Project management is one of the most critical activities in any organisation, whether it involves delivering client projects, managing production jobs or running large-scale internal initiatives. For decades, businesses have relied on specialised tools such as Microsoft Project and Primavera. These tools are excellent for scheduling, resource allocation and monitoring at the project manager level.
However, while they are powerful in their domain, they were never designed to integrate with the broader workings of an organisation. They remain primarily planning and scheduling tools, not enterprise management systems. This is where many companies, including ours, felt the need for something more.
The Role of Traditional Project Tools
Tools like MS Project and Primavera remain highly valuable. They allow managers to:
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Create work breakdown structures and Gantt charts
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Assign tasks and resources
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Estimate timelines and budgets
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Track progress against baselines
These capabilities make them indispensable for project managers and program managers who need visibility into project timelines and resource allocation.
But as projects become more complex, involving multiple departments, approvals, vendors and financial flows, organisations soon encounter a natural limitation: these tools are not connected to the rest of the business.
A Founder’s Perspective
I did my PMP way back in 2006 when I was a project manager. At that time, we had been using Microsoft Project, and it felt like the ultimate tool—powerful, sophisticated and seemingly all-encompassing.
A few years later, when we started ECS, my role changed completely. The nature of our business also played a big part in redefining how I viewed project management. For the development of Tuhund, for instance, schedule meant little compared to scope. Rework—even ten times—was acceptable as long as each repetition brought improvement.
Yet, we still needed project management tools. But with my changed role, I found that any stand-alone tool fell short of my needs. It could help me plan tasks and timelines, but it could not connect to the broader reality of managing people, costs, materials, approvals and customers all at once.
This gap was one of the inspirations behind embedding project management directly into Tuhund ERP—not as a side module, but as a fully integrated function that ties into every part of the organisation.
Project Management Inside ERP
Tuhund takes a different approach: project management is not a separate application but a core ERP function that works hand-in-hand with finance, HR, inventory, procurement and approvals.
This means every project is connected to the lifeblood of the organisation:
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Integrated Resource Management
Employees, contractors and machines are not abstract “resources.” Tuhund knows who they are, their schedules, leave, skill sets and current workloads. Assignments are realistic, not hypothetical. -
Real-Time Costing
Every activity in a project automatically accumulates costs from timesheets, payroll, material issues, purchase orders and expenses. Managers see both estimated and actual costs in real time. -
Inventory & Procurement Linkages
Project tasks requiring materials are linked directly to stores. Stock issues, transfers and procurement are tracked seamlessly. -
Workflow & Approvals
Project-related requests—like budgets, purchases or change orders—flow through the same multi-level approval engines as the rest of the ERP. -
Drill-Down Reporting
Managers can analyse projects at a macro level, then drill down into individual job orders, activities, cost elements or even a single transaction.
Billable Milestones – Connecting Projects to Revenue
One of Tuhund’s unique features is the concept of billable milestones.
In most project management tools, milestones measure progress. In Tuhund, milestones can also be made billable, creating a direct link between the contractual payment schedule and the actual execution schedule.
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When a billable milestone is achieved, it triggers corresponding entries in accounts receivable.
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Payments received can be tracked against the project’s actual progress.
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Project budgets and cash flow forecasts adjust automatically, giving finance teams a live view of revenue versus execution.
This ensures finance and project teams are always aligned.
Bridging Projects and Operations
In many organisations, employees divide their time between project-related tasks and non-project operational activities. Stand-alone project tools can map resource allocation across multiple projects, but they cannot interact with day-to-day operations.
Tuhund closes this gap:
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Time spent on both project and non-project work is tracked within the same system.
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Payroll, approvals and costing recognise this dual allocation automatically.
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Managers get a complete view of resource utilisation across the organisation, not just within projects.
This ensures that project plans are grounded in operational reality, and operational decisions are informed by project demands.
From Planning to Execution
Because project management is embedded in ERP, the entire lifecycle is covered:
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Planning – Define scope, timelines, resources and budgets.
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Execution – Assign tasks, track progress and manage dependencies.
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Billable Milestones – Align contractual payments with actual progress.
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Cost Control – Monitor live expenses and effort against estimates.
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Delivery & Closure – Capture final reports, approvals and handovers.
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Continuous Learning – Store solutions, lessons learned and cost data for future projects.
Why It Matters
When project management is part of ERP, organisations gain:
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Accuracy – Real data drives schedules, budgets and billing.
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Agility – Adjustments flow across all functions instantly.
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Accountability – Every hour, material and expense is tracked transparently.
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Cash Flow Alignment – Revenue recognition and receivables are tied to project milestones.
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Sustainability – Lessons learned feed back into future planning.
Conclusion
MS Project and Primavera are excellent tools for scheduling, resource allocation and tracking at the project manager level. But they were never intended to integrate into the fabric of an organisation’s operations.
Tuhund bridges that gap by embedding project management into ERP itself. With billable milestones linking execution to revenue, and integrated resource allocation covering both project and operational work, projects in Tuhund are not isolated plans—they are living parts of the organisation’s operations.
