Margin disappears quietly
Rates, costs and hours sit in different places, so nobody sees a project going underwater until the invoice is already out.
For boutique consulting firms and their external consultants
Stop losing margin between the work and the invoice.
Timesheets, project margin, client invoices and external consultant billing in one place, with drafts going straight into Xero. Pay external consultants when your client pays you, without the spreadsheet.
Illustrative example
Billable revenue
$128k
Consultant costs
$24k
Unbilled time
18h
Client billing pipeline
Northstar AdvisoryStrategy retainer78%$42,800
Aster DigitalXero implementation64%$18,250
Harbour RiskRisk review71%$31,600
Rates and costs setExternal consultant bill releasedDraft sent to Xero
Choose your path
Built for firms. Free for the external consultants they work with.
Firms run their clients, people and billing in an organisation workspace. Independent consultants get their own workspace for direct clients and for billing the firms they work with as external consultants.
Boutique consulting firms
For firms running client work with employees and external consultants who need margin visibility, clean invoicing and Xero without the spreadsheet in the middle.
Explore firm workflows →
Independent consultants
For solo consultants billing their own clients, or associating into firms, who want one place for time, invoices and Xero.
Explore consultant workflows →
The hidden leak
Consulting firms rarely lose margin in delivery. They lose it between delivery and billing.
When timesheets, external consultant bills, invoice preparation and Xero live in different places, nobody sees the leak until month end.
External consultant bills arrive out of sync
External consultants invoice before the client has paid, or after finance has closed the month, and every bill needs a chase.
Xero gets fed by hand
Someone re-keys invoice lines, reconciles exports and hunts for the context behind each one.
Referral fees get forgotten
Introducer fees depend on an invoice being paid, so they live in someone's memory or a spreadsheet.
How it works
From logged hour to draft invoice in Xero.
Capture the work once. Consulting Console carries it through to margin, client invoice, external consultant bill and Xero.
Capture the work once
Employees and external consultants log time against the client and project it belongs to, in decimal hours or hh:mm.
Set the commercials up front
Clients, projects, PO references, billable rates and cost rates, hourly or fixed, all in one project record.
See margin by project
Revenue, employee cost and external consultant cost per project, so you know which work is actually making money.
Invoice from logged time
Pick the client, select the time, and the invoice is built with totals, numbering and PO reference.
Pay external consultants when you get paid
External consultants can only bill you once the client invoice reaches the status you choose, such as paid.
Send it to Xero
Export Xero-ready CSVs on the free plan, or push draft invoices and bills straight into Xero and pull status back.
Role-based workflows
Everyone sees their part. Nobody sees your margins.
Owners see margin and billing. Employees log time. Finance runs invoices, bills and Xero. External consultants see only their own projects and bills.
Firm owners
Margin by project, what's billed, what's outstanding and what you owe external consultants.
Employees
Log time against assigned projects without seeing rates, costs or margin.
External consultants
Log time on the projects they're assigned to and submit bills when the firm's release rule allows.
Finance and admin
Invoices, incoming bills, Xero sync and a full audit log of who changed what.
Built inside a working consultancy
Consulting Console was built by Aller Consulting, an Australian boutique consultancy, to run its own client work with external consultants.
Our timesheets, client invoices, external consultant bills and Xero sync run through it every day. Every workflow on this site is one we use ourselves.
Xero integration
Drafts in Xero. No re-keying.
Invoices and external consultant bills go into Xero as drafts for finance to approve, and payment status comes back automatically when you refresh.
Explore Xero workflows →External consultant billing
Pay external consultants when you get paid.
Set the client invoice status that releases external consultant billing. External consultants bill you from the hours they already logged, you approve, and the bill lands in Xero.
See how external consultant billing works →Pricing
Start free. Upgrade when you need Xero sync or external consultants.
Firm Free
For small firms trying the workflow.
$0free plan
No card needed to begin.
- Up to 5 projects
- Up to 5 people plus the owner
- Timesheets and client invoices
- Xero CSV export
- No external consultant billing
Recommended
Organisation Pro
For firms with employees and no external consultants.
$59/month
Or $550/year billed annually.
Extra internal users can be added at a per-user price.
- 10 internal users included
- Unlimited projects
- Direct Xero invoice sync
- Xero payment status refresh
- Referral fee automation
Organisation Teams Plus
For firms that work with external consultants.
$130/month
Or $1,170/year billed annually.
Extra internal users can be added at a per-user price.
- Everything in Organisation Pro
- 10 internal users included
- Unlimited free external consultants
- Pay-when-paid release rules
- Approve and sync external consultant bills to Xero
Prices are in Australian dollars and exclude GST. GST is added at checkout where it applies.
Organisation plans include 10 internal users (owners, admins and employees). Each extra internal user is added to your subscription at the additional-user price, prorated, and you confirm before it's charged. External consultants are always free.
Paid plans renew automatically each month or year until cancelled. Cancel any time from the billing portal; access continues to the end of the paid period.
Free plans have the limits shown and need no card. We'll give at least 30 days' notice before changing what a free plan includes.
Questions before the invoice goes out.
The short version is below. The full FAQ covers plans, pricing, GST, data and cancellation.
Is it just a timesheet app?+
No. Logged time drives project margin, client invoices, external consultant bills, referral fees and Xero drafts.
Does it handle external consultants?+
Yes, on Teams Plus. Invite external consultants, assign them to projects, set a pay-when-paid release rule and approve their bills.
Can independent consultants use it?+
Yes. Start on Consultant Free, or use Consultant Pro for unlimited clients and your own Xero sync.
Does it replace Xero?+
No. It sits before Xero. Invoices and bills go in as drafts for your finance team to approve.
Consulting Console
See where your margin goes before the invoice does.
Start free with up to 5 projects. Upgrade when you want Xero sync or external consultant billing.