Time recording and project controlling: Manual processes are becoming increasingly inaccurate and inefficient
“As with any newly founded company, time recording and invoicing of recorded project times was also carried out manually at Uzuner Consulting in the initial phase using the standard Office applications Excel and Word.”, Andrea Renk, senior consultant at Uzuner Consulting, remembers the company's beginnings in 2013. However, the rapid growth and associated continuous expansion of the employee base soon led to a level that Uzuner Consulting was no longer willing to bear. Accuracy when recording and billing project times was also becoming more and more of a minor challenge.
“ZEP provides a comprehensive range of functions and numerous modules that are very well integrated into each other. The solution enables simple and convenient yet precise recording and billing of project times and various options for project controlling. ”
Andrea Renk
Senior Consultant
As early as 2014, the decision was therefore made to look for a special tool for time recording and project controlling. “The objective when looking for the new software solution was very clear: higher efficiency and higher accuracy.”, Andrea Renk explains the initial situation.
Through a partner company and corresponding Internet research, those responsible at Uzuner Consulting then came across the ZEP solution — time recording for projects — from provantis IT-Solutions. To make decisions, the company had tested a number of different solution offerings, but then quickly opted for ZEP. Andrea Renk explains: “The solution simply suited our requirement profile perfectly, making the decision easy for us — even though ZEP was not the cheapest option of the solutions we tested. ”
ZEP stands for time recording for projects. The web-based solution has been on the market since 2000 and offers project-oriented companies a complete solution for time recording and reporting, travel expenses, project management and controlling, and invoicing.
Since August 2014, ZEP has also been working at Uzuner Consulting. In addition to pure time recording, the company uses the vacation and absenteeism management module and the invoicing module.
Closed workflow from time recording to invoicing
The use of ZEP's billing module is also the result of Uzuner Consulting's objectives described above to automate originally manual processes and thus make them more efficient and accurate.
Andrea Renk confirms: “Thanks to ZEP, we now have a closed workflow from time recording to invoicing without the need for manual intervention. The data is simply automatically transferred from time recording to the billing module.” This also increases the precision of invoicing. “In the 'pre-ZEP' period, it happened time and again that project times were not billed or were only billed late,” admits Andrea Renk. “With ZEP, this is a thing of the past”.
More than 50 employees from Uzuner Consulting now use ZEP in daily practice. The use in the cloud computing model enables access to the solution regardless of location and time. Apps for Android and iOS-based devices are available for mobile use. “For a project-oriented consulting company like us, the simple motto is: 'It is best when the office is empty. '”, Andrea Renk explains with a smile. “Because that's when our consultants are on site with the customer. The ability to record the corresponding times while on the road or at home in the evening is a practical advantage of the solution. ” In addition, cloud computing as an operating model — there is also an option for ZEP in-house operation — was a necessity at the beginning. Andrea Renk looks back: “Originally, the reason for purchasing ZEP from the cloud was simply that we did not have our own IT infrastructure at all. We even purchased our Microsoft Office solution from the cloud. ” In the meantime, this has changed, at least with regard to the Office solution. “By setting up our own IT infrastructure, we have also 'brought' Office back into the company . ” At ZEP, however, she does not see this change in operating model in the near future: “ZEP as a web-based solution has great charm and there is no reason to change anything about it. ”
Management uses comprehensive evaluation functions
In addition to pure time recording and billing, the evaluation functions for project controlling offered by ZEP play a central role for Uzuner Consulting. Management regularly checks the system to get an overview of the progress of individual projects. For example, the question of how the proportion of billable and non-billable hours is related to the respective project plays a role.
Employees at Uzuner Consulting, on the other hand, appreciate the intuitive user interface; new employees quickly find their way around the solution. “We have written a short introduction for our new employees on how time recording in ZEP at Uzuner Consulting should be carried out. This introduction is usually sufficient as a briefing.”, explains Andrea Renk.
For example, the request from Uzuner Consulting for a specific evaluation option in ZEP has made it into the new ZEP version 5.5, which was presented in March 2017 — and thus benefits not only Uzuner Consulting but all ZEP customers.
