Why Engineering or Commissioning Firms Should Choose Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations

Why D365 F&O Is the Right Choice for Finance Leaders

If you're a CFO or finance director in a project-led engineering or commissioning firm, you’re likely in a constant tug-of-war between operational complexity and financial precision. You’re accountable for margins, compliance, cash flow, and resource alignment - but you’re buried under fragmented systems, late timesheets, and disconnected reporting.

And it’s costing you.

According to a 2023 McKinsey report, engineering and industrial project firms lose 5-10% of profitability annually due to inefficient resource tracking and fragmented financial systems. Another survey from KPMG found that 67% of CFOs in project-based industries cite “inability to access real-time financial data” as their top operational risk.

As finance leaders, the challenge is not only to measure profitability - but to predict, protect, and expand it. Your stakeholders want clarity. Your board expects control. But you’re often stuck reconciling yesterday’s data, dealing with timesheet bottlenecks, or firefighting invoice errors.

Add to this the post-pandemic volatility, labour shortages, and new ESG compliance frameworks, and the CFO’s job becomes less about reporting and more about reinvention. Yet legacy systems are dragging you down.

The root of the problem? Disjointed tech stacks. Spreadsheets, standalone ERPs, siloed time tracking platforms - they all create blind spots. And in high-growth or high-compliance environments, blind spots aren’t just inconvenient - they’re dangerous.

That’s where Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations (D365 F&O), integrated with a modern Time & Attendance system, comes in. This isn’t just about automation - it’s about giving finance leaders a single source of truth across financials, projects, and people.

"CFOs don’t need more data. They need real-time, actionable intelligence that ties together people, projects, and profits."

In this blog, we’ll unpack how CFOs in project-intensive industries can modernise their finance function, reduce risk, and lead confidently into a future powered by clarity, control, and compliance.

1. Engineering & Commissioning Firms Are Facing Financial Headwinds

Engineering firms are under relentless pressure to deliver complex, time-bound projects while safeguarding profitability. The balance is delicate - and often tilted against finance leaders.

Delayed revenue recognition, over-reliance on manual time tracking, non-compliance penalties, and poor cash flow forecasting create a volatile environment for CFOs. According to Deloitte, 58% of engineering finance leaders still rely on Excel as a primary budgeting tool. This puts them at a major disadvantage.

Many projects involve subcontractors, cross-border billing, fluctuating resource allocations, and milestone-based invoicing. Tracking financials in this chaos is difficult. When finance teams operate on outdated systems, critical decisions are made with incomplete or outdated information.

In such a climate, real-time data and digital integration are no longer optional - they are strategic necessities.

2. Why Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations Is Built for Complexity

Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O is engineered for complex operational ecosystems. For engineering firms, it means the ability to align cost control, billing cycles, procurement, and project management in one unified environment.

Key capabilities include:

• Project-based cost accounting tied to actuals, forecasts, and budgets.
• Automatic revenue recognition based on milestones and contract terms.
• Multi-entity and multi-currency accounting across jurisdictions.
• Intercompany invoicing and consolidated financial reporting.
• Real-time analytics powered by Power BI embedded dashboards.

The result is a system that enables your team to shift from reactive reporting to proactive decision-making. From a single dashboard, finance leaders can assess project burn rates, cash positions, and upcoming billing triggers - all in real time.

From a single dashboard, finance leaders can assess project burn rates, cash positions, and upcoming billing triggers - whether in data centres, MEPF-intensive fit-outs, pharma cleanrooms, or heritage renovations.

3. Integrated Time & Attendance: The CFO’s Visibility Engine

Labour costs can consume up to 40% of project budgets. When time tracking is manual or disconnected, CFOs lack visibility into actuals. This leads to underbilling, missed cost recoveries, and cash flow problems.

An integrated Time & Attendance solution brings clarity to this chaos:

• Employees clock in through mobile or biometric systems.
• Time is tagged to specific projects, cost centres, and clients.
• Approvals are digitised and embedded into payroll and billing workflows.
• Anomalies like unapproved overtime or missing hours are flagged instantly.

Time data is pushed directly into D365 F&O, giving finance teams real-time labour costing insights. CFOs can generate utilisation reports, compare projected vs actual hours, and detect operational inefficiencies before they escalate.

4. What Finance Directors Gain: Control, Accuracy, and Agility

A finance function backed by D365 F&O isn’t just compliant - it’s strategic. Here's what finance directors can expect:

• Automated financial close and faster reporting cycles.
• Dynamic cash flow forecasting based on real-time payables and receivables.
• Drill-down analytics for project-level profitability, burn rates, and cost trends.
• Streamlined compliance with UK GAAP, IFRS, and audit readiness.

With integrated Time & Attendance, your team eliminates manual reconciliation, improves QA/QC traceability, reduces risk, and operates from a real-time financial lens tailored for commissioning-critical delivery.

5. Scalable for Mid-Size Growth, Trusted by Global Giants

Whether you manage £10M or £500M in project volume, Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations adapts to your needs. Hosted on Microsoft Azure, it ensures:

• Security and compliance with global and UK-specific regulations.
• Flexibility to support mergers, acquisitions, or multi-entity structures.
• Integration with tools like Office 365, SharePoint, and Teams for collaboration.
• Scalable user roles and permissions for growing finance departments.

This means mid-size firms can access enterprise-grade capability without the overhead, while large firms benefit from proven scalability and global support.

6. Your Strategic Partner: Dynamics Square UK Ltd.

Implementation is everything. At Dynamics Square UK Ltd., we help finance leaders deliver transformation with confidence.

Our difference:

• Deep experience in engineering, construction, and technical services.
• Dedicated consultants who understand finance-first ERP design.
• Proven delivery methodology and post-go-live support.
• Full Microsoft Gold Partner certification.

Whether you need a phased rollout or a full-scale migration, we tailor D365 F&O to meet your finance strategy, timelines, and compliance needs.

7. The Result: Finance-Led Operational Transformation

What does success look like for CFOs and finance directors?

• Reduction in manual financial processes by up to 75%.
• Real-time access to project-level P&L.
• Improved cash flow forecasting accuracy by 30%.
• Enhanced workforce productivity with 98% time capture compliance.
• Audit readiness improved by automated approval workflows.

With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, integrated Time & Attendance, and the right partner, your finance team becomes a source of competitive advantage.

Conclusion: It’s Time to Lead From Finance

Engineering and commissioning firms are under pressure to deliver faster, safer, and more profitably. But success starts with finance.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations - enhanced with Time & Attendance - empowers finance leaders to control complexity, enforce compliance, and forecast growth.

If you’re still operating on disconnected systems, the risk isn’t just inefficiency. It’s missed opportunity, poor visibility, and strategic stagnation.

Now is the time to act. Modernise your finance function, unlock real-time project insights, and guide your firm into a future of intelligent operations.

Take the First Step With Dynamics Square UK Ltd.

Book a free strategy session with our Dynamics 365 Finance consultants.

Get a custom demo of Time & Attendance integration in D365 F&O.

Let’s build a finance function that leads with confidence. Start your transformation today.