Customer Success Story
Pragma Corporation
International Consulting Firm and 20-year-old Deltek Client Manages $25 M in Annual Revenues with Deltek GCS Premier®
The Challenge
Based in the Washington, D.C. area, Pragma Corporation is a private international development consulting firm that provides technical and management consulting services worldwide. The firm has in fact completed more than 600 projects in 70 countries since its inception in the late 1970s, working primarily in the Central Asia area to promote economic growth. With nearly 400 employees and about 22 satellite offices worldwide, Pragma has worked with numerous domestic and international entities over the past 20 years, including USAID, US DOE, US DOC, World Bank, UNICEF, World Health Organization, Federal Trade Commission and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
In 1986, now-CFO Prem Gupta came to Pragma as assistant financial manager. It wasn't long before Gupta realized that in order to build both a reputation and client base in the government contracting industry, the still small but quickly growing company would need to implement government-specific financial and project accounting software.
Pragma had already purchased accounting software from Deltek but the software had not yet been utilized. The firm was still using an off-the-shelf floppy disk purchased at Radio Shack to handle its accounting needs at that time.
The Solution
“Deltek was getting very popular very fast among government contractors in the mid-1980s,” Gupta recalled. “Pragma made its purchase decision based on Deltek's positive reputation.” Gupta faced the immediate challenge of getting the software up and running, along with properly integrating the finance department with the rest of the company. The first was easily dealt with, as Gupta had the Deltek system up and running in just two months. Six months later, another accountant was hired and new, consistent accounting procedures were in place.
“I felt there was a strong need to define our accounting processes, make them consistent, and make sure they were communicated to all staff,” Gupta said. “Once this was in place, we were in a much better position to respond to not only routine accounting practices, but also certainties such as corporate growth. Looking back I can't imagine doing any of this without Deltek there every step of the way.”
The Benefits
Pragma remains a satisfied Deltek customer nearly 20 years later, although the firm has grown from a small operation to a worldwide presence with annual revenues reaching $25 million. In 2002, Pragma adopted the most current government contracting software for small to midsize companies, Deltek GCS Premier. Gupta and his staff of four now use the solution to handle numerous financial and project accounting functions, including accounts payable, accounts receivable, general ledger, billing, job costing, labor distribution, timesheets and payroll.
Pragma also takes advantage of GCS Premier's reporting functionality, running various monthend reports on an as-needed basis, including job status, contracts, cost revenue and budgets vs. actuals.
Using GCS Premier, Pragma is able to close out each month in just four hours on average, saving his accounting staff countless man hours each month. In addition, he is now able to process payroll for all Pragma employees in less than a day.
“Deltek has definitely become the key to our finance department,” Gupta said. “I can't even imagine surviving without it.”
Gupta is also impressed with the software's intuitive user interface, claiming that his accounting staff is usually able to learn how to use the system in just days. “If you have a background in accounting, you can use this system,” he said. “Because it is a well designed, user-friendly system, our employees are usually able to begin using it once they've browsed through the training manual. It's very impressive how this system is so easy to use but yet can handle such complex tasks.”
With such time-saving benefits, Gupta has become an outspoken advocate of Deltek among his colleagues in the government contracting industry. Over the past 20 years, he has recommended Deltek to a number of other companies, resulting in many of them purchasing the software.
For Gupta, though, perhaps the most valued benefit of using GCS Premier is not the functionality of the software itself. Rather, it is the continued support of the Deltek staff who are always available to assist with any questions and concerns.
“In my 20-year relationship with Deltek, the company has expanded to more than 10 times its former size,” Gupta said. “Yet Deltek's consultants and client care specialists have not lost their personal touch, and continue to show obvious concern for their customers. In my opinion, the people on Deltek's staff are probably the most easy-going, friendliest people you'll ever work with.”