Professional Services – Client Estimate

What is Client Project Estimate Template for Professional Services Companies? Client Estimate Models are considered project and resource planning tools and are used by project leaders and consultants to enter all key metrics related to a client project. Some of the main functionality in this type of input form is that it gives project managers a online, database-driven template to enter data to estimate and quote metrics like: 1) Comments/line item descriptions, 2) Lower and upper hour and cost estimates, and 3) Start date and end date. All of these inputs can be done at any level of detail with automated sub-totals and totals. The screen shot example below shows a few of these and many more are below and to the right of what is visible in the screenshot.. You find an example of this type of input form below.

Purpose of Client Estimate Input Forms Professional Services organizations use Client Estimate Input Forms to capture all important metrics that go into a project estimate. These can then be reused in actual vs estimate status reports and in higher level summary reports and dashboards that go across any number of consultants and projects. When used as part of good business practices in PMO and Consulting departments, a company can improve its internal forecasting and resource planning as well as provide detailed backup for statement of works (SOWs) and client communication, and it can reduce the chances of cost or time overruns or inaccurate forecasts.

Who Uses This Type of Input form? The typical users of this type of input form are: Service Leaders, Project Managers, Consultants. Other Reports Often Used in Conjunction with Client Estimate Input Forms Progressive PMO and Consulting departments sometimes use several different Client Estimate Input Forms, along with KPI dashboards, consultant billing reports, project dashboards, project detailed and summary reports, project forecast models, annual budget models and other management and control tools.

Where Does the Data for Analysis Originate From? The Actual (historical transactions) data typically comes from enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems like: Microsoft Dynamics 365 (D365) Finance, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (D365 BC), Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Sage Intacct, Sage 100, Sage 300, Sage 500, Sage X3, SAP Business One, SAP ByDesign, Acumatica, Netsuite and others. In analyses where budgets or forecasts are used, the planning data most often originates from in-house Excel spreadsheet models or from professional xFP&A solutions.

Built for professional services finance teams and aligned with Solver's xFP&A platform, this Solver report template connects directly to your ERP data via the Solver Data Warehouse, enabling near real-time analysis with minimal setup. Designed for QuickStart deployment, it can be activated rapidly so your team can focus on analysis and decisions — not data preparation.

What is the Professional Services – Client Estimate in Solver? The Professional Services – Client Estimate is a pre-built xFP&A report template in Solver designed for professional services organizations. It delivers key financial and operational metrics in a single, easy-to-use interface — purpose-built for professional services finance workflows.

Who uses this Solver report template? Finance leaders at professional services organizations — including CFOs, project managers, and professional services finance teams — use this template to get fast, reliable answers without waiting on IT or building custom reports. It supports both day-to-day monitoring and strategic decision-making.

Where does the data come from? Data is sourced automatically from your ERP system through the Solver Data Warehouse, which integrates with platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, Dynamics 365 Finance, Acumatica, Sage Intacct, and other leading ERP solutions. Once connected, the template updates in near real-time with no manual data entry required.

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