Independent consultants lose 24 days a year to admin that never bills. Shardwell runs every engagement through the Agree–Deliver–Close lifecycle and generates your ISO 20700 compliance evidence automatically — as a byproduct of the work itself.
7-day free trial. No credit card required.
01
Lead
Log a new opportunity and track its source.
02
Discovery
Run a structured discovery session and capture notes.
03
Proposal
Write and share a branded proposal via a secure link.
04
Engagement
Agree scope, deliver work, close with a full evidence trail.
The standards your competitors are not meeting
ISO 20700
Management consulting practice
The international standard for how consulting engagements are agreed, delivered, and closed. Most consultants have never heard of it. Those who operate to it win better clients, command higher fees, and have documented protection when disputes arise.
ISO/IEC 42001
AI management
Your client asks: “Did you use AI on this project? What tools? What did you do with our data?” Most consultants have no written policy and no answer they'd put in writing. ISO/IEC 42001 is the framework. Shardwell gives you the documented stance to go with it.
Shardwell is the only practice management tool built around both.
One platform, three jobs done
Most consultants run these across seven or more disconnected tools. Shardwell consolidates all three — so nothing falls through the gaps.
Without Shardwell
Scope documents in Word. Evidence in email threads. ISO compliance done manually with a PDF checklist — or ignored entirely. AI governance policy? A blank page. No structured record of what was agreed, changed, or delivered.
With Shardwell
Without Shardwell
Client contacts in a CRM. Invoices in QuickBooks or Wave. The client emails for updates. Each tool holds a piece of the picture — none of them talk to each other.
With Shardwell
Without Shardwell
Leads tracked in a spreadsheet. Proposals drafted in Word and emailed as PDFs. A LinkedIn profile that says you're ISO 20700 trained — but nothing a client can actually verify.
With Shardwell
Replace your proposal tool, CRM, evidence folder, and compliance checklist — all for less than one hour of your day rate.
Every engagement follows the Agree–Deliver–Close structure. As you work through each phase, your ISO 20700 compliance evidence builds automatically — nothing separate to fill in.
At closure, your full ISO 20700 Self-Declaration compiles from the evidence you've already created. No document assembly. No retrospective file hunting. One export.
Send clients a secure, branded proposal link — with a PDF they can save. No login required on their side.
A shareable ISO Practice Statement showing your engagement portfolio, AI governance stance, and compliance record — anonymised for confidentiality. Paste the link into an RFP or procurement form.
Client check-ins, scope change logs with budget and timeline impact — scope creep documented in writing, not absorbed silently. Every decision feeds the evidence trail.
Your brand colour, value proposition, bio, and methodology — referenced automatically in proposals and close-out reports.
Keep client records and track invoices without leaving the app. Everything linked to the right engagement.
GDPR, professional indemnity, and regulatory checklists — plus ISO 42001-aligned AI governance. Record what tools you use, what you disclose to clients, and how you protect their data. Clients are starting to ask. Be ready.
Why not Bonsai, HoneyBook, or Scoro?
What generic tools do well
Bonsai, HoneyBook, and Scoro send invoices, track projects, and generate contracts. They are well-built tools for running a freelance practice. They are not built around the specific requirements of management consulting standards.
What they cannot do
Answer the procurement question that ends — or wins — consulting engagements:“Do you operate to ISO 20700? What is your AI governance policy? Can you share evidence?” None of them generate an ISO Practice Statement, a self-declaration dossier, or an AI risk log per engagement.
Shardwell is not a better project management tool. It is compliance infrastructure designed specifically for independent management consultants — so that evidence of rigour builds itself as a byproduct of normal work, and the tools to share that evidence are already built in.
Who uses Shardwell
Whether you are building your first practice or running an established one, the problems are different. The need for rigour is not.
Former Operations Director, going independent
She had 12 years of expertise. What she didn't have was a way to present herself with the rigour that justified her day rate.
The first time she sent a branded proposal PDF and a formal close-out report, a client said it was the most professional handover they had ever received from a consultant. That sentence became a testimonial. The testimonial became a case study. The case study helped win the next client.
“I knew how to consult. I had no idea how to look like a consultant. Shardwell fixed the second problem.”
Independent consultant, three years in
A client pushed back on scope. He had done the work. But he had no written agreement, no documented sign-off, nothing to point to. He absorbed the cost and moved on.
Now every engagement starts with a signed Agree phase. Every decision, milestone, and scope change is logged in an append-only evidence trail. The next time a client pushed back on scope, he had the record. They didn't.
“The evidence trail isn't something I think about day to day. But the one time I needed it, it was the difference between a dispute and a conversation.”
Senior consultant, financial services, £1,200/day
At that rate, clients expect rigour. But every consultant claims to take their work seriously. She needed to show it.
Shardwell lets her operate — demonstrably — to ISO 20700. She sends a close-out report at the end of every engagement. No other consultant her clients use does that. It comes up unprompted in referral conversations.
“It doesn't just save time. It differentiates you. Clients notice when you hand them a branded ISO 20700 compliance document at the end.”
Strategy consultant, healthcare, uses AI daily
A procurement form asked him to describe his AI governance policy. He used AI on almost every engagement. He had no policy — just a vague sense that he was careful about it.
He spent 20 minutes in the Shardwell AI governance wizard. Declared his tools, his disclosure approach, and how he handles client data. Generated a governance statement link. Pasted it into the procurement form. Got through vetting. The next time a client asked, he already had the answer.
“I hadn't thought about it formally before. But once someone asked, I realised 'I'm sensible about it' wasn't going to cut it with a procurement team.”
All plans include a 7-day free trial. No credit card required to start.
Essentials
Up to 3 active engagements
Most popular
Professional
Up to 10 active engagements
Advanced
Unlimited engagements
Your data, your practice
You handle confidential client engagements. Here is how Shardwell handles your data.
Who owns my data?
You do — 100%. Shardwell is a structured environment, not a data owner. Your engagement records, frameworks, and client information remain yours, always.
Can anyone else see my work?
No. Engagements and documents are private by default. Data is isolated at the row level — no other user can access your records.
Where is my data stored?
In the EU (Frankfurt, Germany). Shardwell is GDPR-compliant and you sign a Data Processing Agreement on signup.
Is my data used to train AI?
Never. Your client data is not used to train shared AI models or improve outputs for other users. You accepted a DPA that makes this explicit.
Can I export and leave?
Yes, at any time. You can export your data and delete your account without losing access to what you built. No lock-in.
Does compliance add overhead?
No — that is the point. Compliance evidence is generated automatically as you work through each engagement. Nothing extra to fill in.
ISO 20700 and ISO 42001 compliance, an immutable evidence trail, self-declaration dossiers and branded proposals — generated automatically as you work, not after it.
7-day free trial. No credit card required.
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