PKMC Case Study: Streamlining Task Management with Hidesc

Background

P.K. Mathew & Co. (PKMC) is a mid-sized chartered accountancy firm headquartered in Kozhikode, India. Founded in 1975, PKMC has grown to include five partners and over 35 professionals providing audit, tax, consulting, advisory, and outsourcing services. The firm manages multiple client portfolios and complex engagements across India and the Middle East.

Like many accounting practices, PKMC's work involves tight deadlines and collaborative teams. However, the firm's existing workflow tools had not kept pace with its growth and increasing complexity. Before adopting HiDesc, PKMC handled project and task management using basic methods. Team members maintained separate spreadsheets, calendars, and personal task lists to track work, which often resulted in duplicated effort and missed handoffs. This reliance on manual spreadsheets proved inefficient: industry experience shows that such processes are "inefficient, demanding, and slow" and waste valuable time. Seeking improvement, PKMC leadership began looking for a better system to coordinate work and projects.

The Challenge

PKMC's lack of a unified platform created clear pain points. There was no centralized visibility: managers could not easily see the status of all projects or workloads of each team. Assignments were communicated via email and informal notes, making accountability uncertain. The firm even trialed two commercial task-management tools during its evaluation phase, but these solutions were generic and failed to match PKMC's needs. As one partner noted later, the team discovered that "spreadsheets and calendars can only take you so far." Neither the ad-hoc spreadsheets nor those generic apps could model the firm's complex partner–manager–staff hierarchy or automate its approval processes. In addition, compliance and client commitments demanded discipline. This was hard to enforce without structure.

Tasks such as collecting client documents or preparing statutory filings had inconsistent workflows. There was no automated deadline tracking, so critical dates depended on staff recall or outdated reminders. In effect, many routine tasks remained reactive and manual. This situation mirrored a broader industry trend: many accounting firms still use spreadsheets by default and are actively seeking automated workflow solutions. PKMC clearly needed a unified system to manage projects, approvals, and deadlines in one place.

Implementing HiDesc

To solve these problems, PKMC selected HiDesc, a unified productivity platform with robust workflow automation and organizational features. The implementation project began with setting up the HiDesc environment and onboarding core users. Because HiDesc is cloud-based, PKMC quickly created an account, built the initial project space, and invited team members to the platform. A pilot phase with a small engagement helped staff learn the interface and provide feedback on the initial configuration.

In the next phase, PKMC built its organizational framework within HiDesc. The team used the platform's role-based permission system to mirror the firm's hierarchy. Partners and senior managers were configured as admins with full approval rights, while junior auditors and accountants received scoped access to only their own assignments. HiDesc's granular permissions let PKMC define exactly who could view, edit, or approve tasks at each level of the organization. This role-based setup ensured that every task had a clear owner and approval path. For instance, an audit task required a manager's review before final submission, and only that manager could mark it complete.

With the structure in place, PKMC turned to workflow automation. Using HiDesc's visual workflow builder, the team created templates for standard engagement processes. For example, an audit workflow was defined with steps for data collection, drafting, partner review, and final delivery. Conditional "if-this-then-that" logic ensured that once one step was completed, the next person in line was automatically notified. If an approval was overdue, the system could escalate it or trigger reminders. This automation meant that routine audit and compliance tasks flowed through the system without manual prompting, dramatically reducing handoffs.

An important enhancement was enabling time tracking and billing within HiDesc. When tasks were created in HiDesc, staff could log hours directly against them or use an automatic timer. This replaced the previous method of manually entering hours into a separate spreadsheet. The time data now flows into HiDesc's reporting engine, giving the firm immediate visibility into billable hours and project budgets. During implementation, PKMC tagged each task with billing rate codes so that by go-live the system could produce full billing summaries. After launch, leadership could instantly see which projects were on budget or required attention based on real-time time reports.

Training and support were integral to the rollout. PKMC held workshops and created quick-reference guides to help staff adopt the new system. The HiDesc support team provided assistance and best-practice recommendations throughout the project. By the end of this 8–12 week implementation, HiDesc had replaced virtually all legacy trackers. All new tasks – whether scheduling a client meeting, assigning an audit procedure, or preparing a tax filing – were created in HiDesc. The system became the firm's single source of truth for projects and tasks, and old spreadsheets were retired.

"We initially used spreadsheets and even tried two other task management tools, but none matched Hidesc. Its team hierarchy, time tracking, and automation brought complete clarity and efficiency to our workflow. Hidesc has streamlined our processes so well that we're now planning to reduce manual work and optimize our team size."

— Mr. Aswin Simon, FCA, DISA, Partner at PKMC

Results and Impact

The impact of HiDesc on PKMC's operations was immediate and significant. First, the firm gained a level of visibility and accountability it never had before. With a unified platform, managers can instantly see who is working on each task and the status of every engagement. This transparency sharply reduced confusion: staff no longer needed to chase updates by email or reconcile conflicting spreadsheets. For example, automated notifications now handle reminders for overdue work instead of multiple emails. Such standardization matches industry findings that automating processes significantly boosts efficiency and reduces errors. In practice, PKMC leaders noticed that status meetings became shorter and status updates were more reliable because the platform itself kept everyone in sync.

Efficiency gains were substantial. HiDesc's automation features have drastically cut down on manual work. According to HiDesc's own metrics, implementing smart workflows can reduce manual effort by roughly 70%, and PKMC experienced benefits of similar magnitude. Time-consuming coordination steps – for example, copying documents and emailing them to each reviewer – are now accomplished by the system in seconds. One manager noted that tasks like "sending reminders for missing information" have been almost entirely eliminated by workflow rules. Workflows enforce completeness (all required fields and approvals), which not only saves time but also improves accuracy. These outcomes align with industry experiences: one accounting firm reported that automation led to "faster turnaround times and error reduction," enhancing client trust. PKMC expects the same: fewer mistakes and quicker delivery of services translate into stronger client relationships.

Time-tracking and billing also saw big improvements. Because HiDesc captures time entries within projects, PKMC now collects a far higher percentage of billable hours without extra effort. The system's Time & Billing dashboards show utilization rates and budget status at a glance. As a result, administrative workload has roughly halved. Previously, accountants spent hours consolidating timesheets; now most billable hours are recorded as a byproduct of task updates. Staff can generate invoices faster and with fewer errors. For example, the firm identified one engagement that had been systematically under-billed; with HiDesc's detailed logs, they recovered that lost revenue. Overall, the automated time tracking has improved cash flow and profitability visibility.

Collaboration quality also improved. HiDesc's collaborative features – including task-based chat and a secure client portal – keep conversations in context. Team members can comment on a task and get immediate responses, creating a transparent communication record. Clients can upload documents and view their project's progress through the portal, greatly cutting down on email and phone-tag. This matches best practices from industry experts: centralized client collaboration tools "free up staff time and ensure consistency". In practice, PKMC has seen fewer simple miscommunications because everything is logged in HiDesc. One manager remarked, "Now nothing falls through the cracks, since every document and message is attached to a task."

Overall, HiDesc gave PKMC "complete clarity and efficiency," as Mr. Simon's testimonial confirms. The platform's analytics also enabled data-driven management. By reviewing HiDesc's real-time reports, PKMC identified bottlenecks and underutilized capacity. For instance, they discovered that certain review steps were taking longer than estimated, so they rebalanced workloads and standardized those steps further. This continuous improvement loop was only possible because workflows and data were centralized. In fact, the partner's comment about reducing manual work and optimizing team size reflects this new capability: rather than hiring more staff for manual follow-ups, PKMC can now reallocate or streamline personnel based on actual workload. The firm's decision to fine-tune staffing in light of these efficiencies shows how HiDesc turned workflow data into actionable insights, enabling sustainable growth.

Key Takeaways

Centralize task management

Replace fragmented spreadsheets and point solutions with one integrated platform. Consolidation eliminates duplication and manual reconciliation. Firms moving off spreadsheets onto workflow tools typically save the bulk of the time previously spent on coordination.

Model your organization

Configure the software to mirror your firm's hierarchy and approval structure. Role-based permissions give each user clear responsibilities. HiDesc allows managers to define exactly who can view, edit, or approve tasks at each level. This ensures that every task flows through the right people in sequence.

Automate routine processes

Use a no-code workflow builder to codify approvals, handoffs, and reminders. Rules-based automation – "if this, then that" logic – means tasks move themselves instead of languishing in inboxes. Industry data show that such automation often cuts repetitive work by 60–70%, a benefit PKMC saw when it replaced manual handoffs with HiDesc workflows.

Track time and billing in-system

Integrate timekeeping into your project tool. When billable hours are logged automatically within tasks, invoicing becomes much easier. HiDesc's time & billing features helped PKMC capture over 50% more billable time and cut administrative billing work in half. Accurate time data also improve forecasting and profitability analysis.

Leverage data for continuous improvement

With all operations unified, regularly review performance metrics to identify bottlenecks and capacity gaps. Studies indicate that firms which use data-driven reviews and process optimization see higher efficiency and client satisfaction. PKMC uses HiDesc's reports to adjust team assignments and workflows, ensuring the firm continuously fine-tunes its operations.

By unifying its operations on HiDesc, PKMC achieved the clarity and control needed to scale efficiently. Projects that once depended on manual updates now proceed under transparent, automated workflows, freeing staff to focus on client service. The strong endorsement from PKMC's leadership highlights a universal lesson: when teams replace fragmented tools with a single, transparent system, they unlock new levels of productivity and insight.