Hansen Engineering Group: From spreadsheets to real-time visibility

Total Synergy transformed fast-growing engineering firm Hansen Engineering Group, helping them scale with confidence.

Over the last six years, Hansen Engineering Group has grown from a one-person operation into a multi-person consultancy. But with that growth came increased project complexity and challenges around revenue forecasting and workload. After finding that spreadsheets just weren’t cutting it anymore, they turned to Total Synergy.

Like many engineering firms in their early stages, Hansen Engineering Group initially relied on Xero and Excel spreadsheets to manage projects, budgets, and forecasts.

That approach worked. Until it didn’t.

As the business grew, cracks began to appear:

• Limited visibility over future revenue and workload
• Manual spreadsheets that were time-consuming and prone to errors
• Project tracking tools not designed for time-based professional services
• Growing pressure on the Director to personally oversee every project

“I was just making do with Xero and spreadsheets. But then as the company grew and we took on more staff and more projects and needed to track billables closely, it got to the point where I needed to take it more seriously.” – Tim Hansen, Director, Hansen Engineering Group

As the firm scaled, Tim also found it increasingly difficult to answer fundamental questions with confidence:

• Do we have enough work coming in?
• Are we stretched too thin, or do we need to chase more work?
• Are projects actually tracking to time and budget?

Without clear, real-time data, decision-making was often more intuitive than the firm wanted it to be.

Built specifically for engineering firms

After a recommendation from another local engineering firm, Tim revisited Total Synergy as the business reached a natural turning point.

What stood out immediately was that Total Synergy was purpose-built for architecture and engineering practices, not adapted from accounting or trade software.

For Tim, the clear visual revenue forecasting, purpose-built project management and time-tracking tools and having a system that could scale with the firm made the decision a no-brainer.

Since implementation, Total Synergy has become embedded into daily operations, supporting project setup, time tracking, budgeting, and invoicing as Hansen Engineering expanded.

The right software has helped the firm make key improvements across a number of impactful areas:

• Project tracking: Day-to-day visibility over budgets, hours, and performance
• Revenue forecasting: Understanding future workload at a glance
• Earned value metrics: Fast insight into schedule and cost performance

Revenue forecasting with confidence

One of the most valuable capabilities for Tim was Total Synergy’s revenue forecasting board.

With multiple proposals at different stages and probabilities, Tim gained clear, forward-looking visibility into the months ahead. This replaced manual spreadsheets and gave Tim confidence to make proactive decisions about workload, staffing, and growth.

As Hansen Engineering Group has continued to grow, having the right software means that project tracking, delegation of responsibility and structured monthly reviews are easier than ever, giving Tim more time to focus on strategy and profits.

“The ability to delegate responsibility on a project-by-project basis to senior engineers or other staff has freed me up to be more strategic in my role rather than project managing day to day.” – Tim Hansen, Director, Hansen Engineering Group

Scaling with confidence using Total Synergy

Hansen Engineering Group is proof that with the right systems in place, fast-growing engineering firms can scale with clarity, confidence, and control, regardless of their size.

“In hindsight, I should have just started with Total Synergy on day one. I would definitely recommend it. Even if you think you’re too small; if you’re taking your business seriously, and you want to make sure your projects are performing and you’re able to hold people accountable to budgets and timeframes, then it’s a no brainer.” – Tim Hansen, Director, Hansen Engineering Group

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