Time tracking Best Practices: Driving down the cost and increasing the efficiency of time capture

Automating Time Tracking & Reporting  Challenges of time tracking  Best practices solutions  The payoff  Return on investment

Addressing multiple business needs with one solution The Time Tracking Business Challenge

Challenges of Timesheet Collection  Lengthy Turn-around Times and Procedures  Time and costs of tracking down late or missing time sheets  Manual, paper-based approval process  Drains on employee and project manager productivity  Errors and Inefficiencies  Time reporting errors due to inaccurate project codes and time data  Re-key often required in Payroll or Billing  Delayed billing cycles; slow turn-around on receivables  Lack of Real-Time Data  Inability to capture real-time billing and revenue data  Difficulty tracking project status and cost  Lead times in obtaining employee utilization information

The path of the timesheet today Employee Manager Timesheet Admin Back office systems 1.Admin has to remind employee to submit timesheet. 2. Employee enters time on paper timesheet and sends to Admin Finance 3. Administrator contacts Finance to get updated project codes 4. Administrator sends timesheet to manager for approval 5. Manager returns approved timesheet to administrator 6.Administrator sends timesheet to appropriate finance staff 7. Finance enters timesheet into back office systems – including General Ledger, Payroll & Billing 8. Finance has to correct invalid project codes

Typical problems with the process Employee Manager Timesheet Admin Back office systems Finance Incorrect Approver Illegible Signature Paper Lost! Re-key Missing Info Late Old Codes Invalid Codes

Best Practice Solutions for Time Tracking Streamline and automate Visibility Increase accountability Performance improvement

Streamlined and Automated Time Tracking Automated time capture increases efficiency and reduces the cost of: Managing projects and activities that utilize cross- departmental teams Project resource allocation and utilization Internal cost allocation and/or charge-backs Time and attendance tracking

Why automate time reporting? Reduces time collection and accounting costs Eliminates paper forms and manual processing Provides real time visibility into time recorded Increases employee productivity Improves management of project costs Increases reporting accuracy

Process improvements Employee Manager Back office systems 2. Employee complete electronic timesheet 5. System sends approved timesheet to appropriate back office system Timesheet Admin 3. System sends completed timesheet to appropriate manager 1.Employee receives a reminder if a timesheet is late 4. Manager reviews and approves timesheet Finance

Improvement points Employee Manager Back office systems Timesheet Admin Finance Eliminate Paper Automated Workflow Valid Codes No Re-keying Eliminate Delays

Time Tracking to Manage Projects How do I effectively manage a project where the resources do not report to me? Do I have the right resources working on the right things to keep the project/phase on track? Am I still within profitability on a ‘fixed bid’ or ‘negotiated’ contract? Am I within the budgeted amount for the phase or over all project – do I need to review my projections? Project managers should be able to answer the following questions:

To manage internal costs What product lines/services are truly profitable? What customers are truly profitable? What are my true costs? How do I drive more accurate and dynamic ‘activity’ based allocations vs. the standard ‘static’ internal General Ledger allocations? Empowers managers throughout the organization to answer the following questions: Time tracking is a great complement to ABC or ABM

Core System Features Real-time data access Drill-down reporting Standard import & export tools Web-based admin tools Reporting & Administration Role-based view of approvals Review project- specific tasks Edit and add comments Flexible approval methods Review & Approve Custom timesheet styles Pre-populated tasks and work items Unlimited hierarchy of project codes notifications and reminders Timesheet Entry Processing Integration with project & billing systems Billing/ Payroll EmployeeManager Employee Manager Finance System Admin

Process Improvements & Benefits Increased productivity Any time, anywhere access Project and tasks code default based on employee Easy access to valid and active project codes Employee Streamlines and automates timesheet collection and reminder process Timesheet data is validated on entry System ensures that proper approvals are obtained Timesheet Admin

Process Improvements & Benefits Real-time visibility to time recorded Timely billing and revenue recognition Improved management of project resources Increased focus on strategic activities Manager Elimination of re-key activities Accelerated billing cycles and cash flow Timely and accurate payroll processing Billing & Payroll

Project Objectives Core Requirements Results Case Study – Atex Media Solutions Fully web-based solution due to high number of remote employees Ease-of-use and ease-of- deployment Compatibility with the company’s existing SQL database Flexibility and ability to customize Replace paper-based time tracking process Improve effectiveness of management reporting tools Extremely easy to deploy Very user-intuitive; minimal training required Easy fit with SQL database Managers able to view data in many different ways Provides content and information management solutions for publishers. Over 300 employees in 20 locations world-wide, many of whom are telecommuters.

Project Objectives Core Requirements Results Case Study – Volvo IT North America System must be easy to install and manage Easy to deploy Easily accessible to all employees Implement centralized time tracking solution Establish billing procedures to bill other Volvo organizations for products & services 100% deployed in 60 days Able to collect real-time performance and employee utilization data Automated payroll data collection Helps organization prioritize time Employees bill time more effectively Formerly the IT division within Volvo, became an independent subsidiary in As a result, the 2500 employees in this centralized service organization needed the ability to track and bill time.

What is your organizational readiness For Automated Time Tracking? Questions for internal discussion

Key questions for internal discussion 1. Do we require employees/contractors to track time on paper timesheets? 2. Are managers responsible for authorizing timesheets before they are routed to the appropriate back office system for processing? 3. Do we have administrative employees who manage the timesheet process? 4. Do we need to be able to track time so that we can understand how much it costs us to develop and deliver products or services? 5. Would an automated time tracking solution would help us execute our Activity Based Costing/Management strategy more effectively?

6. Which employees are required to record attendance data on a daily or weekly basis? 7. Do project managers frequently manage resources who do not report to them? 8. Is timesheet data is manually entered into the appropriate back office system by staff in our accounting, finance, payroll and/or billing departments? 9. Is time incurred by ‘overhead’ departments is charged back to the departments for whom the work was performed? 10. Do we charge third parties for work performed by our employees/contractors? Key questions for internal discussion

Costs of business as usual (BAU)  What are the costs of our current time tracking process?  What are our true costs for timesheet data collection and approval process? That is: employee, managers, accounting/payroll, billing  Do we have double data entry costs?  Are we losing money from:  selling unprofitable products (not knowing our true costs)  being over budget on fixed-bid contracts (not knowing our project costs from one phase to the next)  Opportunity cost of:  project budget over-runs  poor resource allocation

Time tracking system savings  Quick hit savings challenges:  Timesheet data entry, submissions and approvals take an average of 2 hours per employee per month. Can you reducing these costs by 50%?  Timesheet data entry errors and double key entry can cost $40,000 per year for every 100 employees. Can you reduce these costs by 80%?  Timesheet lateness and change edits can slow billings or charge-backs. How much are we losing from late timesheets?  A certain percentage of projects run over-budget because of poor visibility into project progress and costs. What percentage of our projects can be better managed from real-time project information?  A certain percentage of projects miss deadlines because of inadequate resource allocation. What percentage of our projects would benefit from easier project monitoring and resource management?