Zes op de tien professionals in zakelijke dienstverlening verwachten komend jaar meer werkvolume of complexere werkzaamheden

Organisaties zijn productiever op cloudplatformen, maar operationele inefficiënties dwingen om langer door te werken

Amsterdam, 3 juni 2026 – Zestig procent van de professionals bij zakelijke dienstverleners verwacht dat hun werkvolume de komende twaalf maanden zal toenemen en/of complexer wordt. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van Unit4, leider in cloud bedrijfssoftware voor dienstverlenende organisaties, in opdracht van Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) onder professionals van organisaties in verschillende landen. Om projecten op tijd te leveren en overwerk te beperken, moderniseren organisaties hun bedrijfsprocessen en verminderen ze operationele inefficiënties.

Een deel van de organisaties loopt voorop: 33 procent werkt al met moderne, geïntegreerde cloudplatformen, wat fouten vermindert en processen versnelt. Koplopers rapporteren minder fouten bij financiële rapportages (29% vs. 37% wereldwijd) en bij budgettering en forecasting (28% vs. 36%). Business- en professional services-bedrijven lopen voorop bij de cloudadoptie (43%), gevolgd door IT Services (36%).

"Zakelijke dienstverleners staan voor een kantelpunt: technologische veranderingen en onvoorspelbare economische omstandigheden dwingt opdrachtgevers hun inzet van adviesexpertise te heroverwegen," aldus Donna Dobson, Integrated Campaigns Director bij Unit4. "Het onderzoek van PAC laat zien dat organisaties die hun kernprocessen moderniseren efficiënter werken. Nu de concurrentie toeneemt, beseffen zij dat beperken van de impact op medewerkers noodzakelijk is om talent te behouden en projecten vlot te laten verlopen."

Gefragmenteerde IT vertraagt projecten

Dertig procent van de professionals bij zakelijke dienstverleners geeft toe dat projecten regelmatig of vaak vertraging oplopen door inefficiënte IT-processen. Bij IT-dienstverleners is dat 34 procent, tegenover 25 procent bij zakelijke dienstverleners. De staat van IT-infrastructuren kan een mogelijke oorzaak zijn: 66 procent geeft aan te werken met gefragmenteerde applicaties en negentien procent is zelfs afhankelijk van meerdere systemen die handmatig werk en spreadsheets vereisen.

Klantgerichte tijd gaat aan verloren fouten en administratie

47 procent van de professionals besteedt veel tijd aan het corrigeren van urenregistraties. Ook komt overwerken veel voor bij financiële afstemming (37%), projectkosten- winstbeheer (37%) en projectplanning (36%). Meer dan een kwart van de klantgerichte specialisten (28%) is meer dan dertig procent van de werkweek bezig met administratieve taken in plaats van kerntaken. Vooral IT-dienstverleners kampen met overwerk: veertig procent moet regelmatig buiten de reguliere werktijden doorwerken.

"Veel zakelijke dienstverleners worden aangespoord hun commerciële modellen te vernieuwen, maar dat kan alleen met moderne cloudgebaseerde systemen," aldus Nick Mayes, senior consultant bij PAC. "Die bieden een wendbare, schaalbare basis om processen te automatiseren en AI te benutten. Dat vraagt wel investeringen in het optimaliseren en integreren van workflows, voor één centraal overzicht van alle bedrijfsinformatie."

Investeren in operationele modellen, automatisering en één centraal overzicht van data

Om hun doelen te behalen, kunnen zakelijke dienstverleners inzetten op modernere operationele modellen, automatisering en betere data-integratie. 88 procent verwacht dat dit processen verbetert, 86 procent dat het de voorspelbaarheid van prestaties vergroot. Toch is er nog veel werk: 25 procent heeft nog minder dan twintig procent van de kernsystemen geautomatiseerd, bij resource management, werving en talentontwikkeling loopt dit op tot dertig procent. Meer dan zestig procent verwacht dat AI hier positief aan kan bijdragen, waarbij 33 procent zegt dat het project- en resource management fundamenteel verandert en 43 procent dat het analyse en forecasting versterkt.

PAC-Methodologie

Pierre Audoin Consultants interviewde 500 respondenten uit organisaties in de zakelijke dienstverlening, verdeeld over vier deelsectoren: managementconsulting, IT-dienstverlening, zakelijke en professionele dienstverlening, en architectuur en engineering. De interviews vonden plaats tussen maart en april 2026. De respondenten waren afkomstig uit organisaties met 250 tot 5.000 medewerkers en waren gelijkmatig verdeeld over senior business- en senior digitale/IT-executives. De respondenten kwamen uit de VS, het Verenigd Koninkrijk, de Noordse landen, de Benelux, Duitsland en Canada.

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Over Unit4

De ultramoderne oplossingen voor de Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) van Unit4 zijn essentieel voor veel organisaties in het middensegment wereldwijd, en brengen de mogelijkheden van Financials, Procurement, Project Management, HR, en FP&A samen om real-time informatie te delen, en grotere inzichten te leveren om organisaties te helpen doeltreffender te opereren. Door onze deskundigheid in het middensegment te combineren met een constante focus op mensen, hebben we flexibele oplossingen ontwikkeld om tegemoet te komen aan de unieke en veranderende behoeften van klanten. Unit4 bedient wereldwijd meer dan 5.100 klanten in een aantal sectoren, waaronder professionele dienstverlening, de non-profit en publieke sector, met klanten als Southampton City Council, Metro Vancouver, Buro Happold, Devoteam, Norwegian Refugee Council, Global Green Growth Institute en Oxfam America. Ga voor meer informatie naar www.unit4.com.

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Pierre Audoin Consultants study shows firms on cloud-based platforms are more productive but operational inefficiencies force teams to work longer hours

London, UK, 3rd June, 2026 – Unit4, a leader in enterprise cloud applications for people-centric organisations, today launched international research commissioned from Pierre Audoin Consultants (PAC) examining the transformation challenges facing professional services firms. With 60% saying their work volumes will escalate and/or become more complex in the next 12 months, there is an urgent need to modernise business processes. However, firms face significant challenges to retrieve time lost to fixing operational inefficiencies and errors, which are leading to project delivery delays and teams having to work overtime.

One group of global respondents indicates a possible way forward, as 33% say they are running their businesses on modern, integrated, cloud-based platforms, and therefore spend less time correcting errors. Compared to global averages these leaders in adopting cloud-native technologies experience less errors in finance reporting (leading firms: 29%; global average: 37%), and budgeting and forecasting (leading firms: 28%; global average: 36%). Firms in the US are the most advanced (36%) in adopting cloud-based systems, compared to Germany (22%) which has the lowest adoption. Business and Professional Services firms are the most advanced (43%) in embracing the cloud ahead of IT Services (36%).

“Professional services firms are facing possibly the biggest inflection point in a lifetime as technology disruption and volatile economic conditions encourage clients to reevaluate their use of consulting expertise,” said Donna Dobson, Director Professional Services, Unit4. “PAC’s research shows why modernisation of core processes is giving leading firms an advantage in terms of productivity and reduction of time lost on manual processes and error correction. As competition heats up, firms understand that limiting the impact on their workforce is crucial to retaining talent and delivering projects more efficiently.”

Fragmented IT requires manual workarounds and additional hours

30% of respondents internationally admit to frequent or regular delays in project delivery due to operational inefficiencies, which rises to 34% among IT Services companies compared to only 25% of Business and Professional Services firms. The Nordics has the highest percentage (34%) admitting regular interruptions to project delivery, compared to 26% in Canada. The state of IT infrastructures could indicate a possible cause, as 66% admit relying on fragmented application environments and 19% even rely on multiple systems requiring manual work and spreadsheets – a figure that rises to 30% in Germany. As a result, it is no surprise that many teams complain of having to work additional hours citing a number of reasons including:

• 68% - monthly or quarter-close bottlenecks
• 59% - inconsistent data models
• 55% - outdated technology

Client-facing time lost to errors and admin workload

47% are being forced to spend time correcting timesheets while teams must work overtime in areas like accounts reconciliation (37%), project cost & profitability management (37%), and project timeline management (36%). More than a quarter (28%) of client-facing specialists spend more than 30% of the working week completing administrative tasks rather than focusing on their core work. IT Services firms struggle most with overtime with 40% regularly needing to work beyond core hours to complete tasks such as timesheet management, budgeting & forecasting and accounts reconciliation. This is concerning, given that IT Services respondents are also the most likely to say their workloads are going to increase and/or become more complex in the next 12 months.

“Many professional services firms are being pushed by clients to transform commercial models to better serve their needs, but this is only possible if firms embrace modern cloud-based systems,” said Nick Mayes, senior consultant, PAC. “This will give them the agile, scalable foundations to deliver process automation and adopt AI tools, but it will require investment to optimise and integrate existing workflows so that companies have a single view of company-wide information.”

Investing in operating models, automation and a single view of company data

Respondents say they have set three business goals for the coming year: to increase revenue, retain their best talent and improve cost efficiency. Consequently, they are investing in three main areas in the short-term including modernising operating models, automating repetitive, manual work and improving integration to create a single consistent view of data. 88% of respondents say this last investment area will improve their firm’s processes, while 86% say it will improve the predictability of business performance. It is also clear significant work is needed to automate core processes, as 25% are yet to automate more than 20% of their core systems, which increases to 30% in resource management, recruitment and talent management and skills development processes. More than 60% also expect AI to have a beneficial impact with 33% saying it will fundamentally change how projects and resource management processes will work. 43% believe it will improve their ability to analyse critical data and enhance forecasting. Delivering on these investments will also be crucial for another strategic priority as 59% state that keeping their best talent is vital. If professional services firms can automate processes and reduce administrative workloads it will create a better workplace experience.

PAC Methodology

Pierre Audoin Consultants interviewed 500 respondents from professional services organisations across four subsectors: management consulting, IT Services, Business & Professional Services, and Architecture and Engineering. Interviews took place between March and April 2026. Respondents came from organisations with 250 to 5,000 employees and were split evenly between senior business and senior digital/IT executives. Respondents were drawn from the US, UK, Nordics, Benelux, Germany, and Canada.

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About Unit4

Unit4's next-generation enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions power many of the world's mid-market organisations, bringing together the capabilities of Financials, Procurement, Project Management, HR, and FP&A to share real-time information, and deliver greater insights to help organisations become more effective. By combining our mid-market expertise with a relentless focus on people, we've built flexible solutions to meet customers’ unique and changing needs. Unit4 serves more than 4,700 customers globally across a number of sectors including professional services, nonprofit and public sector, with customers including Southampton City Council, Metro Vancouver, Buro Happold, Devoteam, Norwegian Refugee Council, Global Green Growth Institute and Oxfam America. For further information, visit www.unit4.com.

For more information, please visit https://www.unit4.com/, follow us on, Facebook: Unit4 Business Software, Instagram: @unit4global or visit our YouTube: Unit4 and LinkedIn page.