Full Sail Partners Blog

The year is 2025. AI is mainstream. Buyer behavior has changed. And firms that are still using their 2019 marketing playbook—or worse, a budget built on “we’ve always done it this way”—are already falling behind.

If you’re a marketing or firm leader staring at a spreadsheet trying to justify budget requests, you’re not alone. And if you’re still cobbling together tactics that might have worked last year, it’s time to trade in the guesswork for something stronger: research-backed strategy.

Let’s break down how to set a competitive, results-driven marketing budget for your professional services firm—without burning through dollars on outdated efforts.

1. Start with Research, Not Assumptions

One of the most telling findings from the 2025 Deltek AEC Clarity Report is this: high-performing firms are more likely to use data and analytics to drive decision-making. Yet, only 34% of firms reported using CRM and marketing data to inform their BD strategies.

Research isn’t optional—it’s your competitive edge.

In fact, studies by Hinge Marketing show that firms conducting frequent research (at least quarterly) grow 10X faster and are twice as profitable than those that skip it.

Don’t guess what worked last year. Pull your CRM reports. Review marketing metrics. Survey clients. And assess which efforts brought in leads, moved opportunities forward, and converted to wins.

2. Narrow Your Targets (No More Spray-and-Pray)

Trying to market to everyone usually results in connecting with no one.

The most effective firms invest their limited resources in a focused set of target clients and pursuits. According to the 2025 Clarity Report, the top business development challenge cited was identifying new prospects, yet only 38% of firms reported having a defined go/no-go process.

Now is the time to:

• Audit your current client list for commonalities (size, sector, service line, etc.)
• Use CRM and financial data to find which client types bring in the most profit
• Prioritize ideal clients that align with your strategic growth goals

Pro tip: Don’t just define your ideal clients—also define who you don’t serve. It’ll keep your spend efficient and your messaging crystal clear.

3. Shift Budget Toward Online (It’s Where the Buyers Are)

Tradeshow booths and sponsorships still have a place, but they shouldn't dominate your spend. Online lead generation is more scalable, cost-effective, and measurable.

Yet many AEC firms are still overinvested in traditional tactics. According to the 2025 Deltek AEC Clarity Report, the top three areas of marketing spend were:

1. Proposals and pursuits
2. Conferences and tradeshows
3. Website and digital marketing

While proposals and events remain vital, there's a growing intent to shift more budget toward digital—but execution often lags due to limited staff capacity and technology gaps.

Rebalance your budget with a tilt toward:

• Website and SEO improvements
• Strategic content creation (blogs, webinars, whitepapers)
• Email marketing and automation
• Social media marketing and paid campaigns

Firms that increase digital maturity gain more pipeline visibility, stronger marketing ROI, and greater confidence in revenue forecasting.

Start here: Allocate at least 40-50% of your marketing budget to digital—this includes online content, CRM tools, marketing automation, and analytics platforms.

4. Measure What Matters

You can’t improve what you don’t measure. And in 2025, measurement must go beyond vanity metrics like impressions and email opens.

Instead, track metrics that matter to your firm’s growth:

• Leads generated by campaign or channel
• New opportunities created in the pipeline
• Shortlist rates and how often you’re advancing
• Win rates by pursuit type, team, or market
• Client acquisition cost (CAC) and lifetime value (LTV)

The 2025 Clarity Report found that firms with stronger marketing and BD integration were more confident in their forecasts and better able to connect marketing investment to actual revenue growth.

If your current systems don’t support this kind of reporting, it may be time to upgrade your CRM or implement marketing analytics dashboards.

5. Don’t Underspend (or Overspend!)

So how much should you actually allocate?

While every firm is different, Hinge Research suggests that high-growth professional services firms typically invest 5–15% of their revenue into marketing. And many Clarity Report respondents said they planned to increase their BD and marketing budgets in the next year, signaling greater recognition of marketing’s role in growth.

Budgeting too little may leave you invisible. Spending too much without strategy wastes resources. Anchor your budget to strategic goals and your firm’s growth targets.

6. Invest in the Right Tools—and the People Who Use Them

A brilliant strategy can still flop if execution is half-baked. Your budget should reflect not just what you’ll do, but how you’ll do it.

That means factoring in:

• Internal marketing staff capacity
• External partner support (freelancers, agencies, consultants)
• Software subscriptions (CRM, automation, SEO tools)
• Training and professional development for your team

The bottom line: Don’t just plan campaigns—budget to execute them well.

7. Keep the Budget Agile

Gone are the days of set-it-and-forget-it annual budgets. In 2025, the smart move is to:

• Set quarterly checkpoints
• Reallocate funds based on campaign performance
• Leave a “test and learn” portion of the budget for new channels or experiments

This flexibility allows you to scale what’s working—and shut down what’s not—before it drains your resources.

Final Thought: Lead with Strategy, Not Spreadsheets

Your marketing budget isn’t just a list of line items—it’s a declaration of how you plan to grow.

Lead with research. Focus on ROI. Measure obsessively. And give your marketing team the tools and support they need to turn strategy into results.

Because in a sea of competition, smart marketing isn’t just nice to have—it’s the only way to stand out.

Need help aligning your marketing plan with your firm’s growth goals?

Full Sail Partners offers strategic consulting, system support, and CRM integration to help professional services firms turn insight into action. Let’s talk.

Let’s be honest—tracking Master Service Agreements (MSAs), IDIQ contracts, and their related Task Orders in Deltek Vantagepoint isn’t exactly straightforward. If you’ve been juggling spreadsheets, cross-referencing records, or constantly second-guessing your contract metrics… we feel your pain.

And we built something better.

Here at Full Sail Partners, we love solving real challenges for project-based firms. One request we’ve heard time and again from our clients is this: “We need a better way to track Master Agreements in Vantagepoint.”

So, we got to work—and we’re excited to introduce a custom-built hub designed to do just that. Whether you're tracking indefinite delivery contracts, parent agreements, or ongoing on-call projects, this solution gives you the clarity and control Vantagepoint users have been missing.

Why a Custom Hub for Master Agreements?

Standard functionality in Deltek Vantagepoint is powerful, but when it comes to managing large umbrella contracts—especially those that span multiple years, multiple task orders, and multiple departments—things can get messy fast.

Here’s where things typically break down:

• You’re tracking MSAs in spreadsheets… while also trying to manage projects in Vantagepoint.
• You’ve got multiple pursuits tied to a single agreement, but no centralized place to view them.
• Your pipeline reports are double-counting opportunities, inflating projections and skewing metrics.
• Finance and marketing teams are using different “versions of the truth.”

Sound familiar? That’s exactly why we developed this custom Master Agreement Hub.

What the Custom Hub Does (and Doesn’t Do)

This custom solution adds a new “hub” in Vantagepoint where you can create a Master Agreement record and link all relevant pursuits and projects to it. Think of it like a command center for your most complex contracts.

With this custom hub, you can:

✅ Track and manage Master Service Agreements, IDIQs, and Task Orders

✅ Link pursuits and projects back to the parent agreement

✅ Automatically pull in key data from related records

✅ Display total contracted value, awarded work, pipeline, and more

✅ Eliminate duplicate reporting across business development and finance

✅ Create reports that make sense to your entire team

It doesn’t replace the Projects Hub—it enhances it. You’ll still manage your pursuits and active jobs in their respective places. But now, you have a smarter way to see the whole picture.

Real-World Scenarios: When This Custom Hub Really Shines

Let’s look at a few common use cases where this custom solution becomes a game changer:

📌 Scenario 1: Federal or Statewide IDIQ Contracts
Your firm wins an IDIQ contract with a state agency that allows task orders over a five-year period. You’re pursuing multiple task orders each quarter, but your team can’t keep track of what’s been awarded, what’s in pursuit, and what’s been completed.

With this hub, you can tie every task order to the original IDIQ contract, view real-time status across all pursuits, and see total contract metrics at a glance.

📌 Scenario 2: Municipal On-Call Agreements
You’ve got an on-call services contract with a local government. Projects are added sporadically over time, and different PMs are handling different scopes. Your leadership wants to know: “What’s the total value of this agreement and how much have we actually won?”

Now, you can answer that in seconds—with visuals to back it up.

📌 Scenario 3: Large Client with Multiple Ongoing Projects
A major higher education or healthcare client has multiple campuses and dozens of concurrent projects under a single master services agreement. You want to evaluate performance across the whole contract, but your data is scattered.

Link all the projects to the MSA, track total billings and revenue, and identify which departments or service lines are driving results.

See It in Action: Free Mini-Demo

Want to see how it works? You're in luck.

Join us Wednesday, June 25 at 1pm ET for a 15-minute live mini-demo where Principal Consultant Amanda Roussel will walk you through this new functionality using sample records and reports.

👉 Click here to register now 

Who Should Attend?

This mini-demo is ideal for:

• Marketing teams who need to track pursuits tied to a single agreement
• Project managers juggling multiple jobs under one umbrella contract
• Operations and finance teams who want better visibility into pipeline and awarded revenue
• Anyone tired of reconciling conflicting reports from different departments

If you’ve ever said, “There has to be a better way,” this demo is for you.

Let’s Make Contract Chaos a Thing of the Past

This isn’t just a “nice to have”—it’s the kind of enhancement that can bring sanity back to your project tracking. Contracts are only getting more complex, and your systems should make managing them easier, not harder.

Join us for the demo. Ask your questions. See what’s possible.

Then decide if this custom hub could be the solution your firm didn’t know it needed.

👉 [ Register now ] and get access to the live demo and the recording.

In today’s relentless business environment, a strong marketing strategy isn’t just a “nice-to-have.” It’s the cornerstone of real, measurable growth.

And here’s the kicker—we’re a consulting firm that sells, configures, and trains on CRM systems, and even we will tell you: a killer system means nothing without a smart strategy to back it up.

Tools are just tools. Your CRM won’t magically generate demand, build relationships, or close deals on its own. That’s where a strategic marketing approach comes in—giving your tools direction, your messaging purpose, and your entire growth engine momentum.

Below, we’re diving into five strategic elements professional services firms should prioritize to build a bold, results-driven marketing plan.

1. Balancing Operations and Creativity

Marketing is a balancing act—a mix of analytical rigor and creative expression.

It’s not just about operations and logistics, and it’s not just about eye-catching visuals or clever taglines. The real magic happens when creative ideas are paired with structured systems and supported by insightful analysis.

Compelling messaging, thoughtful targeting, consistent branding, automated processes, and performance tracking—these all need to come together in harmony. Without that balance, marketing either becomes disorganized chaos or stale corporate noise.

🛠 Pro Tip: Make room for creative thinking, but ground it in strategy and data. That's how you move from busy work to impactful work.

2️. Prioritize Speed and Clarity—Not Perfection

Let’s be honest: the pursuit of perfection is often the enemy of progress. The firms winning today are the ones who are agile—moving fast, testing ideas, getting feedback, and making adjustments on the fly.

Launch that campaign before it’s “perfect.” Ask for feedback through surveys or focus groups. Test messaging with different segments. Use what you learn to refine, optimize, and iterate.

With the right tracking in place, you can monitor performance in real time. Which campaigns are generating leads? Which ones are getting short-listed? What’s your win rate?

These insights allow you to pivot quickly, amplify what works, and cut what doesn’t. Perfection is overrated. Clarity and action? That’s where the ROI lives.

3. Foster Cross-Functional Alignment

Want better marketing results? Tear down the silos.

The best marketing strategies are built on collaboration—especially between marketing, business development, and technical experts (a.k.a. your seller-doers). In professional services firms, these roles often overlap—but each brings unique value to the client journey:

Marketing

Objective: Build brand awareness and generate leads

Focus:

• Identify and segment target audiences
• Create educational and value-driven content
• Maintain brand consistency across channels
• Drive traffic and engagement through campaigns
• Conduct market and client research to inform strategy

Business Development

Objective: Build relationships and identify growth opportunities

Focus:

• Network and engage with potential clients and partners
• Explore strategic partnerships and industry involvement
• Identify future project opportunities
• Collaborate with marketing and technical teams on pursuit strategies and proposals

Technical Experts / Seller-Doers

Objective: Deliver expertise, build trust, and help close the deal

Focus:

• Participate in early-stage conversations with prospects
• Provide technical insight and solutions during pursuit phases
• Collaborate on proposals, presentations, and interviews
• Build long-term client relationships through successful project delivery
• Identify additional client needs and opportunities for future work

Each team has a distinct role, but the magic happens when they align—sharing insights, speaking the same language, and working together toward common business goals. When marketing, BD, and technical experts collaborate, your firm becomes more responsive, more strategic, and way more successful at winning the right work.

4. Use Marketing Attribution for Smarter Decisions

Attribution isn’t just about patting yourself on the back for a conversion. It’s about learning.

When you can identify which messages, campaigns, or touchpoints lead to action—whether that’s a meeting request, a site visit, or a proposal request—you unlock a feedback loop for continuous improvement.

Smart attribution helps you:

• Understand what’s working (and what’s not)
• Allocate budget more efficiently
• Align teams around proven strategies
• Improve cross-sell and upsell opportunities

Plus, when teams work from a shared data set, collaboration becomes easier—and marketing becomes more cost-efficient without compromising on quality.

5. Maximize ROI: Focus on Repeat Audiences While Still Growing New Ones

Here’s a secret not enough firms talk about: sometimes the best new opportunities come from people who already know you.

Targeting repeat audiences—past clients, partners, proposal reviewers, and warm contacts—often yields higher conversion rates. These audiences are already familiar with your brand and more likely to engage with personalized messaging.

Even better? It’s more cost-effective than constantly chasing new leads.

That said, growth still requires expanding your reach. So, balance is key. Continue reaching out to new prospects through campaigns, events, and content while maintaining strong follow-up strategies for past and current clients.

Short-term ROI comes from repeat audiences.
Long-term growth comes from reaching new ones.
You need both to sustain success.

The Bottom Line: Strategy First, Tools Second

Let’s face it—your marketing strategy is the fuel that powers your CRM, your email campaigns, your proposals, and your BD team’s efforts. Without it? You’re just throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping for ROI.

A smart marketing strategy aligns creativity with operations, embraces experimentation over perfection, breaks down silos between teams, tracks performance with purpose, and balances client retention with outreach.

If your firm is still shooting in the dark with disconnected tactics or just "doing what you’ve always done," it might be time to hit pause—and start building a better game plan.

🎯 Need a strategic partner to guide the way?

At Full Sail Partners, we help professional services firms align their marketing strategy with the right tools, processes, and insights. From CRM configuration to campaign execution—we’ve got you covered.

👉 Let’s Talk Strategy

You know what’s not fun?

Exporting contact lists. Cleaning spreadsheets. Re-uploading them into another platform. Then wondering if your campaign results will ever make it back to your CRM.

You know what is fun?

Clicking one button—and watching your marketing list fly from Deltek Vantagepoint to HubSpot like a data-driven superhero.

We’re thrilled to announce the launch of our Blackbox Connector for HubSpot + Vantagepoint, and it’s about to make your marketing life a whole lot easier.

Whether you’re trying to reach past clients, follow up with new leads after a conference, or just want to run a quick A/B test—this integration takes the chaos out of syncing your marketing efforts and puts everything right where it belongs: in one clean, closed-loop system.

Here’s What You Can Do With the HubSpot Connector

With just a few clicks, you can:

✔️ Build a segmented list in Vantagepoint
✔️ Push it into HubSpot instantly—no spreadsheets required
✔️ Send an email campaign using HubSpot’s tools
✔️ Pull performance data (opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes) right back into Vantagepoint

It’s fast. It’s seamless. And it means no more awkward handoffs between marketing, BD, and project teams. Everyone gets access to campaign insights—right inside the system they’re already using.

Let’s Paint the Picture…

You’ve just wrapped up a major healthcare architecture conference. You’ve met new contacts. Reconnected with past clients. And now you want to follow up with a tailored email about your firm’s healthcare expertise.

Before, that probably meant asking someone to export a list from Vantagepoint, emailing it to marketing, uploading it into HubSpot, then trying to remember to send performance results back later. (Yikes.)

Now? You create a new Marketing Campaign in Vantagepoint. Tag your contacts with “Healthcare Conference.” Push the list straight into HubSpot. Launch your email. Then click a button to have opens, clicks, and engagement metrics flow back into Vantagepoint like magic.

Even better—those results show up not only on the campaign, but also on each individual contact record. So your project managers and principals? They’ll finally know which of their contacts are actually engaging with marketing. (And that’s a win for everyone.)

How It Works (In 3 Simple Steps)

Step 1: Build Your List in Vantagepoint

Start in the Marketing Campaigns Hub. Build your contact list based on whatever filters matter—recent project involvement, industry tags, or events attended. You can even use custom fields that you created with Screen Designer.

Make sure your contacts have email addresses, and that you’ve enabled the BBMIQ integration for that campaign.

Step 2: Push It to HubSpot

Hop over to the BBMIQ Email tab, where you’ll select a static contact list from your HubSpot account. Then—drumroll, please—click Send Contacts to HubSpot.

Just like that, your Vantagepoint contact list appears in HubSpot, ready for your next email campaign.

Step 3: Pull Results Back In

Once your email is sent and the results start rolling in, return to the same BBMIQ Email tab in Vantagepoint.

Add the outbound email to the campaign, hit Get Email Response from HubSpot, then click Generate Statistics.

Boom. Now you’ve got:

• Total sends
• Opens
• Clicks
• Bounces
• Unsubscribes

…all right there in Vantagepoint—no digging, no guessing, no data delays.

Why This Matters (Especially for Non-Marketers)

Let’s say your technical staff doesn’t live in the Marketing Campaigns hub (no surprise there). But they do care about which contacts are engaged when they’re prepping for a meeting or writing a proposal.

With the Marketing IQ tab on the contact record, they can now see marketing email engagement at a glance—what was sent, when, and how that contact responded. That’s powerful intel to help guide business development conversations and deepen client relationships.

No more guessing who’s warm, who’s cold, or who unsubscribed three months ago. It’s all there, in context, inside the system your whole team already uses.

Close the Loop. Open New Possibilities.

When your marketing data lives in silos, everything gets harder—planning campaigns, tracking performance, reporting on ROI. But when your CRM and email platform talk to each other? Magic happens.

The HubSpot Connector for Vantagepoint delivers:

✨ Smarter list building
✨ Streamlined campaign execution
✨ Data-driven marketing insights
✨ And zero spreadsheet wrangling

This is more than a sync. It’s a strategic bridge between marketing and the rest of your firm.

Hear It Straight From the Source

Want to see how this connector performs in the real world?

Join us for our upcoming webinar with HR Green, where their CRM Database Manager shares:

✔️ Why their team needed a better way to connect Vantagepoint and HubSpot
✔️ What the deployment process looked like with our Blackbox Connector
✔️ The results and ROI they’ve seen since implementation

You’ll walk away with actionable insights—and maybe a little marketing envy. 😉

Click below to see how Full Sail Partners is helping firms like HR Green turn disconnected systems into seamless marketing engines.

Because great marketing doesn’t happen in isolation—and now, neither does your data.

🎯 Dashboards. They’re everywhere. And if you’re using Deltek Vantagepoint, you’ve probably built a few. Maybe even lived in a few. But what happens when you hit that moment where you say, “I wish this dashboard could just…” and it can’t?

Let’s break down the differences between Vantagepoint dashboards and Informer dashboards – and help you figure out which one deserves the spotlight in your firm’s data story.

Dashboards in Vantagepoint: The Reliable Workhorse 🐎

Let’s give credit where it’s due. Vantagepoint dashboards are like that dependable project manager who shows up on time, sticks to the script, and gets the job done without drama.

Here’s where they shine:

• They live inside Vantagepoint – no switching tools or logging in somewhere else.
• They update automatically with the most current data.
• They’re great for answering simple, common questions like “How many hours did we bill last week?” or “What’s in our pipeline?”
• They highlight the data you already care about – and calculated fields give you some customization wiggle room.

But…

They’re also bound by the rules Deltek has built in. If your business needs go beyond “basic,” you may quickly find the guardrails a little too tight.

Limitations include:

• No joining data across multiple hubs or tables 
• No SELECT statements inside calculated fields 
• No calculating values across dashparts (so pulling a KPI into a separate dashpart? Not gonna happen) 

So what if your data needs are more “build your own adventure” than “color by numbers”?

Enter Informer + Blackbox Connector: The Custom Data Dream Team 💥

For those who like their data deep, layered, and tailored to their unique business structure—Informer paired with our Blackbox Connector is where the magic happens.

Why Informer?

• It lets you go wild with custom dashboards: charts, pivot tables, and other charts that pull from multiple reports or data sources.
• It’s perfect for firms that want to track very specific performance metrics or roll up data in ways Vantagepoint dashboards can’t handle.
• It answers the deeper questions like:
  “What exactly are we holding our people accountable for?”
  “How does our performance vary by org structure?”
  “What data do our decision-makers need?”

And here’s where it gets even better…

🚀 Our Blackbox Connector for Informer comes with 5 ready-to-use dashboards designed specifically for project-based firms like yours. That means:

• Faster implementation
• Less time spent building from scratch
• Immediate insights into project performance, financials, CRM activity, and more

And because the Connector automates the flow of data from Vantagepoint to Informer, you can stop worrying about manual exports or data delays. It just works. 🙌

So… which one should you use?

Great question. Here's a quick cheat sheet:

In a nutshell:

Use Vantagepoint Dashboards when you need quick glances at simple, report-based data.

Use Informer when you need to dive deep, customize everything, and make smarter decisions with more context—especially if you want to start strong with our pre-built dashboards.

Ready to level up your data game?

Whether you want to supercharge your dashboards or finally get the insights your leadership team has been begging for, we’ve got your back.

Don’t just take our word for it—watch our on-demand webinar linked below and see how Informer dashboards (powered by our Blackbox Connector) bring your Vantagepoint data to life. From pre-built dashboards to custom deep dives, you’ll get a firsthand look at what’s possible.

If you’ve been hearing the terms “traditional AI” and “generative AI” thrown around like confetti lately but still aren’t quite sure what the difference is—you're not alone. And don’t worry, we’re here to break it down without the robot-speak. 🤖💬 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming how we work, analyze data, and make decisions—and the A&E industry is no exception. Whether it’s optimizing project schedules, identifying risks before they become disasters, or simply helping your marketing team write that next proposal (hello, ChatGPT!), AI tools are becoming part of our everyday toolkit. 

But before you plug in and power up, let’s pump the brakes and understand that not all AI is created equal. Specifically, there’s a big difference between Traditional AI (a.k.a. Machine Learning) and the newer kid on the block, Generative AI. 

Let’s explore how each type of AI functions, what problems they solve, and how your firm might benefit from using both. 

Traditional AI: The "What Happened and What Should We Do About it?" Kind of Smart

Traditional AI—often powered by Machine Learning (ML)—is great at looking at your firm’s past to make sense of what might happen in the future.

Describe - What Happened?

Traditional AI thrives on data. It aggregates and mines historical information to tell you what’s already occurred—think time-entry patterns, project budget overruns, or marketing campaign performance.

Predict - What Could Happen?

Using statistical models and algorithms, this kind of AI can forecast outcomes. For example, it might tell you: “Hey, based on the last 20 projects of this type, you're probably going to go over budget by 10%.” Super helpful? Absolutely. Magic? Not quite.

Prescribe - What Should We Do?

This is where traditional AI begins to nudge into decision-making territory. It might recommend a staffing shift, suggest delaying a milestone, or adjust workload distribution to keep your projects on track. It’s not doing the work for you—but it’s definitely acting like that smart friend who always has great advice.

Bottom line: Traditional AI is your data whisperer. It’s about understanding patterns and helping you make smarter decisions based on them.

Generative AI: The “Let’s Create Something New” Powerhouse

Generative AI is like Traditional AI’s artsy cousin who can write, draw, build presentations, and even automate tasks based on what you tell them. It’s creative, dynamic, and frankly, kind of a showoff—but in a good way. 😎

Input - What to Create

With Generative AI, you start with a prompt. “Write a project summary,” “Draft an email to a client,” or “Build a training outline for new hires.” Your input kicks off the magic.

Collect - Synthesize Data

Generative AI taps into massive amounts of data and language models—often including your firm’s own info if integrated correctly—to create highly relevant and customized outputs. The more specific the input and data source, the better the results.

Generate - On Demand Content

This is where the tool really shines. It produces original content—proposals, reports, schedules, even social media captions (wink)—saving you and your team hours of manual work.

Automate - Take Action for the User

Unlike Traditional AI that just offers recommendations, Generative AI can actually do the thing. It can distribute content, send reminders, automate workflows—all based on what you’ve selected or approved. It’s like having an extra team member that never sleeps (but also doesn’t drink your office coffee).

Bottom line: Generative AI is about creation and automation. It’s not just analyzing the past—it’s helping you build the future, faster.

So… What Is Deltek Doing About AI?

Now that we’ve laid the groundwork for what AI is and how it’s evolving, you might be wondering: “Cool, but how is this actually being used in Deltek Vantagepoint?”

Deltek’s approach to AI isn’t just about chasing trends or flashing shiny new tools. It’s what they call purposeful innovation—applying AI and machine learning in strategic, practical, and real-world-useful ways across the project lifecycle.

Here’s how that shows up in Vantagepoint:

• Task Automation – Think of those annoying, repetitive tasks that eat up your team's time—like updating records, running reports, or tracking hours. Deltek is automating them to free up your staff for more meaningful work.
• Boosting Productivity – AI helps your teams find information faster, so they can make quicker decisions, deliver better projects, and yes—even improve your cash flow.
• Simplifying Workflows – Instead of 6 steps to complete a routine task, AI tools are reducing it to 2 or 3. Less friction = more momentum.
• Reducing Risk – Manual data entry and one-person knowledge silos are risky business. With automation, Deltek removes some of that human error (and the stress that comes with it).
• Enabling Strategic Decision Making – With better insights, cleaner data, and fewer time-consuming tasks, you and your team can focus on what really matters—making smart, strategic moves.

And here's the kicker: just because you can use a trendy new tech doesn’t mean you should. Deltek’s focus is on making their products easier to use, not more complicated.

So, the next time you hear someone talking about flashy AI features from a competitor, just remember: ✨Does it actually make your day easier, your work better, or your firm more profitable?✨

That’s the litmus test. And that’s what Deltek is aiming for.

Smarter Projects Start with Smarter AI

AI isn’t just a buzzword—it’s a real opportunity to make your teams more productive, your workflows simpler, and your decisions more strategic. Whether it's traditional AI helping you predict what’s coming next or generative AI creating on-demand content to lighten your workload, there’s no denying the impact these tools can have on the AEC industry.

And the best part? You don’t have to figure it out alone.

Deltek is approaching AI with intention—focusing on purposeful innovation that supports your entire project lifecycle, not just flashy features. From automating time-consuming tasks to reducing risk and empowering your teams with better insights, AI is here to help you work smarter, not harder.

🎥 Want to see it in action?

Check out our on-demand webinar: AI Solutions for Vantagepoint: Enabling Next-Level Productivity to explore how these tools are already making a difference for project-based firms like yours.

Let’s turn that AI curiosity into real results. 👇

Let’s be honest—AI is everywhere right now. And while that’s exciting, it can also be frustrating. Because when it comes to using AI tools to actually get real work done inside Deltek Vantagepoint, most firms are either just dabbling… or getting burned.

Here’s the thing: AI is only helpful if it’s reliable. Otherwise, it’s just a very confident tool giving you half-right answers.

I’ve been building AI applications since generative AI first exploded onto the scene. And now, as an AI Developer at Full Sail Partners, I’m taking that experience and putting it to work for project-based firms like yours. Whether it’s out-of-the-box tools like ChatGPT or custom-built AI inside Informer and Vantagepoint, the goal is simple: make your life easier, your insights faster, and your decisions better.

Let’s talk about how we actually make that happen.

Why Most AI Tools Fall Short

A lot of AI out there is like an enthusiastic intern on their first day—well-meaning but not quite ready to be left unsupervised.

You ask a vague question, and the AI gives you something that sounds useful… but it’s either way off base or completely made up. Yep, that’s a thing—AI hallucinations. And in the world of project financials, that’s a pretty big red flag.

Unreliable answers lead to wasted time. Bad data leads to bad decisions. And if you’ve got deadlines and KPIs on the line, that’s a risk you can’t afford.

The Two Core Principles That Make AI Reliable

In my work developing AI tools that play nicely with Vantagepoint, I’ve focused on two big ideas:

1. A Window into the Facts

Most AI tools give you an answer and then ask you to just… trust it. Not great.

Instead, we build AI that shows its work. When you ask a question, you don’t just get an answer—you get the data behind it. You can click to verify, dive deeper, and understand exactly how the AI came to that conclusion. It's like a GPS that tells you why it picked that route, not just where to go.

This is built directly into our Informer AI Assistant, which works inside Microsoft Teams and pulls data from Vantagepoint.

2. Reliability Training

Making AI trustworthy takes more than good intentions. It takes practice—and the right techniques. Here are three I use all the time (and you can too):

• One-Path Prompting: Ask one clear, specific question. No vagueness. No contradictions. Just a straight line from question to answer.
• Problem Expansion: Break big, complicated asks into smaller pieces. Think about how you’d delegate to a new employee—you wouldn’t say “solve all our issues.” You’d say “check this one report and flag anything unusual.”
• AI University (for developers): This one’s for the builders out there. Train your AI to be really good at one thing. Not everything. Just one thing, and let it do that extremely well.

By building these techniques into our AI tools, we make sure the end result is actually useful. So useful, in fact, that most users don’t even need to think about the tech behind it. It just works.

So, What Does This Look Like in Real Life?

Here’s an example: You’re in Microsoft Teams and you need to check whether a project is running over budget.

Instead of logging into Vantagepoint, clicking through dashboards, pulling reports, and second-guessing yourself—you send a single message to our AI assistant.

A few seconds later, you’ve got a clear, accurate answer, complete with the source data. Want to drill down further? One click and you’re in Informer, seeing the full picture.

No app-switching. No spreadsheet spelunking. Just one question, one answer, and a whole lot of time saved.

Why This Matters (to You, Right Now)

Whether you’re a PM, a marketer, or a firm executive, the common thread is this: you need good data, fast.

Reliable AI changes the game.
It helps you stop guessing.
It gives you time back.

And it turns your mountain of Vantagepoint data into real, usable insights—without you doing all the heavy lifting.

Want to See It for Yourself?

If this got your wheels turning, I’d love to show you more. I’m hosting a live webinar on Wednesday, May 14 at 1pm ET, where I’ll walk through exactly how we’re using these principles to build real, working AI tools for Vantagepoint.

We’ll look at both out-of-the-box tools you can start using today and custom-built solutions that can save your firm serious time and effort.

If you’ve been curious about AI—but skeptical—it’s the perfect session for you.

Heads up, project managers! If you’ve noticed something different in your Deltek Vantagepoint Project Hub lately, you’re not imagining things. The Project Budgeting tool has moved—but don’t worry, while it’s sporting a new home and a fresh look, the core functionality you rely on is still intact.

Let’s take a stroll through the updated budgeting tool and unpack what’s new, what’s stayed the same, and how to make the most of it.

So, What’s Changed?

The Project Budget tool is now found directly inside the Project Hub as its own menu item. The look has changed, but the overall functionality has remained the same. Here are the highlights of the makeover:

• The cost/billing options now live in a sleek drop-down menu on the right side of the screen.
• There’s a new Grid Settings feature that lets you customize how your budget grid looks—because who doesn’t like a little personalization? This includes the ability to control the selection and placement of the variables in the budget grid.

First Things First: What Is a Project Budget?

The Project Budget is the Project Manager’s estimate of the total spending on the project. Budget numbers are not to be confused with the Contract amounts from the Contract Management menu.

Let’s clear this up: the Project Budget is not the same thing as your Contract Amount.

• Contract Amount = What you’ve agreed to bill the client.
• Project Budget = How you plan to spend that amount.

Yes, the numbers can match—but they don’t have to. And in Vantagepoint, they each serve distinct purposes. Knowing the difference is key to accurate forecasting and solid project management.

Budgeting Buzzwords You Should Know

Understanding how budgets break down in Vantagepoint means getting familiar with a few common terms. Here's a cheat sheet:

• Labor Budget - This is all about your internal team’s work. It compares your budgeted labor with actual employee timesheet entries.
• Expenses - Not labor. Not consultants. Just the other costs that keep your project rolling. Expenses are divided between two different types, controlled by the General Ledger Account number.
• Direct Expenses are items that are not to be billed to the client. These are costs that are absorbed into our Costs and will not generate billings. These costs are classified with GL account number type “Direct Expense”.
• Reimbursable Expenses are items that will be billed to the client. These costs are classified with GL account number type “Reimbursable Expense”.
• Compensation - This includes both Labor and Direct Expenses—basically, your internal investment in the project.
• Consultants - These are your subcontractors, split into:
• Direct Consultants are subconsultant expenses that are added to our invoices, but are part of our overall fee, usually combined with labor and expense in a Fixed Fee invoice format. These costs are classified with the GL account type “Direct Consultant.”
• Reimbursable Consultants are subconsultants that are going to be invoiced to the client (possibly with a markup), also referred to as a “pass through” expense. These costs are classified with the GL account type “Reimbursable Consultant.”
• Reimbursable Allowance - The total of your Reimbursable Expenses + Reimbursable Consultants.

How to Enter a Budget (Without Losing Your Mind)

Here’s the TL;DR of entering budgets in Vantagepoint:

• Always budget at the lowest level of the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
• Labor Codes are required for Labor Budgets. Not using Labor Codes yet? Let's chat first—enabling them affects other areas like timesheets.
• Expenses & Consultants are entered by GL account. Vendor name? Totally optional.

The math is simple:
Hours × Rate = Labor Budget

Budgeting in Action: Why It Matters

Your budget isn’t just for show—it’s a powerhouse tool that supports a bunch of Vantagepoint functions:

• Budget vs. Actual reports – Project reports can be pulled and compared to actual project charges.
• Timesheet validation (via Labor Codes) – Using Labor Codes in budgets limits the codes employees can use on their timesheet.
• Revenue generation formulas
• Manual % complete, estimate to complete (ETC), and estimate at complete (EAC) updates
• Custom views in the Project Review screen to show budget values and variances

Pro Tip: Budgeting Isn’t “Set It and Forget It”

We’ll say it louder for the folks in the back—budgets need love, too! Keep them current by checking in regularly and reviewing Budget vs. Actual reports. It’s the best way to keep your project financials accurate and your leadership team happy.

There’s an Even Better Way…

Feeling like the budget tool is missing a few key pieces—like assigning by employee or tracking true progress? We hear you.

💡 Enter: Project Planning and Resource Management.

The planning module in Vantagepoint goes above and beyond basic budgeting. It gives you:

• Real-time revenue forecasting
• Strategic staffing insights
• Earned value management (based on actual progress, not guesstimates)

It’s a smarter way to manage your project financials—and your people.

Let’s Talk Budgeting Strategy

If you’re ready to level up from static budgets to strategic project planning, our team at Full Sail Partners is here to help. We’ll walk you through how to get started and tailor a solution that fits your firm’s goals.

👉 Reach out to your Full Sail Partners consultant today and let’s put your project budgets to work!

For accounting professionals, the AP voucher is the single source of truth for tracking supplier invoices. An AP voucher has information from a supplier like the firm amount that is due, terms for payment, signatures of authorized firm representatives, and more. Keeping this information up to date and correct is critical, however, errors and other changes do occur.

• Is there an invoice that was accidentally entered twice and one needs to be voided/reversed?
• Was tax, shipping or another amount missing on an invoice and now it is already posted?
• Was an invoice amount entered incorrectly and it needs to be corrected?

If this sounds familiar, it’s because these are all common issues that come up in the AP world. Typically, AP associates will enter a new voucher to correct these items and then reverse or add to/subtract from the value of an original invoice. By doing this, two vouchers are entered for the same invoice number, often by adding a letter or number to the original invoice number. When the invoice is paid, the associate needs to remember to select both vouchers to pay the entire correct amount of the invoice. In the case of a duplicate invoice, there isn’t a “void voucher” option like there is void check or void client invoices.

However, there is a better solution - utilize “Voucher Lookup” to edit an AP voucher easily & smoothly!

Using Deltek Vantagepoint AP Voucher Lookup

Once an AP Voucher is posted in Deltek Vantagepoint, it isn’t very evident that there is an option to edit the voucher. But there is! Voucher lookup is a great tool that is not as widely used as it should be.

When using AP Voucher lookup, Vantagepoint “attaches” the new voucher detail lines to the original voucher by utilizing the same voucher number and voucher header. When the corrected voucher is attached to the original there won’t be two vouchers for the same invoice to reconcile in vendor review or select in payment processing! As a result,

Examples of Deltek Vantagepoint AP Voucher Lookup:

Issue 1: Whoops! Two vouchers were entered for the same invoice and one of them needs to be reversed.

Solution: Enter a new AP transaction, use voucher lookup, and reverse the original lines. This AP entry will be linked or “attached” to the original voucher, not creating a new voucher but editing the original, making a zero-dollar total invoice. The steps are as follows:

1. Go to Transaction Center > Transaction Entry > AP Vouchers. Either start a new batch (if using batches) or a new transaction (if using single transaction posting).
2. Select the vendor. Don’t enter the rest of the header data!
3. Go to the top right under “Other Actions” and select “Voucher Lookup”.
   1. A list of the vouchers for this vendor will appear.
   2. Select the voucher for the invoice that needs to be edited.
   3. In the top of the list there is a search box that can be used to find an amount, voucher or invoice number and it will search for any matches from the existing vouchers.
4. Next, select the voucher that requires editing. The voucher header information will populate from the original voucher… this is where the linking comes in.
5. At this point, anything entered in the voucher details below will add to the original voucher line items. If the original entry had three lines and another is added, four lines will appear in the voucher review.
6. In this example, the duplicate voucher needs to be reversed entirely.
   1. To reverse lines, go back to “Other Actions”, select “Copy/Reverse Lines”.
   2. Check the box in the top header row to select all voucher detail lines.
   3. Click “Reverse All”.
   4. This selection will bring these lines into the voucher detail as a negative, using the same project coding. Which is simple, FAST, and does not require re-keying of line items!
      
      
7. Post voucher as usual.
8. In Voucher Review, the original line items and the additional line items entered during the Voucher Lookup will appear.
9. In this example, the overall voucher is now zero and the total lines in the voucher are 6.

Issue 2: Need to add an additional line for tax, shipping or other charges missed on original entry?

Solution: Do all steps from above except for step 6 - don’t use the Copy/Reverse function. Simply add the needed lines to the voucher detail in the Project Information grid. Any lines that are added will link/attach to the original voucher and add/subtract to the original voucher amount.

Issue 3: Need to correct an amount in the original voucher?

Solution: Do everything above, including Copy/Reversing Lines. It is suggested to reverse the line(s) that were entered incorrectly and then enter the correct amount so there is a good audit trail. After reversing the line(s) that were entered in error, add the correcting lines in the Project Information grid on the same voucher. Every line that is reversed and/or added will still link/attach to the original voucher and add/subtract to the original voucher amount.

Solve Common Accounting Challenges with Deltek Vantagepoint

Deltek Vantagepoint does more than making AP voucher corrections easy. Check out this webinar to learn about 15 Must-Know Features to Supercharge your Vantagepoint Efficiency, and make sure to explore all the free Vantagepoint content available on the Full Sail Partners’ website.

Upgrading your ERP or CRM system sounds exciting—until you realize it means moving years (or decades) worth of data from one system to another. Suddenly, all those duplicate records, inconsistent formatting, and half-filled fields come back to haunt you.

Whether you’re planning a system upgrade, consolidating platforms after a merger, or just trying to clean house, data migration is where the rubber meets the road. Do it well, and your implementation hums along. Do it poorly, and…well, let’s just say your team won’t forget it.

At Full Sail Partners, we’ve seen it all—from DIY import headaches to flawless full-scripted migrations—and we’re here to share what we’ve learned.

Data Migration Is More Than a Technical Task

Sure, it’s about moving data. But it's also about protecting your firm’s history, ensuring accuracy, and setting up your new system for success.

Here's the big misconception: “We’ll just export our data and import it into the new system.” If only it were that simple.

A true data migration often involves:

• Reorganizing the data structure to fit the new system
• Mapping fields across platforms
• Cleaning up outdated or duplicate records
• Testing and reconciling the migrated data
• Aligning the migration with business goals and workflows

When done right, your team barely notices the transition. When done wrong? Expect confusion, downtime, and a lot of cleanup.

Understanding Your Migration Options

Not all migrations are created equal. Depending on your starting point and end goal, your approach might include:

• Upgrades – Like going from Deltek Vision to Vantagepoint. These often use automation to move data and retain familiar functionality, but still need careful planning.
• Imports – Manual or semi-automated data loading, usually from Excel or other flat files. Budget-friendly but often incomplete without extensive prep work.
• Scripted Migrations – Highly tailored solutions that extract, transform, and load data from any system—great for complex setups or non-Deltek origins.
• Merges – Bringing together multiple Vantagepoint databases. These retain most functionality but require both systems to be on the same version.

Choosing the wrong type of migration—or assuming one size fits all—can derail your timeline and budget. That’s why we always recommend starting with a discovery conversation.

Why Hiring an Expert Matters

Let’s be honest—migrations are messy. Between incompatible fields, third-party integrations, and evolving business processes, it’s easy to miss something critical.

A data migration expert can:

• Spot potential issues before they snowball
• Customize your migration plan for your firm’s needs
• Ensure your data is clean, accurate, and usable from day one
• Save your team from spending hours (or weeks) cleaning up after the fact

Plus, our team at Full Sail Partners doesn’t just move data—we help you understand it. That way, you’re not just changing systems; you’re improving how you work.

Learn More in Our Upcoming Webinar

If your firm is considering an upgrade, preparing for a merger, or simply wants to clean up and consolidate your data, you’ll want to catch our next webinar:

• 🖥️ Upgrades, Imports & Mergers—Oh My! Navigating Data Migrations with Confidence
• 🎤 Presented by: Jennifer Stevland, Principal Data Solutions Consultant
• 📍 Register here

We’ll walk through the four main types of data migrations, share best practices, and explain how to make the process as painless as possible. Bring your questions!