A Real Digital Transformation Consultation Case Study | Vancouver SMB

Here’s what was recovered:

Below are the implementations and full ROI breakdown.

Before any spending happened, the assessment looked at five areas: construction/project management software, cybersecurity, financial systems, cloud/workspace tools, and (separately, and not covered in this post) online marketing.

Here is the starting point of the assessment:

• Multiple disconnected tools (in this case: QuickBooks Online, Jobber, Measure Square, Monday.com, and WhatsApp) with no integration between them
• Manual, duplicate, and even triple data entry across systems
• Google Workspace (G Suite) technically in place, but barely configured, and had conflicting email accounts, and no access permissions structure
• Zero cybersecurity audits, ever
• An owner acting as de facto IT lead, learning as they went, with no dedicated technical support

These things happen when you’re focused on running and growing the company, and not auditing it. That’s exactly the gap a proper assessment is built to catch.

The largest single line item was implementing dedicated project/construction management software to replace the spreadsheet-and-app patchwork. Tursa Group evaluated several platforms, like Knowify, Buildertrend, Procore, and Jobber. The assessment scored each on cost, integrations, job costing, subcontractor management, and API flexibility.

The recommendation landed on a lighter-weight, integration-friendly platform over a more expensive “all-in-one” system, largely because it offered strong value without forcing the business into a higher-tier plan just to unlock subcontractor management (a limitation of at least one competing platform).

The construction management software consultation covered vendor comparison, implementation, and integration into the existing accounting stack.

• Setup cost: $18,000
• Ongoing monthly cost: $300
• Resourcing: Outsourced implementation, with the business retaining day-to-day ownership

This is the section that should get every small business owner’s attention. The cybersecurity assessment measured the business against the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, which included 49 criteria covering everything from password practices to backup protocols to breach response plans.

The result: only 19 criteria passed. Three were not applicable. The rest failed.

There was no multi-factor authentication enforced, no automated offsite backups, no password management software, and no documented disaster response plan. The assessment flagged the business as being at high risk of a future breach.

The fix wasn’t expensive relative to the risk:

• Setup cost: $1,500
• Ongoing monthly cost: $250
• Resourcing: Fully outsourced (this is the one area where the recommendation was clear: don’t try to DIY it)

Immediate priorities were straightforward: enforce MFA across all accounts, stand up automated cloud backups for Workspace data, and roll out password management software. Cybersecurity audits for small businesses are exactly this kind of assessment, and provide a fixed-cost way to find out where you’re exposed before something forces the issue.

Google Workspace (G Suite) was already in place, which is common, but lots of small businesses have it and never touch the settings again. Here, that meant conflicting Gmail accounts, no use of Groups for access control, and zero backup of Workspace data (email, calendar, files).

The fixes here were generally just configuration and hygiene passes:

• Use Groups to control access permissions instead of ad hoc sharing
• Consolidate conflicting email addresses
• Put backup protection in place for Workspace data
• Setup cost: $1,500
• Ongoing monthly cost: $0
• Resourcing: Outsourced setup, with the business self-sufficient afterward

Cloud backup and G Suite optimization is often the fastest win in a digital transformation project, as it’s low cost, low complexity, and low ongoing burden once it’s configured correctly.

The financial side had the most avoidable manual labor. Vendor invoices were being keyed in by hand, payment reminders weren’t automated, and reconciliation relied on manually matching transactions.

The recommendation introduced automated accounts payable processing (invoices captured and coded automatically, rather than manually entered), electronic payment approval workflows, and automated accounts receivable reminders, all integrated into the existing QuickBooks Online setup.

• Setup cost: $2,500
• Ongoing monthly cost: $175
• Resourcing: Outsourced setup, minimal ongoing skill requirement afterward

Accounts payable automation was the specific piece implemented here, and it’s one of the more measurable line items in the whole project. The hours saved are hours nobody misses, because the machine does the invoice matching instead.

Investment Summary

Labour Savings and ROI

Here is the projected labour savings for this case study:

Against a software cost of $22,425/year (based on current headcount), that’s a net annual savings of roughly $7,891, and projected out five years, a net reinvestment/savings of $39,455, after the software has fully paid for itself.

Beyond direct labor savings, the assessment also identified two other measurable upsides: roughly $500,000 in potential revenue capacity unlocked simply by freeing up staff time (at a 25% gross margin), and an estimated $12,000 reduction in costs from fewer data-entry mistakes.

None of these numbers include marketing or SEO impact. This is purely what better internal systems are worth.

Book a discovery call with Tursa Group’s team if you want a similar assessment for your own business.

Frequently Asked Questions

Tursa Group is an IT company specializing in consulting and digital transformation services across Canada.