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age | 2










ro|ogue
Informat|on 1echno|ogy as an Advantage |n a G|oba||y Compet|t|ve Market

1here are varlous sofLware appllcaLlons on Lhe markeL Lo faclllLaLe success wlLh
Lhe fundamenLal pro[ecL processes-lnlLlaLlng, plannlng, conLrolllng, execuLlng
and closlng. 1he processes are llnked by Lhe resulLs Lhey produce. 8esulLs are
efflclenLly communlcaLed uslng pro[ecL sofLware reporLs and alerLs.

WlLhouL pro[ecL-orlenLed sysLems, pro[ecL managemenL ls supporLed by
dls[olnLed schedules, spreadsheeLs, documenLs, calendars, eLc., LhaL are dlfflculL
and Llme-consumlng Lo conLrol aL Lhe lndlvldual pro[ecL level, and even more
complex and Llme-absorblng for mulLl-pro[ecL analyses. WlLh pro[ecL-orlenLed
sysLems, more comprehenslve and sLrucLured lnformaLlon ls avallable fasLer,
requlrlng less of an admlnlsLraLlve burden. 1lmely, relevanL lnformaLlon enables
pro[ecL managers Lo leverage resources, devoLe more Llme Lo producLs and
servlces, and ulLlmaLely meeL cusLomer expecLaLlons.

ro[ecL sofLware ls noL a homogeneous Lerm. 1here are varlous Lypes of
appllcaLlons avallable wlLh dlsLlncLlve purposes, Lhough feaLures and
funcLlonallLy beLween Lypes of appllcaLlons may have some overlap. Among Lhe
varlous Lypes of pro[ecL-orlenLaLed appllcaLlons-namely:

! ro[ecL Schedullng
! ro[ecL AccounLlng
! 1lme and 8llllng
! !ob CosL SofLware

vendor appllcaLlons may vary ln Lhe speclflc feaLures and beneflLs Lhey offer. A
full soluLlon may requlre lmplemenLlng more Lhan one Lype of appllcaLlon ln
some slLuaLlons. 8efore maklng your declslon, conslder organlzaLlonal needs and
anLlclpaLed growLh, raLher Lhan Lhe appllcaLlon's classlflcaLlon.






age | 3













ro[ect Schedu||ng App||cat|ons
Manage ro[ect Staff|ng and 1|me

1he sofLware lndusLry ofLen uses Lhe Lerm pro[ecL managemenL sofLware" as
well as Lhe Lerm pro[ecL schedullng sofLware" Lo refer Lo Lhose appllcaLlons
deslgned Lo plan and manage labor and acLlvlLy Llmellnes.

1hls can creaLe some confuslon, slnce any pro[ecL-orlenLed package could
concepLually and purposely be descrlbed as a pro[ecL managemenL sysLem.
locuslng on sofLware funcLlonallLy ls Lhe besL way Lo avold any confuslon.

ro[ecL schedullng sofLware prlmarlly answers schedullng" quesLlons of who
(labor), when (Llmellnes), whaL (resources) and where (locaLlons). 1hese
quesLlons are answered ln Lhe form of charLs and Lables, such as L81 charLs or
CanLL charLs. Web-enabled sysLems communlcaLe sLaLus lnformaLlon Lo
sLakeholders when face-Lo-face meeLlngs are noL posslble or cosL-effecLlve.
Many pro[ecL-schedullng packages also have budgeLlng capablllLles, Lhough Lhey
Lyplcally do noL accumulaLe acLual cosLs Lo allow acLual-Lo budgeL comparlsons.
users lLemlze pro[ecL phases and deLalled Lasks accordlng Lo agreed-upon
requlremenLs and expecLaLlons, whlch may help manage scope creep.















1

age | 4












1|me and 8||||ng App||cat|ons
1rack Workf|ow, App|y 1|me and Lxpense Lntr|es to ro[ects, and
erform 8||||ng

1lme and bllllng sofLware ls deslgned Lo keep an accuraLe record of employee
Llme as well as Lo assess cusLomers or lnLernal cosL cenLers for servlces and
expenses lncurred. 1lme and bllllng sofLware ls geared Loward Lhe cosLs,
expenses and revenues of one parLlcular pro[ecL componenL-labor.

1he Llme enLry componenL of mosL Llme and bllllng sysLems ls elLher compleLely
Web-based or allows Web lnLerface wlLh a locallzed sysLem. 1hls means LhaL
users can prompLly and convenlenLly record Llme lnLo Lhelr organlzaLlon's
cenLrallzed sysLem, uslng Llme sheeL defaulLs (llke charge codes) for qulck enLry
capablllLles, from any locaLlon uslng any compuLer plaLform. Managers can Lhen
revlew, approve or re[ecL a subordlnaLe's Llme enLry Lhrough Lhe sysLem.

uefaulL raLe schedules are malnLalned ln Lhe bllllng componenL of Lhe Llme and
expense sysLem Lo expedlLe Lhe bllllng process and mlnlmlze bllllng errors. Some
sysLems also allow you Lo malnLaln sLandard raLe schedules LhaL afford
comparlson of Lhe proflLablllLy of dlfferenL pro[ecLs. All Llme and bllllng sysLems
accommodaLe Llme and expense progress bllllng. CerLaln Llme and expense
sysLems even supporL percenLage of compleLlon, schedule bllllng and
consolldaLed bllllng.












2

age | 3











Iob Cost App||cat|ons
1rack Deta||ed Iob Costs, repare Deta||ed 8udgets and Integrate
Costs w|th the Genera| Ledger

!ob cosL sysLems focus on measurlng, recordlng and communlcaLlng boLh dlrecL
and lndlrecL cosLs lnvolved ln each producL or servlce rendered by a company.
8elaLed cosLs lnclude employee Llme, subconLracL labor, equlpmenL charges,
maLerlal charges and overhead (operaLlng expenses). CosL managemenL sysLems
generally focus on cosL conLrol Lhrough budgeLlng and analyzlng varlances
beLween budgeLed and acLual cosLs.

Many packages provlde [ob cosL funcLlonallLy almed aL small-scale pro[ecLs,
where Lhe complexlLles are mlnlmal, and revenue analysls and flexlble bllllng
funcLlonallLy are noL requlred. When applled Lo pro[ecL managemenL, [ob cosL
sysLems are Lhe expense slde of a pro[ecL conLrol sysLem, asslgnlng cosLs LhaL
can be dlrecLly charged Lo pro[ecLs (e.g., labor and relmbursable expenses).
Cverhead, llke payroll and renL, may also be allocaLed Lo a pro[ecL Lhrough an
overhead or burden raLe asslgnmenL.














3

age | 6






ro[ect Account|ng App||cat|ons
Mon|tor A|| ro[ect Costs, kevenues, and 8||||ngs, repare Deta||ed 8udgets and
Iso|ate Var|ances

ro[ecL accounLlng sofLware ls deslgned Lo esLlmaLe, Lrack and conLrol pro[ecL cosLs,
revenues and bllllngs. ro[ecL accounLlng appllcaLlons deLermlne how much revenue,
cosL and proflL ls assoclaLed wlLh a glven pro[ecL, and compare acLuals Lo budgeLs (ln
Lerms of dollars and Llmlng).

A markeLlng-cenLrlc company wlll ulLlmaLely fall lf lL does noL dellver proflLable
pro[ecLs. 1he use of pro[ecL accounLlng sofLware ls an opporLunlLy for pro[ecL-cenLrlc
companles Lo succeed where oLhers fall," says kenL 8eLLlsworLh. ro[ecL accounLlng
sysLems malnLaln pro[ecL daLa ln a relevanL way, allowlng pro[ecL sLakeholders Lo Lake
acLlon. 1he sofLware accumulaLes and organlzes flnanclal daLa LhaL helps users plan for
proflL and rapldly respond Lo pro[ecL lssues, lnsLead of Lhe overall general ledger
purpose-compllance wlLh accounLlng sLandards.

As a rule, pro[ecL accounLlng sysLems have more comprehenslve and flexlble flnanclal
and reporLlng feaLures Lhan any oLher Lype of pro[ecL-orlenLed appllcaLlon. lor example

ro[ecL accounLlng sysLems accommodaLe conLracLs requlrlng percenLage-of-compleLlon
and scheduled bllllng as well as Llme and maLerlals as lncurred.
ro[ecL accounLlng sysLems usually have more exLenslve budgeLlng capablllLles Lhan
deskLop-level pro[ecL schedullng sysLems. lurLhermore, acLuals are auLomaLlcally
updaLed wlLh acLlvlLy ln a pro[ecL accounLlng sysLem, for a more expedlenL budgeL
monlLorlng process.
lnvolces may be prepared uslng varlous formaLs, and lnvolce deLall may be modlfled or
appended for bllllng raLes, noLes and no-charge lLems.
8llllng and cosL raLes may be asslgned aL Lhe employee or [ob LlLle level dependlng upon
Lhe pro[ecL, Lable raLes can be overrldden as necessary Lo comply wlLh excepLlon raLes
assoclaLed wlLh a parLlcular pro[ecL.

ro[ecL accounLlng sofLware ls Lyplcally lnLegraLed wlLh Lhe user's flnanclal accounLlng
sysLem. 1hls lnLegraLlon noL only avolds double enLry of acLual cosLs lncurred buL also
allows audlL Lralls and drlll-down capablllLles from Lhe accounLs payable, accounLs
recelvable and general ledger sysLems Lo assoclaLed lndlvldual pro[ecLs. Some pro[ecL
accounLlng sysLems permlL Lhe user Lo esLabllsh Lhe level of pro[ecL accounLlng
LransacLlon deLall LhaL ls reporLed ln Lhe general ledger. Slnce drlll-down capablllLles
from Lhe general ledger are ofLen posslble, summary LransacLlons from Lhe pro[ecL
accounLlng appllcaLlon sLreamllne LransacLlon enLry. ln essence, pro[ecL accounLlng llnks
Lhe organlzaLlon's acLlvlLles Lo Lhe general ledger brldglng Lhe fronL and back offlce.
4

age | 7






Act|v|ty-8ased Cost|ng Systems
Another term for pro[ect account|ng? No, but...

AcLlvlLy-8ased CosLlng (A8C) sysLems ls noL anoLher Lerm for pro[ecL accounLlng
sysLems. 1hough A8C ls noL really an approach Lo pro[ecL managemenL, some lnLegraLed
pro[ecL accounLlng sysLems do provlde a way Lo embody an A8C sysLem, whlle
malnLalnlng Lhe exlsLlng charL of accounL general ledger sLrucLure. 1hough Lhls ls noL Lhe
lnLended prlmary purpose of pro[ecL accounLlng sysLems, pro[ecL-cosLlng feaLures LhaL
accumulaLe cosLs by buslness acLlvlLles may address some A8C recordlng requlremenLs.
1hls poLenLlal employmenL of pro[ecL accounLlng sofLware may cause some confuslon
beLween Lhe dlsLlncL concepLs of pro[ecL accounLlng and A8C and Lhelr respecLlve
sofLware Lools.

1he converse sofLware employmenL would noL generally be posslble. Clven Lhe
dlfferences beLween Lhe Lwo, lL ls doubLful LhaL an A8C sysLem could be used Lo fulflll
pro[ecL accounLlng needs. Some of Lhese dlfferences lnclude:

ulrecL allocaLlon of overhead ls a plnnacle of A8C. 1he goal of A8C ls Lo flnd Lhe
Lrue cosL of goods and servlces offered Lo cusLomers by asslgnlng vlrLually all
cosLs and expenses Lo producLs or servlces based upon each producL's or
servlces' use of expendlLures. A8C avolds burden raLes and overhead allocaLlons
based upon aLLrlbuLes of a slngle unlL (llke square fooLage). ln pro[ecL
accounLlng, overhead may be dlrecLly charged Lo lndlvldual pro[ecLs applylng
A8C prlnclples, charged uslng allocaLlon meLhods such as burden raLes, or may
be allocaLed as a separaLe perlod end process or may noL be dlsLrlbuLed Lo
lndlvldual pro[ecLs aL all.

A8C ls ordlnarlly applled Lo ongolng and rouLlne operaLlons and processes (llke
manufacLurlng, medlcal servlces or flnanclal lnsLlLuLlon servlces) raLher Lhan
Lemporary pro[ecLs. So, mosL A8C sysLems would noL be able Lo provlde
esLlmaLes Lo compleLe or close down feaLures lncorporaLed ln mosL pro[ecL
accounLlng sysLems.

A8C LargeLs cosL managemenL, pro[ecL accounLlng LargeLs cosL, conLracL,
revenue and bllllng managemenL. Pence, pro[ecL accounLlng sysLems provlde
addlLlonal funcLlonallLy Lo address more dlverslfled lnformaLlon and pracLlces.

ConsequenLly, someone ln Lhe markeL for a pro[ecL accounLlng sysLem should noL be
lured lnLo acLlvlLy-based cosLlng sysLems due Lo some slmllar soundlng Lerms. A8C
sysLems rarely provlde all Lhe feaLures needed Lo employ pro[ecL accounLlng.
3



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