Owners and directors
Approve proposals and billing, see agreed fees against approved time, and review assumption-based ex-GST financial scenarios for management decisions.
Practice management for construction consultants
From fee proposal to final invoice.
ConsultOps keeps the agreed fee, consultant hours, team planning and billing in one workflow, so engineers, designers, planners, surveyors and specialist consultants can see what was agreed, what has been used and what is ready to bill.
- Propose
- Plan
- Deliver
- Review
- Invoice
ConsultOps in motion
See the proposal-to-invoice workflow.
A short product film moving through proposals, team planning, project delivery, time and billing. Names and figures shown in the film are sample data, not customer results.
One connected practice
Keep the fee, the hours and the invoice talking to each other.
Spreadsheets, timesheets, accounting software and email
- Fees are retyped between proposals, project trackers and invoices.
- Scope changes reach the team and billing at different times.
- Workload is pieced together by hand before anyone can say yes to new work.
ConsultOps
- An accepted proposal becomes a project when you confirm its dates and planning setup.
- Time is recorded against the project, phase and activity it was spent on.
- Billing is prepared from the same fee and time, then reviewed before anything is sent.
How the workflow fits together
Five steps your practice already takes, kept in one place.
- 01 Propose
Fee proposals
Build the fee by phase, keep revisions and approvals, then share a link, download a PDF or email it to the client.
- 02 Plan
Team planning
Compare each responsible planner's saved weekly capacity with the weekly commitments on active projects.
- 03 Deliver
Project work
Plan project phases and milestones, keeping the agreed fee and planned hours in view.
- 04 Review
Time review
Consultants enter time by project, phase and activity. Approved time is costed where dated rates exist.
- 05 Invoice
Billing
Review what is ready to bill, get owner approval, create an internal draft and export it to Xero as a draft.
Fee and hours
Know what was agreed and what has been used.
The fee you proposed, including approved scope changes, sits beside the hours budget and the time your team has actually had approved. Fee and hours are tracked as separate measures, so you are not left guessing from one percentage.
- Proposal revisions and client approvals on record
- Approved scope changes added to the agreed fee
- Hours budget compared with approved time
- Missing rates flagged as incomplete, not guessed
Project fee and hours
Riverside Medical Centre fit-out
- Proposed fee (ex GST)
- $18,000
- Approved scope change 01 (ex GST)
- +$2,000
- Agreed fee (ex GST)
- $20,000
Approved time96h of 120h budget
Team planning
See the weeks that are already full.
Each responsible planner has a saved weekly capacity. ConsultOps compares it with the weekly commitments on active projects, so you can spot stretched weeks before agreeing to new work. Decisions about who does what stay with your project leads.
One planner · hours per weekIllustrative example
- W130h / 38h
- W234h / 38h
- W342h / 38h over
- W424h / 38h
- W516h / 38h
Ready to bill
Billing you review, not rebuild.
Because time and scope changes sit against the same fee, month-end becomes a review. Check what is ready to bill, get owner approval, create the internal draft, then export it to Xero as a draft when you choose. Nothing is sent or collected automatically.
Xero integration available now
Export approved draft invoices to Xero. MYOB and QuickBooks are not currently supported.
Internal draft invoice
Riverside Medical Centre fit-out
- Stage 1 deliverables$3,000
- Stage 2 progress claim$7,000
- Approved scope change 01$2,000
Draft total ex GST$12,000
Useful to everyone in the practice, with commercial detail where it belongs.
Project leads
Turn accepted proposals into planned projects, check weekly commitments against capacity, and review time before it moves toward billing.
Consultants
See project phases and deadlines, and record time against the right project, phase and activity.
Every plan includes access to every feature. Roles and permissions control who can see and change commercial data, and some steps need a second person: you cannot approve your own timesheet.
Clear work, clear records
Built around how consultants run their work.
Keep fee proposals, project planning, recorded time and billing review together, with clear records of the decisions along the way.
“Since moving to ConsultOps, we have significantly improved efficiency, time tracking, billing and team performance reviews. We can now plan and allocate resources more effectively, increasing our design capacity without adding more designers. Highly recommended for any design consultancy.”
Your data and your transition
Straight answers before you move.
How is it secured and backed up?
Signed-in access, workspace separation and role-based permissions control access to your records. Commercial information is restricted by permission. Ask us about backup and recovery arrangements for your rollout.
Can I export my data?
Yes. Your practice retains ownership of its data. Workspace owners can request export assistance, and individual records such as proposal PDFs can be downloaded where supported.
Who helps us migrate?
Workspace owners can import active companies, contacts, team members and projects from CSV templates, and the ConsultOps team helps plan setup and anything the templates do not cover.
See the Privacy Policy for provider, processing and security details.
Clear practice pricing
Start at $59 AUD per month.
Solo gives one user access to every feature. A sole active owner can explicitly owner-attest submitted time for dated-rate costing and eligible WIP; this is not independent approval. Independent approval requires another authorised reviewer. Team plans are Duo $99, Starter $149, Studio $299 and Practice $599 AUD per month, with 2, 3, 10 or 25 users included. Add users to $Starter, Studio and Practice for $$35/month each—we automatically choose the cheapest combination as you grow.
Before you begin
Frequently asked questions.
Need a guided answer for your practice? Talk directly with the ConsultOps team.
Talk to us about your setupWho is ConsultOps built for?
ConsultOps is built for construction consultants across engineering, architecture & design, planning & approvals, cost & project management, compliance & certification, sustainability & environment, survey & testing and digital & specialist: practices that agree a fee, deliver the work with a team and bill against that fee. Solo suits one person; team plans include 2, 3, 10 or 25 users, and Starter, Studio and Practice support additional users at $35 AUD per month each.
Can one person use ConsultOps on their own?
Yes. Solo can record time and manage proposals, projects and billing. A sole active owner can explicitly owner-attest submitted, verified time for costing and eligible WIP using dated staff rates. Owner attestation is labelled separately and is not independent approval. Adding a second active member disables new self-attestations and requires another authorised reviewer going forward; existing evidence is preserved. Leave approval still requires another reviewer.
How long does it take to get set up?
Start the trial and either set up from scratch or, as the workspace owner, import active companies, contacts, team members and projects from the CSV templates. Setup time depends on your team size and the state of your records; talk to us if you would like help planning it.
Can we import our existing projects and data?
Yes. Workspace owners can use guided CSV templates to validate and import active client companies, primary contacts, delivery team capacity, active projects and their current fees, GST and payment terms. Historical invoices, approvals, time entries and project history are not imported; the ConsultOps team can help plan those records separately.
Does it connect to our accounting software?
ConsultOps connects to Xero so authorised users can export approved draft invoices. MYOB and QuickBooks are not currently supported.
What happens when the free trial ends?
The trial gives you access to every ConsultOps feature for 14 days, and no card is needed to start. At the end you can choose a plan and keep everything you have set up. If you do not continue, the workspace becomes read-only until you subscribe, request export assistance or request deletion.
How is ConsultOps priced?
Monthly AUD prices: Solo $59 including 1 user, Duo $99 including 2 users, Starter $149 including 3 users, Studio $299 including 10 users and Practice $599 including 25 users. Additional users are $35/month on Starter, Studio and Practice. We automatically choose the cheapest combination. Annual billing gives 2 months free on base plans and additional users. Prices exclude GST.
How is this different from a general project management tool?
Generic tools track tasks. ConsultOps also keeps the fee in view. An accepted proposal becomes a project once you confirm dates and planning, time is recorded by project, phase and activity, and billing is prepared from the same records for review. Keep the agreed fee, phase budgets and approved time in view—not only a list of work.
Can I see it before committing my team?
Yes. Talk to us for a guided walkthrough using an example project, or start the 14-day free trial and explore the workflow in your own workspace.
Bring the fee, the team and the invoice together.
Start a 14-day trial, set up from scratch or import active records from CSV, and talk to us when you want help with setup.
14 days free. Automatically applied. No checkout required to begin.