The client
An indigenous engineering and field services company providing maintenance, fabrication and well services to upstream oil and gas operators, with around 300 staff and up to 25 active projects at any time.
The challenge
Each project was managed by a project engineer using a combination of spreadsheets, email and the company's accounting package. Costs were collected at month end. By the time a project manager saw that a job was over budget, most of the money had already been spent.
The managing director identified these issues:
- Late cost visibility. Actual costs were known only after month end, and committed costs from open purchase orders and subcontracts were not tracked at all.
- Contractor risk. Subcontractor certifications, insurance and permits were tracked in a shared folder. Expired documents were discovered during client audits.
- Slow client reporting. Operators required detailed monthly cost and progress reports. Preparing them took the commercial team around 15 days each month.
- Delayed invoicing. Because job sheets and approvals were on paper, invoices were raised on average 14 days after work was completed.
- Field payroll complexity. Rotational crews with field allowances and day rates were paid from a separate spreadsheet, often with corrections.
What we deployed
- Project life cycle ERP with budgets by project, work package and cost code, and commitments recorded the moment a purchase order or subcontract is approved.
- Procurement with budget checks against each project, approval limits and three-way matching.
- Contractor management with prequalification, document upload and automatic alerts 30 days before any certificate or insurance expires.
- Mobile job sheets completed and signed on site, with photos, which trigger invoice drafts once the client representative approves.
- Field payroll with rotation schedules, day rates, field allowances and automatic payslips.
- Client cost reports generated directly from the project ledger in each operator's required format.
How we delivered
| Phase | Timing | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-to-use core | Days 1 to 5 | Finance, procurement and project modules configured. Active projects and budgets loaded. |
| Contractor management | Weeks 2 to 4 | 140 subcontractors onboarded with documents and expiry dates. |
| Mobile job sheets and billing | Weeks 4 to 7 | Field app rolled out to supervisors, billing rules configured per client contract. |
| Field payroll and reports | Weeks 7 to 10 | Rotational payroll live, client report templates built and automated. |
Results after nine months
| Measure | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Average project cost overrun against approved budget | 17% | 5% |
| Time to prepare monthly client cost reports | 15 working days | 3 working days |
| Days from job completion to invoice | 14 days | 5 days |
| Subcontractors working with expired documents | Found at audits | None, alerts 30 days ahead |
| Field payroll corrections | Frequent | Rare |
Reporting that changed decisions
Project managers receive a daily email showing each of their projects with budget, committed cost, actual cost, forecast to complete and margin. Any project forecast to exceed budget by more than 3% is flagged in red and copied to the operations director.
This early warning changed behaviour. Project managers raised change orders with clients as soon as scope changed, rather than absorbing costs and discovering the overrun later. The operations director also used the weekly portfolio report to move equipment and crews between projects to reduce idle time.
Faster invoicing improved cash flow significantly, reducing the company's reliance on short-term overdraft facilities.
What made the difference
- Commitment accounting. Seeing committed cost the moment an order is approved, not when an invoice arrives, is what turned cost control from historical to preventive.
- Field capture. Mobile job sheets removed paper delays between the site and the office.
- Compliance by alert. Contractor documents are monitored automatically, protecting the company during client audits.
- Client-ready reporting. Reports come straight from the ledger, so the numbers clients see always match the accounts.
Client identity withheld under a confidentiality agreement. Figures are drawn from the client's before-and-after reporting for the engagement period; outcomes for your business will depend on your starting point and scope.