LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. Appreciate the need for project evaluation and controls to ensure the quality of consulting
engagement
2. Understand and learn to apply the various techniques in project evaluation and controls such
as
a. Administrative controls
b. Time reporting procedures
c. Independent quality assurance reviews
3. Explain controls can be established over competence and service quality
4. Understand the special considerations for the sole practitioner operating as management
consultant
Framework for the consulting business
Self – assessment (reflects our need to evaluate ourselves and continuously improve)
Make an autobiography
List all areas of your special interest, achievement, knowledge and personal satisfaction
List all your skills, that is, things that you can do
List all your talents
List all your attributes
Good physical and mental health Strong analytical or problem-
Professional etiquette and courtesy solving ability
Stability behavior Creative imagination
Self- confidence Ability to communicate and
persuade
Personal effectiveness and drive
Psychological maturity
Integrity Skill in interpersonal
Independence relationship
Intellectual competence Technical knowledge
Good judgement
List all the skills and attributes you lack that you believe are necessary for a consulting business
List the skills and attributes you lack related to being a consultant that you believe you can
improve
Of the skills and attributes that you believe you cannot improve, state how that will affect your
consulting business choices, if at all
Speak to friends, relatives or family members who you know well and whose judgement, candor
and goodwill you respect
Increase your awareness of additional opportunities by using the following resources
Consulting newsletter
Magazines and newspapers
Consulting and professional
associations
Government agencies and
publications
Public and university libraries
Continuing education and
seminars
Competitors
Management consultancy competence framework overview
Consulting overview: (CMI)
1.professional behaviours
a. professionalism and ethics
b. analytical and pro active thinking
c. complexity and responibilty
d.personal interaction
e. delivery effectiveness
f. personal growth
Scope of consulting practice
o Expertise and experience within the practice
Single individual, and the management consulting they offer is the area of the
individual’s expertise
No limit to the potential for consulting activity
o Needs to be well defined so that it can be properly communicated to the potential
users(clients)
Unclear what consulting services are being provided or
To whom those services might apply
o One wishes to be consultant
Evaluate his/her own talents and expertise
Needs to review his/ her communication skills (oral and written)
Sales ability
Ability to focus on a project and carry it to conclusions
Ability to maintain objectivity
Evaluate his/ her business and professional judgement
Organizing the practice
o Financing requirements
Capital invested by the present consultant(or the initial group)
Funds borrowed from banks and others
Need for working capital
Realistically evaluate what facilities will be required, including office space and
its accoutrements
o Time scheduling
Planning time utilizations (both financial and client- service standpoint)
Time spent with various clients on various projects
Time for administrative responsibilities
Time for continuing education or practice development
Meetings and breakfast, lunch and dinner appointments
o Billings and collections
He/ she establishes professional fees
Hourly, daily or per diem basis
Add out-of-pocket expenses attributable to client as possible while others
absorb out-of- pocket expenses
Charge for professional services and for support staff
Charge for telephone calls, photocopying, postage and similar
expenditures; others absorb these costs
Building the practice
o Initial client based
Define the marketplace
Types of potential clients
Size of potential clients
Types of services to be provided
Identifying the decision maker in each target organization and its buying
patterns
o Positioning the practice
Existence requires some form of positioning
Through unique capabilities
Unique experiences
Ability to deal with specific problems
Consulting work is primarily obtained from
People the consultant’s know
People who know the consultant
o Practice development network
Building a successful network requires keeping the consultant’s name in front of
the clients and contacts through
Client newsletter, articles, seminars, entertainment or even periodic calls
Intermittent reminders to the network about the consultant, his/ her firm
and his/ her services
Monitoring results
o Performance measures
Maintain the financial and accounting records that provide a financial scorecard
Actual revenue against projected revenues
Net profits and projected profits
Productive hours as a percentage of total hours
Average fee generated per hour worked and per chargeable hour
The ratio of expenses to revenues
Profit as a percentage of revenue
Number of new clients obtained during a year
The amount of pesos generated from new business
Increase in business from one year to the next
Collected fees versus uncollected fees
Amount of bad debt write-offs
Amount of time charges that are not billable
Key ratios for a consulting practice
Relationship between revenue generated and total hours expended
Chargeable hours and total hours
Revenue and chargeable hours
Actual completion date as promised
Actual time expended per job and per person
o Quality control standards
Establishing quality control standards to ensure that the work is properly
performed
Consulting practice with two or more individuals
Review and evaluate each other’s work
Discuss the engagement with his/her colleagues to ensure the project
is on the right track
Can review reports written by one another to see that they are
complete, hang together and provide the client with understandable
results
Individual practitioner
Personally review the document after typing
WRITTEN REPORT
IN
MANAGEMENT CONSULTANCY
(SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS FOR THE SOLE PRACTIONER OPERATING AS A
MANAGAMENT CONSULTANT)
Submitted by:
Jessa Marie V. Viray
CBET-01-901P
MH 7:30- 9:00PM
Submitted to:
Rowell C. Marasigan, CPA, MBA
