Business Solutions / Dynamics 365 / Project Operations
Dynamics 365 Project Operations, from Quote to Invoice.
And the scope of a project that can be understood while it is underway.You sell projects. The quote is created in a spreadsheet, hours are tracked in another tool, and the invoice is entered a third time into the accounting system— that’s why no one knows how much a project has brought in until it’s finished. Dynamics 365 Project Operations is the Microsoft product that consolidates these steps into a single database. We implement it, configure it, and then manage it for you.
No one knows a project's profit margin until it's finished
The estimate comes from a spreadsheet, the hours from a tool primarily used for payroll, the expenses from a stack of receipts, and the invoice from the accounting department . Each of these tools is correct in its own right. None of them knows how much the project earned until it’s finished—and by then, there’s nothing left to correct.
The estimate is prepared in a spreadsheet
The scheduled dates, selling prices, and discount offered are listed in a file that only its creator understands and that no one else is willing to open. The project gets underway, the file remains on a disk, and nothing compares it to what is actually happening.
What has been promised is beyond comparison.
The hours are listed elsewhere
Everyone fills out their timesheet in a system where they log their hours—often on Fridays, sometimes from memory. These hours are used to calculate salaries and track vacation time; they never reappear in the project for which they were worked.
The hours exist, but not in the project.
The real cost comes after the bill
The accounting department reconciles salaries, expenses, and purchases at the end of the month—or sometimes at the end of the quarter. The figure is accurate, and it is provided at the exact moment when no one can take any further action on the project to which it relates.
A good figure that comes too late serves only to explain.
From quotes to invoices, all in a single database
What makes this product unique can be summed up in one sentence: the five steps all write to the same location, and each one reads what the previous one wrote. Nothing is copied from one tool to another, so there can be no discrepancies between two versions of the same number.
On a contract line item billed by the hour, approving an hour records two amounts: what that hour costs you, and what it will bring in on the next invoice. On a fixed-price contract, only the cost is recorded—the revenue is what you agreed upon at the outset. A project’s margin is the difference between the two, and it becomes visible as the project progresses rather than appearing only when the accounts are closed. This information comes from Microsoft’s documentation, and we double-check it before each proposal.
What's Changing in Our Day-to-Day Work
These are the same actions we perform today, done just once and in the same place. There’s no miraculous automation: it’s simply the end of having to copy data from one tool to another, and that alone accounts for most of what is lost each month.
The estimate becomes the project
The deal, the quote, and the billing terms are all managed within the same application as the sale. When the customer signs, the project already exists with its line items, prices, and estimate—there’s nothing to re-enter.
Planning provides an estimate
Tasks, timelines, and roles are defined using Microsoft Project for the web. The cost estimate is no longer a separate written document: it is the result of the plan, and it is recalculated whenever the plan changes.
Who is working on what, and when
Requests for staff are made based on role and skill set, taking actual availability into account. You can see who is already assigned to another project before committing to a date—not on the Monday when the work was supposed to start.
Hours recorded only once
Everyone tracks their hours and expenses for the project and task using their browser, phone, or Microsoft Teams. The same data is used for the project, the invoice, and cost calculations.
The cost is recorded as soon as it is approved
Approval of an hour or an expense immediately generates the cost entry and the amount to be billed when the contract line item so provides. The budget used is no longer delayed until the end of the month to be reported.
The invoice is based on what was approved
The draft invoice is based on the hours, expenses, and milestones that have actually been approved. The project manager reviews and corrects it before it is sent out; anything removed from the draft does not disappear—it remains billable at a later date.
Dynamics 365 Project Operations does not replace everything
It’s better to mention this before the first meeting rather than three months down the line. These four limitations cannot be circumvented by any settings, and it’s much easier to prepare for each one when you’re aware of them from the start.
General accounting is not included
In the most common deployment—the one that relies solely on the shared database—the invoice is prepared and approved by the project manager, then forwarded to the financial system, which issues and posts it. The deployment integrated with Microsoft’s management software, on the other hand, issues the invoice to the customer and recognizes the revenue.
In other words, your accounting software keeps doing its job. What we're building is the connection between the two, including with financial systems that aren't from Microsoft.
Hours don't keep track of themselves
No product can fill out a timesheet for the person who did the work. If your teams log their hours on Friday night from memory, they’ll keep doing so, and the cost of a project will be just as accurate as their memory on Friday night.
What’s changing is the effort required: tracking hours fits on a single screen, can be done via Microsoft Teams or on a phone, and approval becomes a weekly task rather than a race against the clock to catch up on late submissions. That’s where we win buy-in, and we’re dedicating the necessary resources to it.
The product does not correct an estimate that is too low
The product makes a margin visible; it doesn't create one. A project sold below cost will remain that way, and you'll simply see it sooner.
That, in fact, is the whole point: reviewing it in the third week still gives you the chance to renegotiate a step, replace a team member, or cut your losses. Reviewing it at the end only allows you to learn a lesson for the next project.
Project-based accounting must be in place before
For a cost to be fair, you need to know how much each role costs the company per hour, how overhead costs are allocated, and what you’re willing to charge to a project. These decisions are yours to make, and they’re not technical in nature.
If they’ve never been implemented before, we introduce them at the start of the project rather than when the first incorrect figure comes up. They can be implemented in just a few sessions with your accounting team, and they’ll be useful well beyond this specific project.
When " Dynamics 365 , Project Operations" Isn't the Right Answer
It’s designed for companies that sell projects in large volumes, with multiple people working on them at the same time and billing terms that vary from client to client. Below that threshold, it costs more than it brings in. Each of these three situations has a more streamlined solution, and each of these solutions is stored in the same database: nothing is lost when your business scales up.
A few projects per year
With just a handful of projects and two or three people managing them, the setup, approvals, and maintenance costs more than it saves. An application built with Power Apps on the same database handles quotes, time tracking, and invoicing—without any features you wouldn’t use.
On the day trading volume picks up, the foundation is already in place.
Finances first, projects second
If your pain points are invoicing, purchasing, inventory, or month-end closing, then management software is the first solution— Business Central or Dynamics 365 Finance. We don’t implement these systems: that’s a different line of work from ours, and we prefer to be upfront about it.
We link them to customer relationships, and this is one of our most common tasks.
Projects That Aren't Billed
For internal projects—with no clients, no contracts, and no invoices—the entire sales infrastructure for the product goes unused. A planning tool is all that’s needed, and it costs a fraction of the price.
The question to ask is simple: Is anyone paying for this project?
What we do, and in what order
It’s always the same process, and the scope of the work is laid out in writing before we begin. What isn’t in writing isn’t promised, and what is in writing is guaranteed by the people you’ve met.
Your projects, as they unfold
We track a real project from start to finish—from the client’s request to the issued invoice—involving the people who carry out each of these steps. This isn’t just a discussion with management; it involves the sales representative, the project manager, the person who logs their hours, and the person who issues the invoice.
We identify every instance where a number is copied from one tool to another. It is this list—not a list of features—that defines what the product should do for your business.
Choosing Between the Three Deployment Options
Microsoft offers three ways to install this product: one that uses the shared database and stops at the prepared invoice; one that is integrated with its management software, which issues the invoice and recognizes the revenue; and a third option for companies that manufacture goods and track production orders.
This choice is made at the beginning, and it’s difficult to change: there’s no automatic data transfer from one deployment to another. It’s the most significant decision in the entire process, and it depends primarily on where your accounting is already being handled.
The data model, and what determines a price
Roles, selling prices, internal costs, expense categories, and billing terms are established once, in collaboration with your accounting and sales departments. This is the least exciting part of the work, but it’s what determines the accuracy of all the figures that follow.
We are documenting these decisions—along with what they entail—so that whoever takes over this project in two years will understand why they were made this way.
The launch, and the people
We’re rolling out the new approach for a limited number of real-world projects, while continuing to use the old method in parallel so we can compare the two. Any discrepancies become immediately apparent, and they’re corrected before everyone makes the switch.
Training doesn't take place in a classroom—it happens through each person's own projects, with their own clients, because that's the only kind of training that lasts beyond the second week.
Maintenance and Getting Back on Track
Prices change, roles change, billing terms change: a tool like this requires someone to manage it. We handle these adjustments for as long as necessary, under contract, and we train the person who will take over.
What we've set up and written belongs to you. You need to be able to continue without us, and you need to know that before you sign—not after.
We do not sell “ Dynamics 365 , Project Operations” as a standalone service; we prefer to build it ourselves. We implement it in companies where we already manage customer relationships and maintain a shared database, because that is where it delivers on its promises and where we know exactly what we’re doing. If your projects are your primary concern, the discussion is still worthwhile: it clarifies what the work entails, in what order, and what should come first.
About Billable Projects
Four topics almost always come up in the same discussion: the range and selection of an application, the department responsible for all of this, the custom-built tool, and the shared database.
The Entire Line, and How to Choose
Four questions are almost always enough to figure out which app is right for you. The product name comes later.
View the product line Business SolutionsThe department responsible for these applications
What we establish regarding customer relations, what we connect, and what we do not implement.
View the department Power AppsThe custom tool, based on the same platform
The lighter option when the volume doesn't warrant a full-size product, and the perfect complement when something is missing.
See Power Apps DataverseThe database that powers it all
One record per customer, a single set of permissions, and a record of what was changed and by whom.
See DataverseTalking About Your Projects
Please describe how your projects are billed
The number of projects open at the same time, how they’re billed—at a fixed price, by the hour, or both—and the tools currently used to track estimates, hours, and invoices. We’ll let you know if this product is a good fit for your situation, and if a more streamlined solution would be a better fit, we’ll let you know that, too.
What we offer is the opportunity to meet with the engineers who will do the work. Getting a quote costs you nothing. The design study, the data model, and the plans are separate services and must be ordered as such.
Renens, Sion, Châtel-Saint-Denis
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