Thought Leadership

From spreadsheets to strategy

As PSB Boisjoli expanded, managing workloads in spreadsheets became increasingly time-consuming and difficult to oversee across teams. Managers needed a clearer way to allocate work, plan to budgets, and balance people’s capacity - while maintaining their people-centric culture.

“When evaluating new tools it’s important to not only maximize the functionality,” Isabelle Anderson, VP Operations, explains, “Making lives easier for people was one of my first criteria."

To address these challenges, PSB Boisjoli implemented Beeye, replacing manual spreadsheet-based planning with a single system for scheduling, skills tracking, and engagement financials. Integrated with IRIS Star practice management, Beeye gives visibility of schedules and timekeeping in the same place as resource, project, and client data.

This means managers can plan projects aligned to staff fees, availability, existing skills and development goals. They can identify potential overloads early, redistribute work when needed, and make confident staffing decisions.

In short, the foundation allows the firm to balance client, profit, and people goals:

• Improve resourcing decisions and the time to staff projects
• Forecast demand and capacity, and keep engagements profitable
• Compare timesheet hours, budgets and schedules to refine future planning

Seeing people, not just projects

Employee development has become a central part of the process. Knowing exactly what work people are assigned to, when, enables staff and their coaches to have development conversations, and ensures employees are given relevant, desirable work opportunities.

• Staff come to development conversations with clarity on current and future workloads and where they want to grow.

• Managers can align work opportunities with individual development goals, not just availability.

• All parties are held accountable because scheduled work is tracked in Beeye

The combination of operational clarity and staff profiles mean project planning balances firm objectives with individuals’ development.

"Beyond the scheduling and capacity planning, [Beeye] tells us if we are staffing people on the projects that give them the experience they asked for. It gives performance coaches and coachees the tools to have meaningful conversations" - Isabelle Anderson, VP Operations, PSB Boisjoli

Firms that focus on employee engagement can benefit from a competitive edge:

• Retention through relevance. When work maps to goals, people see a future at the firm. That is critical as capacity pressures and burnout remain a risk.

• Readiness for AI. As more work is automated, growth depends on developing advisory, management, and client-facing skills faster. You get there sooner by intentionally planning stretch opportunities.

• Tech-enabled progression: The next generation of accountants don’t want to do work that can be automated – they will choose to work for firms that accelerate their earning potential.

• More foresight, less stress. Real-time scheduling tied to budgets and billing means fewer surprises and better client delivery – this directly impacts the well-being of staff and clients.

A model for PrimeGlobal firms

PSB Boisjoli’s approach highlights what many PrimeGlobal firms are discovering: with greater visibility – client and employee data, time tracking, and scheduling in one place - firms can plan profitably, improve client delivery, and attract ambitious professionals seeking environments that invest in their growth.

Investment in Beeye goes beyond process and efficiency improvement. It demonstrates how operational excellence and people development can go hand in hand to accelerate everyone’s growth.

Discover how Beeye's resource management platform can help your firm.