Full Sail Partners Blog

We recently hosted a webinar on the future of business intelligence with three of our BI specialists—Jake Lucas, Jason Kelly, and Sparsha Muppidi.

These are the people who spend their days deep in Vantagepoint data—building reports, troubleshooting gaps, and helping firms get more out of what they already have.

This session wasn’t theoretical. It was a practical look at what’s changing, what’s working, and what firms should be thinking about as reporting needs continue to evolve.

If you missed it (or just want the highlights), here’s a quick breakdown of what matters most.

Business Intelligence: Why It Matters Now

Most firms already have reporting in place. Dashboards exist. Data flows. Reports get built.

But as firms grow and questions get more specific, those tools don’t always keep up.

That’s where business intelligence comes in.

Modern BI isn’t about replacing Vantagepoint—it’s about making your data more usable in the moments it actually matters. And from what we see, that usually comes down to a few key things.

First, your data needs to be up to date. Decisions are time-sensitive, and what was true last week isn’t always helpful today.

Second, it needs to be accessible to the people who are accountable for it. If project managers, finance teams, or leadership have to go through someone else to get answers, reporting slows everything down.

Third, your data has to be presented in a way that makes sense. Not just tables and exports, but visuals that clearly show what’s happening and where attention is needed.

And finally, teams need the ability to explore that data on their own—filtering, drilling down, and answering follow-up questions without starting over or submitting a request. There’s also a piece that often gets overlooked: security. Strong BI tools respect your org structure, so the right people see the right data automatically. That’s what makes it possible to share dashboards more broadly without creating risk.

The reasoning to look into and invest in BI isn’t about more reports, it’s about being able to answer questions and interpret data faster—and with more confidence.

Informer: Structured, Fast, and Built for Self-Service

Informer is built around a simple idea: define your data once, use it everywhere.

Everything starts with a dataset—cleaned, structured, and calculated in one place, then reused across dashboards, reports, and exports.

From there, users can drill from high-level dashboards down to transaction detail, filter and explore data without breaking anything, and build dashboards quickly using drag-and-drop or AI-assisted tools.

The biggest benefit is consistency.

No duplicate reports. No conflicting numbers. No wondering which version is right.

And because everything stays within a governed environment, you avoid the usual “export to Excel and lose control” cycle.

Power BI: Flexible, Visual, and Built to Scale

Power BI shines when you need to look beyond a single system.

It can pull data from Vantagepoint, CRM platforms, HR systems, and more—bringing everything into one place.

That makes it a strong option for firms looking at cross-functional reporting.

On the front end, it offers highly visual, presentation-ready dashboards, interactive filtering and drill-through, and the ability to embed reports directly inside Vantagepoint so your team can access insights without changing how they work.

One key takeaway from the session: most firms don’t struggle with building reports—they struggle with structuring the data behind them.

That’s why starting with a clean, consistent data model makes all the difference.

Data Sources: How Everything Connects

Before any dashboard exists, your BI tool needs a reliable way to access your data.

For Vantagepoint users, that typically comes down to two options.

ODBC is a direct connection to your database. It refreshes a few times per day, provides full access to all tables, and is the most common and cost-effective setup for most firms.

DaaS, or Data as a Service, uses a cloud-based Snowflake layer. It refreshes more frequently—about every 30 minutes—and provides a more structured dataset, but comes at a higher investment and is typically better suited for larger firms.

The important thing is that this decision isn’t tied to Informer or Power BI—it applies to both. It’s really about your firm’s size, your reporting needs, and how current your data needs to be.

Where do you start?

Everything we’ve covered in this article and in the webinar is a conversation we’ve had with a client or a prospective client. This is the kind of guidance our team is providing and work they’re doing with firms every day. This path does not have a set starting or ending point – and each firm and their goals are very different. You don’t have to start from scratch, you could just need another perspective on refining what’s already there. Our BI experts are consistently cleaning up data, structuring it in a way that makes sense, and building reporting tools that people can actually use without overthinking it.

Because most teams don’t need more dashboards. They need clearer data, better visibility, and systems that support how they actually work.

If you’re starting to feel friction in your reporting—or like your data should be more useful than it is, that’s exactly where our team comes in. If you want to talk through what that a BI solution could look like for your firm, we’d love to chat.

Watch the recording of the webinar to hear more of the specifics, or reach out to learn more about how Full Sail Partners can help you with your business intelligence goals.

The spray-and-pray era is officially over

There was a time when marketing could rely on volume.

Big lists. Broad messaging. Hope something sticks.

That approach doesn’t hold up anymore.

In 2026, relevance is what gets attention—and relevance starts with knowing exactly who you’re talking to.

This month’s theme is refinement. Not adding more tools or more data, but getting sharper with what’s already there. And for most firms, that starts inside the CRM.More contacts doesn’t mean better marketing. Most AEC firms already have a full database. Thousands of contacts. Years of history. Plenty of information. But when it’s time to actually use that data, things tend to break down:

• Lists get pulled manually
• Fields are inconsistent or incomplete
• Teams don’t fully trust what’s in the system

So people work around it.

They export data. Build one-off lists. Ask around internally.

At that point, the CRM isn’t driving strategy—it’s just holding information. As noted in the upcoming demo, when data isn’t structured in a way that’s easy to use, teams stop relying on it altogether.

What most firms are missing: a complete picture of their contacts

At its core, a CRM like Deltek Vantagepoint is designed to do more than store names and email addresses.

It’s meant to give your team a complete view of every relationship—from basic contact details to communication history to how that individual connects to your firm’s projects and pursuits.

When that information is all in one place, marketing and BD teams aren’t guessing anymore. They can see:

• Who a contact is
• What markets they’re tied to
• How your firm has interacted with them over time
• Where they fit into future opportunities

That level of visibility is what makes segmentation possible in the first place. ou’re not just filtering a list—you’re working from a system that actually understands your audience.

Refining your audience starts with refining your data

The shift happens when contact data is structured intentionally. When that’s in place, the CRM becomes something different:

• A way to quickly find the right people
• A way to segment by market, role, and location
• A way to build lists that are actually usable

Instead of pulling a massive list and hoping it works, teams can narrow in on the exact audience they’re trying to reach.

That’s where marketing starts to feel more targeted—and a lot more effective.

Segmentation isn’t just a tactic—it’s how campaigns get better

Segmentation tends to get treated like a feature.

In reality, it’s what makes campaigns work.

When contact data is clean and structured, teams can:

• Target specific industries or sectors
• Focus on decision-makers instead of generic contacts
• Build campaigns directly inside the CRM
• Connect those audiences to email platforms without extra steps

It removes a lot of the friction that slows teams down—and makes it easier to execute consistently.

Where inbound marketing fits in

Inbound marketing only works when the message actually feels relevant to the person receiving it.

That sounds obvious, but it’s where a lot of firms quietly miss the mark.

It’s easy to focus on creating more content—more insights, more thought leadership, more campaigns—and assume that’s the lever. But if that content is going to a broad, loosely defined audience, it starts to feel generic pretty quickly. When everything feels a little too general, people tune it out.

That’s usually not a content problem, but rather a targeting problem. Without clear segmentation, even strong content gets diluted. It reaches too many of the wrong people and not enough of the right ones. Over time, that’s when teams start questioning whether inbound is “working,” when really it was never set up to land the way it should.

When contact data is refined and structured, the dynamic changes. Messaging can be aligned to specific markets, roles, and audiences. Campaigns feel more intentional. And the content that teams are already creating starts to perform the way they expected it to in the first place.

That’s what makes inbound effective—not just visibility, but relevance that actually connects.

What this looks like in practice

In the upcoming mini demo, Wesley walks through how this works inside Deltek Vantagepoint.

The focus is practical:

• Structuring contact records so data stays clean
• Identifying which fields actually matter for segmentation
• Filtering contacts to build targeted lists
• Turning those lists into campaign audiences
• Connecting CRM data to email marketing tools

It’s not about adding complexity—it’s about making the system easier to use, so teams actually use it.

Final thought: refine first, then scale

There’s a natural instinct to try to improve marketing results by doing more.

More emails. More campaigns. More outreach.

But if the data behind those efforts isn’t in a good place, more activity doesn’t fix the problem—it just amplifies it.

That’s how teams end up working harder without seeing better results. Refinement can break that cycle.

When contact data is consistent, structured, and aligned with how the firm actually operates, everything downstream starts to click. Lists come together faster. Campaigns are more targeted. Messaging doesn’t feel like a guess. Instead of constantly rebuilding or questioning the data, teams can rely on it—and spend their time actually executing.

Because at a certain point, it’s not about doing more marketing.

It’s about doing it with enough precision that it finally works.

If your team is still working around your CRM instead of using it, our upcoming mini-demo will show a different way forward.

Register now to save your seat—and start getting more out of the data you already have.

Here’s the thing about finance in Vantagepoint:

When the basics are solid, everything works. When they’re not… everything feels harder than it should.

And most of the time, it’s not because teams are doing anything wrong. It’s because over time, processes evolve, workarounds get layered in, and the original foundation gets a little… fuzzy.

That’s exactly why we’ve spent the past few months revisiting the core financial workflows inside Deltek Vantagepoint—not from an advanced or technical lens, but from a practical one.

Because when you get the fundamentals right—project setup, time and expense, billing—everything downstream gets easier, clearer, and a whole lot more reliable.

It Starts with Structure: Projects, Contracts, and Budgets

One of the biggest drivers of financial clarity (or chaos) is how projects are set up from the beginning.

In this recent blog, we looked at how aligning project structures with contracts and budgets can directly impact billing accuracy and profitability.

Because here’s the reality—if your project setup isn’t right, everything downstream gets harder:

• Billing becomes more manual
• Revenue recognition gets murky
• Reporting loses credibility

And suddenly your finance team is spending more time fixing issues than analyzing performance.

The Day-to-Day: Time, Expense, and Transaction Entry

Once projects are in motion, the next challenge is execution.

This is where a lot of firms feel the friction—because these processes happen constantly.

Time entry. Expense tracking. Transaction posting.

Individually, they seem simple. Together, they either create a smooth flow… or a daily headache.

When these workflows are set up well inside Vantagepoint, they don’t just support accounting—they actively reduce rework and improve confidence in your data. Check out another recent post where we go over this.

The Features You’re Probably Not Using (But Should Be)

Then there’s the other side of the equation: functionality that’s already there… just underutilized. Jenny Labranche, one of our accounting gurus, shares some of those features in her blog.

This is where things get interesting, because many firms aren’t dealing with a lack of tools—they’re dealing with untapped potential.

Small adjustments—whether it’s automation, approvals, or billing workflows—can have a big impact on:

• Efficiency
• Accuracy
• Visibility

Sometimes refining your process isn’t about adding something new. It’s about finally using what you already have.

Billing Still Doing Too Much Heavy Lifting?

And of course… billing. Always billing. Take a look at this blog from last year where Cynthia Fuoco shared background on simplifying invoice processes.

Because billing is where everything converges:

Projects → Time → Expenses → Contracts → Client expectations

If any part of that chain is off, billing is usually where it shows up first.

So What Does “Good” Actually Look Like?

All of these topics point to the same bigger question:

What should finance actually look like inside a project-based ERP when it’s working well?

Not theoretically.

Not in pieces.

But as a connected, real-world workflow.

If you want to see what this actually looks like in practice, we’re walking through it live next week.

In our upcoming Finance Basics Showcase Demo, we’ll connect the dots across project setup, time and expense, billing, and reporting—so you can see how it all works together inside Deltek Vantagepoint.

Most firms have more data than ever before — but far fewer answers than they expected.

That was the thread running through our recent LinkedIn Live with RTM Engineering Consultants.

We sat down with Ben Sermersheim and Andrew Slivka to talk about what it actually takes to turn Deltek Vantagepoint data into something people actually use — not just something that exists.

And if there was one thing that became clear quickly, it’s this: most firms don’t have a data problem. They have a clarity problem.

When “Reporting” Becomes the Work

RTM’s starting point wasn’t that unusual. Like many firms, they had access to the data they needed — it just wasn’t working as hard as it could.

Reporting meant pulling data out of Vantagepoint, rebuilding it in Excel, and recreating dashboards again and again. Over time, that process became less about insight and more about maintenance.

And as that cycle repeated, a few things started to happen. Reports didn’t always align. Teams spent more time preparing data than using it. And perhaps most importantly, trust in the numbers began to erode.

As Ben described it, different teams were often working from slightly different versions of the truth.

Why They Looked Beyond Vantagepoint

This wasn’t about replacing Vantagepoint. It was about making its data more accessible across the business.

RTM needed a way to connect data more flexibly, explore it more dynamically, and deliver it in a way that made sense for different users across the firm. Power BI opened that door — not as a standalone solution, but as a way to extend what Vantagepoint already does well.

But getting there wasn’t immediate.

The Moment Things Got… Complicated

RTM didn’t jump straight into outside support. They started where a lot of firms do — by trying to build it internally.

And to their credit, they made real progress.

They built early reports, created a working model, and proved that better reporting was possible. But as the system grew, so did the complexity. Manual refreshes started taking up more time. The underlying data structure became harder to navigate. And maintaining what they had built began to outweigh improving it.

That’s the point where many firms stall out.

Instead, RTM made a different decision: bring in the right support to move forward more effectively.

Building the Foundation First

When Full Sail Partners joined the effort, the focus wasn’t on dashboards or visuals. It was on the foundation.

Before anything else, the data itself had to be structured, validated, and made reliable.

That meant pulling Vantagepoint data into a centralized environment, organizing it into a consistent model, and ensuring that every metric tied back to a trusted source. It also meant removing the need to rebuild that structure every time a new report was created.

This kind of foundational work is what ultimately makes business intelligence scalable — and it’s the same approach we take across our broader Full Sail Partners offerings.

Once that foundation was in place, everything else became easier.

Andrew described the shift simply: instead of spending weeks preparing data, they could open Power BI, connect to a trusted dataset, and start building immediately.

Just as importantly, it created a clear division of strengths. Full Sail handled the complexity behind the scenes, while RTM focused on shaping reports around how their teams actually work.

Why Starting Small Made a Big Difference

One of the smartest moves RTM made was resisting the urge to do everything at once.

Instead of trying to connect every dataset, they focused on a few key areas first — employee data and high-level project financials. That smaller scope made it possible to validate the data quickly, fix issues early, and show progress right away.

That progress mattered.

Because trust in reporting tools isn’t built all at once — it’s earned over time. And for technical teams especially, even small inconsistencies can derail adoption.

By building incrementally, RTM gave their users something they could start using — and believing in — right away.

Turning Data Into Something People Use

Even with the right data in place, adoption doesn’t happen automatically.

RTM was intentional about how they introduced their new reporting environment. They validated every dataset against Vantagepoint before releasing it. They walked users through how metrics were calculated. They trained teams across the firm and created space for feedback.

They also identified internal champions — respected team members who could help bridge the gap between finance, leadership, and technical staff.

That combination made a difference.

Instead of pushing out reports and hoping people would use them, they built something that felt collaborative — something users could understand and trust.

What Changed

Once that foundation and trust were in place, the role of reporting shifted.

Instead of rebuilding reports or double-checking numbers, RTM’s team could focus on asking better questions. What used to take weeks now takes minutes. And the conversation moved from “Is this right?” to “What does this mean?”

Looking Ahead

RTM is now expanding their reporting environment into planning, forecasting, and CRM data — building on the same foundation they established early on.

It’s a natural next step. Once teams trust the data, they start asking for more of it — more context, more specificity, more ways to use it in their day-to-day decisions.

Advice for Firms Getting Started

A few takeaways that came through loud and clear:

Think long-term from day one
It’s much harder to retrofit a data structure later.

Don’t overbuild early
Start with what matters most and expand from there.

Design for the end user
If it’s not intuitive, it won’t get used.

Final Thought

This wasn’t just a conversation about Power BI.

It was about what it takes to move from:
data → to trusted data → to decisions.

And more often than not, that shift happens when the right tools are paired with the right foundation — and the right expertise.

This month, we’re focused on a simple idea: leverage.

Not as a buzzword, but as a practical way of thinking about how firms get more value from what they already have — and when to bring in the right tools, resources, or expertise to unlock even more.

Across our blogs, social content, and virtual sessions, we’re exploring what it really looks like to turn information into insight — and insight into better decisions.

Let’s take a closer look at how that plays out in today’s blog.

Most firms have more data than ever before — but far fewer answers than they expected.

Between project metrics, financial reports, utilization dashboards, and CRM insights, ERP systems like Deltek Vantagepoint generate an incredible amount of operational data about how a firm runs.

And yet, many leadership teams still find themselves asking the same question:

Why isn’t this data translating into clearer decisions?

The difference between a system that simply stores information and one that drives business decisions often comes down to something far less technical: expertise.

Why Data Alone Doesn’t Drive Better Decisions

In today’s business environment, data is everywhere. Firms track project performance, monitor utilization, analyze revenue forecasts, and review financial metrics across multiple systems.

All of that information is valuable — but raw data alone rarely answers the most important questions.

• Why are certain projects trending off budget?
• Why does utilization fluctuate between teams?
• Why are we so successful in one geographical area versus another?
• Why do reports sometimes tell a different story than what project leaders are experiencing day to day?

Numbers can highlight patterns, but they don’t always explain the context behind them. That context often lives with the people who understand how projects, finances, and operations function inside the firm.

Without that perspective, even the most sophisticated reporting can fall short of driving meaningful action.

ERP Systems Are Powerful — But They Still Need Expertise

Modern ERP platforms are designed to bring together many of the operational components that drive project-based businesses. They connect project data, financial performance, resource planning, and reporting into a single system that helps firms understand how their business is running.

When configured well, systems like Deltek Vantagepoint can provide real-time visibility into budgets, staffing, profitability, and project performance — helping teams make faster and more informed decisions.

But technology alone rarely solves operational challenges.

Even the best systems still depend on people to:

• structure projects correctly
• interpret reporting trends
• configure workflows that reflect real processes
• translate data into insights leadership can act on

Many firms begin exploring ways to optimize how their Deltek Vantagepoint system supports their operations once they realize that the technology itself is only one piece of the equation.

In other words, systems generate data.

People generate understanding.

The Internal Expertise Many Firms Overlook

One of the most valuable resources many firms have is also the easiest to overlook: their internal experts.

These are the people who understand the nuances of how the firm operates.

The project manager who knows how scope shifts impact budgets over time.
The finance professional who understands the complexities of revenue timing and billing.
The marketing leader who sees how pipeline and project delivery intersect.

These individuals carry years of practical knowledge about how the business runs — knowledge that doesn’t always live inside a system.

When their expertise is incorporated into how systems are structured and used, data becomes more meaningful.

Reporting reflects reality more accurately. Processes begin to align more naturally with the way teams work.

But that only happens when those experts are included in system conversations.

Too often, systems are designed around software capabilities instead of the people who rely on them every day.

And that’s where leverage gets lost.

Real Leverage Happens When Systems and Expertise Work Together

At its core, leverage isn’t about adding more tools.

It’s about getting more value from the systems, processes, and knowledge that already exist inside the firm and then filling the holes with the appropriate resource.

When the right people are connected to the right systems, data becomes far more than numbers on a screen. It becomes a foundation for better conversations, clearer reporting, and stronger decisions.

For example, some firms are combining Deltek Vantagepoint data with tools like Power BI to make reporting more accessible across their organization. We’ll be touching briefly on this approach in an upcoming LinkedIn Live conversation with RTM Engineering Consultants, where their team will share how they built dashboards that engineers and leadership teams use.

Stories like this illustrate an important point: technology becomes far more powerful when it is designed around how people work.

How Outside Experts Help Firms Unlock More Value from Their Systems

Internal expertise is essential, but sometimes the fastest way to uncover opportunities inside a system is by bringing in an outside perspective.

External consultants bring something internal teams rarely have access to: pattern recognition across many firms.

They’ve seen how different organizations structure projects, manage billing workflows, design reporting frameworks, and configure systems to support their operations.

Because of that experience, they can often identify opportunities quickly — whether that means adjusting project structures, simplifying reporting, or helping teams take advantage of capabilities already available inside their ERP.

In many cases, the biggest improvements don’t come from implementing new software.

They come from unlocking more value from the technology a firm already owns.

A structured review — such as a Navigational Analysis  — can help organizations evaluate how well their system configuration, data structure, and processes are working together.

Unlock More Value from Your System

If your firm has valuable data inside your ERP but struggles to translate it into meaningful insights, it may be time to bring a fresh perspective into the conversation.

Our team works with project-based firms every day to evaluate systems, align processes, and uncover opportunities to get more value from Deltek Vantagepoint.

Start a conversation with one of our consultants to explore where greater leverage might exist inside your system.

In the rush to explore dashboards, automation, and advanced analytics, it’s easy to overlook the fundamentals that keep a firm’s financial operations running smoothly.

Billing is one of those fundamentals.

For many professional services firms using Deltek Vantagepoint, batch billing remains one of the most efficient ways to process large volumes of invoices while maintaining control, consistency, and visibility across the accounting team.

But like many “everyday” tools in an ERP, its value often goes beyond the obvious.

Sometimes revisiting the basics reveals capabilities that make the entire process smoother, more transparent, and less risky for finance teams.

The Power of Processing Invoices in Batches

Batch billing exists for one primary reason: efficiency.

Instead of processing invoices one project at a time, accounting teams can generate invoices for multiple projects in a single run. For firms with dozens—or hundreds—of active projects each month, that shift alone dramatically reduces the time spent managing billing cycles.

It also helps create a more structured process. When invoices are generated together in a batch, teams gain a clearer view of what is being billed, when it was processed, and which invoices still require review or approval. In other words, it’s not just about speed—it’s about bringing consistency to the billing workflow.

Visibility Matters More Than You Think

One of the lesser-known aspects of batch billing is the Invoice Archive, where previously generated batch billing runs are temporarily stored.

By default, Vantagepoint can retain batch billing invoice archives for up to 720 hours (30 days) in Billing>Batch Billing. This archive can be useful when the user needs to revisit a prior run to confirm what invoices were generated, review draft invoices, or investigate questions about a billing cycle. With advanced settings, accounting teams can preview, print, and download Batch Billing Invoice Archive files for batch runs created by other users. Why does this matter?

Because in many firms, multiple people may be involved in the billing process. Being able to quickly reference prior billing runs can help accounting teams understand what has already been generated and avoid duplicate work or confusion during month-end.

It’s a small capability, but one that can save significant time when questions inevitably arise.

Avoiding Common Billing Pitfalls

Batch billing is powerful—but with that power comes responsibility.

One important consideration is user permissions, particularly around final batch billing runs.

If a firm accidentally processes a final batch billing run before invoices are fully reviewed, unwinding that action can be extremely difficult. Unlike many processes in an ERP, final batch billing doesn’t come with a simple “undo” button.

For this reason, many firms intentionally limit who has permission to run final batch billing. Restricting this capability in security roles helps ensure that invoices only move to final processing once they’ve been properly reviewed and approved.

It’s a small governance step that can prevent a very big headache.

Supporting the Draft Invoice Review Process

Another reason firms lean on batch billing is its ability to support structured draft invoice review workflows.

Many organizations use draft invoices to give project managers an opportunity to review billing details before anything is finalized. Within Vantagepoint, draft invoice approvals can include markup and annotation tools that allow reviewers to leave comments directly on the draft invoice.

Instead of long email chains or offline edits, feedback can happen directly inside the system. Notifications alert approvers when action is needed, helping move the process forward without constant follow-up from accounting.

For firms trying to tighten their billing timelines, these built-in workflows can make a noticeable difference.

When Email Limits Get in the Way

Another practical feature tied to batch billing addresses a challenge many firms have experienced at least once: email attachment limits.

Invoice packages can sometimes exceed the size allowed by email systems. When that happens, the message may fail to send entirely—often without the sender realizing it.

Vantagepoint includes an option that automatically replaces oversized invoice attachments with a secure download link. When enabled, recipients receive a link to retrieve the invoice instead of an attachment, ensuring the message still goes through.

For accounting teams that regularly send invoice packages to project managers or clients, this simple feature can eliminate an entire category of billing delays.

Sometimes the Basics Are the Real Efficiency Play

Batch billing may not be the newest feature inside Vantagepoint, but it remains one of the most practical tools for finance teams managing high project volumes.

When configured thoughtfully, it provides:

• Faster invoice processing
• Greater visibility into billing activity
• Built-in review workflows
• Reduced risk of accidental billing errors
• Better handling of large invoice distributions

And perhaps most importantly, it helps accounting teams create a repeatable billing process that supports both accuracy and speed.

In an industry where project finances move quickly, that kind of reliability is invaluable.

As firms continue exploring automation, reporting, and advanced data strategies within Vantagepoint, it’s worth remembering that strong systems are built on strong fundamentals. Tools like batch billing may feel familiar, but when used intentionally, they can still unlock meaningful efficiency across the finance team.

If your firm is looking to refine billing workflows or get more out of Deltek Vantagepoint, the consultants at Full Sail Partners work with project-based organizations every day to align financial processes with the realities of how teams actually operate.

There’s a quiet tug-of-war happening inside many firms.

HR wants timesheets to be simple and consistent. Payroll wants alignment with pay cycles. The CFO wants time posted in the correct financial period.

And when a weekly timesheet spans two different months, those priorities collide.

If your firm runs weekly or bi-weekly timesheets in Deltek Vantagepoint, you’ve likely run into this scenario: a Monday–Sunday timesheet crosses from one month into the next. Now you’re forced to decide — where does that time get posted?

Unfortunately, the native functionality in Vantagepoint posts time based on the week-ending date. That means an entire week could land in May, even if several days clearly belong in April.

That’s where the headaches begin.

The Common Payroll and Posting Workarounds

Over time, firms have tried several approaches to solve this alignment issue.

Bi-Monthly Payroll

Some firms run payroll on the 15th and the last day of the month.

Finance teams appreciate this because it avoids payroll accruals and keeps financial periods clean. But those cutoff dates don’t always align with a Friday, which makes weekly submission habits harder to enforce. Employees miss deadlines. Follow-up increases.

Bi-Weekly Payroll

Other firms maintain a true bi-weekly payroll schedule with 26 pay periods per year.

This makes timesheet enforcement simple and payroll predictable. But when a week spans two months, accounting must choose which financial period to post it in — often leading to month-end payroll accruals or manual adjustments.

Shortened “Split” Weeks

Some firms attempt to manually solve the problem by creating shortened weeks at month-end.

A three-day week here. A one-day week there.

Technically, it works. But it disrupts the natural Monday–Sunday rhythm employees are used to. Confusion increases, compliance drops, and the chasing begins again.

None of these solutions fully satisfy HR, Payroll, and Finance at the same time.

A Smarter Solution: The Timesheet Split Utility

Instead of forcing employees or payroll to adjust, what if the system handled the split automatically?

That’s exactly what our Timesheet Split Utility was designed to do.

This custom solution allows you to split a single timesheet period between two financial periods before posting — without changing the employee experience at all.

Employees continue entering time exactly as they always have. Same Monday–Sunday cadence. Same approval workflow. No short weeks. No retraining.

Once timesheets are fully approved (but not yet posted), a system administrator runs the Timesheet Split Utility.

The tool:

• Confirms both financial periods are open

• Identifies the week-ending date

• Automatically splits the timesheet by month

• Generates separate posting logs for each financial period

Now the April portion posts to April. The May portion posts to May.

Clean financial reporting. No payroll accrual. No employee confusion.

What About Payroll and Reporting?

For firms running in-house payroll, nothing changes. Payroll is processed by date — not posting logs — so this utility does not disrupt processing.

For firms using outsourced payroll and the Export to Pay feature, you’ll simply select one additional posting log when needed.

Utilization reporting and dashboards remain intact because this is strictly a posting log adjustment. It does not alter how employees enter time or how date-based reporting functions.

In short, you maintain weekly consistency while eliminating month-end payroll accruals.

Is This Right for Your Firm?

The Timesheet Split Utility is a strong fit for firms that:

• Run weekly or bi-weekly timesheets

• Want to avoid month-end payroll accruals

• Prefer not to create shortened “off-cycle” weeks

• Care about posting labor into the correct financial period

Please note: this utility is not applicable for firms using the JCV feature.

Built for Project-Based Firms

At Full Sail Partners, we specialize in helping project-based firms align their systems with how they actually operate. With decades of experience supporting Deltek users nationwide, we focus on practical, real-world solutions that improve efficiency without overcomplicating your processes

You don’t have to choose between payroll simplicity and clean financials.

Sometimes the solution isn’t changing your people or your payroll cycle — it’s giving your system the flexibility it should have had all along.

If you’re ready to explore whether the Timesheet Split Utility could work for your firm, check out the mini-demo with Jenny Labranche, Timesheet Split Utility. If you’re still interested, reach out for a consultation!

National Engineers Week celebrates innovation, problem-solving, and building what moves the world forward.

But here’s the part we don’t talk about enough:

Engineers aren’t just designing projects — they’re running them.

They’re balancing budgets and staffing plans. Managing schedules. Tracking billing milestones. Mitigating risk. Navigating client expectations.

And yet, ERP systems are often positioned as tools for finance teams or executives.

In reality, if you’re an engineer or project manager, Deltek Vantagepoint may be one of the most valuable tools in your toolbox.

This week, we’re shifting the spotlight. Because smarter project delivery isn’t just about technical expertise — it’s about visibility, structure, and control.

Real-Time Project Visibility (No Waiting on Finance)

No one likes surprises at month end.

Most project stress doesn’t stem from design complexity; it comes from uncertainty. Not knowing whether labor is burning faster than planned. Wondering if billing aligns with percent complete. Questioning where the budget truly stands.

When that information is siloed or buried in reports, decisions slow down.

Vantagepoint brings project financials and performance metrics into clear view. Engineers and PMs can see budgets versus actuals in real time — along with labor burn, dollars spent, bill dates, and profitability indicators — without chasing down data.

Instead of asking, “Where do we stand?” you’re operating from clarity. And when visibility comes earlier in a project’s lifecycle, adjustments can be made while they still matter.

👉 Learn more about how we support Productive Project Management.

Moving Beyond Spreadsheets

Exporting data to Excel “just to make it easier to see” has become routine in many firms.

But disconnected spreadsheets create version control issues, duplicate effort, and the risk of outdated information. They also signal that the system isn’t fully aligned with how projects are managed.

When budgeting and tracking are structured intentionally inside Vantagepoint — aligned with your work breakdown structure and the way engineers organize work — everything becomes more intuitive.

Time, expenses, consultant costs, billing, and AR live within one framework. Adjustments reflect immediately. Reporting ties directly to execution. The result isn’t just cleaner data; it’s stronger confidence in the decisions you’re making.

One consistently used system removes a surprising amount of friction.

Smarter Resource Allocation = Less Firefighting

Capacity challenges rarely stem from a lack of talent. They arise when visibility into workload and availability is incomplete.

Across the industry, familiar resource management issues show up: overallocation, last-minute staffing changes, uneven workloads, burnout. These aren’t people problems — they’re systems problems.

When resource planning is fragmented, predictability disappears. But when resource data connects directly to project financials inside an ERP, firms gain a clearer view of both demand and utilization.

That visibility allows leaders to pair the right people with the right projects intentionally — instead of reacting after problems surface. The result is steadier delivery, fewer emergencies, and a healthier team.

👉 Explore how better resource planning and visibility in Vantagepoint supports long-term profitability: Resource Planning with Precision in 2026

Monitoring Risk Before It Escalates

Engineers are trained to identify technical risk early. The same mindset applies to financial and operational performance.

Budget drift, scope creep, billing lag, and outstanding AR all affect project health. The challenge isn’t that these risks are invisible — it’s that they’re often recognized too late.

When project data is centralized and accessible, early warning signs become part of ongoing conversations. Instead of discovering issues in a month-end review, trends surface as they develop — giving teams time to respond strategically rather than reactively.

This isn’t about finance stepping in. It’s about equipping project leaders with the insight they need to guide outcomes with intention.

Data-Driven Decisions (Because That’s How Engineers Think)

Engineers are systems thinkers — analytical, process-oriented, wired to optimize.

An ERP like Vantagepoint supports that mindset by connecting time, cost, billing, and performance data into structured dashboards and reports. When information is organized clearly and shared transparently, knowledge flows more easily across teams.

Strong knowledge sharing requires infrastructure. A centralized system ensures project history, financial performance, and staffing patterns aren’t locked in silos — they become insights that strengthen alignment and accountability.

When everyone works from the same data, decisions sharpen. And over time, that clarity builds momentum.

👉 See what’s possible with Vantagepoint dashboards and reporting

From Project Engineer to Project Leader

As engineers step into project management roles, their responsibilities expand beyond technical execution.

They become accountable for profitability, budget discipline, staffing strategy, billing performance, and overall project health.

That transition is smoother when financial and operational data aren’t abstract concepts but accessible tools.

ERP systems succeed when the people running projects understand their value and engage intentionally. When engineers see how financial structure connects directly to execution, their decisions strengthen — technically and strategically.

The earlier that business perspective becomes part of an engineer’s toolkit, the more confident and capable they become as leaders.

ERP isn’t simply another software platform. Implemented thoughtfully, it becomes part of the operational foundation that supports growth, stability, and long-term leadership development.

Smarter Projects Start with Visibility

Innovation doesn’t stop at design.

It shows up in how firms structure budgets, align staffing with demand, share knowledge, and monitor performance with clarity and purpose. It lives in the systems that support the people delivering the work every day.

Deltek Vantagepoint was never meant to sit quietly in the background as a finance tool. At its best, it supports executives, marketing teams, finance professionals — and the engineers managing projects from kickoff to closeout.

We’ve found that many firms are only tapping into a fraction of its capabilities. But when Vantagepoint is intentionally aligned with how engineers actually run projects, it becomes far more than software — it becomes a critical part of a healthy, high-performing data ecosystem.

Because ultimately, it’s built for the people responsible for delivering results.

AEC proposals are notoriously complex—teams juggle RFP requirements, past pursuits, project narratives, resumes, and compliance checks under tight deadlines. Proposals can feel like a marathon of copy/paste, email threads, and last-minute compliance checks. It’s exhausting, and it often crowds out the strategic, creative thinking that actually wins the work.

That’s exactly why AI assisted proposal writing is having a moment.

When routine tasks shrink, your team gets time back to craft sharper narratives, smarter win themes, and more persuasive pitches.

Shred.ai, powered by OpenAsset and fine-tuned by real AEC proposal writers with 20+ years of experience, helps teams move confidently from RFP to pitch. It’s not just about speed; it’s about building a repeatable, reliable system that turns your firm’s knowledge into a competitive advantage.

From RFP to Pitch: A Seamless, AI-Driven Workflow

Proposals should start with strategy, not copy/paste. Shred.ai streamlines the journey from the moment a new RFP lands to the final pitch deck, ensuring teams don’t waste time reinventing the wheel. Instead of digging through folders and outdated proposals, marketers and technical staff can lean on intuitive AI that understands AEC pursuits and responds with context-aware insights.

The result?

A smoother start, fewer blind spots, and a draft that already aligns with your firm’s strengths and past wins. When the groundwork is handled, your team can do its best work—shaping the story, sharpening win themes, and tailoring the pitch to what the client truly values.

Built for AEC by AEC Pros

There are plenty of generic AI tools out there. What sets Shred.ai apart is that it’s trained and tuned by real AEC proposal writers with over two decades in the trenches—people who know the difference between a compliance matrix and a content matrix, and who understand the nuance of project narratives, SOQs, SF330s, and shortlist decks.

Shred.ai is most powerful when used alongside OpenAsset’s DAM, but it can also stand alone as a proposal-focused AI tool. When paired with OpenAsset, it fits naturally into how AEC firms already manage images, project data, and marketing content—helping teams see quick, measurable gains without overhauling their entire tech stack.

Save Hours with AI Search and AI Chat

Shred.ai’s AI Search and AI Chat are built for speed and relevance, helping teams move from blank page to strong first draft in minutes—not days.

• Find winning content in seconds. Instantly scan your entire proposal library and OpenAsset DAM instance relevant insights, project narratives, resumes, and boilerplate.

• Use AI Search to locate past proposals relevant to the current pursuit, by market, scope, delivery method, or client.

• Ask AI Chat for help with win themes and project examples, so you never start from zero. Draft positioning statements, differentiators, and tailored narratives on the spot.

• Start your next proposal fast with suggested content outlines that inspire the team and speed up kickoff.

This isn’t generic AI guessing at answers. It’s tailored to AEC realities, surfacing the best material from your firm’s proposal library and turning it into a draft that actually fits the pursuit.

Enhance Compliance and Extract RFP Details with Ease

Compliance can make or break a pursuit. Shred.ai takes the manual pain out of parsing RFPs by extracting key details verbatim—so your team can respond with confidence and accuracy.

• Intuitive AI reviews your RFP to extract details verbatim, ensuring a compliant response without manual copy/paste.

• Once your RFP is uploaded, Shred.ai captures key details and outlines a plan—turning RFP requirements into a structured response strategy.

• The system surfaces previous content your team has already vetted for similar pursuits, helping reduce redundant work and accelerate quality control.

Finish with rich, tailored add-ons—projects, resumes, and bios pulled directly from OpenAsset—to ensure your submission meets every requirement and tells a cohesive, credible story. Many teams report cutting proposal time in half with this approach.

Real-Time Go/No-Go Analysis: Pursue What You Can Win

Too many firms pursue everything—and burn out their teams in the process. With Shred.ai’s real-time Go/No-Go analysis, you can quickly evaluate fit and prioritize the opportunities that align with your strengths and strategy.

Break the cycle of spending time on low-probability pursuits.

Use AI-driven insights to qualify RFPs based on fit, differentiators, and requirements.

Keep focus where it matters—on pursuits your firm is likely to win.

When 50% of proposals are submitted even when firms aren’t a fit, smarter qualification can be the fastest path to better win rates and healthier teams.

Connect with Confidence: Security, Integration, and Scale

Upgrading your proposal workflow shouldn’t mean compromising security or overhauling your tech stack. Shred.ai is designed to slot in smoothly and protect what matters.

• Vendor-delivered security with SOC 2 Type II compliance, strict data isolation, and privacy-first controls.

• Seamless integration with OpenAsset and your existing AEC systems—no custom builds or heavy dev lift.

• Scalable architecture that grows with your firm without adding IT overhead.

• Customer data is never used to train public models.

It’s a modern platform with guardrails—so your content stays yours, and your systems stay stable.

Quality, Consistency, and Confidence

Speed is great, but not if quality slips. The advantage here is that AI brings structure and context:

• Consistent language across resumes and project sheets

• Fewer outdated specs and stale claims

• Cleaner drafts that reduce rework in redlines

• A shared knowledge layer that helps onboard new team members

When the foundation is clean and consistent, you can push the creative side—tell a sharper story, tailor your differentiators, and craft a pitch that resonates with reviewers.

Creative Where It Counts

The biggest win of AI assisted proposal writing isn’t just time saved—it’s attention reallocated. Instead of sweating file names and pasting scopes across sections, your team can:

• Interview PMs for fresh project insights and results

• Craft visually compelling shortlist presentations

• Work with leadership on positioning and client insight

• Develop value-add ideas that show you understand the client’s goals

That’s the work that moves scores in competitive reviews.

Proposal Power That Pays Off

The business case is clear: when teams spend less time on manual tasks, they spend more time on the work that wins.

• Efficiency at scale: Automate repetitive work to shorten proposal creation time.

• Cost-effective workflows: Reduce effort behind every pursuit.

• Built-in compliance: AI-assisted checks help ensure RFP requirements are met.

• Clear performance insight: Teams see measurable productivity gains in days, not months.

• Proposals stop feeling chaotic and start running like a high-functioning, data-informed process.

AI helps by compressing the “search and sort” part of the job. It reduces duplicate questions to SMEs, flags outdated language before it hits review, and tees up a compliant outline so marketing can focus on storytelling. The result: more time for strategy, fewer errors that trigger rework, and faster leadership approvals.

What’s the ROI of AI in AEC?

Note: Data based on average time savings for OpenAsset customers using AI tooling.

“Faster proposals, fewer errors, and more confident decision making.” That’s the headline outcome. And when you break it down by role, you see where the time savings—and the value—really come from.

Marketing Team — 30% time saved

• AI search pulls past answers and assets instantly

• Auto generated compliance matrix and first draft boilerplate

• Fewer back and forth emails

Technical SMEs — 45% time saved

• Cleaner drafts mean fewer repeat Q&As

• Outdated specs flagged automatically

• AI assisted content drafting

Leadership / Principals — 35% time saved

• Fewer questions from team members about past proposals

• Fewer review cycles before approval

• Quick “Go / No Go” score reduces ad hoc decision meetings

Those savings aren’t abstract; they reflect the compounding effect of shaving minutes and hours off dozens of tasks across the pursuit lifecycle. Multiply that across your pipeline, and the ROI becomes hard to ignore.

From RFP to Pitch with Shred.ai, “AI assisted proposal writing clears the way for creativity.” That’s the promise—and here’s how it plays out, step by step.

A Day-in-the-Life: From Inbox to Draft in Hours 📥➡️📄

Let’s put this into a real scenario.

1. The RFP lands at 9:00 a.m. You upload the PDF.

2. A quick “Go/No-Go” score accelerates approvals or pivots.

3. Shred.ai extracts key requirements verbatim and generates a first pass compliance matrix with sections, page limits, and submittal instructions.

4. Get fast, conversational access to project, people, and file information from OpenAsset - without leaving Shred.

5. Recommendations and win themes are provided: what matters most to the client, how to position your approach, and which differentiators to lead with.

6. Proposal studio transforms RFP criteria into structured, ready-to-edit drafts. SMEs answer fewer repeat questions and spend time refining technical content.

7. Leadership sees a tidy, compliant draft earlier.

8. You submit a strong, compliant proposal—days faster, with fewer late-night edits.

Across that workflow, you’ll notice the same pattern: less searching, less copying, less second guessing. More focus on the message.

Ready to See It in Action?

If you’re wondering whether these gains show up for firms like yours, the short answer is yes—across marketing, SMEs, and leadership. Faster proposals, fewer errors, and more confident decision making aren’t just slogans; they’re operational outcomes when the heavy lifting is automated.

See how AI can transform your AEC workflows connects your projects and people to the content that wins by joining our webinar. See Shred.ai in action and come ready to ask questions.

Connecting your HR system to Deltek Vantagepoint isn't about automation as a concept. It's about stopping the duplicate entry, preventing the slow data drift you don't notice until it's a problem, and eliminating the quiet reconciliation work that eats an hour here and two hours there every payroll cycle.

When firms start looking at integrating ADP, Paylocity, BambooHR, or UKG with Deltek, the questions are usually pretty practical: What's actually supported? What's real-time? What breaks? What happens when something fails? And how much of what vendors say is engineering versus marketing?

We had many great questions from firms during our webinar on the topic, How to Successfully Integrate Your HCM and HRIS Systems with Deltek. We’ve gathered those, along with additional common questions we receive, to create a resource where we have the opportunity to help you better understand how the Blackbox Connector can simplify your world.

So, here are your answers. 

What We Support Today

These platforms are running in active production environments right now: ADP, Paylocity, BambooHR, and UKG Pro (via Reports-as-a-Service / RaaS).

When we say "supported," we don't mean we've read the documentation. We mean authentication has been validated, the relevant endpoints are known, data models have been mapped, multi-company logic has been handled, and batch behavior has been tested under real failure conditions — not hypothetical ones. We've seen what breaks. We've already built around it.

What Can Be Built (But Needs Scope First)

Paycom and UKG Direct API (non-RaaS) are technically viable but we’ve not had the opportunity to work with a client yet to build connectivity to these solutions.

For these, we follow the same process we use for any custom connector: review the API documentation, confirm authentication methods and required scopes, identify the data objects that actually matter (employees, orgs, PTO, deductions, direct deposit), work out the transformation requirements inside Deltek, and then build and test deliberately. High-level review first. Endpoint validation next. Proof-of-concept only after viability is confirmed.

If the API holds up, we build it. If it doesn't, we find out before anyone wastes money.

A Note on UKG Specifically

UKG RaaS and UKG Direct API are not the same thing, and we won't lump them together on a bullet list just to make a slide look cleaner.

RaaS is report-driven — structured, predictable, and stable. It works well for employee and payroll synchronization. Direct API opens more flexibility, but it requires deeper endpoint validation, a closer look at authentication, and sometimes more back-and-forth with UKG's own support teams. The technical lift is meaningfully different and want our clients to know that upfront.

"Real-Time" Isn't Always What It Sounds Like

Take Paylocity webhooks as an example. Webhooks are often incomplete — they tell you something changed, but they don't always include every changed field in the payload.

So rather than trusting the webhook blindly, we treat it as a trigger. It fires, we pull the full authoritative employee record via API, validate and transform it, and push only what actually needs updating to Deltek. That approach prevents the subtle drift that tends to show up in fields like supervisor assignments, org changes, or status updates — the stuff that quietly causes problems downstream.

You can also run scheduled syncs or trigger a full on-demand sync inside Deltek whenever something needs correction. That combination of scheduled automation and manual override is intentional. When payroll calls with a discrepancy, you shouldn't have to wait until midnight.

PTO: Where It Lives vs. Where It's Needed

In most firms, PTO accrues in the HRIS but resource planning and approvals happen in Deltek. If those two systems aren't aligned, someone is manually reconciling balances — probably more often than they'd like to admit.

A properly designed connector pulls PTO balances from the HRIS and reflects them in Deltek so planning and approvals are always working off current numbers. The goal isn't to duplicate data. It's to make ownership clear and visibility consistent.

Bidirectional Sync: When It Makes Sense

Integration doesn't have to move in one direction. Some firms need Deltek's employee numbers or company assignments pushed back into the HRIS to stay aligned across multi-company environments.

The question isn't really "can it go both ways?" Most things can. The real question is who owns each field. Once that's defined, direction is just a technical detail.

Employee Transfers Between Companies

When someone moves from one company to another, most firms don't want to terminate them, rehire them, and rebuild their history. That creates artificial breaks in reporting and headaches that show up months later.

A well-built integration respects Deltek's architecture — creating new EMCompany records via API and preserving continuity without manufactured disruptions. This is exactly where sloppy integrations create long-term accounting pain.

What Happens When Batches Fail?

Most vendors skip this part entirely.

Integrations post and update in batches. When a batch fails, every record in that batch stays queued for retry. That's not a workaround — that's the design. Future runs re-attempt those records until they process successfully. The goal is zero silent data loss.

If you're evaluating integration vendors, ask them directly how they handle partial failures. The answer will tell you quickly whether you're looking at a durable system or a polished demo.

When the API Isn't Clean

APIs are ideal. Not every system cooperates.

When necessary, we support secure file-based transfers via SFTP and staged processing. The pattern stays the same regardless: fetch, stage, validate, transform, commit in controlled batches, retry when needed. Boring is good. Predictable is better.

The Part That Actually Matters

A successful HRIS-to-Deltek integration isn't defined by which logos appear on a capabilities slide. It's defined by whether failed batches retry cleanly, whether data ownership is actually defined, whether multi-company logic is handled properly, whether you have an on-demand option when something needs correction, and whether security — especially around payroll and banking data — is treated seriously.

Get those things right and integration becomes operational infrastructure. Get them wrong and you feel it every single payroll cycle.

Let’s Get Your Systems Talking

Whether you’re using Paylocity, ADP, Paycom, or another HRIS platform, the Blackbox Connector for Deltek Vantagepoint is the fastest, most secure way to unify your HR and ERP data.

👉 Want to explore what’s possible for your firm? Contact our team at Info@Blackboxconnector.com