Dubai Consultancy: Recovering 19% in Billable Hours with Odoo Projects

The Business

• 40-consultant boutique consulting firm based in Dubai
• Annual revenue: ~AED 28M, primarily T&M and retainer engagements
• Previous tooling: Excel timesheets, QuickBooks for invoicing, manual project cost tracking

The Problem

Partners suspected significant billable leakage, consultants worked overtime regularly but invoices reflected standard hours. Timesheet submission was inconsistent (often filled weeks after work was done, with details forgotten). Project profitability was visible only at quarter-end. New engagement quoting relied on “memory” of past projects rather than data.

The Solution

Standard RIM-based Odoo Enterprise deployment focused on three core modules:

• Project, every engagement set up as a project with task structure, budgeted hours, and stage gates
• Timesheets, mobile entry with hourly granularity, daily reminders for un-submitted time
• Accounting + Invoicing, automated invoice generation from approved timesheets with project-level invoicing controls

Results (Month 5)

Where the 19% Came From

• Consultants now logged time daily, fewer forgotten hours
• Project managers reviewed and approved time weekly, fewer adjustments at quarter-end
• Project budget vs actual visible weekly meant scope-creep conversations happened in real time, not after the fact
• T&M invoices generated directly from approved time, fewer disputes at invoice time because clients knew what to expect