The $1,500 Leak: Turning Invisible "Work-in-Progress" into Immediate Revenue
The $1,500 Leak: Turning Invisible "Work-in-Progress" into Immediate Revenue
Unbilled Work-in-Progress (WIP) is a firm’s largest silent assetand its greatest liability. When a single associate logs just 10 hours, $1,500 in potential revenue is created, yet "profitability blind spots" often leave this value trapped in reporting lags.
Unbilled Work-in-Progress (WIP) is a firm’s largest silent assetand its greatest liability. When a single associate logs just 10 hours, $1,500 in potential revenue is created, yet "profitability blind spots" often leave this value trapped in reporting lags.
Accounting firms often struggle with a Revenue Reporting Lag, where delayed invoicing creates inaccurate financial forecasts and mismatches staff effort with reported earnings. Additionally, a Profitability Blind Spot often leads to reactive, large "Write Downs" at the end of a project rather than proactive, real time corrections
Accounting firms often struggle with a Revenue Reporting Lag, where delayed invoicing creates inaccurate financial forecasts and mismatches staff effort with reported earnings. Additionally, a Profitability Blind Spot often leads to reactive, large "Write Downs" at the end of a project rather than proactive, real time corrections
The primary objective was to create an intuitive, intelligent system within the portal to streamline matching and improve operational efficiency.
The primary objective was to create an intuitive, intelligent system within the portal to streamline matching and improve operational efficiency.
This project introduces an Intelligent Billing Ecosystem designed to transform Unbilled WIP (Work-in-Progress) the cumulative value of time and expenses awaiting billing into a real time performance driver.
This project introduces an Intelligent Billing Ecosystem designed to transform Unbilled WIP (Work-in-Progress) the cumulative value of time and expenses awaiting billing into a real time performance driver.
Duration
Duration
-2 months
-Nov 2025 - Dec 2025
-2 months
-Nov 2025 - Dec 2025
My Role
My Role
-User Research & Validation
-Systems & Documentation
-User Testing
-User Research & Validation
-Systems & Documentation
-User Testing
Team
Team
-1 PM
-1 EM, 1 QA, 4 Developers
-1 Product Designer (myself) & my Principal Designer
-1 PM
-1 EM, 1 QA, 4 Developers
-1 Product Designer (myself) & my Principal Designer
B2B FEATURE DESIGN
Context
Context
The Challenge
The Challenge
Strategic Objectives
Strategic Objectives
The Revenue Lag:
Delayed invoicing of Unbilled WIP creates a disconnect between staff effort and reported earnings, leading to inaccurate short term financial forecasts.
The Realization Blind Spot:
Without real-time visibility into cost to budget ratios, managers are forced into reactive, large "Write Downs" at the end of a job rather than making proactive corrections
Operational Bottlenecks:
The lack of automated triggers results in a "frantic, late night scramble" for internal teams to reconcile WIP and process billing at month end.
Develop an Intelligent Billing Trigger System that monitors WIP metrics in real time and instantly alerts staff
Automation
Create a tool for "one click" drill down capabilities to identify the specific staff or activities causing cost overruns
Visibility
Enhance WIP reports with role based grouping and mandatory rationales to provide insights
Strategy
FINAL FEATURES
FINAL FEATURES
Intelligent Billing Readiness
The system automatically monitors project milestones and time approvals against pre set rules, such as "Invoice at 100% task completion". Once a trigger is met, the engagement status shifts to "Ready for Billing," and it is added to a prioritized queue
Proactive Realization Diagnostics
To eliminate "blind spots," the system triggers a "Low Realization Risk" alert if WIP exceeds 85% of the budgeted fee. Managers can perform an "easy drill down" to view specific time entries, staff, and activities that pushed the project over budget.
Strategic Labor Allocation
The report offers role-based grouping (Partner, Senior, Junior), instantly revealing if high cost roles have low realization rates due to delegation failures. Any final billing adjustments require a mandatory rationale field to ensure a complete audit trail
FINAL FEATURES USER FLOW
FINAL FEATURES USER FLOW
FINAL DESIGN PROTOTYPE
FINAL DESIGN PROTOTYPE
Start
The Manager defines specific "Billing Trigger Conditions" during project setup
The system tracks project milestones and time approvals against these pre set rules
If accumulated WIP exceeds 85% of the budget, the system flags the project "Red" with a "Low Realization Risk" alert.
The Manager clicks the alert to instantly view only the specific time entries and activities contributing to the budget overrun.
The Manager receives a notification and reviews the "Prioritized Billing Queue," which is ordered by the value or age of the WIP.
Manager enters a final bill amount different from the WIP, the system prompts a "Mandatory Rationale Field" to justify the Write-Up or Write-Down.
The final invoice is approved and sent to the client
End
Visibility Drives Proactivity:
Providing a "one-click" diagnostic tool proved that real-time visibility into cost overruns shifts manager behavior from reactive, end of project write downs to proactive coaching.
Visibility Drives Proactivity:
Providing a "one-click" diagnostic tool proved that real-time visibility into cost overruns shifts manager behavior from reactive, end of project write downs to proactive coaching.
Process Automation Closes the Revenue Gap:
Automating the transition from "Active" to "Ready for Billing" via intelligent triggers eliminates the manual month end scramble and ensures financial forecasts align with actual staff effort.
Process Automation Closes the Revenue Gap:
Automating the transition from "Active" to "Ready for Billing" via intelligent triggers eliminates the manual month end scramble and ensures financial forecasts align with actual staff effort.
LEARNINGS & TAKEAWAYS
LEARNINGS & TAKEAWAYS
OUTCOMES
OUTCOMES
Automated triggers allows teams to focus on high value client work
Decrease in Manual Administrative Overhead
40%
After Intelligent Billing Triggers, the system eliminates lag, converting work into invoices instantly
Reduction in Days Sales Outstanding
35%
The Proactive Diagnostic Tool alerts managers when WIP hits 85% of the budget
Improvement in Project Realization Rates
22%
Payments
Unbilled WIP
Create Invoice
Apply saved filters or search users
Total Users: 4
1 hr 2 min
2
Notes
Help
User
Workflow
Task Bucket
Date
Hours
Billable Amt
Billed Amt
Write Up/Down
Alfreda John
*1040
2024
10/12/2025
10:20
$1,000.00
$1,000.00
$0.00
Charmee
*1040
2024
10/12/2025
8:00
$5,000.00
$10,000.00
$5,000.00
Stephanie
*1040
2024
10/12/2025
12:40
$1,000.00
$1,000.00
$0.00
Ray Johnson
*1040
2024
10/12/2025
10:20
$8,000.00
$8,000.00
$0.00
Update
Projected Invoice Amount
$20,000.00
4:00
$2,500.00
$5,000.00
$2,500.00
4:00
$2,500.00
$5,000.00
$2,500.00
Create Invoice - 1200 Albany, LLC
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Save
Save & Next
Group by : Time Records
Actions
Billable Amount : $15,000.00
AHR: $444.44
Write up/down: $444.44
Realization rate: 1666.67%
Operational Bottlenecks:
The lack of automated triggers results in a "frantic, late-night scramble" for internal teams to reconcile WIP and process billing at month-end.
The Realization Blind Spot:
Without real-time visibility into cost-to-budget ratios, managers are forced into reactive, large "Write Downs" at the end of a job rather than making proactive corrections
The Revenue Lag:
Delayed invoicing of Unbilled WIP creates a disconnect between staff effort and reported earnings, leading to inaccurate short-term financial forecasts.