Full Sail Partners Blog | Deltek Vantagepoint

Every year, the Deltek Clarity A&E Industry Study gives architecture and engineering firms something concrete to work with: real data from real firms about what's working, what's stalling, and where the industry is heading. The 47th edition surveyed 896 firms of all sizes and types, and the throughline is clear. This isn't a market that rewards guessing or going through the motions. The firms pulling ahead are the ones making intentional, disciplined decisions at every level of the business.

Over the next few weeks, we're breaking down each section of the report. This week: Business Development.

More work, less reward

Here's the headline: firms submitted 32% more proposals in 2025 than they did the year before. That sounds like momentum. But the median capture rate fell 3.8 percentage points to 44.4% — the lowest it's been since 2019 and the sharpest single-year decline in the nine-year trend.

BD activity is rising, but converting pursuits to projects is becoming harder and more complex. The win rate data adds some nuance — the median slipped to 49% industrywide, but architecture firms were the outlier, actually gaining five points to 45%, likely reflecting tighter pursuit selection in a market where design-led work is more relationship-dependent. Almost nobody got easier wins this year.

Capture rate — the dollar value of proposals awarded relative to the dollar value submitted — makes the picture even clearer. Large firms dropped six points to 34%. Medium firms fell three points. The gap between the top quarter of firms (61.3%) and the bottom quarter (30.2%) is 31 percentage points — a spread that has less to do with market conditions and everything to do with how intentionally firms are choosing which work to chase.

High performers bucked the trend entirely, with their capture rate rising 10 percentage points to 59% while everyone else's fell. Same market, same headwinds, meaningfully better returns. The difference isn't luck or firm size or sector mix. It's the discipline to pursue less and win more.

Some of the decline reflects a market shift toward smaller-value projects — the total value of proposals submitted grew 12% while the number grew 32%, pointing to a lower average project value per pursuit. And a lot of it reflects what happens when more firms are chasing the same work in an increasingly crowded market.

The market itself is changing

It's not just that competition is stiffer — it's that the market opportunity itself is evolving.

Data centers debuted as a new category in this year's study and immediately claimed the top spot: 72% of firms expect to grow their position in that sector over the next 18 months. Energy and power held at 57%. These are sectors that barely registered a few years ago and are now driving significant optimism. Meanwhile, transportation dropped nine percentage points and hospitality continues its post-pandemic retreat. The firms best positioned for this environment aren't waiting for their traditional sectors to rebound — they're building credibility in new ones, which takes time, intentional relationship-building, and a clear-eyed view of where the firm can actually win.

Economic uncertainty compounds all of this. It debuted in this year's survey as a new BD challenge and immediately ranked as the top first-choice concern at 19%. The response isn't to slow down — it's to build a deeper pipeline and invest in positioning now rather than reacting when conditions shift.

Go/no-go decisions have never mattered more

Eighty percent of firms say they use a go/no-go process — but how they use it is shifting. Use for strategic opportunities only grew two percentage points to 32%, and use for all opportunities edged up to 38%. Among firms not yet using the process, 49% are now considering adoption, up from 29% the prior year. That's a meaningful signal.

A well-executed go/no-go process isn't a gate to slow things down. It's a filter that protects the firm's most valuable resource: pursuit capacity. As Daphne Bryant of ACEC put it in the report, it does more than filter opportunities — it aligns the firm's resources, expertise, and relationships with the pursuits that are truly winnable and worth winning.

The key word is data. Go/no-go decisions need to be driven by data-based questions — probability of winning, existing relationships, delivery capacity, fit for the work — not instinct or individual preferences. That's where a well-configured Deltek Vantagepoint environment earns its keep: relationship history, prior win/loss patterns, pipeline load, and delivery capacity all in one place. If your team is still making these decisions off a spreadsheet or a whiteboard, we should talk.

Pre-pursuit intelligence is a competitive edge — and AI is changing how firms build it

One of the most interesting data points in this section: lack of intel to position for a win dropped 15 percentage points — the steepest decline on the entire chart. Firms are getting smarter about the information available to them before they pursue, and AI-assisted tools are a big part of why — BD teams and principals are using them to surface opportunities earlier, qualify pursuits faster, find strategic partners and gather more context before committing resources.

But pre-positioning only works if the administrative burden is low enough to make room for it. That's where tools like Informer and Power BI, connected to Deltek Vantagepoint, pay off — surfacing win rates by sector, capture rate trends, and pursuit stage velocity in dashboards BD leaders can actually use day to day. We helped RTM Engineering Consultants build exactly this kind of visibility into their Vantagepoint environment — read how they did it. When your data is connected, your team spends less time hunting for answers and more time acting on them.

Formalizing the process (without making it rigid)

The share of firms with a formal BD process dipped three percentage points to 46% — worth examining but but not panicking over. As the seller/doer model expands and project managers take on more BD responsibility, a rigid step-by-step process often doesn't fit how the work gets done. The goal is practical frameworks — flexible enough to work across different markets and client types, consistent enough to create real pipeline visibility.

Vantagepoint has the infrastructure to support all of this — opportunity stages, pipeline reporting, relationship tracking, proposal history — but most firms are only using a fraction of it because the system wasn't configured with their specific workflow in mind. Full Sail Partners consultants work through exactly this with firms. Check out this demonstration on CRM in Vantagepoint to get the ideas flowing, then let's talk about building it around how your firm actually works.

The seller/doer model is thriving — and putting real pressure on project managers

The blended seller/doer model leads at 48%, and the seller/doer-only model holds second at 40%. Among high performers, seller/doer adoption rose nine percentage points to 55% — the clearest signal that top-performing firms are integrating BD responsibility into technical roles rather than siloing it. The reason is straightforward: clients want to talk to the people who will actually do the work.

But the model comes with real tension. Project managers edged down five percentage points to 14% "almost always responsible" for BD — a pullback that likely reflects what the industry already knows: the demands on PMs are often unrealistic. Cross-training for BD ranked third among top initiatives at 36%, up four points — a positive investment, but training alone doesn't solve a capacity problem.

The firms getting this right build structured time for BD into the PM role. And they invest in reducing friction in the tools. Project managers who can log a contact, update an opportunity stage, or check pipeline status inside the same system where they manage projects are far more likely to actually do it. If your PMs find BD tasks burdensome, that's often a workflow problem more than a motivation one. Our team can help.

The bottom line

The 2026 Clarity data on Business Development tells a consistent story: the environment rewards discipline, not volume. What separates high performers is a sharper, more intentional approach — to which pursuits they chase, how they position for them, and how they deploy the people responsible for bringing work in.

But discipline doesn't come from willpower alone. It comes from having the right data in front of the right people at the right time. That's what a well-configured Deltek Vantagepoint environment delivers — not just a system of record, but a foundation for smarter decisions across the entire BD lifecycle.

Full Sail Partners works with A/E/C firms at every stage — from first-time Vantagepoint implementations to established practices looking to get more out of a system they've had for years. We've seen the full picture, and we know where the gaps tend to show up. If you're ready to make your data work harder for your BD team, let's talk.

Next up in the series: Project Management. We'll dig into how firms are managing delivery pressure, what the data says about the most challenging phases of the project lifecycle, and where technology is creating the biggest opportunities.

Every year, Deltek's Clarity A&E Industry Study gives us something rare: a clear, data-driven look at how architecture and engineering firms are actually running their businesses — what's working, what's not, and where the industry is headed. The 47th Annual Clarity Study surveyed 896 firms of all sizes and types across North America. And this year, one theme runs through every section of the report: intentionality.

Firms aren't just spending — they're choosing. They're not just adopting — they're evaluating. The industry is moving away from reactive decision-making and toward strategic allocation. Quality over quantity. Fit over FOMO. That shift shows up clearly in the Technology Trends section, which is where we're starting this blog series.

The Problem with Shiny

Before we get into the data, here's the reality check that frames everything else.

When firms were asked to identify their top technology challenges over the next three years, three rose to the top:

• Prioritizing applicable technology trends (61% of firms)
• Lack of time to invest in learning (51%, up from 43%)
• Cost of technology (48%)

Read those together and a clear picture emerges: it's not that firms don't want to engage with new technology. It's that the landscape has gotten so crowded — and so loud — that figuring out what actually fits your firm has become its own full-time job. And nobody has time for that full-time job, because everyone is too busy doing their actual full-time jobs.

Think about where we are with AI right now. Every tool is positioned as the solution to every problem. Every vendor is promising transformation. It's the same conversation we had when social media exploded — do we need to be on TikTok? Some firms jumped in anyway. Others asked, "what problem does this solve for us?" and moved on. The firms asking that second question are the ones getting real value from their technology investments today.

That's the discipline the 2026 Clarity Study is pointing to. There's no room to chase something that clearly isn't a fit. The cost — in time, budget, and organizational focus — is too high.

Intention Is the Strategy

The data backs this up directly. 67% of firms say creating a strategic plan for implementing technology is their top initiative. Not adopting more tools. Not keeping up with trends. Planning. That's a meaningful signal about where A&E firms are in their technology maturity.

And it makes sense, because every level of a firm is touched by technology rollouts — from principals making the investment decision to project managers using new platforms to admin staff handling training. Day-to-day responsibilities crowd out the time needed to learn something new, which is why that "lack of time to invest in learning" challenge jumped eight percentage points in a single year. The firms that carve out dedicated learning time tied to specific tools and business objectives are the ones converting adoption into results.

Why Digital Maturity Matters

One concept weaves through the entire Technology Trends section and connects every data point: digital maturity. It's not just a buzzword. It's the measure of how well a firm's business strategy and IT management actually work together — and it's the thing that determines whether AI adoption pays off.

Currently, 33% of firms classify themselves as mature or advanced — nearly double the share from four years ago. The largest group (42%) sits in the "applied" stage, where business and IT goals are aligned but digital initiatives haven't yet reached their full potential. That's actually a strong place to be: you have the alignment. The work is using it to drive measurable business impact.

The urgency is real. 42% of firms believe they risk losing market share without meaningful digital progress within the next two years — up nine percentage points year over year. That number rises every year because the firms that do build their digital foundation keep pulling further ahead.

AI in Practice

It's impossible to talk about technology in A&E right now without talking about AI. Usage jumped from 53% to 70% in a single year — that's a 17-percentage-point climb. Generative AI use climbed to 78%, with growth across every use case.

But here's the more interesting story: where firms are applying AI is shifting.

The leading use of AI is now business process automation — 34% of firms, up 10 percentage points from last year. Think autonomous, task-oriented applications. The second leading use is providing insight into operational performance at 28% (up 17 percentage points). Firms are moving past the novelty of generative AI and into applications that directly affect how the business runs. For those of us who work closely with Deltek tools, this aligns with what we're seeing in practice — the firms getting the most out of platforms like Deltek Vantagepoint are the ones using integrated data to drive decisions, not just generate content.

The report makes an important point about AI benefits: the ones lower on the list require firms to more fully embrace the AI capabilities already available to them across project and financial systems. And sitting beneath all of it is a prerequisite that can't be skipped — clean data and integrated systems. AI is only as good as the data it runs on. Firms that have invested in data hygiene and system integration are seeing real returns. Firms that haven't are still chasing them.

What's Driving the Field

When it comes to technology specifically tied to project delivery, Building Information Modeling (BIM) remains the clear leader. 45% of respondents say BIM is very important to their firm's project delivery — up slightly from 43% last year. That's not going anywhere anytime soon. BIM is embedded in core workflows; it's not a trend anymore, it's infrastructure.

What's moving is everything around it. Sustainability (23%) and data analytics (20%) both dipped year over year — not because they became less relevant, but because AI is gaining ground. AI agents and AI-based automation nearly doubled in perceived importance, from 6% to 11% of firms rating it very important. When combined "very" and "somewhat" important ratings are included, that share jumped 12 percentage points to 48%.

Also worth noting: computer vision made its debut in this year's survey. Computer vision is AI that can interpret and analyze visual information — photos, video, scans — the way a human eye would, but faster and at scale. In A&E, that looks like automatically extracting specs from drawings and RFP documents, detecting safety hazards from drone footage on job sites, or comparing as-built conditions against design drawings to flag clashes before they become field problems. It premiered at 10% — a number worth watching.

It's Not If — It's When

We won't spend much space here, but this number is worth sitting with: only 3% of firms reported no attempted cyber attacks over the past three years.

Cybersecurity isn't a line item to revisit during budget season. It's a baseline operational requirement — and it's directly connected to the same digital foundation that makes everything else in this section work. If your AI adoption strategy doesn't include a cybersecurity layer, it's not a complete strategy.

Still Stuck on Manual?

Here's a truth that doesn't get enough attention: 80% of firms still report complete to moderate reliance on manual processes in administrative and management functions. In accounting and finance specifically, that number is 75%.

The report puts it plainly: reducing manual data entry is not simply an efficiency initiative. It's one of the most concrete steps a firm can take toward digital maturity.

Those manual processes aren't just slow — they're blocking progress. Clean, connected data is the foundation of every AI benefit we talked about above. Firms addressing manual processes now aren't just solving a near-term operational problem. They're laying the groundwork for meaningful AI returns down the road.

Cloud Is No Longer Optional

We'll close with the data point that, in our view, deserves the most attention — especially for firms still running on-premise systems.

The 2026 Clarity Study makes this clear: cloud infrastructure has moved from competitive differentiator to baseline requirement. Here's what the numbers look like:

• More than half of firms (58%) now report that at least 60% of their infrastructure leverages cloud or SaaS — up from 52% last year
• 42% of firms report that 80% or more of their systems are cloud-based — up from 37% last year
• Only 14% of firms remain in the earliest stages of cloud adoption (fewer than 20% of systems in the cloud), down from 20% last year

That last number is the telling one. Even the most cautious firms are making the move. And why? Because the cloud isn't just about where your data lives. It's about what becomes possible when your systems are connected, scalable, and AI-ready. The integration, security, and scalability that modern tools depend on are built into cloud infrastructure. If you don't have that foundation, you're working twice as hard to get half the results.

At Full Sail Partners, we've been having this conversation with our on-premise clients proactively. The data from this report reinforces what we've been seeing firsthand: the transition is coming for every firm. The question isn't whether to move — it's whether you get ahead of it strategically or wait until you're forced to scramble.

If your firm is ready to begin — or reengage in — the cloud conversion conversation, our team is here to help. Whether you're simply exploring timelines and considerations or actively planning your move, we can help you evaluate the right path forward. Reach out directly to your account manager or complete our contact form to start the conversation

The Bottom Line

The 2026 Deltek Clarity A&E Technology Trends section isn't telling firms to slow down on technology. It's telling them to aim better. The firms pulling ahead aren't adopting the most tools — they're using the right ones, built on a strong digital foundation, with a plan behind every decision.

Intentionality isn't a soft concept. It's a competitive advantage.

We'll be covering each section of the Clarity Study in this blog series — stay tuned as we dig into Business Development, Project Management, Human Capital Management, and Financial Management in the weeks ahead.

Want to talk through what the Clarity data means for your firm specifically? Contact us — we'd love to dig into it with you.

Reconciling credit card activity can eat up a lot of accounting time — especially when receipts are missing, transactions are delayed, or charges need to be split across multiple projects.

In the latest installment of our Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint series, our consultant Theresa Bowe walked through credit card reconciliation tips and tricks in Vantagepoint — from initial setup through statement close — and consultant Cindy Cates answered questions from attendees at the end.

Want the highlights? Here’s an overview of everything we covered.

Setting up credit cards in Vantagepoint

Everything starts in Settings > Cash Management > Credit Cards. Corporate cards link to a master account — such as American Express or a specific bank — and there's no limit to how many credit card programs your firm can configure. Individual cards go in as secondary credit cards, each linked directly to the expense user assigned to that card. One employee can carry more than one card, too — they'll see a dropdown in the credit card pane to choose which card's charges to pull from.

Importing transactions

The Import tab is where the time savings really start. It tells Vantagepoint how to read the transaction file from your bank — so when charges come in, most of the information is already populated. Less manual entry, fewer errors, cleaner data. Each card company formats its download file differently, so compare what's available from your bank when you set this up.

Ready to reconcile? Go to Cash Management > Credit Card Reconciliation and bring in charges — weekly or monthly, whichever fits your workflow. One statement period can hold multiple imports; just make sure all charges are in before you close it out. Every transaction in the import file also carries a unique identifier, so Vantagepoint recognizes charges it's already seen — duplicates don't import.

Under Settings > Expenses, you can also turn on reminders that alert employees when charges are ready to be added to a report. No more chasing people down at close.

Expense reports: web and mobile

Once charges are imported, employees can start building their expense reports right away — and this is where the workflow really comes together.

In the web interface, employees assigned to a credit card see a credit card charges pane directly on their expense report. It shows exactly how many transactions are waiting. They open the pane, select their charges, add them to the report, then fill in category, project, phase, task, and attach receipts — either from a network drive or by dragging and dropping.

Need to split a charge across two projects? After adding it to the report, an employee edits the dollar amount on that line. The remainder goes back to the credit card pane as a separate available charge — ready to be added as a second row on a different project. Clean split, no workarounds. It's also worth noting that imported charges can't be deleted from the system — an employee can remove a charge from their report, but it returns to the credit card pane. That keeps your reconciliation intact.

The mobile app handles the same workflow on the go. After logging in, employees see an alert for pending charges. They can start a new report or add to one already in progress, and the report syncs seamlessly between web and mobile. For firms with staff in the field, this is a meaningful difference at month-end.

Reconciling at month-end

When expense reports are posted, the reconciliation steps are straightforward. Under Cash Management > Credit Card Reconciliation:

• Enter the statement ending balance on the Summary tab
• Review total imported charges, what has cleared, and what remains uncleared
• On the Charges tab, click Clear All to mark all posted charges
• Return to the Summary tab — confirm the difference is zero
• Close the statement under Other Actions > Close Statement

Zero difference, closed statement. Clean, controlled, and fully documented.

The bottom line

Credit card reconciliation doesn't have to be a painful part of month-end close. Vantagepoint's built-in tools — import automation, the expense report integration, mobile access, and a straightforward reconciliation workflow — give your firm real control over company card activity without the manual effort. If you want to hear this process with more detail, check out the mini-demo recording.

We've helped firms of all sizes get more out of Vantagepoint's accounting features. If you want to dig into how this could work for your firm, reach out. 

Contact us at info@fullsailpartners.com — or follow Full Sail Partnerson LinkedIn to catch upcoming mini demos and events.

We recently hosted a webinar on the future of business intelligence with three of our BI specialists—Jake Lucas, Jason Kelly, and Sparsha Muppidi.

These are the people who spend their days deep in Vantagepoint data—building reports, troubleshooting gaps, and helping firms get more out of what they already have.

This session wasn’t theoretical. It was a practical look at what’s changing, what’s working, and what firms should be thinking about as reporting needs continue to evolve.

If you missed it (or just want the highlights), here’s a quick breakdown of what matters most.

Business Intelligence: Why It Matters Now

Most firms already have reporting in place. Dashboards exist. Data flows. Reports get built.

But as firms grow and questions get more specific, those tools don’t always keep up.

That’s where business intelligence comes in.

Modern BI isn’t about replacing Vantagepoint—it’s about making your data more usable in the moments it actually matters. And from what we see, that usually comes down to a few key things.

First, your data needs to be up to date. Decisions are time-sensitive, and what was true last week isn’t always helpful today.

Second, it needs to be accessible to the people who are accountable for it. If project managers, finance teams, or leadership have to go through someone else to get answers, reporting slows everything down.

Third, your data has to be presented in a way that makes sense. Not just tables and exports, but visuals that clearly show what’s happening and where attention is needed.

And finally, teams need the ability to explore that data on their own—filtering, drilling down, and answering follow-up questions without starting over or submitting a request. There’s also a piece that often gets overlooked: security. Strong BI tools respect your org structure, so the right people see the right data automatically. That’s what makes it possible to share dashboards more broadly without creating risk.

The reasoning to look into and invest in BI isn’t about more reports, it’s about being able to answer questions and interpret data faster—and with more confidence.

Informer: Structured, Fast, and Built for Self-Service

Informer is built around a simple idea: define your data once, use it everywhere.

Everything starts with a dataset—cleaned, structured, and calculated in one place, then reused across dashboards, reports, and exports.

From there, users can drill from high-level dashboards down to transaction detail, filter and explore data without breaking anything, and build dashboards quickly using drag-and-drop or AI-assisted tools.

The biggest benefit is consistency.

No duplicate reports. No conflicting numbers. No wondering which version is right.

And because everything stays within a governed environment, you avoid the usual “export to Excel and lose control” cycle.

Power BI: Flexible, Visual, and Built to Scale

Power BI shines when you need to look beyond a single system.

It can pull data from Vantagepoint, CRM platforms, HR systems, and more—bringing everything into one place.

That makes it a strong option for firms looking at cross-functional reporting.

On the front end, it offers highly visual, presentation-ready dashboards, interactive filtering and drill-through, and the ability to embed reports directly inside Vantagepoint so your team can access insights without changing how they work.

One key takeaway from the session: most firms don’t struggle with building reports—they struggle with structuring the data behind them.

That’s why starting with a clean, consistent data model makes all the difference.

Data Sources: How Everything Connects

Before any dashboard exists, your BI tool needs a reliable way to access your data.

For Vantagepoint users, that typically comes down to two options.

ODBC is a direct connection to your database. It refreshes a few times per day, provides full access to all tables, and is the most common and cost-effective setup for most firms.

DaaS, or Data as a Service, uses a cloud-based Snowflake layer. It refreshes more frequently—about every 30 minutes—and provides a more structured dataset, but comes at a higher investment and is typically better suited for larger firms.

The important thing is that this decision isn’t tied to Informer or Power BI—it applies to both. It’s really about your firm’s size, your reporting needs, and how current your data needs to be.

Where do you start?

Everything we’ve covered in this article and in the webinar is a conversation we’ve had with a client or a prospective client. This is the kind of guidance our team is providing and work they’re doing with firms every day. This path does not have a set starting or ending point – and each firm and their goals are very different. You don’t have to start from scratch, you could just need another perspective on refining what’s already there. Our BI experts are consistently cleaning up data, structuring it in a way that makes sense, and building reporting tools that people can actually use without overthinking it.

Because most teams don’t need more dashboards. They need clearer data, better visibility, and systems that support how they actually work.

If you’re starting to feel friction in your reporting—or like your data should be more useful than it is, that’s exactly where our team comes in. If you want to talk through what that a BI solution could look like for your firm, we’d love to chat.

Watch the recording of the webinar to hear more of the specifics, or reach out to learn more about how Full Sail Partners can help you with your business intelligence goals.

The spray-and-pray era is officially over

There was a time when marketing could rely on volume.

Big lists. Broad messaging. Hope something sticks.

That approach doesn’t hold up anymore.

In 2026, relevance is what gets attention—and relevance starts with knowing exactly who you’re talking to.

This month’s theme is refinement. Not adding more tools or more data, but getting sharper with what’s already there. And for most firms, that starts inside the CRM.More contacts doesn’t mean better marketing. Most AEC firms already have a full database. Thousands of contacts. Years of history. Plenty of information. But when it’s time to actually use that data, things tend to break down:

• Lists get pulled manually
• Fields are inconsistent or incomplete
• Teams don’t fully trust what’s in the system

So people work around it.

They export data. Build one-off lists. Ask around internally.

At that point, the CRM isn’t driving strategy—it’s just holding information. As noted in the upcoming demo, when data isn’t structured in a way that’s easy to use, teams stop relying on it altogether.

What most firms are missing: a complete picture of their contacts

At its core, a CRM like Deltek Vantagepoint is designed to do more than store names and email addresses.

It’s meant to give your team a complete view of every relationship—from basic contact details to communication history to how that individual connects to your firm’s projects and pursuits.

When that information is all in one place, marketing and BD teams aren’t guessing anymore. They can see:

• Who a contact is
• What markets they’re tied to
• How your firm has interacted with them over time
• Where they fit into future opportunities

That level of visibility is what makes segmentation possible in the first place. ou’re not just filtering a list—you’re working from a system that actually understands your audience.

Refining your audience starts with refining your data

The shift happens when contact data is structured intentionally. When that’s in place, the CRM becomes something different:

• A way to quickly find the right people
• A way to segment by market, role, and location
• A way to build lists that are actually usable

Instead of pulling a massive list and hoping it works, teams can narrow in on the exact audience they’re trying to reach.

That’s where marketing starts to feel more targeted—and a lot more effective.

Segmentation isn’t just a tactic—it’s how campaigns get better

Segmentation tends to get treated like a feature.

In reality, it’s what makes campaigns work.

When contact data is clean and structured, teams can:

• Target specific industries or sectors
• Focus on decision-makers instead of generic contacts
• Build campaigns directly inside the CRM
• Connect those audiences to email platforms without extra steps

It removes a lot of the friction that slows teams down—and makes it easier to execute consistently.

Where inbound marketing fits in

Inbound marketing only works when the message actually feels relevant to the person receiving it.

That sounds obvious, but it’s where a lot of firms quietly miss the mark.

It’s easy to focus on creating more content—more insights, more thought leadership, more campaigns—and assume that’s the lever. But if that content is going to a broad, loosely defined audience, it starts to feel generic pretty quickly. When everything feels a little too general, people tune it out.

That’s usually not a content problem, but rather a targeting problem. Without clear segmentation, even strong content gets diluted. It reaches too many of the wrong people and not enough of the right ones. Over time, that’s when teams start questioning whether inbound is “working,” when really it was never set up to land the way it should.

When contact data is refined and structured, the dynamic changes. Messaging can be aligned to specific markets, roles, and audiences. Campaigns feel more intentional. And the content that teams are already creating starts to perform the way they expected it to in the first place.

That’s what makes inbound effective—not just visibility, but relevance that actually connects.

What this looks like in practice

In the upcoming mini demo, Wesley walks through how this works inside Deltek Vantagepoint.

The focus is practical:

• Structuring contact records so data stays clean
• Identifying which fields actually matter for segmentation
• Filtering contacts to build targeted lists
• Turning those lists into campaign audiences
• Connecting CRM data to email marketing tools

It’s not about adding complexity—it’s about making the system easier to use, so teams actually use it.

Final thought: refine first, then scale

There’s a natural instinct to try to improve marketing results by doing more.

More emails. More campaigns. More outreach.

But if the data behind those efforts isn’t in a good place, more activity doesn’t fix the problem—it just amplifies it.

That’s how teams end up working harder without seeing better results. Refinement can break that cycle.

When contact data is consistent, structured, and aligned with how the firm actually operates, everything downstream starts to click. Lists come together faster. Campaigns are more targeted. Messaging doesn’t feel like a guess. Instead of constantly rebuilding or questioning the data, teams can rely on it—and spend their time actually executing.

Because at a certain point, it’s not about doing more marketing.

It’s about doing it with enough precision that it finally works.

If your team is still working around your CRM instead of using it, our upcoming mini-demo will show a different way forward.

Register now to save your seat—and start getting more out of the data you already have.

Here’s the thing about finance in Vantagepoint:

When the basics are solid, everything works. When they’re not… everything feels harder than it should.

And most of the time, it’s not because teams are doing anything wrong. It’s because over time, processes evolve, workarounds get layered in, and the original foundation gets a little… fuzzy.

That’s exactly why we’ve spent the past few months revisiting the core financial workflows inside Deltek Vantagepoint—not from an advanced or technical lens, but from a practical one.

Because when you get the fundamentals right—project setup, time and expense, billing—everything downstream gets easier, clearer, and a whole lot more reliable.

It Starts with Structure: Projects, Contracts, and Budgets

One of the biggest drivers of financial clarity (or chaos) is how projects are set up from the beginning.

In this recent blog, we looked at how aligning project structures with contracts and budgets can directly impact billing accuracy and profitability.

Because here’s the reality—if your project setup isn’t right, everything downstream gets harder:

• Billing becomes more manual
• Revenue recognition gets murky
• Reporting loses credibility

And suddenly your finance team is spending more time fixing issues than analyzing performance.

The Day-to-Day: Time, Expense, and Transaction Entry

Once projects are in motion, the next challenge is execution.

This is where a lot of firms feel the friction—because these processes happen constantly.

Time entry. Expense tracking. Transaction posting.

Individually, they seem simple. Together, they either create a smooth flow… or a daily headache.

When these workflows are set up well inside Vantagepoint, they don’t just support accounting—they actively reduce rework and improve confidence in your data. Check out another recent post where we go over this.

The Features You’re Probably Not Using (But Should Be)

Then there’s the other side of the equation: functionality that’s already there… just underutilized. Jenny Labranche, one of our accounting gurus, shares some of those features in her blog.

This is where things get interesting, because many firms aren’t dealing with a lack of tools—they’re dealing with untapped potential.

Small adjustments—whether it’s automation, approvals, or billing workflows—can have a big impact on:

• Efficiency
• Accuracy
• Visibility

Sometimes refining your process isn’t about adding something new. It’s about finally using what you already have.

Billing Still Doing Too Much Heavy Lifting?

And of course… billing. Always billing. Take a look at this blog from last year where Cynthia Fuoco shared background on simplifying invoice processes.

Because billing is where everything converges:

Projects → Time → Expenses → Contracts → Client expectations

If any part of that chain is off, billing is usually where it shows up first.

So What Does “Good” Actually Look Like?

All of these topics point to the same bigger question:

What should finance actually look like inside a project-based ERP when it’s working well?

Not theoretically.

Not in pieces.

But as a connected, real-world workflow.

If you want to see what this actually looks like in practice, we’re walking through it live next week.

In our upcoming Finance Basics Showcase Demo, we’ll connect the dots across project setup, time and expense, billing, and reporting—so you can see how it all works together inside Deltek Vantagepoint.

Most firms have more data than ever before — but far fewer answers than they expected.

That was the thread running through our recent LinkedIn Live with RTM Engineering Consultants.

We sat down with Ben Sermersheim and Andrew Slivka to talk about what it actually takes to turn Deltek Vantagepoint data into something people actually use — not just something that exists.

And if there was one thing that became clear quickly, it’s this: most firms don’t have a data problem. They have a clarity problem.

When “Reporting” Becomes the Work

RTM’s starting point wasn’t that unusual. Like many firms, they had access to the data they needed — it just wasn’t working as hard as it could.

Reporting meant pulling data out of Vantagepoint, rebuilding it in Excel, and recreating dashboards again and again. Over time, that process became less about insight and more about maintenance.

And as that cycle repeated, a few things started to happen. Reports didn’t always align. Teams spent more time preparing data than using it. And perhaps most importantly, trust in the numbers began to erode.

As Ben described it, different teams were often working from slightly different versions of the truth.

Why They Looked Beyond Vantagepoint

This wasn’t about replacing Vantagepoint. It was about making its data more accessible across the business.

RTM needed a way to connect data more flexibly, explore it more dynamically, and deliver it in a way that made sense for different users across the firm. Power BI opened that door — not as a standalone solution, but as a way to extend what Vantagepoint already does well.

But getting there wasn’t immediate.

The Moment Things Got… Complicated

RTM didn’t jump straight into outside support. They started where a lot of firms do — by trying to build it internally.

And to their credit, they made real progress.

They built early reports, created a working model, and proved that better reporting was possible. But as the system grew, so did the complexity. Manual refreshes started taking up more time. The underlying data structure became harder to navigate. And maintaining what they had built began to outweigh improving it.

That’s the point where many firms stall out.

Instead, RTM made a different decision: bring in the right support to move forward more effectively.

Building the Foundation First

When Full Sail Partners joined the effort, the focus wasn’t on dashboards or visuals. It was on the foundation.

Before anything else, the data itself had to be structured, validated, and made reliable.

That meant pulling Vantagepoint data into a centralized environment, organizing it into a consistent model, and ensuring that every metric tied back to a trusted source. It also meant removing the need to rebuild that structure every time a new report was created.

This kind of foundational work is what ultimately makes business intelligence scalable — and it’s the same approach we take across our broader Full Sail Partners offerings.

Once that foundation was in place, everything else became easier.

Andrew described the shift simply: instead of spending weeks preparing data, they could open Power BI, connect to a trusted dataset, and start building immediately.

Just as importantly, it created a clear division of strengths. Full Sail handled the complexity behind the scenes, while RTM focused on shaping reports around how their teams actually work.

Why Starting Small Made a Big Difference

One of the smartest moves RTM made was resisting the urge to do everything at once.

Instead of trying to connect every dataset, they focused on a few key areas first — employee data and high-level project financials. That smaller scope made it possible to validate the data quickly, fix issues early, and show progress right away.

That progress mattered.

Because trust in reporting tools isn’t built all at once — it’s earned over time. And for technical teams especially, even small inconsistencies can derail adoption.

By building incrementally, RTM gave their users something they could start using — and believing in — right away.

Turning Data Into Something People Use

Even with the right data in place, adoption doesn’t happen automatically.

RTM was intentional about how they introduced their new reporting environment. They validated every dataset against Vantagepoint before releasing it. They walked users through how metrics were calculated. They trained teams across the firm and created space for feedback.

They also identified internal champions — respected team members who could help bridge the gap between finance, leadership, and technical staff.

That combination made a difference.

Instead of pushing out reports and hoping people would use them, they built something that felt collaborative — something users could understand and trust.

What Changed

Once that foundation and trust were in place, the role of reporting shifted.

Instead of rebuilding reports or double-checking numbers, RTM’s team could focus on asking better questions. What used to take weeks now takes minutes. And the conversation moved from “Is this right?” to “What does this mean?”

Looking Ahead

RTM is now expanding their reporting environment into planning, forecasting, and CRM data — building on the same foundation they established early on.

It’s a natural next step. Once teams trust the data, they start asking for more of it — more context, more specificity, more ways to use it in their day-to-day decisions.

Advice for Firms Getting Started

A few takeaways that came through loud and clear:

Think long-term from day one
It’s much harder to retrofit a data structure later.

Don’t overbuild early
Start with what matters most and expand from there.

Design for the end user
If it’s not intuitive, it won’t get used.

Final Thought

This wasn’t just a conversation about Power BI.

It was about what it takes to move from:
data → to trusted data → to decisions.

And more often than not, that shift happens when the right tools are paired with the right foundation — and the right expertise.

This month, we’re focused on a simple idea: leverage.

Not as a buzzword, but as a practical way of thinking about how firms get more value from what they already have — and when to bring in the right tools, resources, or expertise to unlock even more.

Across our blogs, social content, and virtual sessions, we’re exploring what it really looks like to turn information into insight — and insight into better decisions.

Let’s take a closer look at how that plays out in today’s blog.

Most firms have more data than ever before — but far fewer answers than they expected.

Between project metrics, financial reports, utilization dashboards, and CRM insights, ERP systems like Deltek Vantagepoint generate an incredible amount of operational data about how a firm runs.

And yet, many leadership teams still find themselves asking the same question:

Why isn’t this data translating into clearer decisions?

The difference between a system that simply stores information and one that drives business decisions often comes down to something far less technical: expertise.

Why Data Alone Doesn’t Drive Better Decisions

In today’s business environment, data is everywhere. Firms track project performance, monitor utilization, analyze revenue forecasts, and review financial metrics across multiple systems.

All of that information is valuable — but raw data alone rarely answers the most important questions.

• Why are certain projects trending off budget?
• Why does utilization fluctuate between teams?
• Why are we so successful in one geographical area versus another?
• Why do reports sometimes tell a different story than what project leaders are experiencing day to day?

Numbers can highlight patterns, but they don’t always explain the context behind them. That context often lives with the people who understand how projects, finances, and operations function inside the firm.

Without that perspective, even the most sophisticated reporting can fall short of driving meaningful action.

ERP Systems Are Powerful — But They Still Need Expertise

Modern ERP platforms are designed to bring together many of the operational components that drive project-based businesses. They connect project data, financial performance, resource planning, and reporting into a single system that helps firms understand how their business is running.

When configured well, systems like Deltek Vantagepoint can provide real-time visibility into budgets, staffing, profitability, and project performance — helping teams make faster and more informed decisions.

But technology alone rarely solves operational challenges.

Even the best systems still depend on people to:

• structure projects correctly
• interpret reporting trends
• configure workflows that reflect real processes
• translate data into insights leadership can act on

Many firms begin exploring ways to optimize how their Deltek Vantagepoint system supports their operations once they realize that the technology itself is only one piece of the equation.

In other words, systems generate data.

People generate understanding.

The Internal Expertise Many Firms Overlook

One of the most valuable resources many firms have is also the easiest to overlook: their internal experts.

These are the people who understand the nuances of how the firm operates.

The project manager who knows how scope shifts impact budgets over time.
The finance professional who understands the complexities of revenue timing and billing.
The marketing leader who sees how pipeline and project delivery intersect.

These individuals carry years of practical knowledge about how the business runs — knowledge that doesn’t always live inside a system.

When their expertise is incorporated into how systems are structured and used, data becomes more meaningful.

Reporting reflects reality more accurately. Processes begin to align more naturally with the way teams work.

But that only happens when those experts are included in system conversations.

Too often, systems are designed around software capabilities instead of the people who rely on them every day.

And that’s where leverage gets lost.

Real Leverage Happens When Systems and Expertise Work Together

At its core, leverage isn’t about adding more tools.

It’s about getting more value from the systems, processes, and knowledge that already exist inside the firm and then filling the holes with the appropriate resource.

When the right people are connected to the right systems, data becomes far more than numbers on a screen. It becomes a foundation for better conversations, clearer reporting, and stronger decisions.

For example, some firms are combining Deltek Vantagepoint data with tools like Power BI to make reporting more accessible across their organization. We’ll be touching briefly on this approach in an upcoming LinkedIn Live conversation with RTM Engineering Consultants, where their team will share how they built dashboards that engineers and leadership teams use.

Stories like this illustrate an important point: technology becomes far more powerful when it is designed around how people work.

How Outside Experts Help Firms Unlock More Value from Their Systems

Internal expertise is essential, but sometimes the fastest way to uncover opportunities inside a system is by bringing in an outside perspective.

External consultants bring something internal teams rarely have access to: pattern recognition across many firms.

They’ve seen how different organizations structure projects, manage billing workflows, design reporting frameworks, and configure systems to support their operations.

Because of that experience, they can often identify opportunities quickly — whether that means adjusting project structures, simplifying reporting, or helping teams take advantage of capabilities already available inside their ERP.

In many cases, the biggest improvements don’t come from implementing new software.

They come from unlocking more value from the technology a firm already owns.

A structured review — such as a Navigational Analysis  — can help organizations evaluate how well their system configuration, data structure, and processes are working together.

Unlock More Value from Your System

If your firm has valuable data inside your ERP but struggles to translate it into meaningful insights, it may be time to bring a fresh perspective into the conversation.

Our team works with project-based firms every day to evaluate systems, align processes, and uncover opportunities to get more value from Deltek Vantagepoint.

Start a conversation with one of our consultants to explore where greater leverage might exist inside your system.

In the rush to explore dashboards, automation, and advanced analytics, it’s easy to overlook the fundamentals that keep a firm’s financial operations running smoothly.

Billing is one of those fundamentals.

For many professional services firms using Deltek Vantagepoint, batch billing remains one of the most efficient ways to process large volumes of invoices while maintaining control, consistency, and visibility across the accounting team.

But like many “everyday” tools in an ERP, its value often goes beyond the obvious.

Sometimes revisiting the basics reveals capabilities that make the entire process smoother, more transparent, and less risky for finance teams.

The Power of Processing Invoices in Batches

Batch billing exists for one primary reason: efficiency.

Instead of processing invoices one project at a time, accounting teams can generate invoices for multiple projects in a single run. For firms with dozens—or hundreds—of active projects each month, that shift alone dramatically reduces the time spent managing billing cycles.

It also helps create a more structured process. When invoices are generated together in a batch, teams gain a clearer view of what is being billed, when it was processed, and which invoices still require review or approval. In other words, it’s not just about speed—it’s about bringing consistency to the billing workflow.

Visibility Matters More Than You Think

One of the lesser-known aspects of batch billing is the Invoice Archive, where previously generated batch billing runs are temporarily stored.

By default, Vantagepoint can retain batch billing invoice archives for up to 720 hours (30 days) in Billing>Batch Billing. This archive can be useful when the user needs to revisit a prior run to confirm what invoices were generated, review draft invoices, or investigate questions about a billing cycle. With advanced settings, accounting teams can preview, print, and download Batch Billing Invoice Archive files for batch runs created by other users. Why does this matter?

Because in many firms, multiple people may be involved in the billing process. Being able to quickly reference prior billing runs can help accounting teams understand what has already been generated and avoid duplicate work or confusion during month-end.

It’s a small capability, but one that can save significant time when questions inevitably arise.

Avoiding Common Billing Pitfalls

Batch billing is powerful—but with that power comes responsibility.

One important consideration is user permissions, particularly around final batch billing runs.

If a firm accidentally processes a final batch billing run before invoices are fully reviewed, unwinding that action can be extremely difficult. Unlike many processes in an ERP, final batch billing doesn’t come with a simple “undo” button.

For this reason, many firms intentionally limit who has permission to run final batch billing. Restricting this capability in security roles helps ensure that invoices only move to final processing once they’ve been properly reviewed and approved.

It’s a small governance step that can prevent a very big headache.

Supporting the Draft Invoice Review Process

Another reason firms lean on batch billing is its ability to support structured draft invoice review workflows.

Many organizations use draft invoices to give project managers an opportunity to review billing details before anything is finalized. Within Vantagepoint, draft invoice approvals can include markup and annotation tools that allow reviewers to leave comments directly on the draft invoice.

Instead of long email chains or offline edits, feedback can happen directly inside the system. Notifications alert approvers when action is needed, helping move the process forward without constant follow-up from accounting.

For firms trying to tighten their billing timelines, these built-in workflows can make a noticeable difference.

When Email Limits Get in the Way

Another practical feature tied to batch billing addresses a challenge many firms have experienced at least once: email attachment limits.

Invoice packages can sometimes exceed the size allowed by email systems. When that happens, the message may fail to send entirely—often without the sender realizing it.

Vantagepoint includes an option that automatically replaces oversized invoice attachments with a secure download link. When enabled, recipients receive a link to retrieve the invoice instead of an attachment, ensuring the message still goes through.

For accounting teams that regularly send invoice packages to project managers or clients, this simple feature can eliminate an entire category of billing delays.

Sometimes the Basics Are the Real Efficiency Play

Batch billing may not be the newest feature inside Vantagepoint, but it remains one of the most practical tools for finance teams managing high project volumes.

When configured thoughtfully, it provides:

• Faster invoice processing
• Greater visibility into billing activity
• Built-in review workflows
• Reduced risk of accidental billing errors
• Better handling of large invoice distributions

And perhaps most importantly, it helps accounting teams create a repeatable billing process that supports both accuracy and speed.

In an industry where project finances move quickly, that kind of reliability is invaluable.

As firms continue exploring automation, reporting, and advanced data strategies within Vantagepoint, it’s worth remembering that strong systems are built on strong fundamentals. Tools like batch billing may feel familiar, but when used intentionally, they can still unlock meaningful efficiency across the finance team.

If your firm is looking to refine billing workflows or get more out of Deltek Vantagepoint, the consultants at Full Sail Partners work with project-based organizations every day to align financial processes with the realities of how teams actually operate.

There’s a quiet tug-of-war happening inside many firms.

HR wants timesheets to be simple and consistent. Payroll wants alignment with pay cycles. The CFO wants time posted in the correct financial period.

And when a weekly timesheet spans two different months, those priorities collide.

If your firm runs weekly or bi-weekly timesheets in Deltek Vantagepoint, you’ve likely run into this scenario: a Monday–Sunday timesheet crosses from one month into the next. Now you’re forced to decide — where does that time get posted?

Unfortunately, the native functionality in Vantagepoint posts time based on the week-ending date. That means an entire week could land in May, even if several days clearly belong in April.

That’s where the headaches begin.

The Common Payroll and Posting Workarounds

Over time, firms have tried several approaches to solve this alignment issue.

Bi-Monthly Payroll

Some firms run payroll on the 15th and the last day of the month.

Finance teams appreciate this because it avoids payroll accruals and keeps financial periods clean. But those cutoff dates don’t always align with a Friday, which makes weekly submission habits harder to enforce. Employees miss deadlines. Follow-up increases.

Bi-Weekly Payroll

Other firms maintain a true bi-weekly payroll schedule with 26 pay periods per year.

This makes timesheet enforcement simple and payroll predictable. But when a week spans two months, accounting must choose which financial period to post it in — often leading to month-end payroll accruals or manual adjustments.

Shortened “Split” Weeks

Some firms attempt to manually solve the problem by creating shortened weeks at month-end.

A three-day week here. A one-day week there.

Technically, it works. But it disrupts the natural Monday–Sunday rhythm employees are used to. Confusion increases, compliance drops, and the chasing begins again.

None of these solutions fully satisfy HR, Payroll, and Finance at the same time.

A Smarter Solution: The Timesheet Split Utility

Instead of forcing employees or payroll to adjust, what if the system handled the split automatically?

That’s exactly what our Timesheet Split Utility was designed to do.

This custom solution allows you to split a single timesheet period between two financial periods before posting — without changing the employee experience at all.

Employees continue entering time exactly as they always have. Same Monday–Sunday cadence. Same approval workflow. No short weeks. No retraining.

Once timesheets are fully approved (but not yet posted), a system administrator runs the Timesheet Split Utility.

The tool:

• Confirms both financial periods are open

• Identifies the week-ending date

• Automatically splits the timesheet by month

• Generates separate posting logs for each financial period

Now the April portion posts to April. The May portion posts to May.

Clean financial reporting. No payroll accrual. No employee confusion.

What About Payroll and Reporting?

For firms running in-house payroll, nothing changes. Payroll is processed by date — not posting logs — so this utility does not disrupt processing.

For firms using outsourced payroll and the Export to Pay feature, you’ll simply select one additional posting log when needed.

Utilization reporting and dashboards remain intact because this is strictly a posting log adjustment. It does not alter how employees enter time or how date-based reporting functions.

In short, you maintain weekly consistency while eliminating month-end payroll accruals.

Is This Right for Your Firm?

The Timesheet Split Utility is a strong fit for firms that:

• Run weekly or bi-weekly timesheets

• Want to avoid month-end payroll accruals

• Prefer not to create shortened “off-cycle” weeks

• Care about posting labor into the correct financial period

Please note: this utility is not applicable for firms using the JCV feature.

Built for Project-Based Firms

At Full Sail Partners, we specialize in helping project-based firms align their systems with how they actually operate. With decades of experience supporting Deltek users nationwide, we focus on practical, real-world solutions that improve efficiency without overcomplicating your processes

You don’t have to choose between payroll simplicity and clean financials.

Sometimes the solution isn’t changing your people or your payroll cycle — it’s giving your system the flexibility it should have had all along.

If you’re ready to explore whether the Timesheet Split Utility could work for your firm, check out the mini-demo with Jenny Labranche, Timesheet Split Utility. If you’re still interested, reach out for a consultation!