For steering committee reporting + milestone tracking across multiple consulting engagements, the “best” software usually depends on whether you need portfolio visibility or deep delivery management. In practice, the strongest options are:

Best overall for consulting firms: Smartsheet

Why it fits:

• Excellent for multi-project milestone tracking
• Easy to build steering committee dashboards
• Strong reporting rollups across many engagements
• Familiar spreadsheet-like interface, so consultants and clients adopt it quickly
• Good for RAG status, RAID logs, action items, and executive summaries

Best when:

• You need polished, repeatable steering committee packs
• You manage many client projects and want one standard reporting layer
• You want flexibility without heavy admin overhead

Best for enterprise portfolio governance: Microsoft Project + Power BI / Planner / Teams

Why it fits:

• Strong if your org is already in Microsoft 365
• Power BI gives excellent portfolio-level dashboards
• Project can handle dependencies, milestones, and scheduling well
• Teams/SharePoint work well for governance and document control

Best when:

• You need tight integration with existing Microsoft tools
• Leadership wants dashboard-style visibility and formal reporting
• You have PMO maturity and can support a more complex setup

Best for delivery teams that want modern collaboration: Monday.com

Why it fits:

• Very user-friendly
• Great for status tracking, milestones, ownership, and updates
• Easy automations and dashboards
• Good for teams that want fast adoption

Best when:

• You need simplicity and collaboration more than complex portfolio controls
• Consultations are relatively lightweight or varied
• You want quick setup and easy client visibility

Best for strong portfolio/PMO control: Jira + Confluence or Planview

Why it fits:

• Better for more rigorous governance and cross-program oversight
• Planview is especially strong for enterprise portfolio management
• Jira works well if engagements are delivery/engineering-heavy, though it’s less ideal for executive steering reporting out of the box

Best when:

• You need advanced dependency/resource management
• Your consulting work is tied to product/tech delivery
• You have a PMO or portfolio team managing many engagements

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My practical recommendation

If your main goal is steering committee reporting across multiple consulting engagements, I’d shortlist:

1. Smartsheet — best balance of speed, flexibility, and executive reporting
2. Microsoft Project + Power BI — best if you’re already standardized on Microsoft
3. Monday.com — best for ease of use and quick adoption

If I had to pick one:

• Smartsheet for most consulting firms
• Microsoft Project + Power BI for larger, Microsoft-centered organizations

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What to look for in the tool

Make sure it supports:

• Portfolio roll-up views
• Milestone tracking with owners and dates
• RAG status and progress indicators
• Dashboards for steering committees
• Standard report templates
• Document/version control
• Cross-project dependency tracking
• Automated reminders and escalation

If you want, I can also give you:

1. a feature-by-feature comparison table of the top 5 tools, or
2. a recommendation based on your team size, budget, and current stack.