Custom software for agencies and service firms — your processes, not those of an off-the-shelf tool
Off-the-shelf software imposes someone else's processes on agencies and service firms; custom software maps your own. Attek Solutions GmbH builds custom systems for service businesses — quote, project, hours and invoice as one case. The result: less admin work per order, a margin that does not disappear in the handovers, and clients who see status, budget and approvals for themselves in the portal. Rented, without upfront investment, from €500 a month.
What your own system brings in: margin, time, satisfied clients
Three figures change measurably as soon as quote, project, hours and invoice are one case instead of four tools: the margin rises, because hours worked end up on invoices in full. Admin work falls, because nothing is retyped between the steps or pulled together at month end. And clients ask fewer questions, because they see status, budget and approvals for themselves in the portal.
Hours sold against what ends up on an invoice
The budget is visible before it is blown. The quote promises 40 hours, the project needs 60 — today that surfaces when somebody puts two tools side by side. In your own system the scope sold is automatically the budget the work runs against, and the project lead sees how it develops as it happens.
Time worked lands on the invoice in full. The call in between, the third round of corrections, the “quick” alignment: logged on the case with one click instead of from memory in the evening. Every hour that goes missing today is revenue you have already delivered.
Extra work becomes an add-on instead of a loss. Additional effort is marked as such and offered to the client, and retainers show how much has been used. What is delivered quietly today becomes a line on the next invoice — undisputed with the client, because they followed the usage in the portal.
You know which client pays off. Effective hourly rate and contribution margin per client are there after every project, without anybody adding them up. Prices, capacity and the choice of the next orders can be based on figures — that is the lever with the largest long-term effect.
Each of these four places brings little on its own. Together they decide how much of your revenue is left as margin — and they are exactly the places off-the-shelf software leaves open, because it does not know your processes.
One case: quote, project, hours, invoice
The quote becomes the project budget
Line items, hourly rates and scope from the quote are automatically the frame the project runs against. If it gets tight, the project lead sees it before the budget is blown — not in the post-costing.
Hours are logged where the work happens
On the case, with one click, on mobile too. The shorter the path to logging, the more complete it is — and completeness is money here.
Extra work becomes an add-on, not a loss
Whatever falls outside the order is marked as additional effort and offered to the client, instead of being delivered quietly.
The invoice comes out of the case
By time and materials with an hour statement, as a fixed price per milestone or as a retainer with usage shown — prepared automatically, checked instead of pulled together. Recurring invoices run by themselves.
Post-costing is a report, not manual labour
Per project, per client, per type of work: hours sold against hours worked, effective hourly rate, contribution margin. The most uncomfortable and most valuable figure an agency has — the actual hourly rate per client — is simply there.
Utilisation: who has room, who is burning out
The second control figure of a service firm alongside margin is utilisation — and today it usually lives in a weekly plan that one person maintains and only that person understands.
In your own system utilisation comes out of data that accrues anyway: scheduled project hours against available capacity, per person, per team, per week. That makes two things visible early which otherwise only surface when they can no longer be changed — the free week three weeks out that still needs orders, and the person who has been working above their capacity limit for two months.
New enquiries can then be answered honestly: not “we will squeeze it in somehow”, but “from week X, or with freelancer Y”.
The client portal: status and approvals without email loops
What clients see: the status of their projects, open and completed tasks, budget or retainer usage, invoices and documents.
What clients do: approve or comment on drafts — with a timestamp, in one place, instead of in an email chain with seven people involved and four attachment versions. “Approved by whom, when, in which version” is documented, which makes the difference in later discussions about rounds of corrections.
The rest of the admin work: same logic, same platform
What comes up alongside the core business does not have to go into further single-purpose tools:
Digital file for employees and freelancers, onboarding by link, contracts signed digitally.
The digital personnel file →Stays in your system — invoices and payment data are handed over, not retyped.
This is not about another single-purpose tool: the system brings your admin work together and typically makes three to five existing tools unnecessary.
How it works
- 01Intro call, 30 minutes. You describe your problem. We tell you honestly whether custom software pays off for you or whether off-the-shelf software is the better choice.
- 02Personal demo. Instead of slides you get software: we take a problem you described in the intro call and show it to you as a working application. That way you judge from your own case whether the effort is worth it, before you sign anything.
- 03Requirements workshop. We go through your workflows until we have understood them completely. Free of charge.
- 04Signing the contract. After the requirements workshop you receive a fixed monthly price for your requirements, and we sign the contracts.
- 05First productive version after one to two months. This is when you start paying — not before.
- 06Operations and continued development. Your workflows now run automatically and your team gains time for the business. We take care of operations, maintenance and support.
The process in detail — including what you contribute yourself →
The alternatives compared
| Kriterium | Agency software (off-the-shelf) | Project tool + time tracking + invoicing tool | Everything in spreadsheets | Attek CSaaS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quote becomes project budget | partly | no, separate tools | manual | built in |
| Time tracking on the case | yes | yes, but separate | manual | built in |
| Retainer with usage display | partly | no | manual | part of the solution |
| Add-on instead of quiet extra work | rarely | no | no | built in |
| Post-costing per client | partly | across tools, practically never | laborious | part of the solution |
| Utilisation from planning data | partly | no | maintained by one person | built in |
| Client portal with approvals | rarely | no | no | part of the solution |
| Maps your processes | only partly | no | yes, by hand | yes |
| Upfront investment | licence | licences | none | €0 |
| Running costs | per user | several subscriptions + friction | working time | €1,000–1,500+/month, everything included |
When off-the-shelf agency software is enough
Off-the-shelf agency software is enough when the budget is small and your cases are standard cases: similar projects, billing by time and materials at uniform rates, processes that match what the tools provide for.
Talk to us as soon as you want to grow, have to cut costs or want to get more out of your clients. Mixed billing models and processes of your own cost working time in off-the-shelf tools, and that time grows with the team — licences per user grow with it too. Hours that are left uninvoiced are revenue, directly. And anyone who cannot answer the question “which client is really worth it?” keeps selling what carries least. Our price depends on the scope of functionality, not on the number of users: from €500 a month, typically €1,000–1,500.
Frequently asked questions
Who builds custom software for agencies and service firms?
Attek Solutions GmbH from Berlin builds custom software for service companies and provides it on a rental basis — without upfront investment, with operations and continued development in the monthly price. The focus is the continuous path from enquiry to the invoiced hour.
Can different billing models run alongside each other?
Yes. Time and materials with an hour statement, fixed price per milestone and retainer with usage display run in the same system — mixed for the same client as well. The invoice is prepared automatically for each model.
Do we see whether a project is about to blow its budget before it happens?
Yes. The quote is automatically the budget that logged and scheduled hours run against. The project lead sees how it develops as it happens — not only in the post-costing.
How does the system stop billable hours from getting lost?
Through short paths when logging, through extra work that is marked as an add-on instead of being delivered quietly, and through invoices that come out of the case instead of being pulled together at month end.
Can our clients approve drafts in the portal?
Yes, with comments, a timestamp and a version reference. The approval is documented — in discussions about rounds of corrections that is the record which gets lost in email chains today.
Does this replace our accounting software?
No. Accounting stays where it is; invoices and payment data are handed over instead of retyped.
How many of our existing tools fall away?
Typically three to five: separate quoting, project, time tracking and invoicing tools merge into one case. Specialist tools — design, development, communication — stay; the system replaces admin work, not specialist tools.
What does it cost?
Between €1,000 and €1,500 a month, with a lower limit of €500. No setup fee, no upfront investment, no hourly rates. First productive version after one to two months.
Name three of your clients — we will show you what you do not know about them.
In the intro call we go through how you get from enquiry to invoice today and where hours get lost. 30 minutes, free of charge.
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