Divide projects and cases into manageable phases or sub-mandates to control planning and budgeting in a targeted manner.
You define phases with status, budget values, and sub-phases (subphases), which allows detailed control and clarity in the course of the project.
Business benefits lie in improved planning transparency, control over sub-goals and targeted controlling of budget and services.
Project phases at a glance
This is how structuring works with project phases and subcases
Phase structuring in the project
You can divide a project/case into individual project phases or sub-mandates. These phases can be structured hierarchically by creating subphases to more clearly structure complex projects. Each phase has a unique code, descriptions, status (accepted, completed, rejected) and start and end dates. The status change creates dates for historical and traceability.
Flat rate and chargeable phases
Phases can be marked as chargeable or non-chargeable. Non-chargeable phases result in entered services and expenses being assigned an external value of zero. Flat-Rate phases allow the definition of a total amount to be invoiced at the end of the phase, even if services or expenses are different.
Subphases and their handling
You can easily add subphases via context menus, with the hierarchy always visible. In the case of flat parent phases, subphases automatically apply the budget logic: services on subphases are scaled according to the parent phase, subphases are disabled, and only parent phases are considered on invoices.
Settings and assignments
You can assign processors, service types, expense and outlay types to specific phases. These assignments can be defined as mandatory, so that entering is only possible with appropriate assignment.
Budgeting at phase level
For each phase, you can set budget values for hours, external fees, internal fees, costs, expenses, and outlays. A distinction is made between values set directly on the phase and those aggregated from subphases or assignments. Colour (green vs. black) indicates where values have been set.
Logging of budgeted values
Changes in budget values at project phases can be tracked with timestamps. This supports seamless controlling and historical tracking of budget changes.
Many consulting companies do not get the whole picture. This is means, there is no quick access to valuable information such as:
What is the status of my projects? Who worked on which project for how many hours? Did all employees record their time correctly? If irregularities occur, following processes such as billing and controlling may be delayed.
The problem spreads further. How much project budget is still available? Which ones of the ongoing projects are actually the most profitable? Will there be enough human resources available in the near future to accept more projects?
Keep an overview with lean controlling
Vertec lights up the dark and offers you clear and easy to understand project controlling that answers the questions mentioned and even others quickly. At the touch of a button, all the KPIs become available. With Vertec being an integrated CRM and ERP system, fees, costs, contribution margins and much more can clearly be visualized.
Extended customer requirements or new constellations or change requests often lead to higher work load in larger projects and thus to subsequent budget adjustments. In order to maintain a holistic view of the project and to be able to quickly see in the review when exactly budget changes have occurred, the adjustment of these values need to be recorded in Vertec.
With Vertec, you can specify budget adjustments in one project phase. The change log shows the old and new value, a comment or remark, and the respective user. Alternatively, you can open another phase in the project, where you can record any additional time or performance which is over the previously defined budget.
Project status meetings are always time-consuming: extensive Excel spreadsheets need to be maintained, and project leaders have to update the figures before the deadline. Budget, recorded time and services, invoiced services, purchases, completion rates and personal assessment of a project are fixed components. But as soon as the project status meeting is over, the status report is already outdated again. The project status is constantly changing.
With Vertec, as a project management software, all involved employees always know the up-to-date status of a project. The most important KPIs such as TARGET/ACTUAL comparison of the budget, completion rate, completion status of individual tasks (activities), open task and third-party costs as well as resource availability are entered centrally.
In order to keep an eye on the margins, profitability, and completion date of a project, budget controlling and completion rate are critical factors. In Vertec, the completion rate of a project is ideally determined by comparing missing recorded time with the remaining available budget. For some projects, earned value analysis can be used to determine the value of the projects. This also allows for accrual of benefits for closing transactions.
In Vertec, you can also implement your individual project controlling and easily add special requirements. Tasks can be managed on a project-by-project basis and allocated to the responsible employees. With Vertec Resource Planning, you can also see the availability of staff and the current planning on the respective projects.
