How Artefact Reduced Overruns and Strengthened Financial Control with Total Synergy

Artefact is a heritage consultancy delivering complex, project-based work across Australia. With teams managing fieldwork, reporting, logistics, and compliance, clear visibility of time, budgets, and future workload is essential; for leadership and consultants alike.

Total Synergy plays a central role in providing that clarity, supporting Artefact’s operational maturity and helping teams stay in control of project performance.

Resetting the Way Artefact Worked

Before fully leveraging Total Synergy, staff were still relying on manual tools to track and report on projects. Project managers and leaders were juggling invoices and revenue forecasting, using workaround tools that weren’t effective.

By refocusing how the platform was used, Artefact began seeing measurable improvements across the business:

• More timesheets were done correctly and on time
• Better invoicing processes and increased visibility for project managers
• Regular finance reports for better billing insights
• Less project overrun

Artefact’s goal wasn’t to force adoption, but to help teams understand what these tools could do, and when they were genuinely useful. This approach has allowed Total Synergy to evolve as Artefact does, rather than becoming shelfware.

Now, timesheets capture reliable data on where effort is being spent, while invoicing is fully managed within the platform. The finance team are confident power users, building custom reports that support both operational and leadership decision-making.

“Our finance department are excellent at using this tool. They love it and are quite competent moving around the workspace. My finance manager is also excellent at building reports.” – Stephanie Moore, Operations Manager, Artefact

Clarity Where It Matters Most

For Artefact, the standout strength of Total Synergy lies in forecasting and budget visibility.

Consultants don’t need to see financial complexity. They need simple, actionable insight: how many hours they’ve spent, whether they’re over or under budget, and what’s coming next. Total Synergy provides that clarity without overwhelming users.

“In Total Synergy, our budget management is incredibly clear. I’ve used systems that aren’t clear and this provides people with the very high-level overview that they actually need.” – Stephanie Moore, Operations Manager, Artefact

This visibility has led to earlier intervention on projects at risk of overruns, reducing large, unmanageable WIP and giving teams a stronger sense of ownership.

With these improvements in place, planning and reporting represent the next frontier for Artefact.

By improving scheduling literacy and ensuring accurate data entry, the consultancy is galvanising its strategic, organisation-wide planning; with a more informed broader view of capacity, workload, and future demand.

Confidence in the Platform and the Partnership

Having a software purpose-built for their industry’s needs has made all the difference for Artefact.

Support, training and resources are built around how project-based consultancies actually scope, cost and deliver work. That alignment removes complexity and builds confidence across the business.

“There’s a lot of confidence in Total Synergy because I can see the development that’s being put into it. I see how quickly our feedback actually gets turned into real world outcomes. Feeling like I’m heard when I do have feedback is a great feeling.” – Stephanie Moore, Operations Manager, Artefact

Today, Total Synergy is more than a project management system at Artefact. It’s a core operational platform that supports clarity, accountability and sustained growth.

Featured Project

Central Station Upgrades

Sydney’s transport hub at Central Station is being upgraded to incorporate the new Sydney Metro City and Southwest services.

Since 2017, Artefact has been working with various providers across a range of projects to identify and manage the industrial heritage left over from 160 years of railway development, providing onsite industrial heritage expertise to identify archaeological remains, determine the significance of the remains, and present management measures for implementation during works.

Artefact was able to identify remains from the first railway turntable in NSW dating back to 1855 as well as the remains of the 1860s-era locomotive shed and the 1870s-era Goods Shed.