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ZOHO + BPM — SERVICES FIRM

Project Profitability. Finally Visible.

Client: Delta Engineering (name changed for confidentiality)

Industry: Engineering Consulting

Location: Cairo, Egypt

Employees: 25

Etihad Global Services: BPM Consulting, Zoho Implementation, Zoho Customization & Integration, Zoho Training & Support

Key Metrics:

  • Billing cycle: 14 days → 2 days
  • Project margin visibility: Achieved for first time
  • Average project margin: +8 percentage points
  • Cash collection cycle: Shortened by 12 days


Delta Engineering delivered structural and MEP design services to real estate developers and contractors. Their projects were profitable—sometimes:

  • Project costs were tracked in Excel by each project manager with different methods, making consolidation impossible
  • Timesheets were submitted weekly (if at all) with no connection to project budgets
  • Invoicing required project managers to compile expenses, timesheets, and milestone data manually—taking 2 days per invoice
  • Some projects were discovered to be loss-making only at final account, when it was too late to recover
  • The firm had no visibility into which project types, clients, or project managers were most profitable

The Managing Director: "We were flying blind. We knew we were making money overall, but we had no idea which projects were gold and which were poison. Some of our 'best' clients were actually our worst margins."

Phase 1: Process Mapping (Weeks 1–2) Rabt mapped the full project lifecycle: lead → proposal → contract → mobilization → execution → invoicing → collection → close-out. Key finding: 11 manual handoffs, 4 different cost tracking methods, and no connection between time recording and project budgets.Phase 2: Zoho Implementation (Weeks 3–6)

  • Zoho CRM: Lead and opportunity tracking with proposal generation
  • Zoho Projects: Project setup with budget allocation, milestone definition, and resource assignment
  • Zoho Books: Automated invoicing rules based on project milestones and timesheet approval
  • Zoho Flow: Integration between CRM, Projects, and Books for seamless data flow

Phase 3: Customization (Weeks 7–8)

  • Custom project profitability dashboard showing revenue, allocated costs, expenses, and margin in real time
  • Automated alerts for projects approaching budget thresholds
  • Client profitability ranking and trend analysis
  • Resource utilization dashboard showing billable vs. non-billable time by person and project

Phase 4: Training & Change Management (Week 9)

  • Project manager training on real-time budget monitoring
  • Timesheet discipline workshop (daily submission, weekly approval)
  • Monthly profitability review meeting structure


Operational Metrics (6 months post go-live):

  • Billing cycle: 14 days → 2 days (automated from approved timesheets and milestones)
  • Cash collection cycle: Shortened by 12 days (faster, accurate invoicing)
  • Timesheet submission rate: 65% → 98% (daily discipline, weekly enforcement)
  • Project budget variance identification: Real-time (vs. end-of-project surprise)

Financial Impact (annualized):

  • Average project margin: +8 percentage points (better pricing, cost control, scope management)
  • Recovered unbilled hours: EGP 340K
  • Avoided loss-making projects: 3 projects declined (identified as unprofitable at proposal stage)
  • Working capital improvement: EGP 520K (faster billing and collection)

Strategic Impact:

  • Managing Director now makes pricing decisions with margin data, not intuition
  • Resource allocation optimized: highest-margin projects get priority staffing
  • Client portfolio rationalized: 2 low-margin clients replaced with 3 higher-margin relationships



Cross-Service Narrative

This engagement combined BPM Consulting to understand the process chaos, Zoho Implementation for rapid deployment, Zoho Customization for the profitability dashboard, and Zoho Training for adoption.The client later engaged Rabt for:

  • Rabt Talents (to recruit 2 senior engineers for expansion)
  • Strategic Office Procurement (to standardize engineering software licensing)

Related Services

BPM Consulting

Optimize your processes before system implementation for maximum ROI.

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Zoho Implementation

Deploy unified business software in weeks, not months.

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Zoho Customization & Integration

Build the dashboards and workflows that match your business model.

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Zoho Training & Support

Ensure your team owns the system and uses it to full capability.

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You Can't Improve Margins You Can't See.

Book a 45-minute Process and System Assessment. We'll map your project workflows, identify visibility gaps, and design a solution that shows you profitability in real time.

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