FinancialForce Named #1 Professional Services Automation Solution for Third Consecutive Year in SPI Research Annual Survey
85% of top-performing professional services organizations use PSA, driving higher billable utilization that averages over $1.2M in incremental revenue for a 100-person PS organization
FinancialForce, the leading customer-centric ERP and #1 professional services automation (PSA)* business suite, has been recognized as the most adopted PSA solution in the fourteenth annual PS Maturity™ Benchmark published by SPI Research, the global authority for the professional services sector. This is the third year in a row the company has received this recognition. FinancialForce PSA continues its commanding lead against other providers, having been adopted by 22% of the 561 professional services organizations that took part in the survey. By way of contrast, the second-most prevalent PSA solution is used by 11% of respondents.
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The use of PSA was among the most important differences between successful professional services organizations and those that are struggling in the current economic environment. Of the top-performing firms in the survey, 85% use PSA, driving higher billable utilization by an average of 3%. This utilization translates to over $1.2 million in incremental revenue for a 100-person PS organization.
Overall, professional services is among the sectors that have performed well in the current economic environment, with year-over-year revenue growth of 8.7%, and 5.5% average headcount growth, according to the report. However, nearly one in five professional services organizations had negative revenue growth and more than one-fifth had lay-offs, indicating a K-shaped recovery that is widening the gap between successful firms and those that struggle.
“2020 was truly unprecedented and the global economic marketplace continues to shift towards distributed and remote workforces, which will have an extremely positive impact on the professional services market,” said Jeanne Urich, Managing Director at SPI Research. “As clients accept and embrace virtual service delivery, cloud-based PSA tools like FinancialForce will be imperative for professional services organizations to swiftly identify new opportunities and quickly act to meet customer demands in this rapidly changing environment.”
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The report found that customer satisfaction for PSA has improved year over year. In addition, PSA is helping firms deliver projects on time, with an 89% on-time delivery among top firms, vs. 77% by the rest of PS firms. PSA also helps drive down the discounts the top firms have to offer to win business, as they now average a 5.3% service discount, which is 36% better than the rest of the professional services firms.
The adoption of PSA technology is also helping to deliver significant financial and organizational benefits to the industry, with overall annual revenue growth at 8.5%. Looking deeper, the average annual revenue generated per consultant reached an all-time high of $209,000 and revenue per employee reached $169,000.
“As both a customer and partner of FinancialForce, we see the inherent daily value in using PSA with Salesforce to streamline business operations for profitability and growth,” said Camil Bourbeau, Chief Operating Officer at Nubik, a digital transformation provider. “FinancialForce PSA allows you to match the right resources and skills at the right time to the right projects. It’s an essential component of digital business transformation for any professional services organization.”
“It’s great to see continued strong performance in the professional services market, but the SPI Research PS Maturity Benchmark Report also shows it’s more important than ever for the industry to follow best practices,” said Lori Ellsworth, Vice President, PSA Product Management at FinancialForce. “The report is a valuable resource to help professional services organizations see how top performing peers use PSA for greater efficiency and effectiveness at every stage of service delivery. FinancialForce PSA helps customers run successful businesses and be hyper focused on customers, with all the benefits of the Salesforce platform including visibility and intelligence to make smart decisions.”
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