Adaptic Uses Costpoint’s Latest Innovations to Save 100 Hours Per Week

Significant Growth Calls for a Trusted ERP

Adaptic LLC, a women-owned small business (WOSB), was formed in 2019 to support the Intelligence Community with software development, systems engineering, and data science. With 75 employees supporting 35 different programs in Maryland, they aim to provide unparalleled customer solutions and support while creating a great workplace for their employees. Part of this effort includes enhancing operational efficiency so they can be as competitive as possible when it comes to hiring and retaining top talent.

Since 2019, Adaptic has achieved significant growth, doubling in size every few years, growing from 5 to 75 employees in less than 5 years. This growth was supported by a lean management structure and efficient use of technology, allowing more funds to be allocated to employee salaries and benefits. One of the first big technology decisions they made was choosing an ERP solution, since they soon realized that using a network of systems that included QuickBooks® and a third-party timekeeping, payroll and retirement solution, was not going to be effective for the company’s growth strategy. They knew if they wanted to scale and be more tactical, they would need to make an investment in a trusted, project-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution.

Choosing Deltek Costpoint to Support Their Growing Business

Sarah Dabney, Adaptic’s President and CEO, and Aaron Solar, CFO and CIO at Adaptic, said they ultimately selected Deltek Costpoint to support the evolution and expansion of the business. “When we first started the company, we used QuickBooks®. Then we added TSheets for timekeeping, Gusto for payroll and Guideline for retirement management,” Aaron explained. “That worked, more or less, until Adaptic grew to five people. Then, a need for accrual-based accounting and an understanding of indirect rates structures became important, as well as more efficiently processing payroll. It was at that point we knew that we had outgrown QuickBooks.”

When asked what the defining criteria was for choosing Costpoint, Aaron said it was because of how it supports the requirements for government contractors. “Our main goal was to invest in an accounting system that worked seamlessly with the DCAA (Defense Contract Audit Agency). We also wanted to expand to other agencies and have the ability for unlimited cost pools,” Aaron explained. “Knowing Deltek’s indirect architecture, you really can’t get better – no matter what size or scale or design you want your company to be – you have the flexibility to design that kind of indirect cost structure, no matter what your requirements are. Based on our knowledge of other systems such as Unanet and PROCAS, we already knew that we were not interested in going with those platforms. We sole-sourced Deltek Costpoint, knowing what the capabilities are and knowing it was the solution our business needed long term.”

They went live on Costpoint on June 1, 2020, and quickly started to gain measurable benefits. “When using QuickBooks® it would take us on average 8 to 10 hours per month to accurately complete billing, and not have invoices rejected,” Aaron explained. “Now with Costpoint, that time is down to approximately 20 or 30 minutes.”

Aaron added that having everything in one place as a single source of truth has also been critical for staying on top of contact requirements and being prepared for future work. Over the last five years, they’ve also stayed committed to remaining up to date on the latest innovations and new releases of Costpoint to make sure they remain competitive.

Adopting the Latest Innovations to Improve the Bottom Line

As a cloud customer, Aaron said Costpoint is like a “sleep-easy-at-night” situation where the upgrades and patches are taken care of for them. In 2024, they were able to seamlessly transition to quarterly releases and have been actively implementing and using Costpoint’s powerful AI (Artificial Intelligence) features from Deltek Dela™ to improve operations, reduce overhead and remain more competitive. They have always recognized technology as an avenue to keep a lean management structure, which increases the bottom line. Aaron said that as AI continues to shape the industry, those who use it will get ahead. “It’s an opportunity to use better tools and more advanced capabilities that automate the stuff we've been doing for years. When we do that, our people can contribute their expertise and skills to a more impactful, long-term project.” “Adopting better technology is an upskilling opportunity, a way to make your professional life better,” Aaron added.

Making Time & Expense as Simple as Possible

In addition to adopting Dela capabilities within Costpoint, Aaron said Adaptic is also making use of their AI digital assistant, Ask Dela, and the Costpoint MS Teams app to streamline additional processes, including time and expense - saving an estimated 100 hours per week collectively.

Adopting Dela and the Teams app seemed like an obvious choice because it was an easy way to support employees who are not typically inside the government buildings but need to log time and were getting overwhelmed by the process and having to log in to multiple systems, causing them to put it off. They were already a Microsoft-first company, using Microsoft Office 365 for their entire firm, so it was an easy transition while still keeping the necessary security controls to limit data access to approved personnel.

“All the people who are boots on the ground—whether an embedded developer or a systems engineer—they know Microsoft tools,” says Solar. “They’re already logged into Microsoft Teams, so they can quickly do a time sheet right on there, and it makes everyone happy.”

Aaron said turning on Dela was a simple click of a button and implementing the Teams app took less than 10 minutes to install. Immediately, they started to see an impact on operations and employee satisfaction. First, having the option to submit time via Interactive Email or Teams greatly reduced late timesheet issues. Adaptic had historically struggled with late timecards, especially considering that some are due at different times throughout the week – some on Thursday, some on Friday, and some over the weekend, which was resulting in missing timesheets that affected payroll. Aaron said: “If your timesheets are late, that starts messing up the payment, which affects your payroll, which affects interest expense. So, by being able to leverage the technology, for something as simple as time sheets, it actually drives 100% of our operations.” “By automating or utilizing the tools as much as we can, we don't need a bloated infrastructure, which means more bottom-line dollars to employee salaries and compensation and benefits."

With accurate timesheets coming in on time, Aaron can now approve and move on – and using Teams has made that process easier too. “I’m already in Teams so the approval request comes in, and I just click approve. It’s a matter of seconds and I can move on to other things. It’s saving us about 2-3 hours per week, just in the timekeeping approval process.”

Finding Important Data in Seconds

Aaron said the unified search across Teams, Outlook, SharePoint, and OneDrive for easier document retrieval has also made an impactful difference. “By keeping everything inside Teams, it’s creating a central hub of information and content, making it easier to find data.”

Aaron mentioned the many times he’ll be running a meeting with a customer, who asks about funding modifications. They claim they’re seeing a certain funding amount, but Aaron thinks it’s a different amount. While still in Teams, he can use Ask Dela to check that accurate number and have that information to share with the customer within seconds, quickly correcting any miscommunications or math errors that often come about when customers are relying on spreadsheets.

Adaptic is also using the Microsoft Teams app and Ask Dela for real-time access to employee rate information for projects and cost data. “Sarah could be on the phone with a candidate, and she can quickly type in ‘What’s the software engineer Level 3 bill rate for this program?’ And [Ask Dela is] going to come back with the answer,” says Solar. “This allows her to secure potential high-level candidates in real time.”

Being able to solve that quickly in a call using the Teams app is key. But we also know it has the right security control in place to limit what employees can ask in the system, which is important in the work we do. This cuts down the time it takes finding that information from up to 5 minutes or more to seconds while increasing the confidence the customer has in Adaptic.”

Driving Business Growth Long-Term

Adaptic LLC's transformation showcases the power of advanced technology in driving business growth. By implementing Deltek Costpoint and integrating AI tools like Ask Dela and the MS Teams app, they streamlined operations, saved significant time, and enhanced productivity. This strategic investment not only boosted their bottom line but also improved employee satisfaction, demonstrating the long-term benefits of embracing innovation.