Industries
Technology work for firms that sell time and expertise
In a professional services firm, the systems that matter are the ones that record time, bill it correctly, and keep client information where it belongs.
What makes this sector different
Project accounting is the core system. Time capture, rates, work in progress, billing rules and revenue recognition have to work together, and partners notice immediately when they do not. Most of what we are asked to do is implementation or clean-up in that area, often across ERP, time capture and billing tools.
Microsoft 365 is the attack surface. Business email compromise is the common incident in this sector: an attacker reaches a mailbox, watches for an invoice, and redirects a payment. The controls that matter are conditional access, phishing-resistant authentication, mailbox rule monitoring and a tested response plan.
Client confidentiality shapes system design. Matter or engagement-level access control, information barriers where a conflict requires them, and clear rules about what can leave the firm’s systems.
Where the work usually is
-
Time capture
Low compliance and late entry, which makes billing and utilisation reporting unreliable.
-
Billing rules
Client-specific arrangements maintained by hand, producing write-offs and disputes.
-
Business email compromise
Mailbox access used to redirect payments, often undetected for weeks.
-
Document sprawl
Client material in personal drives and third-party tools, outside the firm’s controls.
-
Information barriers
Conflict requirements enforced by convention rather than by access control.
-
Reporting partners trust
Utilisation and profitability numbers that different systems disagree about.
Systems and platforms we work in
Platform names describe where our consultants have worked. They do not imply a vendor partnership or certification.
How we help
-
Project accounting implementation
Time, rates, work in progress, billing and revenue scope, with finance sign-off on the design.
-
Microsoft 365 security review
Conditional access, authentication methods, consent grants, mailbox rules and logging.
-
Compromise assessment
Investigation after a suspected mailbox or account compromise, with containment steps.
-
HR and payroll systems
Workday and HCM implementation and support, including integrations.
-
Reporting and analytics
One reporting layer so utilisation and profitability numbers agree.
-
Specialist staffing
Project accounting consultants, Microsoft 365 engineers, data analysts and project managers.
Regulatory and contractual context
- Professional confidentiality duties, including legal privilege where it applies, restrict where client data may be stored and who may reach it.
- Conflict of interest rules can require technical information barriers between teams.
- Client contracts and outside counsel guidelines often set security requirements and breach notification duties.
- State privacy and breach notification laws apply to personal data the firm holds.
- Trust and client account rules in some professions carry strict record and reconciliation duties.
- Record retention obligations shape archiving and deletion in document systems.
Roles we recruit for this sector
Contract, contract-to-hire and direct hire. We do not sponsor visas: candidates must already be authorized to work in the United States.
Illustrative engagement
Illustrative scenario. Not a real client engagement. No outcomes are claimed.
A mid-sized firm discovers that an invoice sent to a client was altered, and suspects a mailbox was accessed.
- Starting point
- Microsoft 365 with multi-factor authentication on most accounts, 90 days of sign-in logs, and no alerting on mailbox rules.
- Scope
- A compromise assessment: sign-in and audit log review, mailbox rules and forwarding, consent grants, authentication method changes, and what the account reached.
- Team
- An incident responder and an identity engineer, with the firm’s IT lead, plus a containment plan ready before investigation starts.
- Follow-up
- Session revocation and credential reset where needed, removal of attacker-added methods and apps, then conditional access and monitoring changes to reduce recurrence.
- What is not claimed
- An illustration of how we would scope this. Not a client incident, and no outcome is implied.
Questions people ask
Can you respond to an incident quickly?
We can start a compromise assessment on short notice during business hours. We do not advertise a guaranteed response time or a 24-hour hotline unless you have a written retainer with us that says so.
Will you sign a confidentiality agreement?
Yes. We expect to, and we can work to your outside counsel guidelines where they apply.
Do you work on practice management platforms?
We work on finance, HR, reporting and the integration around them, and we staff analysts with platform experience. We will tell you at intake whether we have the right people for your specific platform.
Can you help us answer a client security questionnaire?
We can do the technical work behind the answers and tell you where a gap needs a real fix. The answers remain yours to give.
Related
-
Microsoft Entra security
Review Conditional Access, privileged roles, application consent, authentication methods, sync and monitoring in Microsoft Entra ID.
-
Compromise assessments
A focused, time-boxed look for signs that attackers are or have been in your environment.
-
Workday
Workday HCM, Payroll, Financial Management, integrations, reporting, security and data conversion, with implementation, production support and staffing.
-
Business and administrative
Finance, accounting, HR, operations, supply chain and administrative professionals.
Have a technology challenge? Let’s work out the approach.
Discuss a project
Tell us the current system, the target and the timeline. A technical lead replies to talk about scope.
Start the project briefRequest technical talent
Need consultants inside your team rather than a project owner? Send the requirement.
Request talentBecome a partner
Delivery firm, staffing supplier or consulting partner? Register your company.
Register as a partner