I help engineering firms see margin risk weeks earlier.
I help project managers understand where their projects really stand financially, what is at risk, what needs attention, and what actions can improve performance.
30 min. No prep on your end. No pressure. If we're a fit, we'll talk scope. Privacy-first: your financial data stays in your environment. Not ready for a call? Send a message and I'll reply within 2 business days.
The numbers behind the work
4+ specialized in controls.
at peak.
3-year portfolio horizon.
tracked at Stantec.
Power BI template, Stantec-wide.
Six places engineering firms quietly lose money. And what your firm looks like after we work together.
Every engagement is sized to the specific problem, but the patterns repeat. If three or more of the below look like your firm right now, we should talk.
You should not be surprised by a margin issue in month 12 of a 14 month project.
Margin erosion and change order needs are discovered too late, after the team has already lost the chance to recover.
Risks are identified weeks or months earlier, while there is still time to protect the fee, reset expectations, or pursue a change order.
Your PMs should not spend their best hours rebuilding reports that should already exist.
PMs lose valuable time pulling data, reconciling numbers, updating clunky spreadsheets, and explaining reports instead of leading the project.
Reporting becomes lighter, clearer, and more repeatable so PMs can focus on clients, delivery, team coordination, and the decisions that actually move the project forward.
Your leadership should be able to make confident decisions from numbers they trust.
Financials, project status, and risk indicators vary by source, system, or person, meaning everyone half-trusts the numbers.
Leaders get a cleaner, standardized view of project and portfolio performance so decisions are based on shared facts instead of competing interpretations.
You should have time to act before old data explains what already went wrong.
Reports lag behind the actual work, so teams react after cost overruns, schedule pressure, or staffing issues have already taken hold.
Current project information reaches the right people early enough to spot trends, ask better questions, and act before small issues become expensive problems.
A forecast should reflect the work you are actually doing, not the project you hoped you were still managing.
Forecasts fail when they do not capture scope creep, pending change orders, shifting effort, or the real pace of the work.
Forecasts adjust with project reality, giving PMs and leaders earlier visibility into recovery needs, staffing pressure, and client conversations.
Project performance should depend on solid processes, not on heroic last-minute effort every month.
Each project handles reporting, forecasting, reviews, and escalation differently, which creates inconsistency across PMs and portfolios.
A repeatable project controls rhythm gives teams a consistent way to review performance, surface risk, and keep leadership aligned month after month.
Two concrete results from the work itself.
Reduction in KPI tracking time
Built a Power BI template at Stantec that took project KPI tracking from 40 to 60 hours per project to 30 minutes. Rolled out company-wide. Now runs across hundreds of projects.
The C-11 turnaround
Earned the second chance, then made it a marquee program.
Broward County's C-11 Impoundment had stalled and the client's trust was on the line. I joined as the project controls lead alongside a senior PM to reset the work. Built a weekly Power BI view of spend versus budget versus forecast, ran disciplined monthly forecasting, surfaced variances early, caught an invoicing error before it landed.
Result: gross margin moved 8 percentage points above the booked rate, the client awarded three change orders growing design value from roughly $500K USD to over $5.3M USD, and the team's loudest opponent of the new reporting rhythm became its loudest advocate.
Read the full story3 Solutions. Sized to where your firm actually is.
Every engagement starts with a clear scope and a defined deliverable. Pricing is shared during scoping, never on the marketing site.
Pulse
A short, focused review of your project controls posture. You leave with a small, prioritized list of the highest-leverage moves and a clear point of view on where to start.
Pulse fee credits 100% toward a Health Check if commissioned within 60 days.
Health Check
A structured 10 dimension audit of how your firm currently runs project controls. You receive a written assessment, a Health Checkup Score, and a sequenced roadmap of the changes that will pay back the fastest.
Build
Hands-on delivery of the systems, dashboards, forecasting models, and operating rhythm your firm actually needs. Productized build modules, scoped to your specific gaps.
Three audiences. Three plain promises.
For Project Managers
You'll walk into meetings confident in where your project stands. No more rebuilding reports the night before.
My mission: Make PMs look like rockstars in front of their management.
For Leadership
You'll see portfolio performance clearly, without chasing answers from people who already have enough to do.
My mission: Replace half-trusted numbers with analysis that leadership can stake decisions on.
For the Business
Fewer surprises. Better margins. Stronger control.
My mission: Turn complex data into simple insights that drive correct action.
What clients say about the work.
I cannot tell you how much you have helped me in my career. I know I have said this before, but I was really struggling to get the information I was used to having to run projects. The changes you implemented and the workbook are game changers for me, and I cannot even think of anything I could have/should have asked for -- you far exceeded my expectations.
Raymond De La Vega, PE, PMP · Senior Project Manager
The Five Stones principle
I don't rely on luck, I come prepared. Five Stones means I walk in ready for anything, but deliver the one solution that actually works.
Branden Armendt · Founder, Five Stones Strategy
Branden Armendt
Founder · Project Controls Advisor
12+ years in project management and 4+ years specialized in project controls across engineering and infrastructure portfolios in the United States and Australia. I work hands on with PMs, controllers, and leadership teams to install rhythms that hold up under real project conditions.
Read the full backgroundReady to see margin risk earlier?
A 30 minute call is the cheapest way to find out whether project controls is the right next move for your firm. No prep on your end. No pressure. If we're a fit, we'll talk scope. If I can't help, I'll tell you straight and point you toward who can.
Schedule a 30 minute callNot ready for a call? Send a message and I'll reply within 2 business days.