WorkflowMax alternative for agencies

As WorkflowMax, the project management software owned by Xero, retires at the end of June 2024, many agencies will be looking for a suitable replacement.

However, choosing a new system for your agency isn’t easy. There are hundreds of project management systems, covering everything from job costing and scheduling to time tracking and invoicing. And some of these are great. In fact, they’re best in class for specific functionality.

So, how do you choose the best project management software for your agency?

WorkflowMax alternatives for agencies

Looking for:

• a simpler way of tracking your projects? If you’re looking for a simpler way of tracking time and money you’re spending on each job system, check out Xero Projects. It’s perfect for small businesses in service industries, from sole traders to small agencies, who don’t need a more customisable project management solution.
• all-purpose project management software? If you're looking for project management software without the financials, scheduling and profit reporting, tools such as Basecamp, Monday.com, TeamGantt, and Asana are all popular agency tools.
• agency management software? If you're looking for project management software with job costing and invoicing like WorkflowMax, this is where agency management software could be the answer. Agency management software is designed to help agencies manage projects, clients, resources, and financials all in one integrated system. To help you, we’ve pulled together a list of the best agency management software in 2023.
• advanced agency management software? If you’ve found your agency has already begun to outgrow WorkflowMax and you needed a more sophisticated and scalable software platform to drive growth, this is where Synergist is the ideal alternative to WorkflowMax. Synergist has been designed specifically for mid-size+ agencies to grow intelligently. In fact, it’s the software of choice for £1m+ revenue agencies in the UK.

WorkflowMax vs Synergist

Synergist includes all the functionality of WorkflowMax project management software, helping you to take a project right through from initial opportunity to final invoice and reporting. Plus, Synergist integrates seamlessly with Xero, with data flowing two-way – saving time and eliminating double-handling of information.

A big difference, however, is that Synergist offers advanced the functionality and reporting agencies need to run smartly and support managed growth.

Smart scheduling

Synergist integrated scheduling tool makes it easy to ensure everybody is busy on billable work - but not at overcapacity - and projects are delivered within budget. Work bookings can be made via work requests or straight into the calendar using agile drag-and-drop scheduling.

Synergist shows you how much time is estimated vs remaining so you can make sure you're not overservicing. And the ‘loading’ view helps you ensure you’re not overbooking resources. 

Team members can see all the job info, files and emails - no more waiting for a brief - and share updates and record time all in one place.

Learn more about resource scheduling

Capacity planning

Synergist lets you see how much time is available, booked and sold over the coming days, weeks and months. You can view this data by team, skill or individual, to see where you have hours to sell or quickly spot any resourcing issues. You can use the data to inform whether you need to bring in freelancers or recruit.

You can also see how much time is booked on chargeable and non-chargeable work/holidays for a granular insight into how your team’s time is spent. Plus, discover how winning opportunities could impact your resources, helping you to plan proactively.

Learn more about capacity management

Forecasting

Ditch the spreadsheets and forecasting meetings. Synergist helps you keep track of new business opportunities, and accurately forecast your pipeline and billing. Instantly see a live forecast of your pipeline based on % probability, track sales performance against targets, and see planned and invoiced revenue and profit at a glance.

Billing plans let you forecast when you'll invoice each phase of a job or retainer. You could set up a recurring invoice each month, when a phase ends or when a percentage of the job is completed.

Automated task reminders help you keep on top of new business. Plus, briefs, estimates, documents and communications are all stored against the opportunity, so all the information is there when you convert it to a live job.

Learn more about pipeline and forecasting

Advanced invoicing and revenue management

Synergist makes invoicing quick and easy. You can create invoices based on the timesheets, expenses and purchases on a job, from a quote or billing plan, or manually build your invoice.

Branded invoice templates and the ability to add POs and payment terms, detail the work done, and include custom notes all help accelerate client approvals and payment.

The revenue management module allows you to defer or accrue the revenue in line with when the work is done. So, you can recognise revenue and costs to the month it’s spent and easily reconcile financial data in your accounting system back to Synergist.

Detailed profit reporting

Reporting really is the cornerstone of understanding the depth of detail within your agency. This is where Synergist really shines.

Break your jobs down into separate phases to give you the full picture of where, how and when time is spent on a project or retainer.

Synergist gives you an instant net and gross profit estimate when you generate a quote, making sure your target profits are met before you share the quote with your client.

See real-time estimated vs actuals on a job to quickly reveal if you’re going over budget and get a live view of % completion, potential overrun and profit. Email alerts flag potential issues — for example, a job reaching a certain percentage of its budget.

You can also see recovery against each client, and if you’ve over or under-recovered across all their jobs – so you know that you’re only working with profitable clients.

Learn more about profit reporting

Custom reporting

While many agencies operate in a similar way, each one is inherently different. Synergist recognises this: as well as featuring built-in reports, it also allows you to create bespoke reports and charts using sophisticated data filters and date ranges. Giving you the bigger picture of what’s happening across all areas of your agency.

For example, you can combine multiple reports of charts into custom dashboards for your leadership teams or set up specific dashboards for team members to track important metrics. These can be exported as an image or PDF, into a spreadsheet or presentation, or scheduled for automatic delivery to nominated people.

Learn more about dashboards and reporting

Fully customisable and ongoing support to help you grow

Synergist is built specifically for agencies, so it works the way agencies do. But we get there’s no one-size-fits-all, so we don’t just give you an off-the-shelf setup. Whatever your agency looks like – 10 to 500 people, design to digital – Synergist can be shaped to the way you work.

Our implementation experts work with you to put the most efficient processes in place to help you run smoothly and build your reporting to give you the business intelligence you need to grow smartly.

They'll help your teams embrace Synergist and make the change as smooth as possible with regular check-ins and training sessions to answer any questions that crop up as you get to know your new system.

Plus, you'll have monthly reviews to help you understand what the data and reports are telling you and where you can improve.

Want to see Synergist in action?

Introducing a new system into your agency can seem daunting. But as one type of software retires, another is ready and waiting to carry out all the tasks of its predecessor... and more. When you look at WorkflowMax vs Synergist, it’s clear that what you might be losing on one hand is more than made up for on the other.

Designed to work in tandem with your agency, Synergist’s features allow you to build your own bespoke system that grows as you do.

Smart, scalable, intelligent. Just what you’re looking for...

Want to see Synergist in action? Book a demo today!