Business / management / strategy consulting software, built around E&O and proposal / SOW builder with milestones

Arkathos gives a business a workspace tailored to how the work actually runs — This workspace is built around winning engagements (proposals/SOWs) and billing retainers and milestones against them. Arkathos tailors a business workspace around 5 agents: Sentinel, Scribe, Treasury, Quartermaster, Herald.

Compliance a business can't afford to miss

Watchtower tracks every license, bond, insurance policy, and continuing-education requirement for a business, with renewal cadences and staged reminders so nothing lapses.

• A business must maintain a Business registration / Annual report (entity formation filing), through the Secretary of State / state business filing agency, which renews every year.
• A business must maintain a Local business license / business tax certificate, through the City / county / municipal business licensing office, which renews every year.
• A business must maintain a Project Management Professional (PMP), through the Project Management Institute (PMI), which renews every 3 years.
• The Project Management Professional (PMP) carries a continuing-education requirement of 60 hours every 36 months (35h Education (minimum), 8h Education - Ways of Working (min), 8h Education - Power Skills (min), 8h Education - Business Acumen (min)).
• A business must maintain a SHRM-CP / SHRM-SCP (HR consulting credential), through the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), which renews every 3 years.
• The SHRM-CP / SHRM-SCP (HR consulting credential) carries a continuing-education requirement of 60 hours every 36 months.
• A business must maintain a Certified Management Consultant (CMC), through the Institute of Management Consultants USA (IMC USA) / ICMCI, which renews every 3 years.
• A business must maintain a Professional liability / Errors & Omissions (E&O) insurance, through the Private insurance carrier, which renews every year.
• A business must maintain a General liability insurance, through the Private insurance carrier, which renews every year.
• A business must maintain a Cyber liability insurance, through the Private insurance carrier, which renews every year.
• A business must maintain a Workers' compensation insurance, through the State-regulated WC carrier / state WC fund, which renews every year.

Everything Arkathos runs for a business

These are the agents set up first for a business — and because it's one platform, every plan includes all 16 Arkathos agents. Also included whenever you need them: Guardhouse, Courier, War Room, Armory, Marshall, Mint Warden, Vault Keeper, Watchtower, Bulletin Board, Client Portal.

• Sentinel — Contact & lead management, Deal / estimate pipeline, Task & follow-up tracking, SMS & email outreach, Pipeline reporting.
• Scribe — Document & contract templates, E-signature, Proposal & form builder, PDF / Word export.
• Treasury — Invoicing & payment collection, Expense tracking, Accounting & bookkeeping, Business tax prep & filing, Recurring billing & subscriptions, Financial dashboards & reports.
• Quartermaster — Online booking & appointments, Calendar & availability, Events & waitlists, Automated reminders, Job dispatch & scheduling.
• Herald — SEO & get-found content, Social media scheduling, Email & newsletter campaigns, Brand voice & content studio, Review & reputation growth, AI-overview & directory visibility.

Your tailored business workspace

These are net-new, business-specific capabilities — not a generic CRM bolted onto your industry.

• Proposal / SOW builder with milestones (Scribe): Structured SOW (scope, deliverables, milestones, fees, assumptions, terms) that converts a won proposal into an engagement record and its billing schedule in one step.
• Retainer & milestone engagement billing (Treasury): Retainers booked as unearned revenue drawn down by time or milestone completion, milestone invoicing, expense pass-through, and revenue recognized over the engagement period.
• Project time tracking + utilization/realization BI (War Room): Timekeeping by engagement and consultant feeding utilization and realization dashboards plus per-engagement profitability — core to a leverage-model consultancy.
• 1099 subcontractor / associate management (Marshall): Engage associate consultants, track their hours and cost against engagements, and issue 1099-NEC — distinct from W-2 payroll.
• Secure deliverable delivery portal (Client Portal): Client-facing portal to deliver decks, models, and reports securely with access logging, rather than emailing confidential deliverables.

The agents and tabs you get

Sentinel for a business surfaces Overview, Contacts, Tasks, Chat. Scribe for a business surfaces Documents, Templates, Chat. Treasury for a business surfaces Invoices, Financial sheet, Transactions, Chat. Quartermaster for a business surfaces Calendar, Bookings, Availability, Chat. Herald for a business surfaces Brief, Compose, Get found, Directories, ✦Studio, Schedule, Chat, Brand voice.

Frequently asked questions

best software for a small consulting firm

Prioritize one platform covering CRM, project delivery, time tracking, and billing over tool sprawl. Common picks: Scoro, BigTime, Rocketlane. Arkathos bundles CRM, scheduling, invoicing, payroll, compliance, and marketing with flat, no-per-seat pricing.

how much does consulting firm software cost per user

Per-seat tools run roughly $6–$60/user/month, with heavier suites like NetSuite SuiteProjects Pro near $399/user. Small firms often spend $3,000–$7,000/year across tools. Arkathos uses flat pricing with no per-seat fees.

do i need separate tools for crm project management and billing or one platform

Separate tools force double entry and constant reconciliation. Most firms of 5+ people consolidate into an all-in-one so client, project, and billing data stay in sync. Arkathos runs all of it in one platform.

how do consultants track billable hours and utilization rate

Log time as you work using tracking software so hours flow straight into invoices; recreating timesheets later loses billable time. Utilization = billable hours ÷ total hours, with firms typically targeting around 75%.

do consultants need a crm

Yes. Spreadsheets lose follow-ups and referrals, which drive a large share of new consulting business. A CRM centralizes contacts, pipeline, and client history. Arkathos includes a built-in CRM agent alongside scheduling and invoicing.

how do i bill consulting clients retainer vs hourly

Hourly fits variable scopes; retainers charge a flat fee upfront each cycle for predictable income. Use software that auto-generates recurring retainer invoices and payment reminders. Arkathos handles invoicing and automated reminders.

software to write consulting proposals and statements of work

Proposal tools like Proposify, PandaDoc, and Bonsai offer SOW templates covering scope, deliverables, timelines, and e-signature, then connect to contracts and invoicing. Arkathos can also draft proposals, estimates, and documents.

how do consulting firms get more clients

Mostly referrals plus content marketing, SEO, LinkedIn, email, and webinars; referrals drive much of new business, so nurture past clients. Arkathos's marketing agent supports email campaigns and content generation.

what apps do i need to run a consulting business

Core stack: CRM, proposals, project and time tracking, billing, accounting, plus payroll if you have staff. Firms increasingly consolidate these. Arkathos covers CRM, scheduling, invoicing, payroll, compliance, and marketing in one platform.

What licenses and insurance does a business need?

Arkathos tracks 9 items for a business, including Business registration / Annual report (entity formation filing), Local business license / business tax certificate, Project Management Professional (PMP), SHRM-CP / SHRM-SCP (HR consulting credential). Each renewal and expiration is monitored in Watchtower with staged reminders.

What continuing education is required for a business?

The Project Management Professional (PMP) carries a continuing-education requirement of 60 hours every 36 months (35h Education (minimum), 8h Education - Ways of Working (min), 8h Education - Power Skills (min), 8h Education - Business Acumen (min)). The SHRM-CP / SHRM-SCP (HR consulting credential) carries a continuing-education requirement of 60 hours every 36 months. Watchtower logs hours by category and flags shortfalls before the deadline.

Which Arkathos agents does a business get?

Arkathos tailors a business workspace around 5 agents: Sentinel, Scribe, Treasury, Quartermaster, Herald.

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