⚠  Where the profit escapes
Revenue In
↓
↓
Profit Out (what remains)
Rework
Work gets redone — because it wasn't clear the first time
Unclear briefs and missing context mean hours are spent twice on the same job, silently burning capacity.
Misallocation
Low-level tasks sitting with senior staff
Your most expensive people are doing work that should be two levels below them — a constant, invisible cost.
Unbilled WIP
WIP that never gets billed
Time is recorded. Work is done. But it never makes it onto an invoice — leaving real money on the table every month.
Scope Creep
Scope expanding quietly across the job
Small additions pile up with no conversation about fees. By the time anyone notices, the job has outgrown its budget.
Review Delays
Jobs sitting in review longer than they should
Bottlenecks at the review stage delay billing, slow cash flow, and tie up capacity that could move to the next job.

Where are Your Margins Actually Going?

Did any of the above feel too familiar? You are not the only one facing these issues. 

Recent research by EY shows that professional services firms lose up to 5% of annual revenue to profit leakage through unbilled hours, scope creep, and operational inefficiencies. 

When firms are busy and when delivery is the priority, the operational gaps that quietly erode margin rarely get the attention they deserve.  

Are partners doing partner level work or are they forced to supplement managers? Is re-work and review causing spill over beyond allocated billable hours? 

The firm may look profitable. While in isolation they feel like a small issue, they trickle down across multiple jobs, across multiple clients, every week. The question worth asking is: how much more profitable should it be? 

What It Takes to Actually Fix It

The firms that get on top of this aren’t doing anything that is dramatically different. They’ve created clarity around where the work should sit, who should review it, and how it moves from completion to billing. They’ve built a delivery structure where senior staff are focused on the work that requires them; advisory, client relationships and management.  

When this is done, the staff operate at the right level, consistently, not just when there’s capacity. Senior staff stop being the default solution for everything that needs to get done. 

That shift has a direct impact on margin. It also has an impact on how the firm grows.  

The Delivery Model is Key

Building the right delivery model isn’t just about adding resources; it’s about creating the structure that enables a firm to operate as it should. 

At Solutions Centric, we design and implement offshore and hybrid delivery models that are structured, secure, and built for Australian firms.  We work with firms to bring structure into workflow, including security processes, clear governance, and visibility comparable to in-house teams.  

If your firm is growing but the margin isn’t moving the way it should, it’s worth having a closer look at where the value is going. Have a chat with Stephen Hogg and find out how this works in practice.