An essential feature of any time and expense management solution is the ability to track and control all of your people and project costs.  Systems that do not offer cost and revenue metrics will soon become outgrown and leave you resorting to Excel spreadsheets to carry out costing calculations.

When measuring cost, look for a solution that enables you to analyse metrics relevant to your organisation for example Employees, Contractors, Departments, Roles, Resources, Projects, and Activities; along with any custom criteria.  Trend analysis is also important, for example, being able to compare travelling costs between employees and projects will enable you to better plan and cost projects in future.  Analysis of contractor costs vs. utilising or training internal resources may potentially yield huge cost savings.

Dependent on your geography, make sure you configure the system to take advantage of local tax laws, more importantly look for a solution provider that is aware of these rules and can advise your organisation on how best to achieve a positive return on investment.  One such example of this in the UK is Tax Relief on Research and Development expenditure.  For a company like Atlantic Global a large share of our software development is Research and Development; without recording timesheets and categorising the Research and Development element we would never be able to claim this tax relief.

At Atlantic Global we have reclaimed over £80,000 in tax credits on Research and Development expenditure. A 1000%+ return in 5 years measured against the subscription cost of Atlantic Global OnDemand.

The key to success in this area is to ensure your resource costs are accurately reflected in the system and that your resources, projects and activities are categorised in line with your anticipated benefits.  A simple interface to analyse these costs either via standard reports or via dashboards is also essential.

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Vannesa Borowicz

My comments and insights are based on the knowledge and experience I have gained over the last ten years working at Atlantic Global Plc which spans, marketing, managing user groups and events, selling and implementing project management solutions within SME’s and Corporate IT departments. My aim is to give readers some sense of the value and benefits the practical application and usage of project management can bring to your business.