Glossary
What we mean when we say it.
The vocabulary that runs through the platform, the methodology, and the brand. Use this page as a shared reference for cohort firms, partners, and journalists.
- Agent layer
- The layer of the platform that sits inside the firm's workflow and runs the first 60 percent of every deliverable. Trained on the firm's IP. Governed by the firm's guardrails. Not a chatbot.
- Bone
- The off white surface colour used as the secondary background across the brand. Warm paper, not cool grey.
- CAPs and TAPs
- Current Allocation Percentages and Target Allocation Percentages. The Profit First framework numbers that show where the firm is allocating cash and where it should be.
- Client Cockpit
- The executive surface that scores every client on a RAG status with revenue, margin, billable hours, and AR overdue. Refreshed live.
- Consulting Operating System
- The category ConsultancyOS is defining. The layer that sits above PSA tools and knowledge bases and underneath the consultancy itself. The system that runs the firm.
- Deal Relay
- The partner network module. Tracks partners, partner contacts, introductions, deals, target accounts, reciprocity metrics, and commissions. Pay the right partner every time.
- Encoded IP
- Methodology that has been captured into structured prompts, decision trees, agents, and review workflows. Runnable by the system. The firm's most durable asset.
- Engagement
- A single client project running through the platform. Has phases, milestones, tasks, billing model, rate hierarchy, and a health score.
- Founding cohort
- The first three waves of firms we onboard. Wave 1 through Wave 3, May 2026 through January 2027. Locked in founding cohort pricing for life.
- Founder led onboarding
- Ian and the team run the IP audit, the Watch Me Do It interviews, the agent design, and the pilot validation. Not a self serve trial. Real implementation.
- Instant Assessment
- The Profit First dashboard chart comparing CAPs versus Actual versus TAPs per bucket. Refreshed every allocation run.
- IP Encoding System
- Our four phase methodology that turns the firm's tribal knowledge into structured AI agents. IP Audit, Watch Me Do It, Agent design, Pilot. Two weeks to first agent, thirty days to first deliverable.
- Ink Navy
- The primary dark surface colour of the brand. Hex 0E1A2B. Used for backgrounds, ink, the dark sections.
- Method
- Capitalised when referring to the firm's encoded methodology. Lowercase when referring to a general approach. The firm's Method is its IP.
- Playbook
- A versioned template that bundles phases, processes, steps, and media. A new engagement spins up from a Playbook in one click. The same Playbook can run multiple engagements with different clients.
- Practice
- A specialised delivery unit inside the firm. SAP practice, Salesforce practice, change practice. The Practice tier of ConsultancyOS supports multi practice operating models.
- Profit First
- Mike Michalowicz's allocation methodology. Income goes to Profit, Owners Comp, Tax, OpEx accounts before it is spent. The ConsultancyOS module runs allocations twice a month.
- Recovery
- The percentage of billable time approved and invoiced versus billable time worked. Recovery is the truest leading indicator of a firm's economic health.
- Sanity check
- The Profit First module's cross reference of typed income against paid invoices minus pass through expense categories. Keeps consultancies with subcontractor pools honest.
- Signal Cyan
- The single brand accent colour. Hex 00B2C0. Used at 2 to 5 percent of any surface. The eye lands on it.
- Slate Ink
- The body text colour on light surfaces and the wordmark colour on light backgrounds. Hex 1E2A38.
- The Architect
- The brand archetype. Considered, precise, confident, quiet. We design the system the operators run on.
- Wave
- A founding cohort onboarding tranche. Wave 1, 2, and 3 each cover roughly three months. Waves gate the speed of onboarding, not the features.
- Watch Me Do It interview
- Phase 2 of the IP Encoding System. We sit with a senior operator while they actually do the work. Record the screen. Capture the decision tree branch by branch. The output becomes the structured method.
- White label
- The Enterprise tier capability where the client portal renders entirely under the consulting firm's brand. Logo, colours, custom domain. Client sees the firm, not ConsultancyOS.
- WIP
- Work in progress. Time entries that are approved, billable, and not yet invoiced. The leading edge of cash. Visible live in the Executive cockpit.