Every job your team runs adds to a mountain of data — timesheets, costs, quotes, invoices. What's always been missing is an affordable way to turn this data into reporting you can actually use to run your business better. All that has just changed. The recent changes in technology have signalled an inflection point in business management. For the first time ever, interactive, up-to-the-moment reporting from the software you already own is now possible and at your fingertips. Any report you want. Anytime you want it. In any easy-to-digest format you want. Easy to act on, and surprisingly low-cost.
High-quality reporting — knowing exactly which jobs make money, where time goes, and what to quote next time — is what project management software is really for. Until recently it was hard and expensive to get. New AI tools that connect directly and securely to your software have changed that. But good reporting only comes out if the foundations underneath it are right.
Chosen to fit how your business actually works — not the other way round.
Configured correctly from the start, or repaired if it wasn't.
Clear, simple documentation of how your team should use it.
Everyone using it the same way, confidently.
Time, costs and job details captured consistently and correctly.
With the foundations in place, AI-assisted reporting turns your everyday job data into clear answers — which clients, job types and staff are profitable, and what to do about it — at a fraction of what this used to cost.
Some clients need the full journey; most just need help with one or two steps. Start wherever the shoe pinches.
Independent help choosing the right project management software for your business — before you commit.
Getting your software configured properly so it fits your jobs, your quoting and your invoicing from day one.
Already running software but not getting value from it? A structured review of your setup, data and usage, with a plain-English list of what to fix.
Practical training so your whole team uses the system the same way — the difference between good data and guesswork.
Quotes, invoices and job documents that look professional and carry your brand, not the software's defaults.
Standard operating procedures for how your business runs its jobs — so the system survives staff changes and holidays.
The holy grail. High-quality, plain-English reporting drawn directly from your software — affordable for the first time.
Taking repetitive administration off your plate — the routine tasks your software could be doing for you.
A knowledgeable person to call when something needs fixing, changing or explaining. No call centre.
If your business quotes a job, does the work, tracks the time and costs, and invoices at the end — you're who this is for. That includes:
MSF Consulting is Mark Forbes — thirty years as a self-employed business owner, ten years at Xero, and fifteen years working with WorkflowMax and other project management software.
That mix matters: this is advice from someone who has run businesses, not just configured software. Clients span New Zealand, Australia and beyond.
A no-obligation conversation about where you are, where you're stuck, and whether it's worth doing something about. If I can't help, I'll say so.