Tag Archives: TimeControl

Do you know how much time is in the vacation bank?

It’s summTimeControl Detailed Vacation Bank Report, TimeControl, Enterprise Timesheet, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluisertime and for many organizations, that means employees are taking advantage of the warm weather to take vacations.  For some, those vacations have been planned earlier in the year, for others, they are just making their plans.

TimeControl provides tools to track not just when employees took vacation but how much vacation time an employee has earned and how much they’ve taken throughout the year.

The Employee Bank is one of multiple banks of time within TimeControl that can be activated and monitored.  Time can be earned automatically within TimeControl using the Accruals module.  Alternately, if this is managed elsewhere, the banked time can be imported from outside sources such as the HR system.  Once earned, the banked time is visible to the employees in a report or a dashboard view.

When it’s time to take vacation, the employee selects a charge code for that in their timesheet either in advance or after their time off.  TimeControl then automatically deducts that time from the appropriate bank.

One of the most time-consuming parts of vacation banks for management are discussions with employees about how much time they’ve earned or taken but this too can be managed in TimeControl with the Detailed Employee Bank report.  For day-to-day operations, the report has a dynamic view which can be viewed and filtered instantly no matter how many employees there are.

Vacations are the most common but only one aspect of banked time off and scheduled time off.  TimeControl can also impose validation rules on TimeRequests for time off to ensure the rules are followed of time off requests vs. time in the bank.  Other banked time can also be tracked such as sick leave or personal time off.

You can find out more about how TimeControl manages time off requests and vacations at: www.timecontrol.com/features/vacation-approvals and more about accruals at: www.timecontrol.com/features/accruals.

Frequently asked questions and the different places to get answers

Frequently Asked Questions, FAQ, TimeControl, Timesheets, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWith an enterprise system like TimeControl, questions are common.  TimeControl can be used in so many different ways and each deployment is unique.  So, as a client or even a prospective client, where can you get answers?

TimeControl’s extensive documentation.

There are documentation guides which are part of every TimeControl.  Your Administrator may not have given you access to all documentation files.  They include: User Guide, Reference Guide, Report Designer Guide, TimeControl Project Guide, BI Guide and API Guide.  You should be able to access these guides from within TimeControl at the top right of the screen under the “?” icon.

FAQs

Let’s start with the TimeControl Frequently Asked Questions section.  These are some of the most common questions we’re asked by prospective and new clients.  We’ve put those questions here and added our own most common answers.

Find out more at: https://www.timecontrol.com/support/faq.

TimeControl Blog

The TimeControl Blog is where we tend to write longer answers to questions.  Here is where we might talk about the specific way a certain feature can be implemented or to highlight a feature that some clients overlook because it wasn’t at the top of their priority list when they first deployed TimeControl.  We always list the latest features of new versions here but it’s also where we discuss or demonstrate different deployment tactics such as how to deploy TimeControl with entries in percentages instead of hours? Or how to handle multiple languages? Then your answer is probably in the blog.  Rather than scrolling through the hundreds of entries, just use the search bar to locate items of interest. There’s no cost or restriction to use the blog.

Access the TimeControl Blog at: blog.timecontrol.com.

Online Training Videos

We record a lot of training videos.  Many are short 5 minute demonstrations of how to use a particular TimeControl feature.  Some are longer webcasts. But a scroll of the TimeControl Online Learning Center can often reveal results you weren’t expecting.

Find out more at: https://www.timecontrol.com/resources/online-training/timecontrol-8.

YouTube

While we post our videos internally on the TimeControl website, we also post them on YouTube where you can use YouTube’s functionality to create sub-titles in the languages of your choosing.  Our YouTube channel is at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-I21bjwfIq9JEioRUV8kLQ.

The TimeControl website

The resources on TimeControl.com are extensive including slide shows, white papers, factsheets and more.  Just use the Search feature to look for information of interest.

The website is at: https://www.timecontrol.com/.

Oracle has confirmed that HMS Software will be part of the Oracle Partner Network for a 28th year

Oracle and HMS Software have confirmed that they have extended their technical alliance for a 28th consecutive year. Oracle Partner Network, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

This is one of the longest lasting technical alliances in the IT industry.  The two companies started working together in 1997.

HMS sought out two technical alliances in 1997, one with Oracle to support TimeControl’s new ability to store data in an SQL database such as Oracle’s and another with Primavera to support the integration between the TimeControl timesheet system and Primavera’s extensive project management system. The intent of the alliance was to provide superior support to Oracle and HMS Software’s mutual clients.

The relationship and alliance has extended and deepened over the years.  That started with Oracle purchasing Primavera in 2008 and those two lines of integration and support were extended.    TimeControl now supports multiple Oracle products including NetSuite, JD Edwards and MySQL.

The intent of the alliance has not changed.  The beneficiaries are the same as they were back in 1997,  a superior level of support and integration for our mutual customers.

Some of the many TimeControl’s value-added benefits when linking with Oracle-Primavera include:

  • The multi-functionality and auditability of TimeControl that allows it be used for project management, HR, payroll, invoicing, job costing and government compliance all at the same time
  • Support for multiple rates per employee
  • Automated business rule validations
  • Automated workflow
  • Vacation management
  • Missing timesheet notification
  • Simultaneous support for multiple versions of Primavera
  • The free TimeControl Mobile App for smartphones and tablets supporting both iOS and Android
  • Matrix timesheet approvals with HMS’s unique Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™
  • With TimeControl Industrial, the Crew Timesheet and Materials and Equipment field data collection

To read the recent press release on this relationship, visit TimeControl.com/resources/newsroom/press-releases/2024-05-15. For more information on how Oracle and HMS Technologies work together, visit the Oracle/TimeControl Portal at: Oracle.TimeControl.com or contact HMS at info@hms.ca.

 

TimeControl Project 8.6 includes some impressive new features

With the upgrade of all TimeControl Online users to version 8.6, those with access to TimeControl Project can enjoy some significant new features.

Resource Capacity Planning enhancements

Resource Capacity Planning, TimeControl, TimeControl Project, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis
This Resource Capacity Portfolio View shows total effort and availability with both the schedule and resource load showing.

It’s the most commonly asked question about all project systems, “Can you help me figure out what the future looks like for our projects?”

In TimeControl Project 8.6, we’ve changed how resources are defined and allocated in two ways: First, you can now define a level of resource availability in the Resource Table.  You can work in person-days or hours per day or FTE or whatever units of measure are appropriate for you.  In the Task detail screen from the GANTT or Board Views, you can make an assignment also with a level.  The second feature change is that not only Labor resources can be used but also Role resources.

This shift to allowing resources that are not individuals is huge for portfolio views.  Now you can define in a unit of measure both the availability and the requirement for the resources in question and, using a task-based view with one-task per project, you can create a GANTT view showing resource capacity with under/over loads.

Update timesheet from task details view

The most requested new feature for TimeControl Project Agile Board users.  While working on a task taken from an Agile Board, users asked if there was a way to update their timesheet directly from that view.  Many tactical level users, spend all day with a TimeControl Agile Board View open so they can see their list of tasks and priorities.  With previous versions of TimeControl Project, when the end of the day arrives, the user would need to close that Board View, open their timesheet and transpose the times from whatever tasks they were working on into the timesheet lines.

Now, the timesheet can be updated right from a task detail view by clicking update timesheet.  If the View is “task” based and the task is associated to a charge code, then the timesheet will appear and a line will have been automatically added with the charge code identified and a column with the relevant task number shown.  That line plus any others can be updated at the same time.  The user can then return to the task detail view and move on with their day.

There is an article that may be of interest on this subject in HMS Software’s President, Chris Vandersluis’ EPM Guidance Blog.  It is entitled: Whatever happened to resource leveling?

 

HMS President named top 10 iconic leaders of 2024

Industry Chronicle Magazine, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisIt’s highly flattering to me to find myself once again being written about.  This is, no doubt, thanks to the 40th anniversary of HMS and my 40 years leading the firm.  Industry Chronicle Magazine has named me One of the Top 10 iconic leaders of 2024.

As flattering as this is, a leader is no one without a team to lead and I have one of the best teams in the software industry.  The TimeControl marketing, sales and development team are remarkable and while not the largest team in the market, they serve clients who are among the largest organizations in the world.  You need only look at some of the case studies and testimonials on the TimeControl website to see some of them.

If you read the article, you’ll see it’s not really about me.  It’s about the 30 year success of TimeControl and the team that built it.

So, this honor is really theirs.  To my team and all the clients, colleagues and family that are a part of our TimeControl world, I say thank you.

Chris Vandersluis
President, HMS Software

Read the aritlce in its entirety at: IndustryChronicle.

Best in Class or All in One

TimeControl Best In Category, Best in Breed, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWe’ve been asked to talk about this topic numerous times since the mid 1990s when the first ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) packages were expanding at a rapid rate.

“Is it better”, we were asked, “to select the best of each category of software or instead, to select one package that can do everything at once?”

The conversation would become known as All-in-One vs. Best-in-Class.

The answer from us is always the same.  We see the desire for both Technical management and Finance management to get one system that will do everything.  The advantages on paper are easy to display: The all-in-one product is *already* integrated.  It is only one package to maintain, not multiple.  So, it must be the best choice… Right?

Except it’s often not.

Our answer to people who ask about this is always the same.  It’s the best choice to go with an all-in-one solution so long as it does what you need.  If it doesn’t then very quickly you will end up where you started, with multiple timesheet systems.

And that is incredibly costly.

Over the years, it has happened from time to time that a client informs us that they won’t be using TimeControl anymore.  Their Finance Department has changed or a new CFO has arrived with experience of different tools at previous organizations.  The company will “change directions” we’re told and TimeControl, while working fine, will be retired.

Our response to this is always positive.  “If your new solution does everything you need, then we wish you good fortune,’ we say.

In situation after situation, we get a call 3, 6, 9 months later  “Um, we were a little hasty in moving off of TimeControl,” we’re told.  It turned out that the alternate solution doesn’t actually do everything we were already used to and the person who is noticing the gaps the most turns out to be our CFO.”

“No worries,” we explain.  “We’ll work at getting your system back up and running with whatever updates you might need.”

It’s not that people can’t figure this out in advance.  The problem with a timesheet system is that it’s often taken for granted.  After all, employees use their timesheet for 5 to 10 minutes a week.  It is in the background of their experience.  But TimeControl is an enterprise timesheet which often has many links with other tools and multiple processes in the organization.  The administrators appreciate the complexities of the overall system and, if they’re still involved, so do the people who deployed it.  But it’s an easy part of a corporate system to not pay much attention to as you’re making a sweeping systems change.

It’s not always the same thing with each client.  Often it’s the multiple layers of the approvals process that a new tool doesn’t support. Sometimes it’s a simultaneous link with Payroll on one side and a project management tool like Primavera on another.  Other times it’s the degree to which the flexibility of TimeControl has been employed to meet multiple internal needs at the same time.

And TimeControl can flex.

So we don’t stress too much when a client says they’re looking at alternates other that to be certain that it’s not because there is something in TimeControl the client isn’t happy with.  That we respond to in a very different way.

After all, happy clients are what has made HMS and TimeControl so successful for decades.

To find out more about TimeControl and how it links with ERP systems like SAP and Oracle, see the TimeControl.com/use-cases/links-to-erp page.

TimeControl is turning 30!

TimeControl 8, TimeControl BI, TimeControl Business Intelligence, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis, Christoper P VandersluisHere at HMS we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of TimeControl. When we first released the TimeControl Timesheet back in 1994 we expected this to be the first of many applications we’d write but TimeControl took over our lives and now, 30 years later, those of us who have been with HMS Software for all of that time are somewhat amazed.

The product was envisaged to be a timesheet that could simultaneously server both Project Management and Finance and that was not only unusual for the time, it continues to be an exception today. TimeControl serves multiple corporate processes depending on an organization’s needs including project management, payroll, billing, human resources, job costing, R&D tax credits, DCAA compliance, contractor management and more.

Over the years TimeControl has evolved many times. Our current version, 8.5 is the 52nd major version of the product we’ve released, each one with numerous new or enhanced features. TimeControl now comes in multiple editions including TimeControl on-premise, TimeControl Industrial on-premise, TimeControl Online, our Software as a Service edition, TimeControl Industrial Online and TimeControl Project.

We launched the Software as a Service subscription edition of TimeControl in 2011 where it has delivered a better than 99.9% up-time ever since. We launched the TimeControl Mobile interface that same year in 2011 and the free TimeControl Mobile App for Apple and Android devices in 2015.

Through all of that, we’ve deployed TimeControl into some incredible organizations around the world in both the private and public sectors.  You would recognize many of their names.

It’s been an incredible run, longer than many software companies even survive and we’re nowhere near done. TimeControl 8.6 will ship before the end of this year with loads of new and updated features and we’re already designing a major release for 2025.
So, thanks to all the incredible clients who have used TimeControl for so long (some clients have had continuous use of TimeControl for over 26 years!) and to all the staff, partners and vendors who help make TimeControl so remarkable!

If you’d like to read the press release on TimeControl’s 30th Anniversary, you’ll find it at: TimeControl.com/resources/newsroom/press-releases/2024-09-18.

If you’re interested in seeing TimeControl’s evolution through the ages, take a look at: TimeControl turns 30, the evolution of TimeControl 1.0 for DOS to TimeControl 8!

Line Item Approvals

TimeControl Line Item Approvals, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisIt’s almost never enough to just approve a timesheet based on the total hours in it. If you are in any kind of project or activity-based scenario, you will still need to approve the total time for the timesheet, but you will also want to do approvals for the projects.

We encountered this problem way back in 1983 as we wrote our first timesheet. There were two groups sponsoring the initiative. One was Finance. They needed total hours to be able to properly pay people and both Finance and HR needed to know when people were not working and why, again to determine the payroll properly as well as determine what entitlements like vacation and sick-leave have been taken by each employee. But that was what only the one group needed. Also sitting at the table was the Project Management department. They had a burning need to track not just how much time was being spent each week. They needed to know exactly what it was being spent on. They already had project plans, what they didn’t have was project actuals. They were being asked by management to describe budget vs. actual progress on each project and they simply didn’t have the data.

Easy, right?

It wasn’t actually. It took numerous design sessions where one side of the table or the other was unhappy before we finally realized the crux of the challenge was that we would need both approvals for the whole timesheet totals and separate approvals line by line.
TimeControl Matrix Approvals, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

Ten years later we carried that philosophy into the first commercial release of TimeControl with both organizational approvals and project manager approvals. We also created a whole process to support those functions and called it the Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™. Which is still a core element of TimeControl today. In that process, supervisors approve the whole timesheet and look at attendance and things like personal time off and sick leave. Project Managers get to approve or reject each project task when that task came from a project management system such as Microsoft Project or Primavera.

It was a big success.

As TimeControl matured we were faced with several new challenges. It wasn’t enough to do approvals of each line just for the project managers. Plus, not everyone was using a commercial project management system around which we’d designed the first pass of the Project Manager Validation function. Now we were asked could we also make independent line approvals for billable items, for contractor time vs. salary staff, for time to be exported into HR with approvals of entitlements.

That resulted in the Line Item Approval function. It works just like the Project Manager Validations but is based on an export interface. Let’s say your TimeControl environment has an export for Contractors. The idea is that individual contractors can review and approve the time their people spent on the project on a line-by-line basis. Then, once they get around to invoicing their client, both sides have already approved the time. Think that might not be a big deal? We’ve watched several clients do this and reduce the approval time of contractor invoices from between 90 and 120 days all the way down to 3-5 days. The impact on both the contractor and the client can be profound.

Line Item Approval basically lets us create an unlimited number of task-by-task approval processes all from the same timesheet line. We don’t delete that line (we never do in TimeControl anyway to ensure auditability) but the timesheet can get auditable adjustments if needed or the lines that are deemed unacceptable for that process can simply be put aside during the actual transfer of data for that purpose. Let’s say you’ve created a Line Item Approval for billing and a Billing Manager reviews all the lines that are about to get transferred into the billing system and made into a summary and then an invoice. By rejecting certain lines, perhaps for unbillable work, the Billing Manager effectively removes those hours from the billing transfer and thus the client’s invoice. The hours don’t evaporate from TimeControl, but they won’t ever be transferred to the invoicing system.

We can’t really make a graphic of this process because it’s three-dimensional. But, imagine the matrix grid and then imagine it has a third dimension with as many layers as you need approval processes. Often it’s just another one or two or three. But the effects on the company can be massive.

Think we’re done? Think again.

In the next version of TimeControl we’ll be introducing enhancements to the Line Item Approval (internally we call it LIA) Process and have even gone back to the original Project Manager Validation function to align the functionality of both features. Line Item Approval is already one of the most popular aspects of TimeControl and its flexibility ensures it can adapt to almost every approval requirement.

Auditability, Accountability and Flexibility. It’s a powerful combination.

Find out more about Approvals on the TimeControl.com website at: TimeControl.com/use-cases/matrix-approvals.

Wait. TimeControl has GANTT Charts?

TimeControl GANTT, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisIt’s not really news.  TimeControl has had a GANTT / Barchart view as part of the product for many years.

In fact, there are a couple of places to see a barchart view in TimeControl.  The most available is often from each users MyAccount area where they can see their own tasks in either a Calendar or Barchart (GANTT) view.  For TimeControl users who have been given access to the Reports / GANTT view, they can view a barchart of their any charges they have been given access to.

For TimeControl Online users who have access to TimeControl Project, there are much more extensive methods of seeing a GANTT of either charge codes or Tasks.  In the case of tasks, there are easy to use drag and drop options to add, move, delete or edit tasks right in the barchart.  For charge codes, that’s a bit more restrictive as the charge code values for example the start and stop times might be critical to numerous other processes for both Project Management and Finance. The data is still viewable but changing the key data is controlled more stringently for Charge-Code lines than for Task lines.

There are numerous options for display including adjusting the visible fields, adjusting the scale and filtering of course but there’s even more.  The GANTT view includes an optional resource capacity heat map as displayed above.

A barchart view is only one way to look at data and, the more activities there are on the screen, the less productive this type of display is.  But that’s only one of the many ways TimeControl and TimeControl Project can display this kind of information and where the volume of data is appropriate, it can be the best graphical view possible.

If you’re interested in more project type views or in what TimeControl Project adds to TimeControl, see project.timecontrol.com.

Oracle has confirmed that they have extended HMS Software’s technical partnership for a 27th year!

Oracle and HMS Software have confirmed that they have extended their technical alliance for a 27th consecutive year. Oracle Partner Network, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

This technical alliance stands among a tiny few that have endured over a quarter century.  The partnership between HMS and Oracle started back in 1997.  Today the technical ties between the products and technologies of the two firms extend to a vast range.

Started originally to ensure a link between TimeControl and what we now call Oracle Primavera EPPM and Oracle Primavera Pro.  The work between the firms quickly extended to support first Oracle architecture such as the Oracle and MySQL databases and Java.

The integrations at the application level include JDE and NetSuite and numerous other touch points.

The real benefits of this long lasting alliance between HMS Software and Oracle has been what we have been able to deliver deliver to our mutual customers.

HMS and Oracle partner across multiple fronts. HMS Software’s TimeControl timesheet system supports Oracle databases, we also integrate with numerous Oracle Applications including Oracle-Primavera EPPM and Primavera Pro.

Some of the many TimeControl’s value-added benefits when linking with Oracle-Primavera include:

  • The multi-functionality and auditability of TimeControl that allows it be used for project management, HR, payroll, invoicing, job costing and government compliance all at the same time
  • Support for multiple rates per employee
  • Automated business rule validations
  • Automated workflow
  • Vacation management
  • Missing timesheet notification
  • Simultaneous support for multiple versions of Primavera
  • The free TimeControl Mobile App for smartphones and tablets supporting both iOS and Android
  • Matrix timesheet approvals with HMS’s unique Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™
  • With TimeControl Industrial, the Crew Timesheet and Materials and Equipment field data collection

To read the recent press release on this relationship, visit TimeControl.com/resources/newsroom/press-releases/2024-05-15. For more information on how Oracle and HMS Technologies work together, visit the Oracle/TimeControl Portal at: Oracle.TimeControl.com or contact HMS at info@hms.ca for more information.