Data Sheet Innate Timesheets

Transcription

1 Data Sheet Innate Timesheets Software for timesheets, progress reporting & expenses. Innate Timesheets enables you to record people's time and expenses and other related data, using webbased sheets. Because the timesheet information is stored directly in an open database, you can analyze and report on staff utilization and project performance. You can see how your people are spending their time, highlight problem projects and compare actual time spent with estimates to improve your estimates in the future. You can exchange information with other corporate systems, such as human resources, finances and payroll, too. Time can be booked against lists of standard tasks or those from Microsoft Project plans or a mix of both. You can have different timesheet layouts for different groups, teams or departments. Approvers can check timesheets at appropriate levels of detail; a line manager could check people's leave taken each week, for example, and a project manager could check that their tasks have been completed on time. Expenses can be entered through a form that is related to timesheet entry. Comprehensive rules can be accommodated for handling different types of expenses, including mileage, subsistence allowances, and items procured for projects. The approval process can be independent of timesheet approval and gives Finance the ability to determine how VAT and other taxes are to be handled. Innate Timesheets is used in many ways by different organizations. For example, expenses can easily be switched off where timesheets only are required. It provides great flexibility and is easy to implement and use, as our clients' case studies show you. It is scalable, and can grow with your organization up to thousands of users. It integrates seamlessly with Innate Resource Manager for comprehensive support of the overall resource management process, if required. Why choose Innate? Innate provides the key characteristics of an effective timesheet system: A modular approach select from timesheets, rates management, expenses and billing process. Rapid Return on Investment. Realistic prices and rapid deployment with minimal training and operational support requirements. Timesheets are easy to use - to encourage their use! Accommodates your business process, standards and data requirements. It provides a secure process, with a full audit trail of individual timesheets. Provides accurate analysis of time spent and expense incurred on projects, with reports that are easily accessible. Web based data administration screens, for project, task and staff data, can be easily deployed. Data access is controlled by a comprehensive permission system. Scalable from 50 to 5,000 users. Innate Resource Management Software Data Sheet Timesheets. Version 5.1 Page 1 of 9

2 A well proven system, with lots of references. Open database simplifies interfaces with other systems. In this data sheet we discuss: 1. The benefits to your business. 2. Timesheets.. 3. Expenses. 4. Data administration. 5. Management Information. 6. Software architecture & environment requirements. 7. Implementation. 1 Benefits from a time & expense system The immediate benefit for most organizations is visibility of how the staff is spending its time. Many departments have utilization measures regarding time spent on overheads and planned vs. unplanned work. Reports also identify where staff are not focused on high priority work. For project organizations, performance measurement and productivity comparisons can be produced for projects, tasks and teams. These identify the areas of high performance so that best practice can be spread across the organization. Variances from estimating norms can be highlighted to improve the metrics for future projects. For Organizations that do billable work, particularly time and materials contracts, the billing process requires both timesheet and expense data. Innate makes it easier for staff to book expenses and time together, which simplifies and quickens the billing process. 2 Timesheets 2.1 Timesheets process Web based timesheets capture effort and, optionally, progress. They list active or scheduled tasks for each user, who can add or remove tasks from their timesheets. Timesheet data can be updated by the user throughout the timesheet period. Sending the timesheet renders it read only on subsequent access, and adds the timesheet rows to each Approver s view. Business rules can be applied to ensure data quality. Validation checks prevent timesheets being sent that are in breach. An example is to ensure that staff account for a minimum number of hours per week. We support project and /or line manager approval. Approvers see a consolidated weekly list of timesheet rows, organized as they prefer. Rejection returns the timesheet to the user for correction and resubmission. The approval status of each timesheet entry is tracked and copies of approved timesheets are stored for subsequent audit. Post approval changes are normally handled by re-issuing the offending timesheet, so that a full audit of approved timesheet data is maintained. Innate Resource Management Software Data Sheet Timesheets. Version 5.1 Page 2 of 9

3 If your project managers have submitted their Microsoft Project plans, they can choose to receive timesheet updates to their schedules. These update files can be applied to the plans automatically or under the control of the project manager. They can review actual progress against the budget within each Microsoft Project plan, to improve your future estimates. The timesheets process can be fully automated. Each step is driven by alerts, which automatically notifies users when their timesheets have arrived or are overdue. Server Capture all current activities/resources Users request Timesheet Data processed to database on Save Browser Client Users complete and send (for Approval) Project Plans Updated from Database Database always current On-demand reports & export to other systems 2.2 Timesheet layout Timesheet layout design is easy and enables the simplest possible timesheet to be provided for your staff; from a simple list of work codes, to detailed work breakdown structures imported from Microsoft Project. Tasks can be listed by client or project. You can also use related tabs to record any relevant additional data, such as overtime, expenses, description of work done, or recording measures of output, etc. You can set up different timesheet layouts for groups of staff, so that each records their time in the most appropriate way. Some common examples are shown below. Innate Resource Management Software Data Sheet Timesheets. Version 5.1 Page 3 of 9

4 Timesheet entries can be organised by client or project. Notes can be annotated to any timesheet cell. This shows how tasks from Microsoft Project can be displayed, with a Phase column showing the work breakdown structure. The Remaining Hours column is used to capture estimates to complete, so that revisions to the estimate can be fed back to Microsoft Project. See section 2.4 for details. 2.3 Approvals process A parallel approval process can be supported. Each project approver receives a weekly consolidated list of the timesheet rows that they need to approve or reject. Summary approval check boxes speed the process and comments can be added when entries are rejected. An example of a project approver screen is shown below: Project approver s view Clicking on the info ellipse enables reasons to be given for rejection and alerts drive the rejection/resubmission process. Innate Resource Management Software Data Sheet Timesheets. Version 5.1 Page 4 of 9

5 Resource or line manager approvers can also be accommodated; their view shows the complete timesheet for each of their staff. Substitute approvers can be nominated to act for the default approver and also enter timesheet data on behalf of anyone in their group. 2.4 Integration with Microsoft Project Simple mapping tables specify the project, task and assignment fields to be imported from Microsoft Project into Innate. In built routines automatically update the Innate database as project plans are revised. The comprehensive capabilities include flagging tasks that have been deleted within Microsoft Project, so that they will no longer appear in task lists for timesheet users. Completed tasks and assignments can also be flagged to prevent any further time being booked. In addition to Innate Timesheets taking data from Microsoft Project, there is a facility to take the actuals and estimated remaining work back into Microsoft Project. These update files can be applied to the plans automatically or under the control of each project manager. Where estimates of remaining work are included, and Fixed Work task types are used in Microsoft Project, the project manager will immediately see the impact of extra work on key milestones. The Innate Progresser Guide describes this capability in detail. 3 Expenses Expense entry uses a separate tab alongside the web based timesheet. We provide a grid style view with similar look and feel to a spreadsheet. Each type of expense has its own client defined rules, so that mileage entries will, for example, require the number of miles to be entered and produce a running total. The rules can be as comprehensive as necessary and, continuing with the mileage example, will support rates based on car engine size together with changes in rates as the claimed mileage increases. Other expense types include subsistence allowances and items purchased for a project. The approval process can be independent of timesheets, with different approvers if required. Provision is also made for Finance to have the final approval. We can also enable specified data to be amended by Approvers, so that Finance will, for example, make the decision on the applicable VAT rate for each item. Finance can also allocate the code needed for posting to the accounts system. Typical Approvers view, allowing for approval/rejection of individual rows and configured for edit of Billable and Vatable check boxes Innate Resource Management Software Data Sheet Timesheets. Version 5.1 Page 5 of 9

6 4 Data set up and administration Web based data administration are deployed so that authorized managers can maintain details about their staff and projects and details of each set of rates, etc. Data access is controlled by Innate s comprehensive permissions system. Projects and tasks can be created from Microsoft Project, or more simply, using the web based data entry screens, for project, task and staff data. Extra fields can be easily added to the Innate database to store all of the attributes that are needed. Pick lists using look-up tables can be set up for field values, with appropriate defaults and validation rules. Simple data structures can be accommodated with related sets of pick lists. Template projects can be created. These improve data consistency by populating different types of projects with standard sets of tasks and assignments, if required. Typical data admin screen for resources 5 Management information Innate provides on - demand reports that enable managers to format views within their browser, and to print reports using Excel. We provide a range of tabular and chart layouts that include 5.1 For timesheets: Timesheet Hours, sorted by any combination of criteria, e.g. by client, program and project, or department and person. Compare planned hours with actual hours spent, sorted as above. Performance measurement comparing the budget with actual hours and estimates to complete to show variance amounts and percentages. 5.2 For Expenses 1. Expenses incurred to date on each project. 2. Expenses and mileage by employee (or group of employees) for a selected date range, for P11Ds, employee information and interface with the Accounts system. Innate Resource Management Software Data Sheet Timesheets. Version 5.1 Page 6 of 9

7 These on demand reports enable managers to format views within their browser and to print reports directly or via Excel. Preferred views can easily be stored as Internet Favourites, for immediate recall and generation. Each layout has a Select Criteria screen. The example below shows how each manager can use this to precisely define the contents and layout that they wish to see. How the report is produced. This report shows how your staff have spent their time, with hours totalled for each Resource Group. By changing Group by criteria, you can display the report by project or by person There is an Introduction to Innate Reports document available from the useful documentation section of the Innate website. The Innate Report Editor enables users to modify the default criteria screens and report on any field in the Innate database. For more complex reporting requirements any Innate report can be exported to Excel for further manipulation, or the Innate report writing services used to develop a custom report. 6 Software architecture and environmental requirements Innate resource management software provides web access for timesheet users, executives that use the on-demand reports and those project and resource managers who do not use Microsoft Project. For these users, there is no Innate software on the desktop, and the system can be accessed from anywhere that has internet access. The IT Support person needs a desktop based Administration module, which is used for the initial set up and configuration and thereafter only when changes to the system configuration need to be made. Innate Resource Management Software Data Sheet Timesheets. Version 5.1 Page 7 of 9

8 For Microsoft Project (MSP) users, a small Innate add-in (the Progresser module) is required to update the MSP schedules with timesheet data. Details of the environmental requirements are summarized below: Operating Systems Workstations - Windows 98, NT4, 2000 or XP with the latest service packs and updates installed. Servers Windows 2000 Server with SP3 and IIS v5 or Windows Server 2003 and IIS v6. A dedicated server simplifies installation and operational support, but is not essential. Databases Access 97/2000/XP/2003, SQL Server 2000 SP4, 2005, Oracle 9i or 10g. Web Browsers - Internet Explorer 6 or above with the latest patches is the recommended browser as some features of the web pages do not work correctly in Netscape. Contact Innate support for more information. Server Specification Pentium 3 or 4 with 2Ghz CPU minimum, minimum 80Gb Hard Drive and 1Gb Ram for dedicated Server. This will easily support a resource pool in excess of 1,500. A 100Mb LAN connection is also recommended. 7 Implementation Our proven methodology and experienced staff ensure a rapid and low risk implementation and a more detailed document is downloadable from the Useful documentation section of the website. The key steps include: 1. Implementation Workshop - to capture requirements and plan the project 2. Pilot Configure the software for user acceptance testing with a small group 3. Roll out Learn from the pilot prior to user training and roll out. Implementation services include: 1. Project Management 2. System Installation and Configuration 3. Training 4. Report Design 5. Integration with other systems, typically Accounts and HR The number of days required for a 200 timesheet user system is typically from 4 for a simple timesheets only implementation, to 10 for one that requires rates management and expenses as well. After implementation, our support team provides a first class service. A proven support process reliably handles client issues and the Support site provides technical information and product updates. Innate Resource Management Software Data Sheet Timesheets. Version 5.1 Page 8 of 9

9 Some existing clients Innate clients are predominantly large IT departments and smaller project oriented business in many industry sectors. European clients include: Barclays Wealth, BUPA, Camelot, Co-operative Financial Services, & Welcom Software. North American clients include: ADP, Advantica, Danbury Health Systems, Metavante, M&I Bank, & TD Waterhouse. Your next steps Contact us to discuss your requirements and to arrange a demonstration. Our websites contain detailed information. Europe North America Innate Management Systems Ltd. Innate Inc, 7 Gamma Terrace 5807, Nelson Road West Road Oconomowoc, WI Ipswich, Suffolk IP3 9SX USA England Voice +44 (0) Voice info@innate.co.uk sales@innateus.com Copyright Innate Management Systems Ltd All trademarks acknowledged. Innate Resource Management Software Data Sheet Timesheets. Version 5.1 Page 9 of 9