By Mark Fuller
One of the issues that a recent Inlogik customer faced was the problem of how to accurately and efficiently bill clients for expenses incurred whilst performing consulting work on their behalf. The problem faced by this customer is not uncommon. Tying up Project-related expenses with Time and Materials records is always a tricky and time consuming prospect and one that often results in expenses not being passed onto clients in a timely manner. The result? In many cases this translates to unplanned costs being incurred by the consulting company. Companies have tried a variety of different ways to manage this dilemma.
Inlogik have come up with a unique design to solve this problem. By integrating our Best of Breed Expense Management Solution (EMS), ProMaster, with the leading Professional Services Automation (PSA) solution, OpenAir, you can ensure that expenses are billed accurately and efficiently as part of a standard professional services workflow.
This integration allows our customers to capture all expenses incurred on a project undertaken for their clients in ProMaster, utilising ProMaster’s work flow technology to manage the expense approval process. After approvals have been completed, the expense details are seamlessly passed onto OpenAir for billing to the client. This process ensures that all expenses, whether sourced from corporate or purchasing cards or from out of pocket expenses or allowances, plus all Time and Material costs can be efficiently and accurately passed onto the client.
The benefits of an automated expense management workflow touch many aspects of a consulting organisation and for their clients:
- Project Managers now have much better visibility and control of their project budgets, with access to information in real-time or near real-time.
- Finance is no longer tasked with tracking down and reconciling expenses, whether submitted on time, or well after the project has been completed, or for projects with which they may not be familiar.
- Clients get the assurance that not only they receive invoices on time, but that invoices will be accurate, with all agreed costs relating to their project.
Inlogik and OpenAir, working in partnership, will be supplying customers with a solution that helps them to provide the high levels of professional service and client management their clients have come to expect.
If you are interested in finding out more about this solution please contact us and an Inlogik consultant will be in touch to discuss your requirements and discuss samples projects in more detail.
OpenAir, Inc., a NetSuite Inc. company, is a leading provider of Software as a Service (SaaS) services automation software. With offices in Boston, MA, Toronto, ON, London and Sydney, Australia, OpenAir offers both professional services automation (PSA) and services resource planning (SRP) solutions, providing project-based organisations and firms the tools they need to grow their businesses quickly and profitably. Providing enterprise-level functionality for businesses of all sizes, OpenAir helps world-class firms to better capture billable time, manage projects and resources and bill customers. Coupled with a team of highly experienced consultants from some of the world’s leading services firms, OpenAir's services automation solutions drive higher profits through improved utilization, visibility and data collection.
An established leader in premier expense management solutions, Inlogik proudly empowers business professionals with greater spend visibility and insight. Offering intuitive, intelligent and innovative technology targeted at accelerating profitable growth, improving sourcing strategies and enabling supplier rationalisation, Inlogik are committed to providing the right tools to better manage corporate procurement.