About the company
- Design de Plume
- Industry: Creative agency
- Employees: 20
- Location: ON, Canada
Before and After Scoro
Before Scoro, Design de Plume was using a range of systems to run its daily operations:
- Apollo HQ for project management
- Spreadsheets for reporting
- Sage for accounting
Project management, time tracking, and billing lived in different systems, creating inefficiencies across the business.
In 2022, Design de Plume decided to transition to Scoro to optimize their processes. In a nutshell, this is what they were able to achieve:
| Before | After | |
| Reporting | Reporting was often outdated by the time it was prepared due to manual data manipulation in spreadsheets. This made it difficult to gather important business metrics. | Real-time, automated reporting with 50+ customizable templates. Leadership now has instant visibility into key metrics, allowing for faster, data-driven decision-making. |
| Project Profitability | Difficult to track over-servicing and scope creep. No real-time insights into budget vs. actuals, leading to lost revenue and reactive decision-making. | Project profitability has increased by more than 20%. Live project profitability reporting means teams can proactively adjust scope, pricing, and resource allocation – reducing over-servicing. |
| Resource Planning | Limited visibility into team utilization. Projects were often assigned based on availability rather than expertise, leading to inefficiencies and misalignment between skills and tasks. | Resource planning in Scoro enables smarter resource allocation. Teams are now assigned based on a combination of skill fit and availability, ensuring better efficiency and performance. |
Reporting
Before: Manual and outdated reporting with limited insights
Reporting was a major challenge, especially with the limited data available in their old software. The team had to manually gather and consolidate data from multiple sources, increasing the risk of error. It was very difficult to analyze project profitability, utilization, and operational efficiency.
In order to generate reports, we had to piece everything together ourselves. It was such a heavy lift every time, and by the time we had the data, it was already outdated.
After: Real-time reporting has helped Design de Plume scale their agency
With Scoro, Design de Plume has real-time, easily accessible reports at their fingertips. These are tailored to different business functions including sales, finance, and operations. Pre-built templates and customizable dashboards in Scoro allow the team to make informed decisions faster.
We now have access to 50 report templates out of the box. We’ve customized them to fit our needs, and they’ve helped us scale, improve efficiency, and better serve our clients.
With instant visibility into utilization, profitability, and forecasting trends, Design de Plume can proactively adjust operations and refine its business strategy.
Project Profitability
Before: Over-servicing and a lack of visibility
Without an efficient way to track project budgets and scope creep, Design de Plume often over-serviced clients without realizing it. Conversations about pricing adjustments and scope changes were difficult due to the lack of real-time data.
We could tell we were over-servicing, but we didn’t have a way to track it effectively. By the time we saw the impact, it was already too late.
After: Project profitability has increased by more than 20%
With Scoro, project profitability is monitored in real time. The team can easily see whether a project is within scope, and make adjustments before problems arise. Thanks to these insights, project profitability has increased by 20% since implementing Scoro.
Now, we can educate our clients about how changes impact the project. We’re having better conversations about scope, and we’re making sure our work remains profitable.
By having access to project cost breakdowns, Design de Plume can make data-backed pricing decisions and ensure every project aligns with their financial goals.
Resource Planning
Before: Limited visibility and reactive decision-making
Without clear utilization insights, resource allocation was often based on availability rather than expertise. This led to inefficiencies, misalignment between skills and projects, and uneven workload distribution.
One of the major things we wanted to change was that we didn’t want our staff being chosen for projects simply because they were available. We wanted the best people on the best projects that were the best fit for them.
Additionally, project managers lacked real-time visibility into how resources were being allocated across multiple projects. This made it difficult to anticipate bottlenecks, balance workloads, and ensure deadlines were met without overwhelming team members.
After: Optimized team utilization and workload balance
Scoro provided clear visibility into resource allocation, allowing Design de Plume to assign projects based on skill fit rather than just availability. This improved efficiency and helped ensure that each team member was working on projects aligned with their strengths.
We now have the insights to make the right staffing decisions. Our team is working on what they’re best at, which improves job satisfaction and project outcomes.
Scoro also helps project managers anticipate upcoming capacity constraints. Instead of reacting to workload issues after they arise, leadership can now proactively redistribute tasks and ensure that no one is overburdened.
Employee Engagement & Wellbeing
Before: Lack of transparency and risk of burnout
With a remote and hybrid team, leadership had limited insight into individual workloads. Without a structured system to track workload distribution, it wasn’t always easier to recognize if employees were becoming overwhelmed.
When you work remotely, you don’t see someone sweating at their desk. You don’t always know if someone is drowning in work. We needed a system to help us spot those red flags.
Employees also lacked clarity on priorities. In a fast-paced agency environment, urgency often dictated workload, making it difficult for team members to differentiate between high-priority tasks and less critical ones.
After: Transparent workflows and balanced workloads
Scoro’s utilization tracking now provides leadership with real-time insights into how team members are working. If someone is logging excessive hours, missing deadlines, or falling behind, leadership can intervene early to redistribute work before burnout sets in.
This isn’t a Big Brother system. It’s about transparency, alignment, and making sure our team is set up for success. People feel seen, supported, and empowered to do their best work.
Additionally, Scoro has helped the agency shift from a reactive to a proactive approach in workload management. With built-in prioritization systems, employees can now focus on the most important work rather than just responding to what feels most urgent.
Urgency can be loud, especially in agency life. But with Scoro, we’ve built a priority system that ensures people focus on what truly matters instead of just what’s screaming the loudest.
By creating a more structured, transparent, and balanced workflow, Scoro has helped Design de Plume create a healthier work environment. Where employees can thrive creatively without the stress of constant reactive decision-making.
Onboarding
Before: Lack of transparency and risk of burnout
Onboarding new hires was a manual, inconsistent process, at times leading to tasks being missed. New employees lacked a structured roadmap to get up to speed quickly.
After: A structured and scalable approach
Scoro’s task bundles automate onboarding, ensuring new hires have everything they need from day one. The structured process includes pre-arrival tasks, training videos, and guided project shadowing.
New hires tell us this is the best onboarding experience they’ve ever had. It gets them up to speed faster and makes sure everyone is aligned from the start.
Scoro also provides customized training resources, ensuring every new hire fully understands the platform and can integrate seamlessly into the team.
