In smaller firms, reporting gaps are frustrating.
In larger practices, they become expensive.
As teams grow and projects multiply, finance, operations, and project leads often end up working from different versions of the truth. Reports don’t align, board packs take longer to prepare, and confidence in the numbers fades.
It’s a familiar pattern for architecture and engineering firms with 50 to 100 people. As scale increases, spreadsheet-based reporting starts to show its limits.
Why spreadsheet reporting starts to break
Spreadsheets are comfortable. They give a sense of control. But at scale, that control starts to slip.
Small problems add up quickly:
- Files are copied between teams and versions drift
- Formulas break and go unnoticed
- Templates are reused without updates
- Finance, operations, and project leads work from different data
A 2024 survey by The CFO found that 40% of finance leaders don’t fully trust their own financial data, and almost all lack confidence in their cashflow visibility.
When reporting depends on manual work, errors creep in quietly and compound over time.
When reporting slows everything down
Reporting should help firms move faster. Instead, it often slows everything down.
- Invoicing stalls while finance waits for project updates
- Resource planning lags because forecasts are out of date
- Board reports arrive late or with conflicting figures
- Project managers stop trusting shared data and build their own
- Margins erode because overruns stay buried inside disconnected files
In one audit, a Dutch bank found 2.5 million spreadsheet copies circulating between 1,500 staff. Imagine the same across multiple studios, disciplines, and live projects. The time cost alone can be staggering.
This isn’t just a systems issue. It affects client trust, cash flow, and confidence in decision-making.
The real cost of traditional reporting
Reporting isn’t just a month-end task. It’s how firms see performance, plan resources, and make strategic choices.
When data lives in disconnected files:
- Forecasts lose accuracy
- Directors lose trust in the numbers
- Teams fall into reactive mode
- Mistakes surface too late to correct
The problem isn’t effort, it’s visibility. Spreadsheets were never built for collaborative, multi-team environments. What worked for a 10-person office breaks when 70 people across three studios rely on the same numbers.
What better reporting looks like
The best AEC firms are moving to connected, real-time reporting that updates itself. This isn’t about adding complexity. It’s about creating one clear, reliable source of truth.
Connected reporting allows firms to:
- Bring finance, project, and operations data together
- Automate updates as work happens
- Standardise reporting formats across the business
- Eliminate manual data entry errors
- Share clear, role-based insights instantly
Fresh Projects’ new LiveSheets feature supports this shift. It keeps the flexibility of spreadsheets but connects directly to live project data. Finance teams can build reports their way while maintaining consistency across every office.
It’s simple enough to use daily and powerful enough to trust firm-wide. That balance is what drives adoption. You can get started with LiveSheets by signing up here.
5 steps to strengthen reporting without overhauling your tools
Even if you’re not ready to adopt a full reporting solution, here are five ways to start improving reporting across your firm today:
- Keep one shared source of truth. Store key spreadsheets centrally with version control.
- Standardise your templates. Use one reporting format across projects to build consistency.
- Audit your high-risk files. Check for outdated formulas or manual entries that create silent errors.
- Find duplication. Identify where teams produce similar reports and merge them into one process.
- Ask this in your next finance meeting: “If one report could update automatically tomorrow, which would make the biggest difference?”
These habits build the foundation for reliable, widely adopted reporting processes.Final thought
Traditional reporting isn’t failing because people aren’t trying hard enough. It’s failing because the systems weren’t designed to support live, collaborative reporting across finance, project leads, and ops teams.
For firms that want accurate forecasting, better margin visibility, and more consistent decision-making, switching from fragmented spreadsheets to structured, centralised reporting is no longer optional. It is foundational.
If your team is still relying on manual processes and disconnected files, it may be time to explore a smarter, clearer way forward.
Want to be among the first to see our new reporting feature in action?