PA Student Diaries

Some expenses management systems also incorporate time management capability, usually aimed at improving resource utilization and billing effectiveness. It’s important to distinguish this kind of capability from full-blown Time & Attendance (or Time & Labour) applications that are designed for comprehensive operational management, usually in hourly-paid environments, and help organizations capture data electronically, process it against pre-set rules, and carry out different forms of analysis such as absence expense tracking. In many cases, these systems will be over-specified for organizations whose main concern is to assess how effectively professional salaried staff are being deployed.

See ‘Multi-country Payroll and Time Management: A practical approach to improving efficiency, control and management information’, published by Webster Buchanan Research August 2004 (www.websterb.com)

While the capability of these time management modules will vary, data captured by these systems allows organizations to:

* Analyse how effectively billable and non-billable resource is being deployed

* Assess whether all time is being charged out to maximum value

* Determine overtime incurred on specific initiatives for better cost analysis

* Compare resource allocation on a site by site basis

Finally, organizations that bill time to a third party are also often entitled to charge related expenses. By managing both time and expenses in the same central system, it’s easier for employees to allocate those expenses correctly to external clients and the rate of chargeback is likely to improve.