+173% in Revenue: How Financial Management Made a Project-Based Business Profitable

Money disappears unnoticed — in deadlines, in revisions, in “portfolio” projects. And without a financial system in place, it’s hard even to know where.

This case is about an architecture studio that refused to work blindly, implemented financial management, and within a year achieved +173% in revenue and +286% in net margin. For more than six years, Finmap has been helping the team make data-driven decisions.

Not myth, not luck — but systematic work with finances.

Time to check: do your projects actually make profit, or do they just look good?

Bogdanova Bureau — Architecture, Design & Creative Solutions

Bogdanova Bureau doesn’t just create architectural designs — it builds holistic living spaces around the client. Their focus is on private and commercial properties, interior design, product design, and art direction.

The team guides each client from idea to realization with confidence and attention to detail. For founder Olha Bogdanova, creating a space should be an exciting adventure, not a source of stress.

How Finance Became Part of the Architectural Process

In 2018, after splitting off from a large architecture firm and starting her own business with a small team, Olga decided to take control of all processes into her own hands.

Right from the start, she decided that finances must operate as precisely as technical drawings.

In her previous company, they’d already used Finmap for financial management — but a dedicated accountant handled it. That experience proved to Olga that the program really works, so the choice was obvious.

She signed up for a trial period, learned the workflows, and then engaged a Finmap financial consultant. Olga knew that for management to serve as a strategic tool — not just a formality — she needed outside expertise and a professional point of view.

From her own experience, Olga understood that:

• Without financial management, even the most interesting projects can “eat up” profit.
• Creative freedom really means financial confidence.
• Making decisions blindfolded isn’t a strategy.

On short-term projects, it’s easy to allocate finances. On long-running ones it’s much harder: you have to track hours, reconcile balances and cash flows, and constantly log small expenses. - Olga Bogdanova, founder of Bogdanova Bureau

When Basic Financial Management Isn’t Enough

By then, Olga had plenty of business experience — the chaotic “all incoming money is our profit” phase was long behind her.

Many people don’t like finance, but it’s fundamental. It’s vital to keep an eye on it. If you don’t learn to love finance, finance won’t love you. - Olga Bogdanova, founder of Bogdanova Bureau

She clearly saw: if you want to scale, you must bring order to your finances — and not just implement management, but use the numbers as a decision-making tool.

She faced concrete tasks:

1. Calculate project cost. “Sometimes a project seems to go perfectly — especially if you have a great relationship with the client. But when you look at the numbers, it’s disappointing,” Olga says. She needed to know exactly where and why the business was losing profit so she could act in time.
2. Systematize expenses.
   Identify unnecessary costs, recurring payments, and optimization opportunities — to reallocate resources and spend smarter.
3. Implement proper managerial management. Not just logging cash movements, but to:
   • dive deep into Finmap’s capabilities;
   • configure the system for her specific needs;
   • test hypotheses and see results in numbers;
   • have an expert advisor on financial matters.
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A New Level: Why Every Business Needs Its Own Financial Expert

Olga began using the program herself — uploading data, setting up integrations, exploring the analytics. But once she saw what insights Finmap could deliver, new questions emerged. She needed to dig deeper.

That’s when she decided to bring in a Finmap financial expert.

This wasn’t a “formal upgrade” — it was a logical step, perfectly aligned with the studio’s growth pace.

Once we started working with an expert, that became the real turning point and the beginning of our friendship with finance. Finmap alone is great. But when you have someone who helps you make sense of it all and systematize everything, you save money. - Olga Bogdanova, founder of Bogdanova Bureau

From day one of that collaboration, Olga could:

• delegate routine tasks (data entry, reconciliations, categorization);
• focus on strategy — analysis, ideas, decisions;
• get answers to “what if I do this — how do we account for it?”;
• discuss hypotheses with a specialist who’s seen finances across many businesses and brings fresh ideas and approaches.
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Which Financial Solutions Work at Bogdanova Bureau

Financial management at Bogdanova Bureau quickly grew from a mere control tool into part of strategic management. Each new measure responds directly to business needs. Every result is clearly measured in numbers.

1. Hourly Model: Clear Mathematics, Not Guesswork

To price orders fairly and ensure precise payment for work done, they decided to break projects down into tasks and hours. This approach lets them react swiftly when a client requests extra revisions — they already know how much time it will take and what it will cost.

2. Each Client as a Separate Project in Finmap

For a project-based business, this is a must-have: in Finmap, every client is set up as its own project. All income and expenses are recorded separately, and the analytics provide a full picture of profitability, ROI, and financial outcomes.

3. Funds System: Financial Flexibility and Stability

When the studio switched to remote work, they temporarily stopped spending on the office. To prevent those savings from “dissolving” into ongoing costs, they decided to channel them into an internal fund.

That created the first financial reserve — and later they added several targeted funds:‍

• ‍Rent Fund – allowed stress-free leasing of the perfect office when the team returned onsite.‍
• Contingency Fund – automatically sets aside 2% of every receipt for errors or emergencies.‍
• Development Fund – investments in training, professional trips, and new opportunities.‍
• Marketing Fund – ensures a systematic approach to promotion and new client acquisition.

Thanks to this, the team isn’t at the mercy of circumstances—they build their own reserves, control fund allocation, and make decisions from a position of stability, not stress.‍

4. Analytics & Experiments: Data-Driven Decisions

New ideas at Bogdanova Bureau aren’t rolled out at random — each is tested as a distinct financial experiment. This lets them evaluate not only the creative value but also the economic feasibility of every initiative.

5. Tracking Even the Smallest Expenses‍

Recurring service fees, subscriptions, and software costs often stay “invisible” to the business. Individually they seem minor, but over a year they add up.

300 UAH per month becomes 3,600 UAH per year. And it’s not just one tool. In Finmap this is tracked brilliantly — you see exactly where your budget goes. -
Olga Bogdanova, founder of Bogdanova Bureau

Finmap lets you plan your budget with precision and avoid hidden cash leaks.

From Growth to Resilience: How Financial Management Helped Overcome Crises and Go International

Financial management isn’t just about spreadsheets — it’s about decisiveness, system, and confidence, even when everything around you changes.

Systematic Approach That Delivered +173% Income

After deploying Finmap and a comprehensive finance system that covered every project, expense line, and forecast, Bogdanova Bureau achieved remarkable results.

The team analyzed profitability across divisions, dropped low-margin projects, and focused on those that truly generate income.

This not only boosted revenue by 173% but tripled net margin.

Now we can see profitability before a project even kicks off. We make proactive decisions based on calculation, not intuition. - Olga Bogdanova, founder of Bogdanova Bureau

A Safety Cushion That Withstood the Toughest Crisis

The onset of full-scale war paused the entire economy. But thanks to pre-built reserve funds and flexible management, the company adapted by:

• optimizing expenses;
• reshaping the team;
• reallocating budgets;
• keeping projects in progress.

Bogdanova Bureau stayed afloat not by chance but by design. Their financial cushion bought them the time and space for measured decisions at the hardest moment.

A Bold Entry onto the Global Stage

The crisis became both a challenge and a catalyst. Leveraging analytics, forecasts, and clarity about their strengths, Bogdanova Bureau stepped onto the international arena.

Today they boast successful projects outside Ukraine, stable work with foreign clients, and a steadily strengthening position in a competitive new market.

Our focus now is fewer projects but bigger, more complex, and more profitable ones — backed by financial control that holds firm even in crisis. -
Olga Bogdanova, founder of Bogdanova Bureau

Changes Begin with Decisions

Olga journeyed from chaos to a clear system — and she did it not by hiring a large finance team, but by using the right tool, expert support, and recognizing the value of financial management.
Finmap became not just an management service but a true financial partner in growth.

You can too:

• systematize your financial management,
• uncover real profit and leak points,
• stop making decisions based on gut feel.

And most importantly — don’t face it alone.

Want to bring the same order to your business finances? Submit your request, and our expert will show you how to tailor it exactly to your processes.