Working Remotely? Get MORE Out of Your Deltek System
As COVID-19 has many companies working remotely, you may be wondering if there are ways to maximize your Vision/Vantagepoint system to make things more efficient and productive during this time. We’re happy to report that we have several tips that you can implement today and even post-COVID to help your firm run more smoothly.
What Apps Are Most Helpful?
If you are a Vision client, take advantage of remote access via iAccess. Deltek iAccess for Vision provides you with a time and expense component, project management information portal, as well as business development/CRM if you own that module.
There are also smartphone apps like Touch Time & Expense, and Touch CRM that are fantastic resources in today’s environment. Maybe you’ve installed these, but never got around to using them, now is the perfect time to start!
The Time for Paperless is Now
Working with paper has obviously taken a back seat with so many working remotely, but even after this crisis is over, cutting down on your interactions with paper is probably still a good idea.
Utilizing the Transactional Document Management – TDM (Filestream) tool to store documents within Vision/Vantagepoint will make the transition to a paperless firm relatively seamless.
*Tip: If you are new to working remotely, and need to review reports you would like to actually print, set your printer in Vision to Local Printer so you can print directly to PDF.
Time & Expense Approvals
Another feature many businesses are now implementing is Time & Expense Approvals. No muss, no fuss, and no paper to pass, plus it’s available on most Mobile devices.
Most of you are probably processing payroll electronically with direct deposit, but if you’re one of the many businesses that still prepare their employee expenses and vendor payments via paper, you may want to take this time to consider electronic payments.
Billing Distribution
We’ve had a lot of questions about how to best distribute billing to project managers. One answer to this is batch billing. Through batch billing, you can email out your drafts to your internal team for them to review, mark up, and send back.
You can also utilize batch billing to email final invoices directly to clients, especially if you are in a position where you aren’t able to print and mail. During this time, cash flow is critically important, and being able to keep your billing processes running smoothly is key.
If you are already using the batch billing email functionality, consider taking this to the next level by utilizing the invoice approvals within the system. Deltek’s invoice approval feature allows your project managers and team to approve invoices through the screens within the application instead of sending out PDFs through batch billing and emailing (or printing and passing paper).
Schedule Reports
Do you still distribute printed reports? Don’t be shy; I know there are many of you! I encourage you to take this time to think about utilizing the schedule report functionality, which will allow you to automate the distribution of reports instead of printing.
Dashboards/Dashparts
Another high impact area to dive into now, if you haven’t already, is dashboards and dashparts. Create these for your team so that they have all the information they need right at their fingertips in the Vision/Vantagepoint system. Dashboards and dashparts may feel overwhelming, especially to employees who rely heavily on paper. Here at Stambaugh Ness, we like to say, “be the disruptor, not the disrupted,” so take this opportunity to get your project managers more comfortable using different parts of the system.
Next Steps
While we are all facing many challenges, both professionally and personally, right now, there are also many opportunities. Introducing new ways for your team to receive and consume the data that is the foundation for your business, and ensure they have the training they need to get the most return on your technology investment. Have you considered doing an assessment of your system and your team? Find areas where you can make improvements now, engage in training staff to take them to the next level of understanding and efficiency. When employees are able to more fully utilize the system they (and their firm) experience greater success.
If you have questions about how to shake things up for higher efficiency, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Our team would love you to walk you through options to help during this unprecedented time.
