, and revenue policies provide consistent controls, while audit trails and reporting support governance and regulatory compliance.
Will this replace our existing accounting system?
Many firms start by integrating project and billing data with their current general ledger, then consolidate over time. The goal is to reduce manual reconciliations and ensure project, billing, and GL numbers stay in sync with integrated AEC financial management software.
How quickly can we see improvements in financial visibility and reporting?
Most firms see earlier insight into WIP, margins, and cash drivers within the first few closing cycles, as project accounting, billing, and reporting move onto a connected, consistent data model.