Give HR One Record and Workflows That Suit a Partner-Led Firm
Firms run on timesheets, billing and document systems, and often keep their people records in spreadsheets. We help you decide what the HR system should hold, design approvals that reach a partner in court or on a client site, connect time data to payroll inputs and move the existing data across carefully. You choose the system, whether your own or the GullyHR platform; we configure the workflows, records, approvals, reminders and reports.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsThe starting point
Does the Firm's Best Software Stop at the People Side?
A professional firm is usually careful about its practice-management and billing tools and relaxed about HR data. Personnel records sit in folders, leave is tracked on a sheet, and an approval stalls because the person who must give it is travelling. The cost shows when a number is needed that three people have to assemble.
We help you decide what to hold, how approvals run and how to move to the system without losing records.
You may be experiencing:
- Employee data, qualifications and membership dates spread across spreadsheets, email and partner files.
- Approvals for leave, hiring and expenses that wait on one partner with no deputy configured.
- Timesheet data in the billing tool and payroll inputs prepared separately by hand.
- Appraisal forms, learning records and review dates kept in different places by different practices.
- A system bought earlier that people use for one thing only, with the rest of the features idle.
- Concerns about who can see salary, appraisal and personal documents in a shared folder.
- A previous attempt to move data that left gaps and duplicates nobody had time to clean.
What we can help with
Our HR Technology Services for Professional Services Firms
Requirements and Module Scope
List what the firm needs to record and automate, such as people records, leave, attendance, appraisal, learning and payroll inputs, and decide what comes first and what waits.
Employee Database Design
Define the fields, documents and history held for each person, including qualifications, memberships, practice, level and reporting lines, with access limited by role.
Approval Workflow Design
Design approvals for leave, corrections, hiring, expenses and letters that route to the people manager with a named deputy, so a request does not wait for a partner who is away.
Time-to-Payroll Link
Decide how data from the timesheet or practice-management tool feeds attendance, leave and payroll inputs, in what format and on what schedule, so people do not enter the same thing twice.
Self-Service for Staff and Managers
Set up what employees can see and do themselves, such as balances, requests, letters and documents, and what managers can see for their own teams.
Appraisal, Learning and Record Modules
Configure appraisal cycles, goal records, feedback forms, learning history, credential reminders and succession records in the same system, so the history of a person is in one place.
Data Migration
Collect current records, clean duplicates and gaps, map them to the new fields, load a sample, check it with HR and then load the rest with a rollback plan.
Rollout, Training and Support
Introduce the system in an agreed order, brief partners, managers and staff, and set a support route for the first weeks.
The deliverables
What You Receive
Depending on the agreed scope, you receive:
- A system scope and module plan.
- A record structure and access matrix.
- Approval workflow designs with deputy arrangements.
- A specification for the timesheet-to-payroll link.
- A data migration plan with a cleaning list.
- A configured system, on your platform or on GullyHR, as agreed.
- An implementation sequence and a short training guide for each user group.
Step by step
How We Work
Understand the Present Set-Up
We look at the tools in use, where data lives and which approvals cause delay, and talk to HR, finance and a few partners.
Define the Scope and Sequence
We agree which modules come first, what the system must hold and what will be left for later.
Design Records and Workflows
We prepare the record structure, access rules and approval routes, and test them with the people who will use them.
Clean, Migrate and Configure
We prepare the data, load a sample for checking, configure the workflows and reminders and run the system alongside the old method for a cycle.
Go Live and Review
We train users, record a baseline, support the first weeks and review what is used and what is not.
The difference
A System That Holds the Firm's People Data Once
A configured HR system helps the firm to:
We do not promise outcomes. We record a baseline before work starts, covering approval turnaround, records held outside the system and manual steps in the monthly payroll preparation, and report against it, so you can see what changed and what did not.
- Keep one record for each person.
- Route approvals to a deputy when a partner is away.
- Take time data into payroll inputs without re-entry.
- Let staff see their own balances and request letters.
- Hold appraisal, learning and credential history together.
- Move records without losing history.
Find your fit
Who This Service Is For
Firms Still on Spreadsheets
That hold people data in files and want a single record.
Firms With an Underused System
That bought a tool and need it configured for how they work.
Multi-Office Firms
That need common records and approvals across cities.
Engineering and Design Consultancies
That want project time and people records to meet in payroll.
Staffing Companies
That manage internal staff and deployed consultants and need both in one place.
How it usually shows up in professional services
Professional firms usually invest in practice management, time and billing and document management systems because those earn revenue. HR technology comes later, and the employee data stays in spreadsheets maintained by one or two people in admin or accounts. Qualification and membership details, level and practice, reporting lines and key dates are held in different files, and changes are updated when somebody notices. Leave requests go by email or chat to a partner, and approvals are lost when the partner is travelling. Timesheets are in one system, attendance in another and payroll inputs are put together by hand. Appraisal forms are shared documents, and training and continuing education records are kept by each individual. When the person who maintains the spreadsheets leaves or is absent, the firm cannot easily answer simple questions about its own people.
Common challenges
Where it goes wrong in professional services
Revenue systems come first
Time and billing are well served while people records live in personal spreadsheets.
Approvals wait on partners' inboxes
Leave and expense approvals sent by email stall when a partner is travelling.
Systems do not speak to each other
Timesheets, attendance and payroll inputs are combined by hand each month.
One person holds the knowledge
The administrator who maintains the files is the only one who knows where things are.
A better process
What a working version looks like
- 01
Start from one record
A single employee database holding credentials, level, practice, reporting line and key dates. The employee management software is built for this.
- 02
Move approvals onto a workflow
Leave, claims and letters routed to the right approver with an alternate, so nothing waits on one inbox. See self-service.
- 03
Connect time to payroll
Decide how timesheet, attendance and leave data feed payroll inputs, and remove retyping.
- 04
Bring appraisal and learning online
Appraisal forms, continuing education records and certificates held in the system and visible to the person.
- 05
Plan the migration
Clean the data first, test with one practice and then move the rest. The HR automation work covers the sequence.
What to check this week
- Find out where each person's qualification record is held.
- List the approvals that currently travel by email or chat.
- Check how many manual steps go from timesheets to payroll inputs.
- Ask what would stop if the HR administrator were away for a month.
- Check who can see the salary and appraisal data and whether it is controlled.
What this looks like in professional services
The parts of hr technology and automation that are specific to this sector, rather than general.
Connecting People Data to the Billable Clock
Where HR and practice management have to agree.
What this coversHide
Connecting People Data to the Billable Clock
Where HR and practice management have to agree.
What this coversHideIn a professional firm the people data and the engagement data are the same question asked twice, and firms commonly run them as separate systems that reconcile annually.
- Single employee master feeding practice management
- Utilisation, realisation and chargeable data per individual
- Capacity and availability for engagement staffing
- Professional qualification and CPD records with renewal alerts
- Appraisal informed by engagement data, not only hours
- Leave visible in resourcing before approval
- Partner and manager reporting without manual collation
Professional qualification renewal alerting is small and consequential. A lapsed practising credential is a client-facing problem, and it is entirely avoidable with a date and a reminder.
Questions on this, in professional services
No. We can configure workflows, records, approvals, reminders and reports on the GullyHR platform or on a system you already own. We recommend the one that fits your needs and your team's habits.
We agree which fields from your timesheet or practice-management tool matter, how they are exported and on what schedule, and set up the HR system to accept them. What is possible depends on your tools, which we check at the start.
Each approval has a primary approver and a named deputy, with a reminder if nothing happens in an agreed time. The deputy arrangement is written into the workflow, not left to a message.
We help you set access by role, so that salary, appraisal and personal documents can be seen only by those you name. The firm decides the access and should have its security reviewed by a qualified professional.
We help you collect, clean and map them, then load a sample for checking before the full load. The old files are kept until HR confirms the new records are right.
It depends on the number of modules, the state of the data and how quickly decisions are made. Starting with records, leave and approvals is usually faster than loading everything at once. We give an estimate once we have seen your data.
The employee record, leave and approvals, because they affect every person and every partner. Then payroll inputs, appraisal and learning records.
Often yes, through exports or integration. Decide first which data must flow, such as hours or leave, and test it with one practice.
Control access by role, keep salary and appraisal data restricted, log who views it and review access when roles change.
Move Your People Data Out of Folders and Into One Record
Tell us which tools you use, where people data lives and which approvals are slowest. We will discuss how to set up a system around the way your firm works.
Prefer to talk first? Call +91 80958 58589 or write to hello@gullyhr.com.
The general method — what hr technology and automation covers, the questions it answers and what an engagement produces — is the same whatever the sector, and is set out on the hr process automation page. What is above is the part that differs for professional services.
To run this in a system rather than on paper, see gullyhr software.
Other HR topics for professional services
Where to start
Most engagements begin with a review of how this runs in your business today, then a written process and the sequence to implement it.
See all HR topics for professional services, or another industry.