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ERP for Indian service and project businesses

For service and project businesses

Unnati runs service and project businesses on one set of records: work is planned as tasks, time is booked against them, billing rates turn that time into an invoice with GST, and the cost of the people on the job lands against the job. Profitability is visible while the work is running, not reconstructed at the end.

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+Tasks+Time+Invoice
The hours behind the invoice are the hours booked on the job.
Task-leveltime booking and estimates
Billing ratesturn approved hours into invoices
Per projectmargin while the work is open
The gap we close

The job is the unit, not the invoice.

An agency, a consultancy, an engineering services firm or an IT company all lose money the same way: the invoice is raised from a spreadsheet, the hours behind it live somewhere else, and nobody knows which jobs actually made money until the year ends.

Unnati keeps the job as the unit. Tasks carry estimates, time is booked against them, rates turn hours into billable value, and the salary cost of the people on the job lands on the job. The margin is a number you can look at on a Wednesday.

See Taskify
Pains and answers

What breaks in a services business

Today

Nobody knows which jobs are profitable until it is far too late.

In Unnati

Timesheets book against tasks inside a project, and billing rates convert them into billable value. Cost comes from the people actually booked, so revenue and cost meet on the same record while the work is still running.

For example: A fixed-price job at 60% of its estimate with 85% of the hours booked shows the problem in week three rather than at invoicing.

Today

Time gets written down on Friday from memory.

In Unnati

Timers run against the task being worked on, and timesheets are approved rather than assumed. Where a week is reconstructed anyway, the estimate on the task gives the approver something to check it against.

For example: A developer starts a timer on a task; the hours arrive on the timesheet already attributed, and the approver sees them against the task estimate.

Today

Invoicing is a monthly archaeology project.

In Unnati

Approved time at the agreed rate becomes an invoice with GST in the sales module, on the same records as the project. Retainers, milestones and time-and-material work are all raised from the same place.

For example: A month of approved timesheets on a time-and-material project raises one GST invoice, with the lines traceable back to the tasks.

Every company, person and item code above is invented for illustration. We do not publish customer names or figures without written permission.

The workflow

A job, from scope to settled invoice

Six steps, and the accounting entry is a consequence of the fifth rather than a separate exercise.

  1. Step 1 of 6

    Win the work

    A quotation or proposal in the sales module, with the scope and the agreed rates.

    Starts the chainHands on to Project

  2. Step 2 of 6

    Set up the project

    A workspace with tasks, estimates, dependencies and owners. Sprints where the team works that way.

    Opens with QuotationHands on to Tasks

  3. Step 3 of 6

    Do the work

    Tasks move across the board; timers and timesheets book time against them.

    Opens with ProjectHands on to Approve

  4. Step 4 of 6

    Approve the time

    Timesheets are approved against task estimates, so an anomaly is questioned before it is billed.

    Opens with TasksHands on to Invoice

  5. Step 5 of 6

    Invoice with GST

    Approved time at the billing rate becomes a GST invoice, with e-invoicing where it applies.

    Opens with ApproveHands on to Margin

  6. Step 6 of 6

    Read the margin

    Billable value against the cost of the people booked, per project, while the work is still open.

    Opens with InvoiceCloses it

Modules used

What you switch on for this

Every module is included in the subscription, so these are simply the ones this kind of business switches on first. Follow a link to read what each module does in detail.

Taskify: projects and tasksWorkspaces, boards, sprints, dependencies, timers, timesheets and billing rates.Sales and GSTQuotations, proposals and GST invoices raised from approved time.AccountingReceivables, the ledger, GST returns and TDS on professional fees.HRMS and payrollAttendance, leave and payroll for the people whose time is being booked.CRMThe pipeline before the job exists, and the client record after it does.
Estimate a yearly figureSee all fifteen modules
Being straight with you

What Unnati does not do here yet

Resource capacity planning across projects is on the roadmap; planning today works from task estimates and owners. There is no public API yet, so time booked in another tool has to be imported rather than synced.

Questions

Frequently asked

Yes. Billing rates sit on the project, so a retainer, a fixed-price milestone and a time-and-material engagement can run side by side with different rates per role or per client, and each raises its invoice from the same place.

More questions are answered on the FAQ page, and the security page sets out how your data is handled.

Start where you are

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Bring one real document from last week. We will run it through Unnati on the call and tell you where it does not fit.

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Prefer to read first? The comparisons with Tally, Odoo, ERPNext and Zoho are written to be checked, not believed — each one names what the other product does better.