Timesheets are an essential part of cost control for MSPs. Tracking hours and rates accurately is critical, ensuring payments and productivity line up according to contractual terms. Errors within this process can have a severe impact: financial losses, time-consuming error resolution, and lost trust across the labour supply chain.
As an MSP, it’s important to monitor timesheets, ensuring that workers are being paid correct rates and clients are receiving agreed-upon hours. As mediator between the two, it’s your job to swiftly identify and solve any potential discrepancies to stop unnecessary time or money losses. Without a sufficient system to do so, this can be an arduous and error-prone task.
The Problem with Current Timesheet Tracking Methods
Many MSPs opt for in-house manual methods in a bid to save costs: often spreadsheets or even paper-based timesheets. Such methods are highly prone to human error, often causing inflated hours and costs. Due to poor visibility, these are tougher to spot, especially amongst large and high-churn temporary workforces.
In taking on an updated VMS, you can provide your clients with a transparent time-tracking method and monitor all your workers’ hours and rates. With a cloud-based system, you can keep track of timesheets in real time and on demand. That means you can instantly identify errors and take corrective action.
So how exactly can VMS help MSPs better manage timesheets?
- Automation: Via a single sign-in portal, all labour supply chain parties automatically receive notifications as soon as timesheets are submitted, updated, or approved. An optimal VMS will even autogenerate invoices directly from timesheets. This is an added layer of security, ensuring manual admin doesn’t compromise payment accuracy at this final stage.
- Cloud-based: A cloud-based system allows around-the-clock access from any device. This removes all barriers to timesheets, meaning you’re never left waiting for manual updates due to siloed data. With all parties viewing the same online timesheets, issues can be identified and rectified immediately.
- Real-time data: Cloud-based and automation-enabled VMS means real-time data, thus speeding up your process. This reduces time and money spent on manual admin (especially that spent on resolving payment errors). With this, you can effortlessly monitor timesheets and reallocate your time and budget into growing your talent pool and client base.
In Conclusion…
It’s critical to maintain trust with your workers and clients, ensuring payments and hours on both sides are fulfilled. In removing time-consuming and error-prone manual processes, you can better keep track of timesheet data, as well as reclaim time and money. With this, you can introduce a more efficient timesheet process, prevent payment errors, and build stronger business relationships.