For too long time recording has been seen as a back-office activity, and not one of strategic value. In this article, Colin McArdle, Tikit’s Senior Account Director for the Accountancy sector in EMEA corrects that view by arguing that timekeeping can actually become a critical component of strategic planning – if practices use the right tools to exploit its potential. 

In my last article for AIT I wrote about how time recording data is a huge asset to the practices which use it in the right way. This is because when you have a time recording system which collates, analyses and reports on time data, it can generate information that is of great use to the practice. For example, it’s possible to gain a very clear view of the actual cost of a given project by using time data. This empowers the practice to make more accurate forecasts of what a future similar project will cost. It leads to stronger, more confident bids for future work and avoids the real danger of under-pricing to secure a piece of work. However, this is just the beginning of how this data can be used to help the practice run more profitably. 
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Resource Allocation
The next thing you can do with this data is use it to inform resource allocation and management. This can be applied on two fronts. On the one hand, it’s hugely useful when costing bids, which I spoke about in the first paragraph. Remember that time data can be analysed in terms of who did what. It gives the practice the visibility with which to ensure that future bids reflect an optimised allocation of personnel. This way the practice can assemble bids that are keenly priced based on an accurate view of the skill blend required. And going forward, remember time recording data is very current. It gives an almost real-time snapshot of activity. This creates the opportunity to fine-tune the blend of personnel deployed and to reorganize this if necessary to achieve the client’s objectives in the most efficient way for your practice. 

In addition, analysis of this data also gives you insights into performance and loading across the whole practice. What work patterns are emerging? Are there areas of low usage and are these alongside other areas that are under too much stress from too much work? This kind of visibility of workloads and utilisation of talent gives the practice the opportunity to either redistribute the workload or alternately (or simultaneously) revisit either the talent balance within the business, or the type of clients and type of work that the practice bids for. After all, the best outcomes both for the practice, and for its clients, will result from work which is a really good fit for the skills and experience you can provide. At the same time, rebalancing workloads is likely to do no harm to internal practice morale. 

To add to this altogether more strategic use of timekeeping data, the next iteration is to run data through forecasting models in order to make projections about future work allocation and distribution. These can feed into truly strategic decisions about the future direction of the practice. 

The Right Tools
Of course all these uses of timekeeping data are contingent on having the right time management software in place. You’re going to need a time management system which is capable of conducting analysis and generating reports fairly easily and frequently. 

At the same time you want a system that will capture very accurate data upon which to base sizeable decisions. For this you need a system that provides contemporaneous capture. Tikit’s Carpe Diem – the most popular in the professional services and legal sector – not only provides contemporaneous time capture, but does so across the whole range of devices – desktop, mobile, tablet. This not only enables remote working but also maximises the opportunities to capture time and consequently maximises the time captured. 

It makes for a ‘win/win’ scenario for practices who want to make more strategic use of timekeeping data in the ways I’ve suggested. Revenue is increased – plus sophisticated management reporting can make a critical contribution to the practice’s growth-focused strategic plans.