Sage Coretime Blog

In the latest of our Business Tips series the Chief Executive of Cricket Ireland, Warren Deutrom, talks about the importance of solid governance.

Web-based project management tools and resourcing solutions are simple, secure and effective ways of managing your projects and business day-to-day. Resourcing solutions allow you to easily track the status of various tasks which may be on going in your business, giving you greater insight into the workings of your staff and how daily tasks are dealt with, as well as how to improve some aspects of your business. What you may not realise, is that a good project management tool can also help with your business as a whole, with the ability to keep track of different aspects of your business including staffing issues, outsourcing requirements and where there’s room to improve.

In most situations, staff are hired as they’re needed, depending on what projects are in the pipeline or how any given project is progressing. However, with an effective project management system, you can plan projects so that you can see ahead of time what extra resources may be needed. An overview of daily operations of your business can give you an idea of where your company is performing best, making sure you can grow in the sections you’re excelling and working hard on the parts of a business which are falling behind. This can be hugely important and beneficial. While companies or small businesses who do not employ a project management and resourcing tool require regular reviews and meetings, filling roles as they’re needed with little foresight on what departments and aspects of the company are growing, a well implemented solution can allow you to easily track the growth of your company.  From both a project-by-project and a daily basis, it makes it simpler for you to see future roles which might be required and where you should be focusing on working. This means that you can map out where your business is going, whether it’s new hires or moving to larger offices, as well as budgeting or resourcing for future purchases which may be required (such as computers or petrol cards for sales staff). These can be small expenses, but can sometimes make a big difference when it comes to monthly and yearly budgets if they add up, especially in the case of a new hiring, which can often require solid forward planning.

It can be tough, especially in this climate to plan for the future of any business, but it’s important for business growth that you approach things with a structured management and resourcing system to ensure that everything is running smoothly and being charged correctly, and that when it’s not, to make sure that you’re able to generate solutions to problems before they become too big, or overwhelming to be easily dealt with. When a resourcing solution is working well, you can adapt your business easily to situations which might arise whether be it for better or worse, you can easily see where you can increase or decrease budgets or where focus can be moved from in favour of more beneficial works and projects which would have a stronger impact on your business.

Sage Coretime is a simple and secure web-based project and resourcing management tool, which can help you better run your business by making it more efficient, saving you time and money while being able to plan for the future, giving you the benefit of knowing where best to bring your business.

Effectively implemented project management and resourcing solutions can allow you to better manage your business. This makes sure that all aspects of your business are moderated properly on a day-to-day basis. When properly employed, a projectmanagement solution can be a powerful tool, not just for managing projects and making sure things are running on budget, but to ensure problems and issues that could directly affect the outcome of a project, or even your whole business, are flagged early, before they become serious.

With any project or business, there’s always a chance that something can go wrong, it’s just the nature of how things work. Sometimes these can be small things which are easily fixed. However, there’s a possibility that something could crop up which can causesignificant delays or affect the project’s completion. It is important to make sure that when these issues arise that you make sure that they can’t affect a project, or your business, to too great a degree. A web based project management tool means that you can identify these before they cause serious issue, which means that a project can be finished properly and closer to time, rather than having to go back over things to review problems, thereby delaying completion and running over budget, cutting into your profit. With web based management solutions, anyone can easily look at the status of a project to see where it stands, as well as making sure that any errors or potential problems they see can be quickly addressed by anyone, before they become any larger. While this can delay projects, it is ultimately better to find these solutions before a problem becomes larger, which would delay the project far more. When a project management tool is not properly employed, or not used at all it’s easy for potentially large mistakes or problems to go unnoticed as they get put aside temporarily and forgotten about, or are allowed to grow unchecked due to a lack of oversight. These can also affect budgets, with no tool to allow better co-ordination among workers and teams it’s easy for work to progress more slowly, taking up more time and expending more resources.

A web based solution means that anyone can look at what may be going wrong and can collectively work to fix it, compared to teams working individually to solve a problem which can take up more time as various meetings have to be organised. A web based solution allows solutions to an issue to be applied in a co-ordinated manner, making sure that each person involved is working on their own separate part of a solution, to avoid overlap and keep the team as a whole informed of progress at various stages.

Sage Coretime is one such tool, allowing teams to better co-ordinate in troubleshooting and seeking solutions. Coretime is a simple, secure and effective web-based resourcing and project management tool which can allow you greater oversight on any given project, as well as the flexibility to suit any industry.

As we’ve discussed previously on this blog, web based project management solutions can allow a flexibility, which offline competitors cannot match. Not only are web based solutions cheaper, and in many cases more secure, they’re also much more versatile, making it easier for staff and teams to log in, update and communicate on various projects both in and out of the office.

With web based project management tools, once a user has their own login information, they can access the system from anywhere, on their laptop or home computer. This allows people who are working from home for various reasons, or finishing some projects outside of work hours, to be able to log in and check up on the real time status of on going projects and update with their own works.With staff able to work from home with real time information on projects and on going works, it means that if someone is out sick, or is working away from the office on site, that they don’t miss anything happening back in the office. Web Based solutions can be updated with notes on tasks and projects as teams based in the office can continue working, while those away from their desk still have some idea of what is happening back in the office. Another benefit of web based solutions is that when meeting with clients, to discuss the status of their projects, web based solutions can allow the client to see real time information on the status of their projects, showing them the work carried out to date, budget spend and various notes or problems which may arise, allowing a project to run more smoothly and being able to flag any possible issues.

For any business owner or manager web based solutions mean that you can easily and securely manage a project remotely giving you greater scope to work on other projects and keep up to date with what each member of your team or staff are doing on each project. In many cases while working outside of the office, or travelling for work you needn’t miss out on project updates or important meetings, which you are needed, or which you want updates on, even on the road web based project management systems make it easy for you to log on and get updates on meetings and notes which might need your attention.

Sage Coretime is one Web Based Project Management Solution, which allows you the flexibility and versatility of any other web, based programme while retaining the security and stability of any offline solution.

When it comes to making your company run more efficiently, web-based software solutions can have many benefits over the standard desktop software. One of the most important benefits of any project management solution is that you can keep a close eye on budgets and expenses to clients. The last thing you need is a project that is over budget or under charged.

When there is no project management system in place it’s very easy for projects and staff to work on different aspects of the project work. While this may seem beneficial, it also causes a serious lack of oversight. A web-based solution ensures that real time updates can be accessed on any active project and that the amounts of resources being allocated are instantly adjustable. It’s not surprising, but it’s quite common for staff to spend more time on certain tasks than has been budgeted for, or to focus on particular aspects of a project that they prefer, while others are put off until later. Often times, this happens without the person even realising. It’s then down to individuals and through team meetings to update each other on the status of various tasks, which can often reflect poorly on the actual amount of work done to date.

Many hours of extra work can go unnoticed leading to the possible undercharging of a client, even when you may have devoted more resources to them than you realise. You also run the risk of overcharging a client. With inaccurate information being provided by various members of staff, it can be difficult to assess extra works and their value with various staff and teams working independently or each other with no clear picture of how the project is progressing.

With a web based project management tool, you can ensure that staff are organised when approaching a task, that they approach the project as a whole, and that they are aware of the timings and budgets associated with each of the tasks within the project. You can also track, in real time, the status of various tasks to ensure that you know what each member of a team is doing and how much hours they’re devoting to different aspects of a project. This way, you can prevent underusing your staff. This real time information can be invaluable to a business, in terms of both organization and of revenue. You are more clearly able to see when projects are nearing completion, how long they’ve taken and which parts have taken up more time than others. Most importantly, however, you are able to quickly and easily see if any parts of a project have run over budget. Project management solutions can instantly generate reports on time spent on each part of a project and the associated costs, allowing you to see where you should perhaps charge more for extra works.

Sage Coretime is a secure and simple web based project management solution, allowing any business owner or manager to instantly see the status of works and how well their budgets are being spent, making sure that any extra work which might otherwise go unnoticed, is accounted for at the invoicing stage.

Imagine if everything in the office was this easy! With Sage at least your accounts will be!

As mentioned in previous posts, a well chosen project management solution which meets the needs of your business can offer great benefits to any company or team working on various projects. While it offers greater oversight from a business point of view, allowing managers to easily see the status of a project another great benefit which can be derived from web based project management solutions is that customer queries on a project can easily be answered.

At the conclusion of a project, many customers or clients favour reports which can give them an insight into how their budgets were spent on various aspects of any given project. From a company’s point of view it allows you to better allocate time and budget when reviewing a project and planning ahead to the next one. On the customer or client side, it allows them to understand how effectively their budget was spent and how many people were working on their project at any one time. The ability to see reports on how effectively their budget was used is invaluable, as they can see that money was put to good use and it gives them faith that the business has an effective project management system in place. If any customer comes back with a query after the completion of a project, a good project management system allows you to instantly see the details of a project which has been completed. It will show  breakdowns of times and budgets for different aspects of works in both charts and graphs which are more accessible for many customers giving them more digestible answers to questions they might have following on from a project completion.

More often than not, a client will come back with queries on invoices for the works you have done for them. A good web based project management solution can easily generate a report based on spending within the company, which aspects of a project incurred more expenses than others, and where staff time was being spent and costs of their various expertise and hours. Most importantly, a project management system can also show where extra expenses may have been incurred which can allow you to bill the client or customer for added work that was involved.

Often, without a proper project management system, companies and SMEs can end up over working on a project.  This can take  up more staff resources than is realised which often does not get billed to the client or customer. Using web based programmes such as Sage Coretime, can allow you to easily track time and money being spent on a project so that when the allotted budget is reached, you can begin charging more to the customers depending on the extra work being done. Graphs and reports generated from management tools at the end of a project can clearly display where extra costs may have arisen and are reflected in invoices to clients.

Sage Coretime is a simple, secure and effective method of monitoring spend and time allocation on any project, allowing small businesses to ensure that they properly and efficiently manage time and budgets on projects.

The best way to show that a web-based solution to Project Management is both simple and effective, while also being secure and increasing efficiency is to try it yourself. Once you feel that you’ve selected the right resource which best fits your company, it is important that you review the role which project management resources have played in completion of tasks and general management.

A full review can show just how a project management system has benefitted the company and whether or not it has increased overall efficiency within teams and projects. Generally speaking it can take some time for staff to adapt to any new system. So it is important when looking back on projects that this is taken into account at the beginning and that issues around additional staff requirements are addressed, in order for any new system to run smoothly.

When reviewing a project using a new project management system with a view to approaching future projects, the software package can easily break down project details for you. This will make iteasier to observe the various aspects of works done and performances by staff as well as various budget allowances for each team member and the work which they were doing. Information like this can be invaluable , allowing you to easily see how things went wrong and where they can be improved for next time. A full review can yield information on the levels of staff competence and focus on any given task, which can allow you to quickly address any problems, such as a need for more staff training, or budgetary issues.

To measure just how effective your investment has been, it’s often a good idea to choose from a previous project and compare the results. In many cases it’s evident that the new web based system, when chosen correctly, can increase efficiency as various teams and managers can view real-time information on the status of various tasks and projects, giving an easy overview of works for all involved. For example when compared to previous projects, results may show that more time was required for various teams to meet and update each other on tasks and projects, taking up more time and budget on the project. Another benefit over a non-web based solution (or none at all) as mentioned above is that you can approach future projects with a better idea of how best to allocate tasks and organise staff. As previously mentioned, it is important to make sure that the management solution you choose is right for your company or business. If you choose the wrong system it can mean that projects are slowed down while staff attempt to get to grips with the software and time is wasted with extended training.

Sage Coretime is an effective, simple and secure web based solution and project management tool which can allow you to easily generate reports that will  give you the ability to better plan projects in advance, giving your small company or business an invaluable resource to create a more efficient and competitive plan going forward.

For any new software being introduced on a wide scale to a company, it’s important that first and foremost, it’s easy to use. Complicated systems rarely catch on for staff, as they are already working on projects and often do not have the time nor the patience to adapt to new systems. Project management systems are intended to help staff better resource and save time when working on various projects  – not hinder them.

As we have mentioned in previous blogs, web based software solutions are often the cheapest, simplest and in many cases, most secure methods of keeping project and time management in a company in check. In order to effectively ensure that staff adopt a new system it’s important to keep in mind that, as with any other system or piece of software, usability and flexibility for your business needs are very important. Otherwise, efficiency can drop as staff members spend more time attempting to adjust to new systems.It’s important to consider when looking for various project management solutions, firstly which one suits the needs of your business best. There is little point in investing in large systems with lots of functionality for a small team, and vice versa.

The practical application of any system in your company has to be carefully considered when looking to purchase any software solutions to managing staff time and company projects. What employers can also forget to consider, is the technical knowledge of your staff. Many employees can often take longer to adjust to new systems as they may not be as tech savvy as their colleagues, meaning that while some staff are working off a new management system, some are still lagging behind, or not using it at all because it’s complicated and time consuming. Overall, easy to use project management systems make things easier for everyone. They are quicker to adapt to, can be cheaper and may have less unnecessary features which can add to costs and create confusion among staff than their larger counterparts which are based offline.  The general usability also extends to the employer, making it easier for you to quickly view the various projects happening in your business at any given time.

There are many different software packages on the market, offering a wide variety of different project management systems and features which can allow your budgets, projects and staff time management to be easily tracked, with several designed to offer services to various industries. Sage Coretime is one such system, a web based solution it offers a simple, user friendly and secure service for both time and project management. It’s also a highly flexible package, which can be adapted to.

Sage Coretime is being used in some of Ireland’s biggest companies across a broad range of industries including; Architecture, Engineering,  Banking and Accounting.  By using our products they have been able to create a more efficient, simpler and cheaper method of managing billing, time and projects. As discussed in previous posts, there are several key factors to introducing any new project and time management system to a business, and these businesses have ensured that staff are trained in use of new systems and the benefits of working on web based services compared to offline software packages

Read what some of our clients have to say;

Coady Partnership

In mid-2006, Coady Partnership Architects installed Sage Coretime, the powerful time and billing solution from Sage. Since then, the firm has enjoyed substantial benefits; including increases in its levels of efficiency and productivity; not least during the recent challenging economic times.  “All twenty-five of our employees use Sage Coretime to monitor project time,” states Owen O’Leary, Business Manager, Coady Partnership.  “Before we installed the Coretime solution, our designers were using manual timesheets.  Our staff had to fill these in by hand every week, which was a headache.  Similarly, my back-office team had to download those timesheets into our existing accounting solutions, which was both time-consuming and prone to inaccuracy.”

The recent turbulence in Ireland’s economy has illustrated the power of Sage Coretime. “While we have used Coretime for years, it is only now that it has shown its power. Coretime’s reporting capabilities allow us to review cost data, on an almost real-time basis, line by line, and for every project. This means that we are able to compare actual costs to budget quickly and accurately. In challenging times like these, Coretime is indispensable in preserving profitability.”

Owen O’Leary
Business Manager
Coady Partnership

PricewaterhouseCoopers

“We have been using Sage Coretime for the past four months and have found that it has met and in many cases surpassed our initial expectations. It is such a user-friendly time recording system that staff took to it in no time at all. Using a real time recording system has also given us quick access to time posted to our clients, and the notes field has proven itself to be an invaluable aid for billing purposes, allowing us to identify work to be billed that in the past would have been overlooked. We expect to soon recover our capital outlay through the billing of time that we would not have identified using our old time recording system.”
“As regards the service provided to us by staff at Coretime this has been of a very high standard. Installation of the system went smoothly and subsequent queries raised by us have always been promptly answered and resolved.”

Michael Rugeroni
Audit Manager
PricewaterhouseCoopers (Gibraltar)

Tobin Consulting Engineers

“Since implementation, Sage Coretime has had a direct, positive, impact on our bottom line. It has allowed us to disseminate and use pertinent project information in such a way as to encourage staff involvement thus enhancing individual and team productivity and contributing overall to project profitability. We have found it easy to reflect the complexity of even our largest projects in Sage Coretime in a manner that allows us to both support effective project management and ensure correct and complete invoicing. One of the major benefits for us has been the identification of work completed on projects not budgeted for, thus ensuring that these fees were identified and charged – a task which proved extremely difficult under our previous manual system.”

“In addition, the Staff Planner and Task Manager modules are highly useful tools that assist our Project Managers to schedule, delegate and control thus making Coretime Tempus Pro a vital and integral part of our overall Project Management process. As a product, Sage Coretime has more than delivered on our expectations and has additional functionality that will add further value to our business as we develop its use within our Business Management System.”

Eamonn Harrigan
Financial Controller
Tobin Consulting Engineers