Best Professional Services Automation Software - PSA in 2024

There are scores of good quality Professional Services Automation (PSA) software programs in the market. This makes selecting a suitable one for your needs a hard task. This buyer’s guide aims to make it easier for you by providing useful tips on how to recognize the best professional services automation software. Start your search by browsing FinancesOnline.com’s comprehensive review list of the leading PSA platforms in the market to do educated comparisons.

You can start by evaluating the tools that have received the highest SmartScore rankings in our professional services automation software reviews. These systems are sure to offer top-rate features and online functionalities. Sign up for the free trials or demo offered by these professional services automation software providers to check out the products’ features in detail and do a comparison. Ask your company’s users to evaluate the software and get their feedback on each app’s advantages and drawbacks. Use the free trial period to gauge how the app can help to improve your company’s productivity and bottom line and to choose the best PSA software for enterprises and SMBs. These are the solutions that have received a high SmartScore in the PSA software subcategory: Clarizen reviews, Vorex PSA, StarChapter, Rocket Matter, FinancialForce PSA, Clio, Promys PSA, Mavenlink, and ProWorkflow.

Companies in the following industries can benefit from using professional services automation tools:

• Marketing services
• Management consultancy
• Engineering
• Construction
• Computer software services
• Audit
• Architecture
• Advertising
• Accountancy
• Legal
• Business consulting
• Finance
• Environmental
• Change management
• Human resources

• Clarizen: Clarizen offers a unique combination of robust project management and top quality social collaboration features.
• Mavenlink: Mavenlink is a leading online project management system that offers advanced financial, collaboration, and resource planning tools.
• Workfront: Formerly called AtTask, Workfront is a comprehensive, scalable, and effective project and work management solution.
• FinancialForce PSA: FinancialForce PSA is a robust, cloud-based PSA platform that integrates business automation tools with the Force.com cloud computing solution.
• Rocket Matter: It is a legal management application designed specifically for small business and mid-sized practices.

PSA software comprise of the following types:

• Timesheet systems (including expense reporting and project management)
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
• Resource management
• Opportunity and knowledge management

Popular Versions of PSA Software

Best professional services automation software vendors are using the software as a service (SaaS) model and on-premise versions are getting outdated. Cloud-hosted solutions offer many advantages such as integration flexibility and customizations. These versions make it easy for remote workers to access projects anytime, anywhere as they do not have to be device dependent.

The following features are commonly found in PSA software systems:

Client Invoicing

• Invoice creation and delivery – You can create invoices and deliver them to clients effortlessly
• Electronic payments – Accept digital payments to receive dues on time
• Project accounting/revenue recognition – These features help you  keep your books accurate

Project Resource Management

• Budget tracking – Monitor your budget to ensure project expenses stay in control
• Forecasting – This feature helps you to predict accurately and use available resources properly
• Client portal – Clients can use this portal for information and collaboration
• Skills tracking – Helps you know about the specific skills of each individual team member so that you can assign appropriate tasks to them
• Resource loading/scheduling – These features help you to effectively use available resources.

Administration

• Standard integrations – Integrations with popular business apps boost overall productivity
• Workflow – Design and use an effective workflow for project success
• Automated reminders – These are notifications about due dates and deadlines
• Policy compliance management – Helps your company comply with standard rules and policies
• User, role, and access management – This feature ensures you provide appropriate access to each user based on their role

Platform

• Reporting – Reporting and analytics feature helps project managers make smart business decisions
• Internationalization – This feature helps multinational organizations with international offices and clients
• Performance and reliability – The PSA software should ensure high performance and reliability to ensure project success
• Mobile user support – Mobile users should be able to access the system to stay productive on the go
• Offline – You should be able to access and update the system even when offline

• Professional services automation tools allow you to track a project’s workflow from initial planning to invoicing. 
• Add transparency to projects that include multiple departments for simpler collaboration and cooperation.
• View the available resources easily and ensure they are used productively without idle time.
• Keep your data and information organized in a centralized location for easy access.
• Leverage analytical, customizable reports to make insightful business decisions based on accurate data.
• Compare profit predictions with actual project financials.
• Manage and measure the delivery of professional services at scale.
• Achieve optimized resource utilization.
• Drive higher profit margins.

As you go about evaluating PSA software, you should consider the latest trends in the industry and how software vendors address the growing needs. The following trends are becoming widespread in the PSA software market:

Cloud computing – Service companies in the US and around the globe are investing in nimble and cost-effective solutions. As mentioned earlier, on-premise software apps are becoming outdated. Cloud-based solutions offer a host of advantages and reduce the company’s IT burden.

Interest-based resource utilization – It is important to reduce employee turnover to improve profit margins. Smart service companies are investing in PSA solutions that enable them to consider employees’ interests while assigning projects to ensure motivation. This helps them to match their best employees with the projects they are most interested in working on.

Customer collaboration – PSA software helps service companies to work collaboratively with their clients. Customers are given direct access to data such as vendor schedules which enables them to see project timeliness, and invoices that they can review and approve remotely via the cloud. This helps to improve customer retention. The latest technology provides instant permission which allows vendors and customers to access updated project information.

Integrated project management and accounting – Using separate systems for project management and accounting can lead to mistakes and time wastage. Unifying both can improve data cleanliness and minimize uneducated decisions. A single PSA software helps managers to see the project stage and progress in real time which enables them to take appropriate decisions.

To select the right PSA solution for your team, here are some useful suggestions:

• Identify the goals and needs of your business.
• Frame your needs using actual business goals, e.g., “The PSA will help identify how employees spend time per project.”
• Prioritize your needs. Separate the urgent PSA features from future capabilities.
• Include qualitative aspects like ease-of-use.
• After making a list of needed features, start analyzing PSA software vendors.
• Refer to popular software review and comparison sites for added, expert info.
• From the resulting shortlist, avail some free trials or schedule product demos.
• Make the final purchasing decision.

The vast benefits that PSA software brings to professional service providers often outweigh the related costs. Nonetheless, there are factors that must be considered when establishing the total cost of ownership of a PSA platform:

1. Software deployment. Vendors offer diverse “per user” pricing schemes; some are role driven or value-based, while others are flat priced. The price range for PSA software can be broad, although most businesses tend to deploy a platform that costs between $25–$50 per user on average.
2. Yearly change in pricing. After one year of deployment, you must ensure the PSA software’s pricing scheme and contract arrangements are based on your sustained satisfaction.
3. Profitability enhancements. The profit advantage that professional services providers gain from using PSA solution should be able to pay for a year’s subscription in less than a month.

Companies that try to introduce PSA software commonly face the following issues and challenges:

• The company may need to make substantial changes such as business process re-engineering as well as re-design inefficient but comfortable workarounds.
• Staff would have to be re-trained to change from the existing software environment to use the new application.
• Senior management may not approve the purchase of PSA software if they are not convinced about the benefits of the solution.

We hope this buyer’s guide has apprised you about the strengths and drawbacks of PSA software. Do proper research and thoroughly evaluate your shortlisted PSA applications to ensure you select an appropriate solution for your business needs.