The Capacity Ledger: Why Project Management Tools Decide Agency Margin Before Delivery Starts

Project management platforms are where an agency's capacity, dependencies, and billable assumptions become visible or stay hidden. When model costs fall (Claude Sonnet 5.5 runs 30% faster at up to 30% lower operating cost) and compute constraints push API pricing upward elsewhere, the margin difference between agencies comes from knowing which retainer hours are already committed. A tool choice is a margin decision disguised as an admin decision.