Unit4 research reveals professional services firms urgently need to reinvest time

Unit4, a leader in enterprise cloud applications for people-centric organisations, has launched international research commissioned from Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) examining the transformation challenges facing professional services firms. With 60% saying their work volumes will escalate and/or become more complex in the next 12 months, there is an urgent need to modernise business processes. However, firms face significant challenges to retrieve time lost to fixing operational inefficiencies and errors, which are leading to project delivery delays and teams having to work overtime.

One group of global respondents indicates a possible way forward, as 33% say they are running their businesses on modern, integrated, cloud-based platforms, and therefore spend less time correcting errors. Compared to global averages these leaders in adopting cloud-native technologies experience less errors in finance reporting (leading firms: 29%; global average: 37%), and budgeting and forecasting (leading firms: 28%; global average: 36%). Firms in the US are the most advanced (36%) in adopting cloud-based systems, compared to Germany (22%) which has the lowest adoption. Business and Professional Services firms are the most advanced (43%) in embracing the cloud ahead of IT Services (36%).

“Professional services firms are facing possibly the biggest inflection point in a lifetime as technology disruption and volatile economic conditions encourage clients to reevaluate their use of consulting expertise,” said Donna Dobson, Director Professional Services, Unit4. “PAC’s research shows why modernisation of core processes is giving leading firms an advantage in terms of productivity and reduction of time lost on manual processes and error correction. As competition heats up, firms understand that limiting the impact on their workforce is crucial to retaining talent and delivering projects more efficiently.”

Fragmented IT requires manual workarounds and additional hours

30% of respondents internationally admit to frequent or regular delays in project delivery due to operational inefficiencies, which rises to 34% among IT Services companies compared to only 25% of Business and Professional Services firms. The Nordics has the highest percentage (34%) admitting regular interruptions to project delivery, compared to 26% in Canada. The state of IT infrastructures could indicate a possible cause, as 66% admit relying on fragmented application environments and 19% even rely on multiple systems requiring manual work and spreadsheets – a figure that rises to 30% in Germany. As a result, it is no surprise that many teams complain of having to work additional hours citing a number of reasons including:

• 68% – monthly or quarter-close bottlenecks
• 59% – inconsistent data models
• 55% – outdated technology

Client-facing time lost to errors and admin workload

47% are being forced to spend time correcting timesheets while teams must work overtime in areas like accounts reconciliation (37%), project cost & profitability management (37%), and project timeline management (36%). More than a quarter (28%) of client-facing specialists spend more than 30% of the working week completing administrative tasks rather than focusing on their core work. IT Services firms struggle most with overtime with 40% regularly needing to work beyond core hours to complete tasks such as timesheet management, budgeting & forecasting and accounts reconciliation. This is concerning, given that IT Services respondents are also the most likely to say their workloads are going to increase and/or become more complex in the next 12 months.

“Many professional services firms are being pushed by clients to transform commercial models to better serve their needs, but this is only possible if firms embrace modern cloud-based systems,” said Nick Mayes, senior consultant, PAC. “This will give them the agile, scalable foundations to deliver process automation and adopt AI tools, but it will require investment to optimise and integrate existing workflows so that companies have a single view of company-wide information.”

Investing in operating models, automation and a single view of company data

Respondents say they have set three business goals for the coming year: to increase revenue, retain their best talent and improve cost efficiency. Consequently, they are investing in three main areas in the short-term including modernising operating models, automating repetitive, manual work and improving integration to create a single consistent view of data. 88% of respondents say this last investment area will improve their firm’s processes, while 86% say it will improve the predictability of business performance.

It is also clear significant work is needed to automate core processes, as 25% are yet to automate more than 20% of their core systems, which increases to 30% in resource management, recruitment and talent management and skills development processes. More than 60% also expect AI to have a beneficial impact with 33% saying it will fundamentally change how projects and resource management processes will work. 43% believe it will improve their ability to analyse critical data and enhance forecasting.

Delivering on these investments will also be crucial for another strategic priority as 59% state that keeping their best talent is vital. If professional services firms can automate processes and reduce administrative workloads it will create a better workplace experience.

PAC Methodology

Pierre Audoin Consultants interviewed 500 respondents from professional services organisations across four subsectors: management consulting, IT Services, Business & Professional Services, and Architecture and Engineering. Interviews took place between March and April 2026. Respondents came from organisations with 250 to 5,000 employees and were split evenly between senior business and senior digital/IT executives. Respondents were drawn from the US, UK, Nordics, Benelux, Germany and Canada.

See more stories here.