Software for agencies and consultancies placing people at clientsWho is placed where, and what to bill.
When your business is people working at client sites, the hard part is keeping engagements, invoices, travel and time off in step. FocalHQ keeps them in one place, per company.
Good morning, Vlad
Tuesday, 18 August · €12,480 payables due this week
Receivables
€96,410
34 open invoices
Overdue
€23,150
7 invoices
Payables
€41,900
Open bills
Net cash
€18,220
August
Today
3 things need you- Chase Nordwind SRLOverdue 12 days
- Pay overdue bills€4,120
- Off today · Ana P.2 days
Cash in, by month
Last 12 months · €
The usual problem
Four spreadsheets that never quite agree.
A placement business tends to run on a staffing sheet, an invoicing tool, a travel folder and a shared calendar. Each is right on its own, and they drift apart the moment someone changes client, extends a contract or books a trip. FocalHQ puts the same records in one workspace so they refer to each other.
Engagements
Each person's client placements, with dates, contract number and monthly rate.
Client invoices
Issued from your templates, in the client's currency.
Trips and costs
Travel, per diem and expenses kept together.
Time off
One calendar of who is away, with remaining days per person.
Staff and engagements
Every placement on record, with no accidental double booking.
Each employee's record lists their engagements: which client, from when to when, the contract number, the monthly rate and its currency, and the vacation allowance that applies to that placement. Ending one and starting the next is a change to the record, not a new tab in a spreadsheet.
FocalHQ refuses an engagement that overlaps an active one for the same person and the same client, so a placement can't be entered twice by mistake. The full picture of staff, time off and trips is on the people page.
- Client and datesStart, optional end, and the contract number.
- Rate and currencyThe monthly rate in the currency you agreed.
- Overlap checkOverlapping engagements with the same client are blocked.
Team calendar
August · weekends excluded
Off today
2
People
Booked
34
Days this year
Holidays
12
Company public holidays
From placement to paid invoice.
- 1
Record the engagement
Add the person, the client, the dates and the rate. Their time off allowance for that placement comes with it.
- 2
Plan around time off
Book time off and it lands on the team calendar, with weekends excluded from the days charged and company holidays marked on the calendar.
- 3
Log the trips
Trips carry their dates and times; the per diem is calculated from them, and expenses with receipts are attached to the trip.
- 4
Invoice the client
Issue the invoice in the client's currency, in English or Romanian, send it by email and follow it from sent to paid.
Billing and travel
Clients in different currencies, trips with their costs attached.
Agencies rarely bill everyone in one currency. Invoices in FocalHQ are multi-currency with VAT on each line, auto-numbered series and a template language per invoice. Overdue invoices show up on the home screen, so chasing a late client doesn't depend on someone remembering.
Travel is where costs usually scatter. A trip in FocalHQ holds its dates, the per diem worked out from departure and arrival times and a per-country rate table you can adjust, and every expense booked against it — tickets, hotel, taxis — with receipts. The whole trip downloads as one zip with its report and receipts.
Questions
What agencies ask about FocalHQ.
Which plan do I need for engagements and time off?
Staff and Vacations are part of the Enterprise plan. Trips, per diem and expenses start with Business, and invoicing is in every plan. The three-month trial includes everything — see pricing.
Can one person be placed at two clients at once?
Yes, engagements with different clients can run in parallel. What FocalHQ blocks is an overlapping active engagement with the same client, which is almost always a data entry mistake.
Does FocalHQ create invoices from engagements automatically?
No. You issue the invoice yourself from your template; the engagement records the rate and currency you agreed. Recurring invoices are coming soon.
Does FocalHQ run payroll?
It doesn't run payroll. FocalHQ keeps the engagement, time off and travel records your payroll provider or accountant needs, and they can be invited to the company to see them.
Is there a request and approval step for time off?
No. Time off is recorded straight onto the calendar by whoever manages it; there is no approval queue today. The iPhone app has the same calendar, so you can check who is away from anywhere.
See it with your own numbers.
Sign up with your Google account and try every module free for three months. No card required.