Full Sail Partners Blog | Project Management (6)

Projects are the life blood of the AEC industry. Efficiently run projects yield the most revenue and are thus essential to firm success. Fortunately for these firms, Deltek Project Information Management (PIM) provides project management and collaboration tools designed to help employees access critical project information and keep teams connected throughout the entire project lifecycle. Let’s check out what PIM can do for your firm.

Access All Project Emails in One Place

Employees spend 2-3 hours per day on average on email related activities according to a study by Dr. Michael Einstein at MESMO Inc. With Deltek PIM, project employees can easily add project related emails and communications into one central location allowing all project employees visibility into all email communications. Now hours are no longer lost managing and organizing project emails from other sources, since PIM provides a central location for the most up to date project emails. Project employees can utilize PIM to improve productivity, not impede project progress.

Simplify Document Management

Deltek PIM helps firms maintain hundreds of files across all aspects of their business in one location, giving companies the organization and intelligence to run their business smarter. All drawings, correspondence, and submittals are accessible by all team members at any time. Even more, PIM allows project teams to share large files in the office or with external team members while maintaining security and control. With PIM, there is no more worrying about setting up accounts or dated FTP sites so deadlines remain on track.

Take Information Management to the Next Level

Most importantly, Deltek PIM integrates with your Deltek ERP solution to improve how your firm manages schedules, budgets, resources and files for every project. Furthermore, PIM enables project teams to manage project documents while in the field. As a result, project employees can stay on top of everything that has been done or needs to be done at the site including uploading site photos, managing inspections, updating punch lists, and more with mobile access.

Make More Revenue Using Deltek PIM

Deltek PIM offers firms the chance to stay organized and run projects more efficiently. With PIM, team members will have access to all important documents with up to date details in one place throughout the entire project lifecycle. Therefore, project managers can ensure their projects are completed on time and on budget. How can PIM help your firm?

Out of all industries and professional disciplines, architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) leads in innovation. Not just in building design, but in how construction projects are completed. Among other efforts, the AEC industry is embracing modern technology to make projects and overall business more successful. Let’s take a look at some trends.

Moving to the Cloud

Taking your software to the cloud is becoming an extremely cheaper alternative to hosting your own software tools. Software/Desktop as a Service (SaaS/DaaS) is changing the AEC industry for the better. SaaS/DaaS gives employees the ability to access the software products they use from anywhere with an internet connection. As a result, it’s allowing firms to become more efficient and mobile.

Business development teams can retrieve important CRM information about their clients and prospects on-the-go. Project managers can update project records while they are on-site at the project. For AEC firms to stay competitive, they need to embrace SaaS/DaaS solutions to keep up with the changing times. Check out this link to learn more.

BIM Technology

Building information modeling (BIM) technology is not just for large firms anymore. It has now become economical for small firms and even the self-employed. With BIM, AEC firms can create digital models of structures…but it’s not just a 3D representation of a structure; it’s more like 6D. Whereas 3D is width, height and depth, the 4^th D is time, the 5^th D is cost, and the 6^th D evaluates the environment and sustainability of the structure. 

Even more, it’s a shared knowledge base of project information. By using BIM, companies will be apprised of a project’s status by instant access to all project information, even emails. Want to take Deltek Vantagepoint and Vision even further with project management? Check out Deltek PIM here for more information.

Software Integrations Using the Blackbox Connector

Third party software solutions can now be integrated with Deltek Vantagepoint and Vision. Using the Blackbox Connector for Constant Contact or Mailchimp, email marketing efforts are automatically updated in Vantagepoint or Vision. Instead of relying on plain spreadsheets for company business intelligence, firm employees can easily create real-time graphical dashboards with the Informer integration for Vantagepoint or Vision. Learn more about the Blackbox Connector options for Deltek here.

Stay Ahead of the Competition

Many AEC firm leaders are hesitant to make an investment into new technology. However, evaluating current practices and exploring ways to use technology to help streamline your business processes can prove to have a true return on investment. How can Full Sail Partners help you embrace modern technology?

When Deltek for Professional Services (DPS) 2.0 is released, it will have a new name - Deltek Vantagepoint. In addition to the name change, there will be several enhancements to improve the user experience for both back office and front office users. Here is a sneak peek of how Deltek plans to take the breadth and depth of the Vantagepoint solution to the next level.

Say Goodbye to the Smart Client

With the release of Vantagepoint 2.0, Deltek will begin to push users away from the smart client and direct them to the web browser version. Using this version, they will be able to access Vantagepoint from any device that is connected to the internet using any browser they desire. Think of it this way - Vision is the smart client and iAccess is the web-based version. Keep in mind that if your firm is still using Vision, you may want to consider using iAccess more to get comfortable with the look and feel of Vantagepoint.

Proposals Engine

The proposals engine is now being introduced to Vantagepoint, and it is a great feature. For marketing, the proposal process can be extremely time consuming. With the proposals engine, a person creating a proposal can go through and check off boxes based on the requirements of the RFP, and Vantagepoint will automatically create the proposal. It can include images and pictures, employee resumes, past work examples, references and more.

Combined Opportunities and Projects

The opportunities hub is going away and is now being combined with projects. This has a huge upside for business development. By tracking an opportunity as a project, time and associated costs can be captured to help determine the price of pursuing new work. Additionally, a timeline with milestones and reminders can be developed to ensure business development is staying on top of winning the opportunity.

Simplified Transactions

Moving forward, transactions will be managed within a single location. Users will go to one place within Vantagepoint to enter, edit, report, post and approve transactions. Additionally, you will have the option to enter transactions without files and to post on entry. The line item detailed view will still be available.

Project Information Management Integration  

Deltek Project Information Management (PIM) will now be integrated with Vantagepoint. It will be easy to find since it will be a tab in the project record. By using PIM, firms can easily share project related documents and information within one platform.

Expanded Dashpart Designer

The new improved dashpart designer allows users to create custom dashboards with information that is important to them. They can select bar and line graphs, pie charts, or other graphics as part of their dashboards. Additionally, users will have enhanced control for grouping, sorting, filtering and totaling data all within the dashpart.

Improved Reporting

The reporting screen will now have a preview menu. When users create a report, the multiple clicks required in the past will be eliminated. The reporting tool will also include charts and graphs.

What Deltek Vantagepoint 2.0 Means to Your Firm

One thing is for sure - 2018 to 2019 will be a transitional time for Deltek Vantagepoint. As Deltek continues to further develop Vantagepoint, more features will be added to further enhance this solution. The most important take away for users is that they need to be aware of the changes coming and they need to be ready to embrace them.

Almost all businesses utilize key performance indicators (KPIs) to identify trends and to measure performance against set goals. KPIs can fall into one of two categories: drivers and outcomes. Drivers measure current and future activity whereas outcomes measure the success of past activity. Furthermore, powerful KPIs should have some key characteristics to ensure they are clear and easily measurable.

Characteristics of Powerful Key Performance Indicators

1. Simple – KPIs should be simple to understand and to measure. It is extremely important that employees know what a KPI is measuring and how it is being calculated. KPIs should also be concise so that are manageable and do not overwhelm employees with too much information.
2. Relevant – KPIs need to be relevant to the organization. This can be done by making the KPIs for employees relate to the strategic goals and objectives of the company.
3. Measurable – Employees need to be able to analyze their performance which is the goal of using KPIs. Therefore, KPIs must be measurable but not all will have a quantitative goal.
4. Actionable – KPIs should prompt decisions and not create more questions. In other words, KPIs cannot be effective if employees are unsure of what to do with the information.
5. Timely – KPIs should be reported frequently enough to allow employees to make timely decisions. However, avoid having the reporting too frequent as this can overwhelm employees with too much information.
6. Visible – KPIs should be visible across the entire organization. This allows employees to see how their work is helping achieve the goals of the entire organization. It also provides incentives to employees to work harder and be more productive.

Using Key Performance Indicators to Drive Success

For a business to be successful, it must have goals it wants to achieve. These goals are a way to measure the performance of the company and its employees. Lastly and most importantly, a KPI is useless if the objective and the result cannot be reported on. Thus, KPIs must be meaningful to be powerful.

For professional services firms, having the right project lifecycle is essential to having a profitable company. Even more, the processes that drive your firm’s project lifecycle must be in sync with the systems you use to manage them. There are several stages in the project lifecycle and evaluating your processes requires breaking down the steps. In this blog, we’ll look at the initial and most overlooked phase of the project lifecycle…winning the work.

Leads and Opportunities

Here’s where many firms go wrong when examining their project lifecycle…to start a project, you must first win the job. So, evaluating the lead to opportunity process is an essential component and must be considered in the project lifecycle.

When a new lead is acquired, it needs to be captured in a system that provides visibility to the entire company. As a business development person learns more information from the lead, it is input into the system and analyzed to see if the firm can meet the requirements to win the project. Once the decision is made that your firm can win the work then the lead becomes an opportunity.

If you are using Deltek Vision or Deltek for Professional Services (DPS), it is recommended that you create a “proposal project” to track the time to prepare the proposal. By using a proposal project, your firm will have the analytics regarding the cost of winning and losing work as well as the total cost of the business development efforts.

Fee Proposal Development

Developing the fee proposal is another important step to the business development portion of the project lifecycle. The fee proposal will eventually become the basis for the project budget. It will include what your firm is being paid for the various stages of the project. This may also include bonuses or penalties for meeting or failing to meet certain milestones.

It is recommended for Deltek Vision and DPS users to develop the fee proposal using the resource planning module. This will allow you to incorporate previous performance from similar projects to ensure you are charging the right amounts and including the correct milestones. Additionally, firms should continuously check the scope of work and make sure it’s in line with the fee proposal you are developing.

Fee Negotiation and Finalizing a Budget

Once the client indicates it has a desire to move forward with your firm, the fee negotiation and budget finalization phase of the project lifecycle begins. Things to keep in mind during this stage are possible changes to scope, schedule and fees. The budget created during this process will serve as the guide for the project manager to execute the work.

Next Steps to the Project Lifecycle

This blog discussed the business development piece of the project lifecycle. Remember that periodic reviews of your firm’s project lifecycle are a must to ensure that the process is still in line with how your firm has evolved. Stay tuned for more blogs about project execution and project closeout.

On May 28^th, 2014 the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) jointly issued the Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) 606, Revenue from Contracts with Customers. At the end of 2018, the way professional services firms recognize revenue from contracts with customers will be significantly impacted. ASC 606 will require firms to recognize revenue when goods or services are transferred to the customer in an amount that is equivalent to the goods or services delivered at that point. Let’s break this down into layman’s terms.

Basics to Revenue Recognition

The revenue recognition principle is an accounting guideline that requires revenue to be shown on the income statement in the period in which it is earned and not in the period when payment is collected. Furthermore, payment can be received prior to or after the delivery of a good or service, but the income statement must reflect the payment for the period in which it was billed. This is part of the accrual accounting basis as opposed to cash basis of accounting.

Impacts of FASB ASC 606

When FASB ASC 606 rolls out, professional services firms that are subject to audit will be required to apply this new standard. The new guideline establishes a five-step process to govern contract revenue reporting:

1. Identify contract(s) with a customer
2. Identify performance milestones in the contract
3. Determine the transaction price
4. Allocate the transaction price to the performance milestones
5. Recognize revenue when the performance milestone has been met

Additionally, if a professional services firm is still utilizing an outdated accounting system or an internally created system, these systems may not be capable of supporting the ASC 606 guideline.

Using the Right Accounting System for ASC 606

Fortunately, Deltek Vision and Deltek for Professional Services users have the right system to accommodate the changes brought on by ASC 606. Since these are project-based ERPs, revenue generation is easily recognized by using the project management tools that are part of these systems. As a result, firms can recognize revenue when milestones are achieved. This is done by using basic revenue generation factors like:

• Job to date spent
• Percentage of completion
• Milestones or deliverables being met

Get Your Firm Ready for ASC 606

Good news! Your firm still has time to prepare for these changes. In most cases, applying the five steps mentioned above will bring your firm into compliance. However, these steps may not apply to all your contracts or for all professional services firms. If you are unsure if your firm is compliant, reach out to Full Sail Partners for more information.

“Project Controls” are formidable words, ones that are necessary for successful project outcomes. Those of you who have used Deltek Vision for many years may recall that “project controls” remain at the core of the Vision system and are the datacenter for all other Vision applications such as billing, CRM, proposals, resource planning, and time and expense. Fortunately for Vision users, accessing project controls has gotten a lot easier with Deltek iAccess.

What are Project Controls? 

There is no industry jargon in the name project controls. They do exactly what the name implies. They allow you to manage and control your projects. Furthermore, a complete project control system such as Vision, allows users to: 

• Document project attributes
• Coordinate project activities
• Track employee time and expense
• Apply direct and overhead costs
• Monitor project progress
• Generate project reports
• Maintain project budgets 

Controlling projects requires understanding and making decisions based on the information collected. This can be a challenge if data is not updated in a timely fashion or there is too much information to absorb. So, how can Vision users make these processes simpler? 

Enter Deltek iAccess for Project Management 

With the addition of iAccess for Deltek Vision, visibility into and ease of digesting information has enjoyed a renaissance. The iAccess interface allows firms to proactively manage and track projects from creation through closeout. The real-time connection to Vision, graphical views, and simple interactive tools for planning and managing the budget make quick work of understanding the status of the project. As a result, users can efficiently manage project future costs and review the expected outcomes. 

Gain Better Control of Your Projects with Deltek iAccess 

The ability to drive your projects with a full understanding of the past and predictions for the future is the ultimate control. With iAccess for Deltek Vision, this becomes possible. So, what are you waiting for? Take control of your projects, and extend the capabilities of Vision project controls with iAccess.

With the New Year approaching, it is a fitting time for accountants and project managers to review the previous year and identify areas of improvement. While we usually think of New Year’s resolutions for our personal lives, there can also be professional ones. Let’s take a look at some of them.

New Year's Resolution for Accountants

For accountants, it’s all about preparing for next year and making changes that streamline and automate processes. Here are the top five resolutions for accountants:

1. Examine the current revenue/earning methods and determine if the firm is in compliance with FASB 606
2. Take a hard look at the organizational structure to determine if changes need to be made
3. Clean-up the firm’s chart of accounts and overhead projects
4. Define the differences between a project administrator and a project controls role
5. Try to learn more about challenges the accounting team experiences and create solutions

New Year’s Resolutions for Project Managers

Project managers must consider how to evaluate the success of projects and how to better manage them. Here are the top five resolutions for project managers:

1. Use the tools within the project management system to better budget and plan projects
2. Elevate the level of project review beyond invoicing to earned value
3. Better record and manage change orders
4. Build a work breakdown structure based on fee and scope
5. Encourage the team and peers to be timely in submitting time and expense

Start 2018 Off Right!

The New Year brings fresh opportunity to improve a firm’s operations and efficiency. Accountants and project managers must first take time to determine what areas need adjustment or refinement. Full Sail Partners can help! Let us conduct a Navigational Analysis to pinpoint those areas and start 2018 off right. 

As I travel around and work with clients implementing Vision Resource Planning, the issue of what makes a good project manager (PM) is often discussed. The PM track has always been perceived as a measurement of success in one’s career. As employees become more tenured within a firm, there seems to be a natural progression to the PM role. However, not everyone who is strong technically is able to effectively manage projects. Based on my experience, to be a good PM requires proficiency in certain key areas.

Scope Management

A good PM must be involved in defining the scope of the project and needs to play a role in the proposal process. Scope can be narrowed down to what has been promised to the client, or in other words, what is to be delivered. The various components of scope are usually defined and controlled by a project’s work breakdown structure and can include interim deliverables and milestones. 

Equally, if not more important, a good PM should be aware of what is not in the scope. Scope creep is the number one killer of profit. To avoid this, a good PM needs to be very familiar with what is in the contract and when to ask for change orders. 

Schedule Management 

Schedule is the order in which the scope needs to be delivered. This is also called a critical path which defines what and when things need to happen to ensure all interim and final scope delivery. A good PM needs to understand the concept of task dependency and how delays and disruptions can impact future delivery. Scope and schedule management work in tandem and scope creep can impact a schedule. 

Team Management 

A good PM needs to be a committed leader. While “leading by example” may seem cliché, it is a solid guideline to follow as a PM. Even more, a PM must make sure the entire team understands scope and schedule and will keep them inside the white lines to avoid scope creep. 

Financial Management 

To make prudent, yet quick decisions about the financial health of projects, a PM should be provided reliable data. A good PM should understand what indicators are needed to make this health assessment. I believe earned value is the best indicator. By comparing a project’s physical to financial percent complete, a PM and others can measure the “direction” that the project is heading. Once again, scope creep should easily be identified using this measurement.

Client Management 

The human component of project management can be challenging. A good PM should be able to make every client feel important while also filtering and prioritizing so that the scope, schedule and financial components of all projects are properly tended too. A good PM must also be effective in communicating scope creep to the client and should utilize the relationship to secure the change orders that are warranted. 

Quality Management 

Finally, a good PM must have his “hands” on the product whether it be a report, widget, skyscraper or bridge. He must have the technical knowledge to guarantee the product can pass inspections and be accepted by the client. He must also be able to trouble shoot issues, manage challenges that arise, and always be cognizant of the scope to ensure the work performed is within the contractual obligation to avoid scope creep. 

Are Your Project Managers the Right Fit? 

All the above must be considered to determine whether someone makes a good PM. A PM may not have mastered all areas, but needs to be effective in each. These key areas are interrelated and critical to one another. Strong technical knowledge does not necessarily translate to successful PM skills. How do your PMs stack up?

First off, you’re thinking what does this perplexing term, professional services automation (PSA), actually mean? Well, before we jump into the need for it, let’s first look at what determines a professional services firm. At its core, a professional services firm sells knowledge and time as opposed to an actual tangible product.

As a result, tracking revenue to product sold isn’t as simple as selling a “widget” for a predetermined amount to ensure a profit. Instead, time must be tracked to a project to ensure the professional services firm is able to make a profit from the services they provide. Therefore, the purpose of a PSA is to help streamline the delivery of those professional services.

Enterprise Resource Planning Versus Professional Services Automation

All bourbons are whiskey, but not all whiskeys are bourbon. That’s right, and not all enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools are PSA tools. This is because many ERP systems aren’t designed to meet the specific requirements of professional services firms. Instead, many firms try to piece together their own systems using a variety of generic tools such as an off the shelf accounting product and a homegrown project management solution, or in other cases, using a generic ERP and trying to customize it to meet their needs.

PSA systems, on the other hand, are designed to meet the unique requirements of the professional services industry. These systems come complete with all of the tools a firm needs to manage its business. More importantly, all of these systems communicate with each other. Thus, firm leaders have a 360-degree view into their business.

Benefits of Professional Services Automation

Firstly, PSA systems support new business development by integrating the client relationship management tool with the entire system that maintains your business. This integration makes it easier to take a lead to opportunity and finally create a project.

Secondly, resource planning and strategy development are based on past project performance data. The data ensures that your bid for a project is representative of how your firm delivers its services. Consequently, your firm can rest assured that, at the end of the project, the projected profit will be close to the actual profit.

Lastly, PSAs bring all of your business components together in one system. This reduces operational complexity and shortens the amount of time spent on many of your critical business processes. Not only is the time savings a benefit, but smooth operations for back office personnel are ensured which supports improving the client experience and satisfaction.

Moving Your Firm to a Professional Services Automation Software

Implementing a PSA solution can increase your firm’s productivity and ability to deliver projects on-time which guarantees accurate project planning. However, don’t go at it alone. Make sure you pick a solution that meets the majority of your firm’s needs and choose a trusted partner to assist with the implementation. Trying to force the wrong system to work for your firm will only lead to wasted money and poor usage practices from employees.