• Cosmonauts & Kings
• Industry: Consulting & Communications
• Employees: 50
• Location: Germany

Before and after Scoro

Cosmonauts & Kings used four separate tools to manage their business, which led to operational inefficiencies. Their tool stack included:

• Pipedrive for sales
• Harvest for time tracking and forecasting time 
• Monday.com for project management 
• Easy Bill for creating quotes and invoices

“We lacked a reliable source for all our business and financial data. The disconnect between internal costs, external providers, and revenues made many issues invisible and unreportable.”

Izabela Wisniewska

COO

After Izabela, the new COO, joined the company, she recognized that scattered data was the source of many issues. Without a unified system, it was nearly impossible to improve efficiency or get a complete picture of projects and financials. So, she wanted to make changes immediately.

“I chose Scoro because I had used it successfully at my previous company and was impressed with its features. I appreciate how it provides a complete overview and reporting tools, covering everything from the pipeline and quotes to task management and invoicing, all of which are easy to access and track.”

Izabela Wisniewska

COO

1. Situation before: Low billable utilization

Employees of Cosmonauts & Kings tracked their time already before Scoro. However, they were not able to distinguish between billable and non-billable hours. Therefore, they did not know if they were hitting their billable utilization targets or not.

After they started monitoring this metric in Scoro, they realized their billable utilization was far lower than targeted. And they were spending too much time in meetings.

Result with Scoro: Billable utilization is rising

Now, with Scoro, they can understand and manage their billable utilization much better.

Each task is tagged with a relevant billable or non-billable activity type, such as ‘event management’, ‘consulting’, or ‘internal work’. As a result, when people log time against the tasks, their time is automatically categorized as billable or non-billable and compiled into a report. 

Thanks to these insights, Cosmonauts & Kings was able to review and reduce non-billable activities. They are now aiming to keep their billable utilization at 70% or higher.

2. Situation before: Overservicing clients

Cosmonauts & Kings was also struggling with overservicing. It was hard to compare estimated vs actual project budgets because quoting, time tracking, invoicing, and cost management were done in separate systems.  

“Our challenge with overservicing was that we often invoiced too late or went over budget because we didn’t have a clear overview of what had been billed and what was still pending.”

Izabela Wisniewska

COO

In order to invoice for the project, time records had to be exported from Harvest and imported into their billing software. It was an error-prone process – if anyone changed their time log, it was difficult to track the changes and be sure the time was billed for. 

They faced similar struggles with external cost tracking. It was difficult to monitor whether all the necessary expenses were passed through to the clients or not.

Result with Scoro: Control over external costs and improved margins

Now, all that data lives in Scoro, and project budgets can be monitored in real-time. Whenever anyone logs time against the project, adds a new purchase invoice, or issues an invoice to the client, it’s instantly reflected in the project budget.

“Now, thanks to Scoro, we can clearly see how each external provider or additional hour affects our profitability. Another major challenge was managing numerous spreadsheets to track key business KPIs. Now, Scoro automates these reports.”

Izabela Wisniewska

COO

To gain better control and visibility over external costs, Cosmonauts & Kings started using Purchase Orders in Scoro. Once the cost is confirmed with the freelancer, a PO is raised.

This helps track the committed cost and account for it in the budget before the purchase invoice is received from the supplier. This means there are no last-minute surprises that can derail the project’s profitability.

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• Ad Esse Consulting
• Industry: Performance Improvement Consultancy
• Employees: 11
• Location: UK

Setup before:

• Hubspot for sales management
• Spreadsheets for project management, time tracking, resource planning, invoicing and reporting
• Xero for accounting

Ad Esse’s team realized their data was too scattered. The disconnect between numerous software and spreadsheets caused errors, wasted time, and resulted in poor visibility into business results.

Before and after Scoro

After a thorough search to find the best software that would consolidate their processes, Ad Esse decided to: 

• Implement Scoro’s end-to-end work management software to replace Hubspot and all their spreadsheets
• Integrate Scoro and Xero 
• Use Scoro’s onboarding services to get guidance on implementing Scoro in the best possible way.

Here’s what they achieved in a nutshell:

Let’s break down the challenges they faced prior to using Scoro and the results they achieved with the change.

1. Situation before: Scattered data, manual processes, no real-time visibility

Ad Esse was using several tools and dozens of spreadsheets to run their business. Budgeting, time tracking, invoicing, resourcing all lived in different places. It took hours to piece together the information and update all the necessary spreadsheets. 

“We spent around three hours a week reconciling and reaching a point where we were confident we had the full picture of what was happening on projects.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

And even with all this effort, they were still missing the real-time view of the project and business progress.

“We finally understood how crucial it is to see the full picture – how projects, billing, tasks, and performance metrics all connect. We didn’t have this view before, which made it hard to make smart business choices.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

Result with Scoro: Dozens of hours saved each week

Now, Ad Esse’s team saves hours on admin tasks each week thanks to consolidated data and automations. All the necessary reports are compiled automatically in real time. 

• Each team member saves approximately 15 minutes every day on spreadsheet reporting. 
• The Finance Manager saves over 5 hours every week on invoicing and project tracking.
• Directors save over 3 hours every week on reconciling information and reviewing performance data.

“Previously, all our KPIs were focused on completing administrative activities, such as the completeness of spreadsheet data entries. Now, our focus has shifted towards project execution and achieving outcomes.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

2. Situation before: Delays in invoicing and payment collection

As Ad Esse relied heavily on spreadsheets, there was little flexibility with invoicing. Projects could only be invoiced after completion because it was nearly impossible to keep track of invoiced and uninvoiced amounts otherwise.

Consequently, invoices weren’t issued as promptly as they could have been, which caused significant delays in payments.

“The lag between resource spent and income for that resource could be between one and three months. This made cashflow difficult.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

Result with Scoro: Payments are collected 30-60 days faster

Ad Esse has been able to start invoicing their clients earlier and collect payments faster. 

With Scoro, they can use various invoicing methods, such as prepayment invoices, invoices based on work or stage completed, and automatic recurring invoices. 

As a result:

• They clearly understand how much has already been invoiced and paid. 
• On average, they issue invoices and collect payments 30-60 days faster than before.
• They have a clear insight into their invoicing schedule and can accurately predict when to expect payments. 

“Our Finance Manager feels much more involved. We’ve implemented notifications that alert her whenever new projects are initiated, serving as her cue to issue invoices. This has greatly streamlined and automated our invoicing process.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

The Onboarding Process

To implement Scoro, Ad Esse chose guided onboarding. This means their implementation was coordinated by Scoro’s Onboarding Expert.

“We know the value of expertise. Hence, I advise others to invest in the most comprehensive onboarding package because you’ll never know the system. So you do need the advice. Don’t try and do it yourself. It will work. You just need someone to tell you how to make it work.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

Ad Esse picked two champions from their side who participated actively in each onboarding stage. The rest of the team was only involved in team training. 

The entire process took three months. From the first welcome call to the team adoption. 

“Our Onboarding Expert was incredible. She patiently guided us through each step in detail. Given the extensive customizations we required, she effectively managed the process, ensuring everything was adjusted to fit our needs perfectly.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

The Onboarding Expert helped to implement the software step by step:

1. Agreeing on the timeline, goals, and expectations

The implementation started with a kick-off call to agree on the timeline, goals, and working agreements.

“I loved that the project plan lived in our Scoro environment. We could track all the important milestones and get used to the software simultaneously.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

It was agreed that Scoro’s Onboarding Expert‘s role is to:

• Analyze Ad Esse’s requirements
• Propose a workflow that suits their needs
• Assist with technical configurations and data migration
• Deliver team training sessions
• Keep track of the onboarding timeline and action items

Ad Esse’s role was to:

• Communicate business requirements and goals
• Test the proposed workflows
• Follow the instructions for data import, prepare the data, and verify all information is correct
• Manage change within a team – make sure people know why Scoro is implemented and that everyone feels comfortable using it

“It was very clear what our role in the project was and what was expected of us to succeed.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

2. Business process mapping

During the business process mapping session, the Onboarding Expert asked questions about Ad Esse’s current ways of working.

This approach ensured that the Onboarding Expert could propose the best possible workflows in Scoro that align with the client’s needs.

3. Implementing the system step-by-step

After that, Ad Esse and the Onboarding Expert had weekly calls.

On each call, a new part of the software was introduced:

• Sales (Contact Management, Quoting)
• Project and Time management
• Resource planning
• Finances & reporting, etc.

During each of the calls, the Onboarding Expert:

• Demonstrated how to use that part of the system
• Gave guidance on how to customize the platform to Ad Esse’s needs
• Gave clear instructions on how Ad Esse’s team can test the workflow independently

In between the weekly calls, Ad Esse was testing the proposed solution. If some parts of the flow needed adjustment or were unclear, they emailed the Onboarding Expert.

4. Data importing

Ad Esse migrated their data to Scoro step by step, allowing them to use parts of Scoro immediately.

The Contact database was imported first. Their priority was to replace Hubspot and start using Scoro’s CRM and quoting functionality.

“We did lots of imports, and I thought it’d be complicated because we were moving the pipeline from HubSpot, but it was actually really easy.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

The data migration process looked as follows:

• The Onboarding Expert identified data points Ad Esse needed to have about each Contact/Company
• The Onboarding Expert provided an import file template with the right structure and instructions
• Ad Esse exported the data from Hubspot
• Ad Esse filled the template file
• Onboarding Expert checked the data file and completed the import

5. Team training

The most crucial aspect of any software implementation is to get the team on board and use it daily.

Scoro’s Onboarding Expert also helped curate this part. To go through their workflow step by step, the entire Ad Esse team attended a tailored training session.

“The training was customized for us, helping us adjust the system to fit our needs perfectly. The outcome has been very positive.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

6. Post-onboarding support and change management

After the training, Ad Esse’s team started using Scoro daily. Naturally, people had questions about the new software.

To ease the learning curve and ensure the software’s adoption, Ad Esse’s management dedicated time to discussing employees’ questions daily.

“Each morning begins with a team meeting, and during the initial weeks, we consistently included Scoro in our agenda. This helped us quickly solve small problems and get used to the software. I suggest spending a few minutes each day on any new software in the beginning.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

Scoro continued to provide support as well. Initially, the Onboarding Expert assisted Ad Esse over e-mail, and afterward, Scoro’s Support and Success teams took over.

The first two months are critical. Adapting to new software isn’t just about learning the features; it’s also about managing the change well, including the team’s mindset.

“It didn’t take long before Scoro became a regular part of our daily discussions, mainly focusing on improving our work processes. Plus, we use Scoro daily to check our progress on key goals. So, it’s always in our sights, helping us stay on track and make better decisions.”

Rhiannon Gibbs

Director

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• Company: Global Production Partners
• Industry: Event Management
• Number of employees: 7
• Location: New Zealand

WorkflowMax by Xero is retiring on 26.06. This means the software and the data inserted there will no longer be accessible.

Many companies that were using WorkflowMax have started to look for alternatives.

GPP is an event management company from New Zealand that was using WorkflowMax. In addition, they relied on dozens of spreadsheets and other systems to keep track of their business. They saw an opportunity to make their processes more efficient by consolidating their tool stack. They opted for Scoro – Professional Services Automation software that helps them manage projects, finances, and resources in a single system.

We’ve interviewed GPP’s key stakeholders to understand their journey, challenges, and successes in transitioning from WorkflowMax to Scoro.

1. Describe the pain points you had when you were still using WorkflowMax.

Our primary issue was keeping information in too many different micro-systems rather than one unified place. Referring to multiple sources, budgets, spreadsheets, and drive folders made it hard for our team members to have up-to-date information. Compiling a financial summary of projects required lots of manual work and double-checking. This issue has been largely mitigated with Scoro, especially as it syncs seamlessly with our accounting system, Xero.

2. Have you experienced any significant wins with Scoro?

The way Scoro deals with budgets, allowing us to set up margins and track profit, has been a game changer for our Production Managers.

Pre-Scoro, we used to reconcile budgets in Xero and upload expenses directly there. Once the project ended, we manually compared what we uploaded versus what we quoted. It was much harder to track our quoted costs versus actual costs and whether our target margins met.

Now, this is a lot simpler as we do the whole process through reports in Scoro. When one of our Project Managers inserts a bill into Scoro, relevant reports are updated automatically. Our Finance Director can simply check the quoted budget versus the actual budget, instantly showing whether our project was delivered within budget.

3. Besides automated budget tracking, is there anything else you would highlight?

With Scoro, we have been able to streamline many small workflow elements. Adding custom fields makes it easier to customize our workflow, and setting up certain fields as required makes it easier to reduce the number of incomplete entries staff makes.

It also increased intra-company transparency and significantly saved time for our team. Communication about projects and finance is much more seamless and efficient. If one Production Manager gets too busy, we can now easily hand over projects without missing any information.

4. Can you walk us through migrating data from WorkflowMax to Scoro?

The data import felt easy and straightforward. The main challenge was compiling our existing data into the required format, but luckily, the system is flexible enough to accept relatively incomplete entries, so we could build out more data within the system rather than having to put in all the work before being able to use Scoro.

5. How was the onboarding process to adapt to Scoro?

We used Scoro’s Onboarding services. Having a dedicated contact person to manage the change and help us with the new system was incredibly helpful. Scoro’s online resources and guides were also easy to navigate, so we avoided big hiccups during the changeover process. We also found Scoro very intuitive. Our team members brought into the software post-onboarding could use it easily, even without extensive training.

Read along and learn more about Jordan’s journey at Scoro and the exciting challenges he tackles daily. Get a glimpse of our customer-centric approach and discover what makes Scoro an ideal destination for those seeking professional growth and meaningful collaboration.

1. How long have you worked in Scoro? What led you here?

I have worked for Scoro for almost a year. I knew a few people who worked here, and although I loved the idea of the 4-day work week, the fact that the product is designed to help our customers be more efficient and productive is what piqued my interest.

2. Can you tell us more about your mission in Scoro and the team that you lead?

My mission in Scoro is to provide the best customer experience possible and help empower our internal teams to provide the best possible experience for our customers. I lead the Services team in the North American and APAC profiles. We all work fully remotely from different parts of the US and have close contact with our European counterparts.

The Service Delivery team is a brain trust of knowledge and skill. I learn new things daily - not only about our product but also valuable experience for my broader career journey. Scoro's investment in me continually shapes me into a better resource for my clients and other team members. - Maggie Luce, Senior Customer Onboarding Expert (US)

3. We know every day is a bit different, but what’s a typical day in the life of the Head of Customer Engagement?

I will go from working with our existing customers in a Customer Success function or supporting the Customer Success team to transitioning to an Onboarding function or supporting the Onboarding team. I will also assist the Sales teams in any way possible, along with finance, with anything related to existing customer needs.

4. What’s the most exciting part of your job? Any favorite success stories you can share?

My favorite part of the job is working with the other leaders and teams in our business to help find solutions or new options to help our customer-facing teams. The better we can support them, the better the customer experience and the more successful our customers will utilize our solution.

Each of our client's use cases is unique, even if they work in the same industry. One of the most rewarding parts of our job is learning about our clients' specific processes and being able to implement Scoro in a way that helps them address their challenges. - Olga Moskatova, Customer Onboarding Expert (US)

5. What’s the most helpful feature of Scoro, the one thing you use daily?

The fundamentals of our product with task management in a cross-functional way is my favorite feature within Scoro. You can easily track progress, communicate asynchronously, and work as a cohesive team remotely.

6. Scoro US team if working fully remotely. How much does your team collaborate with colleagues in other locations?

This can be challenging due to the time zone differences between the US and our EMEA teams, but we find a way to make it work. Usually, our days in the US start relatively early. The US team collaborates on Slack and Zoom calls throughout the day.

Additionally, we make the journey to Tallinn twice a year for the Scoro Global Week, and it’s also consistently fulfilling to meet our colleagues in person.

7. Scoro switched to a 4-Day Work Week from July 2022. Have you faced any challenges because of the change in nominal working hours?

Every situation in a professional environment has challenges, both 4- and 5-day work weeks. What I love about the 4-day work week at Scoro is it has made everyone more productive and focused during the four working days. We put everything into those four days and then enjoy the 3-day weekend to recharge.

“43% of people in Scoro feel the meetings are more efficient than before the 4DWW. “

8. How do you use your free Fridays?

During the summer, it was a way to connect with friends and family and get some errands done during the week when it was less busy. I have a few trips planned with my girlfriend and other activities in the fall and winter to take advantage of the extra weekend day.

9. What makes Scoro an attractive choice for potential team members?

The company’s use case is to enhance and improve the businesses we work with, which is the most incredible feeling. On top of that, Scoro is full of highly talented individuals who come together without an ego to drive to a common goal. I’ve had the privilege of working with many teams, and this one stands out as one of the finest.

“Collaborating daily with all the amazing Scorers to deliver exceptional outcomes for our customers is something I genuinely cherish.”

If you want to be part of this journey, check our Open Roles and send your application today. If you cannot find a suitable position, save your interest on our Connect page, and we will contact you when a job that matches your profile opens.