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10
C&P tools to increase
your productivity
If
increased productivity is your goal, then put these
Clients & Profits tools to work:
1) Spec
sheets store details for standard types of
jobs, including sets of tasks. When a new job is
opened, choosing a job type/spec sheet copies its
information to the new job, making jobs more
consistent.
2) PO
templates are like job type/spec sheets but
contain standard information about routine types of
purchase orders.
3)
If you have a routine job that's repeated often,
cloning copies it's information into a new
job ticket -- including its estimates and
schedules.
4)
Cloning POs does the same thing for routine
purchase orders.
5)
On the Daily Time Card, clicking the Show My
Tasks button copies your unfinished tasks to
the time card so that you don't have to remember
which tasks you're supposed to be tracking hours
for.
6)
Recurring payables can be set up to
automatically add routine vendor invoices each
month for up to a year at a time.
7)
Recurring JEs can be set up to automatically
debit and credit selected G/L accounts for entries
such as insurance expense, depreciation, and
more.
8)
Autobilling will create instant client invoices
for selected unbilled jobs.
9)
The Autopay payables function will write
checks automatically for selected A/P
invoices.
10)
Prebilling POs will instantly bill a client for
a purchase order.
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By Bonnie
Burlew
Staff productivity reports are excellent first step tools to
red-flag whether or not your staff is working productively
or whether it's time to bring in freelancers. First, if the
productivity reports show fewer billable hours than you
like, staff motivation might do the trick. But if there's
excessive, legitimate overtime logged, maybe adding staff or
hiring a freelancer is the answer. But what's the best
choice?
Review freelance use. If you currently use
freelancers, look at the Freelance Time report to see if
there is an increasing dependence on freelancers. If there
is, it might justify staffing up. (Since freelancers charge
about 70 percent more per hour than a full-time staffer's
wages, an increase in freelance use will also show up in
shrinking profit margins, unless the higher cost is built
into the estimate.)
Motivate the staff. If you decide to
increase productivity without additional staff (freelance or
permanent), be sure to factor in "hidden" costs: new
equipment, better benefits, and perks.
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Even if the numbers show that haranguing
the troops is fiscally responsible, proceed with caution! It
could cost more in the long run in terms of lost clients and
a sullied reputation if work quality suffers.
Do the math. For number-crunchers, the
equation is easy: hire freelancers as long as the cost of
doing so is less than or equal to the cost of adding new
staff. When calculating cost for new staffers, remember to
include benefits, the cost of physical space and equipment,
and training (about 40 percent of the first year's salary
for a green staffer).
Whatever choice you make, remember that
every action has a cost, whether it shows up on the books or
not. And no matter what the rule, there's always an
exception -- like hiring that certain mega-talent to round
out your winning team -- that far outweighs the short-term
cost.
Bonnie
Burlew is the controller at Clients &
Profits, Inc. and a helpdesk member. She can be reached at
bonnie@clientsandprofits.com.
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