Books and payroll that show which engagements actually pay.

Utilisation is the share of a consultant’s available hours that is billable. Realisation is the share of that billable time, at standard rates, that reaches an invoice. A firm can be busy and still lose margin when realisation falls, through write-offs, discounts, or fixed fees that overrun. Visory reports both each month, by consultant and by engagement, from your timesheets and the ledger.

A retainer invoiced before the work is done is held on the balance sheet as income received in advance, and moves into fees as the work is delivered. The revenue standard, AASB 15, calls this a contract liability. It stops a quarterly retainer billed in July from making July look like your best month. This describes how the books are kept; it is not tax advice.

Fees on a fixed-fee engagement are recognised as the work progresses, measured against the engagement budget, so a project half done shows about half its fee, whatever has been invoiced. Work done ahead of billing sits as unbilled work, and billing ahead of the work sits as income in advance. Budget against actual hours is reported every month, so an overrun shows while there is still time to raise a variation.

Yes. At each month-end, unbilled time and expenses are read from your timesheet or engagement tool and reported beside the ledger, by engagement and by age. Time-and-materials work is billed at the rates you set, and milestones reached on fixed-fee work are flagged for an invoice once you approve it.

It depends on who you contract with. An individual paid mainly for their own labour is an employee for super guarantee purposes, even with an ABN, and super on the labour part of each invoice is due within seven business days of paying it. An associate who contracts through their own company, trust or partnership is not your employee for super. Visory checks each associate bill against the party on the contract and includes super where it applies. This is general information, not tax advice.

Two tests can apply. The Fair Work Act looks at the whole relationship and how it works in practice; for tax and super, the ATO reads the rights and obligations in the contract. A contractor earning above the contractor high income threshold can opt out of the Fair Work test in writing. The call is yours, with your legal adviser, and nothing here is legal advice. Visory keeps the record that informs it: who you engage, for how long, on what terms, and at what cost.

Some are. Engineers and scientists doing professional work are covered by the Professional Employees Award, and so are IT professionals at firms principally in the IT industry. Many management and strategy consultants are award free, with the National Minimum Wage and the National Employment Standards as their floor. Your Payroll Officer records the award, or award-free status, for each person, and checks the salaries that sit close to the overtime exemption.

Yes, in your name. Retainers go out on their schedule, time-and-materials invoices from approved timesheets, and fixed-fee claims at each milestone you sign off. Overdue invoices are followed up on a cadence you agree, and debtor days are reported by client each month, so a slow payer is raised before the next engagement with them starts.

Visory charges one flat monthly fee for the scope we agree. No timesheets, no hourly billing, no surprises. The fee reflects the services you take and the volume of work in your firm, from the size of the pay run to the number of client invoices and associate bills each month, so you know the monthly cost before you start.