Problem 1- Capturing Time and Invoicing in Project-Based Organisation

Large and small organisations the world over battle with the ability to unite on-the-job effort with value created. Usually, recording systems used are completely disassociated from the accounting and contracting functions that are used to quote, invoice and track delivery progress. Depending on this disparity and the efficiency of the manual processes, it can take between 3 and 15 days for organisations to get to the point where they are set to raise invoices. With more time, comes more effort, and the amount of effort involved in this possible 15 days can increase the total work to over one full-time person per month.

A case study has been used to aid in illustrating this point. One client was using a web-based timesheet system and when it came to invoicing, analysis had to occur via comments in the timesheets and invoices raised to the client via Excel. The invoices raised in Excel would frequently contain errors in calculations which would clearly add to the increase in total work. Senior staff who were originally involved in the quote process would then become engaged in the invoice process as they were the only ones who could reconcile the timesheet entries to the value created on the job. The same senior staff were also left with comparing the reconciled timesheet entries and on- the- job value created to the spreadsheet effort estimate in the original quote.

The company had 500 employees and it would take 15 senior managers, on average, two days per month to complete their component invoicing. Administrators would then type up the Excel invoices and email or print and send to the client. Accounts would then key in the invoices to the accounting system. This disjointed system meant that on-the-job project- based staff had no feedback as to how they were performing throughout this process.

UniPhi’s software erases the disjoint within these processes. The software communicates to the project-based staff what the deliverable is that they need to complete, how long they’ve got to do it AND how much effort is required. The staff member is then able to amend the remaining effort when submitting the timesheet. This information is then used by the senior manager (or delegated to the project manager) to analyse the percentage completed, update the progress claim and generate the invoice document all within the one screen. The signed off invoice then exports to the relevant accounting system overnight via a batch process. UniPhi ‘s software employs portfolio aspects in order to identify which projects need invoicing so that no work is missed and working capital is kept to a minimum. The end result is that less senior staff are used and work is completed in less than half a day with no involvement from administration or accounts staff. Time saving for this particular problem was 25 days per month (i.e. 1.25 FTEs).

A short demonstration of this funtionality can be found on our website.