Full Sail Partners Blog (22)

Full Sail Partners works very hard to provide our clients with the most up to date, valuable and interesting content relevant to the professional services industry. One convenient avenue for disseminating information is through our weekly blogs. We know that with everyone’s busy schedule, not everything in the inbox can be read upon receipt. With that in mind, we make our content accessible online so it can be reviewed and digested on the client’s timeline. So, in case you missed them and to pique interest for further discovery, here is a quick summary of the top 10 blogs of 2020.

2020 Trends in the Professional Services Industry

Firms in the professional services industry must adapt to compete in today’s world. Through acquisitions and other partnerships, many professional services firms have been entering into new markets and now have the need to offer a wider range of services to a larger client base. What are the top trends as they deal with evolving client expectations and staying competitive?

• On Demand Workforce
• More Flexible Service Rendering
• Perception as Advisors
• Leveraging Automation

>>>Click here to learn more!

Deltek Vantagepoint – A New Era for Project-based Professional Services Firms

A two-decade era of Deltek Vision is winding down, but it will continue to be supported through at least January 2023. Its legacy continues under a new name - Deltek Vantagepoint. Just like Vision, Vantagepoint will continue to help your people manage your projects from start to finish, but with a reimagined, intuitive interface focused on efficiency.

• Available Resources at Your Fingertips
• Preparing for Success
• Bring Everything and Everyone Together

>>>Find out what you need to know abut Vantagepoint! 

The Value of the Deltek Vantagepoint Readiness Report

As the launchpad to Deltek Vantagepoint, the Full Sail Partners’ Vantagepoint Readiness Report can be used as a guide for your firm’s cleanup efforts and next steps. This valuable resource is such a strong starting point for firms as they consider when and how to upgrade from Deltek Vision to Vantagepoint.

• How to Get There
• Start with a High Impact Tool
• Benefit from the Results

>>>Be more prepared to may the upgrade to Vantagepoint!

The Value of the Deltek Vantagepoint Transition Copy Scripts

During the Vantagepoint testing process, firms will need to address some key areas including workflows, saved searches, reports and configuration settings before moving forward with a production environment. Our Vantagepoint Transition Copy Scripts are a valuable resource to ensure the work you put into addressing issues does not require rework when you move from test-to-test environment or to your final production environment.

• Vantagepoint Preview Environment
• Vantagepoint Preview Becomes Testing Environment
• Benefits of Using Transition Copy Scripts

>>>Learn how copy scripts help ensure a seamless upgrade!

Improve Project Planning with Deltek Vantagepoint

With Deltek Vantagepoint, project planning has been taken to the next level with a focus on the features and functionality that project managers need. Here are some key features of Vantagepoint that will assist project managers with delivering successful and profitable projects.

• Use Project Templates
• Take Advantage of Labor Codes
• Adjust Project Timelines with the Interactive Gannt Chart

>>>Learn about the features in Vantagepoint that improve project delivery!

Easily Capture Project Information Using Deltek Vantagepoint

Gathering accurate project details in a timely manner is a nearly everyday challenge of marketing and proposal managers at project-based firms. Fortunately, with Deltek Vantagepoint, teams can easily capture project information and reference it quickly when it matters most– during proposal crunch time. 

• Identify Key Project Information
• Capture Information While Pursuing the Project
• Move from Pursuit to Billable Project without Losing Key Information
• Access Data You Need When You Need it

>>>Tracking critical project information has never been easier! 

The Value of Vantagepoint for Business Development

When firms can successfully manage interactions, identify projects that add to our pipeline, and collect the right information to position our firm better than our competitors, we win more projects, improve client satisfaction, and increase loyalty. The abilities of Deltek Vantagepoint CRM can provide business developers, project managers, marketing staff, and executives with real-time information on client touchpoints, project pipelines, marketing and service efforts.

• Record Interactions On-the-Fly
• Easily Uncover Client and Contact Relationships
• Support the Entire BD and Project Lifecycle

>>>When more business with Vantagepoint!

The Value of Deltek Talent for Human Resources Professionals

More and more professional services firms are finding value in having a methodical human capital management (HCM) practice in place. Deltek, the leading software solution provider for professional services firms, noticed that this specific market vertical has unique needs and released Deltek Talent, an HCM designed for professional services.

• Recruit and Hire Top Industry Talent
• Provide Development and Advancement Opportunities
• Performance Management
• Seamless Integration with Deltek Vantagepoint

>>>Improve the employee experience with Deltek Talent! 

Creating the Intentional Client Experience

When it comes to your clients, building strong long-term relationships is priority, and the quality of these relationships can make or break your business. Most importantly, clients desire an overall exceptional experience, and the intentional client experience benefits your company.

• Begins with a Plan
• Takes Being Client Centric
• Leads to Efficiency
• Ensures Positive Client Feedback

>>>Learn to create an experience that will delight your clients!

Key Findings from the Annual Deltek AE Clarity Report

The 41^st Deltek AE Clarity Report provided a comprehensive assessment of the 2019 performance of AE firms. This year’s study collected responses from more than 415 firms of all sizes within the AE industry and provided a summary of trends in:

• Technology
• Financial statements
• Business Development
• Project Management
• Human Capital Management

>>>See how your firm measures up against your peers! 

We’ve Got You Covered

Into 2021, we have all sorts of interesting ideas for relevant industry content just bubbling out of our experts’ heads. So, while you’re trying to stay afloat with your responsibilities at your firm, please know that Full Sail Partners is working to make your job easier. In the months to come, keep an eye out for future blogs on what is new and exciting for professional services firms. And, as always, feel free to check out our content online.

Delivering successful projects requires having the best project management tools available. Luckily for Deltek Vantagepoint users, more features and improved functionality continue to be added in each new version release. And recently, Vantagepoint version 3.5 just rolled out and it includes some incredible enhancements. Here’s a look at what’s new in Vantagepoint.

Dashboard Enhancements

A key feature required to effectively manage projects is having project performance information right at your fingertips. With the Deltek Vantagepoint dashboard enhancements, users can create informative charts, graphs, and lists to easily display your business data. This allows firm staff to quickly make critical business decisions that can positively impact project delivery performance.

In version 3.5, Deltek has taken the dashboards to a new level by allowing users to drill down to detail for hours, labor cost and labor billing on the project dashparts. Additionally, new options for planning data have been added, and the pipeline dashpart now includes the option to show total compensation. If you’re already using Vantagepoint 3.5, make sure to check out these improvements and start visualizing your data in ways you never imagined.

Improved Revenue Forecasting

Revenue forecasting accuracy is essential to delivering a profitable project and Vantagepoint users now have improved insights to ensure a successful project. Firstly, Deltek has now added more accurate and granular views of potential revenue from a project. Additionally, users can create revenue forecasts for individual projects. Deltek also is taking revenue forecasting to the next level by adding a feature that allows users to enter estimated to completion planned revenue at any level and easily update forecasts. With all this new functionality, users can now run reports to show pipeline and forecasted revenue periods.

Project Review Drill-Down Capabilities

Project managers need to be empowered to better monitor project details. Now in Vantagepoint 3.5, project managers can easily review direct, indirect, and reimbursable expenses as well as direct and reimbursable consultant fees. Additionally, all this information is available in a single location making it easier and faster to access.

Accounting and Billing Improvements

Cash flow is essential for any business to be successful and Deltek knows that their project-based clients rely on having easy and accurate billing to ensure they get paid by clients. For this reason, they have streamlined the billing and invoicing process in Vantagepoint 3.5. Now, the accounting department has better visibility of bill-through dates in interactive billing. Also, accounting and project managers have the option to resubmit draft invoices with new dates. Fast and accurate billing is important to any business and Vantagepoint is helping project-based firms streamline this process.

Expenses Simplified

Employee expenses are a cost of doing business, but these shouldn’t be surprises. Deltek recognized that making expense submission easier can speed up the process. Now in Vantagepoint 3.5, the mobile expense feature has been greatly enhanced with the addition of intelligent character recognition (ICR) technology. What this does is allow users to take a picture of a receipt which Vantagepoint can read. The printed and handwritten text information from the receipt auto-populates into the fields in Vantagepoint. The typical information collected is where the expense occurred, the date, and the total amount of the purchase. Therefore, eliminating the manual entry of this information.

Do More with Deltek Vantagepoint 3.5

Each version of Deltek Vantagepoint will continue to grow upon the previous iterations. While we are only at 3.5, be on the lookout for more enhancements as more versions come out. It is truly exciting to learn and see where Deltek is taking Vantagepoint in the future and how it will make successful project management more intuitive and intelligent.

A new year often brings new goals to set and work toward and doing so helps you focus and improve behaviors to better yourself. Personal goals are a must – health, organization, time, etc. – the list can go on and on. However, professional goals have great importance as well. There are always areas we can work to improve upon in the workplace. These can be personal, for a team, or even for the firm as a whole. Let’s take a look at some new year’s resolutions that project-based firms may consider in 2021.

New Year’s Resolutions for Professionals

1. Use technology more efficiently

Firms may have numerous software options available, various calendars, and maybe a plethora of tracking files. Try consolidating and mastering a different resource, one at a time. Master it, share with your team, and promote a wider usage for consistency. By focusing on one new tool each quarter, four cleaner processes may be established by one employee alone!

2. Make technology accessible by all

The last year has taught us the value of being able to work from anywhere. Some IT groups were ready to roll, and others had to pull together additional resources to get employees the access needed for business continuity. If your firm has not invested in accessibility, this is the time.

There are numerous cloud options that firms can consider to be more accessible by all. There may have been IT projects put on hold, but perhaps moving forward with them will see a greater outcome once complete.

3. Be adaptable

There may have been some frustrating moments in 2020 when plans suddenly had to change. With many scenarios out of our individual control, our reactions make a huge impact on the future. Therefore, being adaptable and open to change can actually lead to great things for firms. It allows us to change the narrative instead of using the workplace curse words of, “This is how we’ve always done it.” I never liked hearing those words anyway.

Being adaptable allows employees to have a quicker rebound, with less downtime as they try to figure out each little detail. Modifications can be made along the way as needed. Also, try to see things from another’s perspective. We all have our own challenges and can work together for effective solutions.

4. Promote employee growth

Don’t forget about training, mentoring, and collaborating. Executives, managers, and employees alike should have opportunities for learning and growth regardless of what the office looks like. Employees can still be paired with a more senior position to continue learning, executives can collaborate and check in on teams, and managers can continue training on a virtual platform. This goal will always be important for a firm’s success.

5. Support local communities

Communities need each other. Find ways to use local businesses and support community-based organizations. By doing this, more money can stay within the community and help other small businesses and families directly in your area.

6. Adopt a new habit as a team

There are many tools at our fingertips that can help teams communicate and collaborate. As new information or details emerge about opportunities or projects, do yourself and your colleagues a favor and record them properly. Think of the new information as a shared company resource and use technology to make it accessible to others. I encourage you to collaborate with your colleagues to modify some professional processes for a more streamlined workday. New year = new technology habits.

7. Time management

Be intentional with how your time is spent. We can all get caught up in mundane tasks but identifying important professional tasks can keep us on track. Block time off on your calendar for various projects to ensure chunks of time are available to focus on independent work. This helps protect your own work time while working efficiently for clients too.

8. Keep learning and add value

Let’s face it – we know a lot, but we do not know everything. Even an expert in a particular field has more to learn and room to grow. Step out of your comfort zone and dive into something new. It can be a new hobby, a new skill, or sharpening and fine tuning a skill you are already promoting. There are ways to add value to your life and to your work. Allow yourself to be inspired and empower others to learn and grow. Personal development expands your horizons and what you have to offer!

Keep Pressing On

A new year does not necessarily equal a new you. Instead, it welcomes the opportunity for improvements over time. Our work is never complete and that’s part of the fun. Our personal and professional lives can be so intertwined. Improvements in one area may bring success to the other as well. Best of luck with your resolutions – you can do this!

Last year kept us busy with all the new developments of Deltek Vantagepoint, not to mention the large number of firms upgrading from Vision to Vantagepoint. However, we planned for this back in 2019 and decided to roll out a series of mini demonstrations focused on specific features and functions available in Vantagepoint.

This new format proved to be overwhelmingly successful. Therefore, as you review the top 10 watched webinars of 2020, you will likely notice that many of them are part of our “Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint” mini demonstration series. Enough with the introduction, here are the top 10 webinars you and your peers watched in 2020.

Top 10 Full Sail Partners’ Webinars of 2020

1. Deltek Vantagepoint – The Best All in One Package – This webinar is an ideal webinar to watch if you are new to or have very little knowledge of Vantagepoint. If you watch this webinar, you will learn what Vantagepoint is, what resources and information are available, and you will learn more about the steps to upgrade from Vision to Vantagepoint. Make sure to check this traditional one-hour webinar out to also learn about our favorite new features. Did I mention that this webinar aired live in 2019? It made the 2020 top watched list since the on-demand video was downloaded by so many people.
2. Powering Project Success with Deltek Talent – Candidate Engagement – Professional services firms are quickly realizing that acquiring and retaining industry top talent is becoming a necessity to stay competitive. Deltek has recognized this need as well and created Deltek Talent to assist firms in automating the employee experience and lifecycle. This mini demo hosted by Joel Slater features Deltek Talent and the specific tools within this human capital management system that support the candidate engagement experience to help attract the future leaders of your firm.
3. Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint – Update Your Timesheet Using the Deltek Calendar– Billable employees struggling with staying organized with meetings and client appointments will benefit from this mini demo. No one wants to worry about completing the dreaded timesheet. With Vantagepoint, the challenge of keeping up with all your daily tasks has been simplified with the Deltek Calendar. During this mini demo, Nicole Temple will show how the Deltek Calendar helps users keep up with their billable engagements and how this information easily transfers over to a user’s timesheet.
4. Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint – Quickly Build Project Plans – Maintaining successful projects requires all team members to have the information they need when they need it most. Furthermore, project plans often necessitate adjustments during the life of the project and this must happen quickly and easily. This mini demo is hosted by Rana Blair and shows users how to quickly build project plans and update them in Vantagepoint. This is a must watch for project managers.
5. Tale of Two Firms: Tackling Business Intelligence –Business intelligence (BI) is booming in all industries as more and more BI tools enter the market. But you don’t have to take our word for it! During this webinar moderated by Sarah Gonnella, two of our clients that represent different firms share how the Informer 5 BI tool has revolutionized their business analytics capabilities. Make sure to watch this webinar on-demand to learn ways your firm can embrace the power of BI.
6. Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint - Mobile CRM – Getting out and talking with existing and prospective clients is a standard part of business development and essential to winning new business. With Vantagepoint’s mobile capabilities, updating touchpoints while on-the-go has never been easier. Watch this mini demo hosted by Kevin Hebblethwaite to see how Vantagepoint streamlines the business development process with mobile functionality.
7. Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint – Create Flexible Billing Terms – Not all projects are the same, nor are project billing terms. However, this is not a problem for Vantagepoint users. During this mini-demo, Scott Gailhouse shows how simple it is to create unique billing terms for projects in Vantagepoint.
8. Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint – Streamline and Expedite the Invoice Review Process - In any business, getting paid is the name of the game. However, professional services firms have a lot to track to create accurate invoices that can be sent to clients. With Vantagepoint, the old days of printing invoices and marking them up by hand are long gone. Now project managers can use the invoice review features to streamline the review process. If you are in accounting or project management, you will want to see Rick Childs’ demonstration that is available on-demand.
9. Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint – Capture Project Information for Proposals – As many of you know, having high quality proposals that address all the requirements contained in an RFP is essential for winning new projects. Even more, proposal teams are usually up against tight timelines to draft and finalize a winning RFP response. With Deltek Vantagepoint, this struggle can be better managed. This webinar is a guided tour by Lindsay Diven to show users the features in Vantagepoint that enable the quick creation of winning proposals.
10. Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint – Project Templates and Plan Settings – The most popular webinar of 2020 was part of our Vantagepoint mini demonstration series. During this presentation, Theresa DePew shows users how to quickly create templates that have the correct pre-defined WBS so that entering data into the correct fields is the only task a user has to complete. Watch this outstanding demo to see how Vantagepoint has made planning a new project quick and easy.

What to Expect in 2021?

In 2021, we are planning on hosting a mix of traditional one-hour webinars and continuing to add to the “Powering Project Success with Deltek Vantagepoint” mini demonstration series. We will continue to promote these webinars using our newsletter and email notifications. Please make sure to pay attention to the amount of time allotted for a specific live webinar event on the registration page. Mini demonstrations are typically 30 minutes long with the actual demonstration being from 7 to 15 minutes long followed by live QA with the presenter.

We hope to see you at our live virtual events in 2021! In the meantime, catch up on past webinars you may have missed that are available on-demand. Enjoy learning!

As 2020 draws closer to the end, we reflect on the past and think about the future. A two-decade era of Deltek Vision is winding down. As a result, we are encouraging firms to make the move to Vantagepoint when it's right for them. Additionally, Deltek will continue to support Vision beyond 2023, with no end of life yet determined by Deltek. Its legacy will continue under a new name - Deltek Vantagepoint. Just like Vision, Vantagepoint will continue to help your people manage your projects from start to finish, but with a reimagined, intuitive interface focused on efficiency. Throughout 2020, our firm has communicated with more than 250 firms about their plans to upgrade from Vision to Vantagepoint. In 2021, we look forward to continuing the conversation with many more firms and demonstrating why Deltek Vantagepoint is the gold standard for project-based firms.

Available Resources at Your Fingertips

As the Deltek Vision product continues to evolve to Deltek Vantagepoint, clients are looking for answers and clarification on how the change will impact them. The foundation of this new solution is based on Vision with enhanced features and capabilities that users should be aware of before they upgrade. Full Sail Partners has dedicated two years to providing firms with resources to help answer questions and simplify the upgrade process. If you are just starting this journey, be sure to review these resources:

• Understanding the Journey with Deltek Vantagepoint Best All In One Package
• Preparing to Upgrade to Deltek Vantagepoint Series
• Deltek Vantagepoint Mini Demonstration Series

In 2021, we plan to continue educating firms about the latest features as new versions are released. Be sure to sign-up for two webinars focused on the latest release of version 3.5. Both of these webinars will be an hour long and experts will be available to answer your questions.

• Introducing New Features in Deltek Vantagepoint 3.5 Part 1
• Introducing New Features in Deltek Vantagepoint 3.5 Part 2

Preparing for Success

For firms that are ready to jump into 2021 with a plan in hand, we recommend checking out our webinar Preparing for a Successful Move from Vision to Vantagepoint and our Vantagepoint Transition Services to learn more about our 3-step process. Full Sail Partners is helping firms navigate through the upgrade process to deliver a smoother result. Our process reveals the “sins” over the years that might need to be addressed and helps answer the questions of where to start. We have dedicated resources ready to help you outline a plan, train your staff on new features, and make the process more efficient.

Bringing Everything and Everyone Together

Deltek Vantagepoint is designed for the needs of everyone throughout the project lifecycle. The solution was built specifically for professional services firms to improve productivity, boost collaboration, and increase profitability. Suffice to say it was purpose-built with people and projects in mind, bringing all critical business processes into one unified platform. Deltek Vantagepoint brings value to all roles within your firm:

• Executives
• Project Managers
• Accounting
• Business Development
• IT Departments

The Future is Deltek Vantagepoint

We understand there are other products that your firm may consider, but we suspect none of them will match the superior levels of project intelligence, management and collaboration needed to grow your business. In 2021, we look forward to helping existing and new project-based businesses better understand the power of Deltek Vantagepoint. Wherever you may be in your Deltek journey, let Full Sail Partners help you navigate your way!

Professional services firms have historically overlooked the importance of a formalized and systematic talent management process. However, more and more firms are now finding value in having a methodical human capital management (HCM) practice in place. In fact, 74% of AE firms reported that they are tracking revenue per fulltime equivalent and other financial metrics that are related to HCM according to the 41^st Deltek AE Clarity Report.

Even more interesting, technology companies have become aware of this desire for HCM, and a countless number of HCM software packages have flooded the market. Nonetheless, most of these HCM software offerings are generic to serve any industry. But Deltek, the leading software solution provider for professional services firms, noticed that this specific market vertical has unique needs and released Deltek Talent, an HCM designed for professional services. Here are some ways Deltek Talent adds value for human resources (HR) professionals.

Recruit and Hire Top Industry Talent

Finding and attracting top talent in the professional services industry is becoming extremely competitive. Essentially, firms are realizing that the quality and experience of their people has a significant impact on the quality of projects they deliver. Therefore, quickly enticing the “right” people is becoming priority.

Deltek Talent offers benefits such as:

• Faster talent acquisition
• Enhancing visibility and insight into the applicant pipeline
• Improving communication with applicants, candidates and hiring managers
• Putting new hires to work faster with an automated onboarding process

Firms likely receive numerous submissions from potential candidates for new job openings, and unfortunately, not every applicant meets the minimum job requirements. However, those applicants can still be good fits for different positions that may open in the future. With Deltek Talent, HR managers can create “talent pools” which organize applicants based on their qualifications and provide a group to target for new positions that are within their skill sets.

Provide Development and Advancement Opportunities

To retain top talent, firms must show that they are invested in their people. This could involve coaching and learning opportunities, certifications, or laying out a clear path for career development. Deltek Talent provides the perfect platform for firms to demonstrate that they are invested in the advancement and professional development of their employees.

The Learning Management System (LMS) within Talent allows HR professionals to:

• Reduce compliance risks with expiring certifications
• Create individual learning plans to ensure employees achieve their goals
• Improve employee engagement

Even more, the Deltek Talent LMS is designed to support the continuous educational needs of professional services firms. Some key features of Talent LMS include:

• Easy tracking of required industry specific training and certifications
• Maintaining organizational compliance and managing certification programs
• Using automatic reminders and notifications about expiring certifications
• Creating and tracking individual learning plans with industry specific courses from RedVector
• Storing internal training documents creating a one-stop shop for all learning materials

Performance Management

Long gone are the days of annual reviews. Today, HR professionals view annual reviews as an antiquated method for performance management. The trend now is for ongoing improvement by providing instant feedback about performance. With a continuous improvement model, firm leaders and managers can recognize positive or handle less than acceptable performance on an ongoing and regular basis. This ensures employees are always aware of areas they excel at or need to improve upon.

The performance monitoring tool within Deltek Talent significantly benefits HR professionals by:

• Reducing performance management cycle times
• Recognizing and rewarding top performers
• Greatly improving employee engagement and motivation

Seamless Integration with Deltek Vantagepoint

A huge benefit of Deltek Talent for Vantagepoint users is that it fully integrates with the following Vantagepoint modules:

• Accounting
• Resource Planning
• CRM
• PSA

From the moment a new applicant’s information is captured, it is stored within the Talent platform. Once a candidate becomes an employee, Vantagepoint creates a new employee record from that information. The integration collects data such as first, middle, and last name, email, home address, phone numbers, and social security number, eliminating duplicate entry of information across firm departments which saves time and reduces errors.

Manage the Entire Employee Lifecycle with Deltek Talent

HR professionals will finally get the tools they require to make them more productive and efficient in their roles. With Deltek Talent, professional services firms can enjoy the benefits of an HCM solution designed to meet their unique industry needs. Is it time for your firm to formalize an effective talent management strategy? Find out more about how Deltek Talent can help create an automated, employee focused HCM plan.

For professional services firms, IT departments seem to have limited resources with one or a few people managing the entire technology infrastructure for the firm. This is a lot of work and can be very stressful for the IT person or team. However, you can alleviate a major burden for the IT department if your firm has a purpose-built ERP solution to support all of your business functions.

Deltek Vantagepoint offers a robust, comprehensive system that has been specifically designed for project-based firms. The Vantagepoint solution provides flexibility, scalability, and accessibility to everyone at any time and from anywhere. With Vantagepoint, several of the common burdens IT departments face can easily be eliminated. Here are some of the ways IT departments benefit from Vantagepoint.

Robust Modern Architecture

Having a robust IT infrastructure ensures information can easily flow between all the systems that support a business. Deltek Vantagepoint is one of the most modern, feature-rich, and high performing systems being deployed for project-based firms. With Vantagepoint, IT can rest assured that every department will have access to what they need when they need it. With ease of use for all users, the work of the IT department will be greatly simplified, and priorities can be reevaluated and reestablished.

Scalable Framework

IT departments are quite experienced with sudden personnel changes and growth due to mergers and acquisitions. They are also keenly aware of the importance of having a system that can grow with the firm. Deltek Vantagepoint is a solution with an evolving and scalable framework. No matter the ebb and flow of users, IT will be able to accommodate technology needs appropriately with this flexible, fully integrated system.

Cloud Flexibility

Cloud technology does more than allow for real-time access of data and systems which supports a more mobile workforce. Leveraging the cloud also reduces the burden on the IT department and decreases overall business costs while ensuring reliability. With the cloud, hot fixes, patches and other upgrades are performed seamlessly and uptime is essentially ensured. Solutions like Full Sail Partners’ Blackbox Connector, which fully integrates Deltek Vantagepoint and other third-party software,  are also provided in the cloud.

Be More Strategic with Deltek Vantagepoint

With Deltek Vantagepoint in place, IT departments at project-based firms will have the chance to focus on the future and strategically plan technology resources accordingly. With easy user adoption and a scalable framework, IT can make well informed technology decisions rather than having to constantly put out fires. Additionally, with reliable cloud offerings and Blackbox Connectors in play, there will be more efficient business processes and reduced downtime increasing productivity.

For professional services firms, business development can be completed both with dedicated resources and/or “seller-doers.” Because our firms have touchpoints with multiple people at our client organizations, information gathering and sharing becomes a critical piece to the success of our business development. When our firms can successfully manage the numerous interactions, identify projects that add to our pipeline, and collect the right information to position our firm better than our competitors, we win more projects, improve client satisfaction, and increase loyalty.

The abilities of Deltek Vantagepoint CRM can provide business developers, project managers, marketing staff, and executives with real-time information on all of the client touchpoints, project pipelines, marketing and service efforts. This ensures all firm goals are being met and provides for the shared resource of firmwide data. Deltek Vantagepoint’s CRM strengthens your business development in the following ways:

Record Interactions On-the-Fly

The power of a CRM comes when everyone records conversations or information related to interactions with clients and contacts. Vantagepoint CRM provides users several ways to record these Activities and Touchpoints.

1. Web Brower – You can access Vantagepoint to record a contact interaction from your computer, laptop, tablet or phone using any web browser.
2. Hey Deltek! – Watch out Alexa, because there’s a new voice command in town! Deltek has developed its very own voice automated service. You can use this now in the web browser and coming soon to the CRM mobile app. Simply record an activity by speaking to Hey Deltek!
3. Mobile CRM App – The Vantagepoint CRM app is available for both iOS and Android devices. Access all of your Firms, Contacts, Activities, and Projects inside the app. You can use your phone’s native talk to text feature to automatically log activities and meeting notes.
4. Outlook Connect – Coming in early 2021 is the new Vantagepoint Outlook Connect. This integration includes a contextual email pane to view contact details, search Vantagepoint and create new records from your email. You will also be able to sync your contacts and calendar directly from Outlook to Vantagepoint. Connect also includes a scheduling assistant to help you find the perfect meeting time without all of the back and forth emails.

Vantagepoint makes it easier than ever for busy business development and technical professionals to log the critical information needed to build strong relationships with your clients.

Easily Uncover Client and Contact Relationships

Vantagepoint associates its Hub and Record information throughout the database. There are Hubs for Firms, Contacts, and Projects that are all interconnected. This means that you can associate any firm that is involved in a project – from teaming partners to program managers and general contractors. And, each time a firm is associated to a project, that project then appears on that firm’s record in the Firm Hub. This same association works for contacts and employees as well. It also gives your business development team the insight into the relationships of your firm with your clients, contacts, employees, and projects – all in one location!

Support the Entire Business Development and Project Lifecycle

The business development process often begins with targeting clients, then getting to know contacts at those client organizations. Through this effort, projects are identified. At this point, your team begins preparing for the pursuit of that project through teaming, proposals, and/or presentations. The goal is to win that project and perform so well that you are awarded with repeat work.

Deltek Vantagepoint is designed specifically to support the entire project lifecycle beginning with the earliest business development stages. When you are targeting clients, you will be utilizing the Firms, Contacts, and Marketing Campaigns Hubs. In those you can begin to gather information about contacts and activities.

Then as a project is identified, it’s logged into the Projects Hub in a pursuit stage. You will continue to use this same record through the pursuit and proposal stages. When this project record is created, a plan is also created so your project manager can begin to allocate resources and develop estimates.

When you are awarded the project, you will continue to use that same project record and update the stage and budget. All of the intelligence gathered in the pursuit of the project remains in the same project record you will continue to use to perform the project. This gives your business development and marketing staff the complete picture and history for that entire project.

Bring Everything and Everyone Together

Not only does the Vantagepoint solution encourage a collaborative environment, but it brings all your firm’s business development processes into one unified platform. This enables business developers to do their jobs better. Be sure to check out our entire Deltek Vantagepoint mini-series to see how the product can help your employees and firm.

Full Sail Partners, a Deltek Partner and creator of the Blackbox Connector, is honored to announce that Valerie Kelleher has grown into a new role as a Sales Accountant. With over 20 years of accounting and finance experience, Valerie is great fit for the recently created Sales Accountant position.

As the Sales Accountant, Valerie Kelleher will be managing the accounting for software sales, SaaS renewals and maintenance billing. With an increase of clients moving to the cloud, Full Sail Partners wanted to ensure client renewals were managed with consistency. She has previously served as an Account Manager for Full Sail Partners servicing our southwest region clients.

“Over the years many of our firms have preferred the convenience of a cloud subscription and have migrated to the cloud. Valerie’s attention to detail made her the perfect candidate to manage the renewal process,” Wendy Gustafson, General Manager at Full Sail Partners explained. “Even more, I am more than confident that Valerie is the perfect person to fill this new role as we continue to grow as a company.”

Valerie Kelleher has been active in the Deltek community for five years as an Account Manager at Full Sail Partners. Additionally, she has an extensive accounting and finance background that combined with her experience with Deltek clients, gives her the unique skill sets to continue to provide top notch service to our clients.

“I am completely overjoyed with my new opportunity as the Sales Accountant,” stated Valerie Kelleher. “I have learned so much about the value of Deltek products for our clients and this opportunity is going to give more chances to learn more about the Deltek ecosystem.”

For more information, please contact Full Sail Partners’ Marketing and Communications Department. 

2020 has been quite a year, to say the least! If you are like most of the people I talk with, you are looking forward to the new year. But, hold on a minute! Those of us in accounting roles generally dread year-end processing and, therefore, year-end itself! Either way, time marches on and we will find a way to deal with it! After all, that’s our job, right?! So, let’s talk about what we can do to make year-end as painless as possible!

Get Your Calendar and List Ready

The first thing to do is to make a good list of what needs to be done, when it needs to be done and what it is going to take in time and resources to accomplish! When I think of this type of endeavor, my mind always goes to my Accounting Calendar. That calendar is my guide throughout the year and contains all of the relevant milestones – timesheets and expense report due dates, payroll processing, AP processing, billing, month-end close, etc. My calendar helps me to keep everything in balance throughout the year, rather than waiting until year-end to take it all on.

At year-end, we need to add some items to that list – benefit year initialization, 1099’s, and W-2’s to name a few. Additionally, the tax accountants and auditors (if applicable) will be asking for substantiation (sub-ledgers) for the primary account balances – cash, AR, fixed assets, AP, revenue, for example – on an accrual basis and cash-basis, if needed. Whew! It is a good thing we got to work from home this year! Not having to commute to work freed up plenty of time to get everything done, right?!

Ok, back to the job at hand – year-end close! As mentioned earlier, the accounting calendar will be a big help. One other item, that you should be checking on a regular basis, is the File Reconciliation Report in Deltek (Utilities, Advanced Utilities, File Reconciliation). This report lets you know if you have possibly mis-coded any revenue, direct, reimbursable or indirect expenses. Additionally, it will let you know if your AR, AP and/or unbilled services accounts agree with the sub-ledgers. Remember, the auditors are on their way. Therefore, your Full Sail Partners consultant can help you troubleshoot and correct any issues that this report might point out, as well as helping you run the best reports to troubleshoot any other issues you may find in your assets, liabilities, capital and/or income statement balances.

Other Key Year-End Notes

What about those special year-end items I mentioned, you might ask? Let’s address those now, before another year has come and gone.

Benefit Accrual Year-End 

1. Validate that you have run all necessary accruals for the benefit year. Remember, accruals may be made at or around timesheet end dates, payroll dates, month-end, etc. But they are not reliant on those dates. Your benefit year has a life of its own and you, as the administrator, just need to be sure that you accrued the proper number of hours for each employee for each benefit.
2. Validate that employees have recorded all benefit hour usage for the year on their timesheets. If you are using weekly timesheets and your benefit year ends on December 31^st, you may not have all benefit hour usage recorded into the system until early January. That is not a problem, you just need to make sure everything is recorded.
3. Run – and print to PDF/Excel - an Accrued Time Report for each accrued benefit code to document the balances validated in steps 1 and 2 above.
4. Run the “Open New Benefit Year” Utility.
5. Run – and Print to PDF/Excel - an Accrued Time Report for each accrued benefit code to document the new balances after the new-year initialization. This is necessary to be sure that all carry-over rules and pre-accrual rules are applied properly and that each employee is starting the new year with the hours that they deserve.
6. Don’t Panic! Any issues found in the above process can be remedied via accrual adjustments and/or benefit accrual history loading.

Accounts Payable 1099 Initialization and Printing 

1. Let all appropriate personnel know the last date that AP checks & disbursements will be issued to vendors. Also, let everyone know when the first check run for the new year will be run. Yes, I know, everything changes at year end, but, with a plan, you can work with the changes.
2. Once all 2020 payments have been processed, and before any 2021 payments are processed, run the 1099 Initialization Utility. This utility modifies two fields in the Vendor Info Center Firms (Vision) or Hub (Vantagepoint) – paid this year and paid last year. The utility moves the paid this year amount to paid last year and zeroes-out the Paid This Year Amount. Now you are ready to cut checks in the new year.
3. Run a Vendor Ledger Report for all 1099 vendors and validate the Paid Last Year Amount. Once validated, you can then run 1099’s prior to January 31^st.
4. Don’t Panic! If you find discrepancies between the Paid Last Year amount and the Vendor Ledger Report, you can validate the proper amount and modify the field in the Vendor/Firm setup, then generate/regenerate the work file in 1099 processing (accounting, accounts payable) and process your 1099s.
5. Keep an eye out for a Cumulative Update in the mid-December, 2020 to mid-January, 2021 range that will include an update to 1099 Processing to include the 1099-NEC form for Vision 7.6 and Vantagepoint 3.0 and above. If you haven't done so yet, please be sure to subscribe to Knowledge Base Article #39799 – Master Hot Fix List for Vision.

New Fiscal Year Initialization 

1. This time, I am going to start with “Don’t Panic!” Although this one seems like a huge deal, opening a new year does not close out the old year. Changes will be made to the previous year balances throughout the year-end close, tax season and audit season. So, just plan to open the new year as soon as feasible.
2. The primary consideration for opening the new fiscal year is that this process resets the Year-to-Date “tracking mechanism” in all overhead projects. Because of this, you might reserve the morning of January 2^nd for finishing up the postings of 2020 items (AP invoices, etc.) that might have come in during the holidays and then open the new year so that you can record new cash receipts that also might have arrived.

Don’t Panic about Year-End

As you might have noted, the overall theme is “Don’t Panic!” Year-end does not need to be stressful! And, if you take advantage of the processing options available in Deltek Vantagepoint or Vision, you can save yourself a lot of time and money come year-end, tax-time and audit-time. How? By maintaining and following a good Accounting Calendar and by setting up General Ledger Account Groupings to present your financials in the formats that your CPA and auditors prefer. Don’t wait for them to ask for sub-ledgers to prove AR, AP and Revenue, have them ready and balanced all year.

Additionally, Deltek’s Recurring Transactions can help to make it easy to take care of accruals and depreciation, etc. on a monthly basis. As always, if you have any questions or need assistance with any of the setup, processing or recording discussed here, just send an email to Consulting@FullSailPartners.com. Furthermore, Deltek has several resources available through the Deltek Customer Care portal including:

• Year-End Resources such as knowledgebase articles, videos and documentation
• The Deltek Community which allows users to connect with peers to ask questions and exchange knowledge and ideas
• Live Chat with a customer care analyst to get answers regarding year-end

This may not have been the happiest of years, but at least now, year-end does not have to be stressful! Happy New Year!