Profitdrive//
AREA 02 / 06·Projects and Delivery

Deliver the margin you sold.

Hold delivery to the margin you signed for. Start from the deal you sold, and see every staffing or scope change as margin as it happens.

The pain
A deal is signed at a fixed price and a 40% margin, with two senior consultants for 16 weeks. Two weeks in, one is reassigned. By week eight, scope has grown twice without agreement. The client is happy, yet margin ends at 18%, and nobody can trace which decision cost it.
BEHAVIOUR 01 / 03

Change staffing and scope in the Project Plan, and watch the margin move.

When a senior comes off the project, the row stays as an open role, still costed at its standard cost rate. Hold it open, take a substitute at lower cost or scale back the allocation. Margin recalculates with each change, so you see what losing the senior costs and what a mid-level brings back.
Profitdrive//Caldera Group▾
Overview
Project Plan
Project Financials
Variance
Time
Notes & Actions
Timeline
Harrow & Vance·HV-PRJ-021·Project Type: Fixed Price
TotalPhase 1 · DeliveryPhase 2 · Change Request+
DeliveryStart 1 Oct 2026 · End 31 Jan 2027Pricing: Fixed Price
Fixed Price$310,000
Bottom-up $256.2K* + $53.8K contingency+Add Person
RolePersonDates / Alloc %Charge rateRevenueCM%Cost rate
Engagement LeadArlo Alder1 Oct 2026–31 Jan 202750% · 42 days$1,400$58.8K*—$1,000
Senior ConsultantBen Birch1 Oct 2026–31 Jan 2027100% · 84 days$1,250$105K*—$900
ConsultantCora Cascade1 Oct–30 Nov 2026100% · 42 days$1,000$42K*—$750
PrincipalAva Aster1 Dec 2026–31 Jan 2027100% · 42 days$1,200$50.4K*—$1,000
Software licenceOther Cost1 Oct 2026–31 Jan 2027————$2.5K
ContingencySystem———$53.8K——
Total days
210
2.4 FTE
Charge rate
$1,476
Total revenue
$310K / Fixed Price
CM%
37.5%
Delivery Cost
$193.6K
CM% Δ vs Target−7.5 pp
The Project Plan: a row for each person or role, with charge rate and CM% against target, and a change request waiting to be signed.
BEHAVIOUR 02 / 03

Price extra scope before anyone agrees to absorb it.

The client asks for extra reporting. Delivery adds it to the Project Plan as an unsigned phase, priced, and it shows in + Extensions, apart from Contracted, until the client signs. Five more days of a senior at $780 is $3,900 of revenue and about $700 of contribution, in front of the delivery manager before anyone decides to absorb, price or defer it.
The Variance tab compares plans. It splits the change in revenue, cost and days into Effort, Cost Rate and Scope, so you see what moved the margin. A salary increase awarded across the firm after the deal was priced shows as Cost Rate, apart from what the project manager controls.
Profitdrive//Caldera Group▾
Overview
Project Plan
Project Financials
Variance
Time
Notes & Actions
Timeline
Export
Harrow & Vance·ERP phase 2·HV-PRJ-021·1 Oct 2026 to 31 Mar 2027
VariancePlan vs Actual
All phases
Variance versusBudget*
BudgetEffortCost RateScopeNowDelta
Revenue$310.0K––+$60.0K$370.0K+$60.0K
Daily Rate$1,550–––$1,480−$70
Delivery Cost$170.5K+$18.6K+$4.5K+$26.72K$220.32K+$49.82K
Contribution Margin$139.5K−$18.6K−$4.5K+$33.28K$149.68K+$10.18K
CM%45.0%–––40.5%−4.5 pp
Delivery days200+10–+40250+50
No variance on Pricing, Mix.ReconcilesBudget plus Effort, Cost Rate and Scope equals Now on revenue, cost and days.
The Variance tab: Budget plus Effort, Cost Rate and Scope equals Now, on revenue, cost and days.
BEHAVIOUR 03 / 03

Read every project's margin in one summary, then close the month on accepted time.

The Project Financials Summary lists each project's revenue, delivery cost and contribution margin, with billed days and daily rate and cost beside them.
When Timecards are on, accepted time becomes each project's actual cost at month end.
Projects opens as a list or a Gantt. Each project has tabs for Overview, Project Plan, Project Financials, Variance, Notes & Actions and Timeline, and a Time tab when Timecards are on.
Profitdrive//Caldera Group▾

Projects

ProjectsGanttProject Financials Summary
Oct 2026 to Mar 2027
Harrow & Vance
Contracted + Extensions
Project Financials
Client – Project – Close monthOct 26Nov 26Dec 26Jan 27Feb 27Mar 27Total
Revenue$76,100$76,100$78,900$78,900$30,000$30,000$370K
Harrow & Vance – ERP phase 2$76,100$76,100$78,900$78,900$30,000$30,000$370K
Delivery Cost$46,275$46,275$50,525$50,525$13,360$13,360$220.32K
Contribution Margin$29,825$29,825$28,375$28,375$16,640$16,640$149.68K
CM%39.2%39.2%36.0%36.0%55.5%55.5%40.5%
Delivery KPIs
KPIOct 26Nov 26Dec 26Jan 27Feb 27Mar 27Total
Billed Days535352522020250
FTE2.52.52.52.51.01.02.0 avg.
Daily Rate$1,436$1,436$1,517$1,517$1,500$1,500$1,480
Daily Cost$873$873$972$972$668$668$881
The Project Financials Summary: each project's revenue, delivery cost and contribution margin, with billed days, daily rate and daily cost.
The question this answers

How do you track project profitability as delivery changes?

Start delivery from the Deal Model you sold. Change staffing, phasing and scope in the Project Plan, and price extra scope as a change, so each project's margin stays visible as delivery changes.

Where this connects.

Pipeline and deal pricing

See how deals are priced

People cost and capacity

See capacity and cost

Timecards and delivered cost

See how time is captured

On the project that lost the most margin last year, when did you find out, and what would you have done with that news in week two?

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