Accelo

Accelo is a professional services automation (PSA) platform built for firms that need to manage the entire client lifecycle — from initial quote through project delivery to final invoice — without stitching together separate tools. It targets agencies, consultancies, IT/MSPs, accounting firms, architecture practices, and engineering firms where time is the primary billable unit and margin visibility determines business health.

Tiered Capability Model

Accelo structures its platform across four tiers, each adding meaningfully to the last:

Professional covers the CRM foundation: contact and company management, email and calendar sync, client communication streams, task management, file attachments, and customizable reports. It's the relationship layer.

Business adds the operational core: project management, sales pipeline, quote management, time logs and timers, client invoices and payments, and financial insight dashboards. This is where most billable-service workflows live.

Advanced unlocks the features most relevant to mature service firms: retainer management, ticket management, a shared request inbox, expense tracking, time approvals for billing, and — critically — unlimited client portal users. If the client portal is your primary reason for evaluating Accelo, this is the minimum tier you need.

The top tier adds AI-powered capabilities: advanced custom workflows, smart scheduling and utilization balancing, adaptive project scheduling, resourcing forecast insights, and deeper integration options.

Pricing is no longer published publicly — Accelo now routes all buyers through a personalized pricing conversation. The $39/user/month figure reflects earlier published pricing; expect current quotes to vary based on team size and tier.

Quote-to-Cash as a Core Value Proposition

Accelo's clearest differentiator is connecting the full revenue cycle in one system. When a quote converts to a project, no manual handoff is required. Time tracked against that project flows into invoicing automatically. Retainer drawdowns are tracked against budgets in real time. This matters for firms where revenue leakage — unbilled time, retainer overruns, missed expense captures — is a chronic problem.

Several customer quotes in their marketing speak directly to this: one CEO cited fixed pricing problems with retainers paying for the entire platform. That rings true for the profile Accelo targets.

AI-Guided Operations

Accelo's current messaging leans heavily into AI as an operational layer rather than just a reporting tool. The platform claims to surface delivery slowdowns, flag capacity gaps before they hit revenue, and detect financial risk while there's still time to act. Whether this lives up to the marketing depends on how much clean historical data you've already built inside Accelo — the intelligence is only as good as the operational data feeding it.

Client Portal

The client portal gives clients visibility into project status and the ability to pay invoices. It's positioned as a collaboration and trust-building layer rather than a rich self-service experience. Unlimited portal users come with the Advanced plan, which is a genuine advantage over competitors that charge per portal seat.

Who It's For

Accelo fits professional services firms with 5–100 staff who need one platform that covers operations end-to-end and can report on profitability by client, project type, or resource. It's overkill for freelancers and boutique shops that only need a simple client-facing portal. For MSPs managing recurring contracts and IT service tickets alongside project work, the combination of retainer management, ticketing, and project tools in one place is a strong fit.