AMERICAN SYSTEMS Saves Big by Accelerating Time Entry

Transforming time entry efficiency

Efficiency is crucial for any business, but for government services contractors like AMERICAN SYSTEMS, finding ways to continually streamline operations is paramount to their growth and success. AMERICAN SYSTEMS has been dedicated to delivering strategic solutions to complex national priority programs since 1975. Based in Chantilly, Virginia, their mission is to enable their customers to accomplish their goals successfully by applying diverse and innovative teams of IT and Engineering professionals. They key to helping their customers achieve success has been by modelling a continuous journey to optimize their own operations. But as one of the largest employee-owned companies in the United States, basic operations like entering time need to be streamlined as much as possible to avoid obstructing cash flow. Simplifying this process for 1,600 users is the key to ensuring that every user can efficiently submit their time daily and return to other more important tasks. As a Deltek Cloud customer since 2018, AMERICAN SYSTEMS already had Costpoint Time & Expense in place to ensure time is captured appropriately and attributed to each project accurately, but when they upgraded to Costpoint’s most recent release in June 2024, they seized the opportunity to transform time entry efficiency by utilizing the latest interactive email functionality.

Taking Time Submission to Another Level

For government services contractors like AMERICAN SYSTEMS, accurate timekeeping ensures compliance with standards such as the FAR and DFARS as required by the DCAA. Proper tracking prevents misallocated costs and non-compliance, avoiding penalties, contract termination, or disallowed costs during audits. Accurate records enhance billing efficiency and maintain audit readiness, which safeguards operations as well as reputation. Which is why it was so important for AMERICAN SYSTEMS to streamline the time entry process for every user, giving them more ways to enter time that better fit the way each person likes to work which ensures greater adherence.

Before implementing the adaptive cards feature in Costpoint, which enables users to submit time via interactive emails in Microsoft Outlook, employees at AMERICAN SYSTEMS were required to log their time into Costpoint or the Costpoint T&E mobile app once a day. Additionally, the Costpoint system sent three floor-check reminders daily to ensure all timesheets were submitted and associated project costs were captured. While this process accomplished its goal, it still placed the responsibility on users to launch the time mobile app or use a browser for time entry. The firm needed a more efficient solution to simplify the time entry process for users.

Making Time Entry an Afterthought with Interactive Emails in Costpoint

Enter Costpoint's interactive emails. This innovative functionality allowed employees to complete their timesheets directly from email reminders that were automatically scheduled to show up in a user’s inbox once a day, eliminating the need to log into a separate system and shifting the responsibility to remember to submit their time off the user’s plate. Moreover, AMERICAN SYSTEMS employs the Costpoint app for Microsoft Teams that can be enabled as part of Costpoint’s second quarterly release of 2024, which enables the use of the same adaptive message technology to submit time from Teams as well. Srinivas Rautwar, Director of IT Operations at AMERICAN SYSTEMS, noticed the change in his firm’s process by bringing this daily task directly to the applications where users are already working. "Adaptive cards streamlined time submission to the point where it became second nature to employees,” Rautwar said. “We give them the option to get reminders via email or Teams and employees get to choose what works best for them. Many of them, like me, have chosen to get reminders in both places.”

Achieving Significant Time Savings and Efficiency

The impact of submitting time via Microsoft Outlook and Teams was immediate and profound. Employees quickly embraced the new capability, appreciating its simplicity and efficiency. Srinivas noticed a massive improvement in efficiency. "Entering time via interactive email using adaptive cards takes about 10-15 seconds, compared to at least a minute when using a browser. For 1,600 employees, this results in significant time savings."

Expanding the Use of Innovative Technology in Costpoint

Encouraged by the success of interactive emails for time submission, AMERICAN SYSTEMS plans to expand their use into additional processes and Costpoint domains. They are currently testing the purchase requisition workflow approval process and plan to enable adaptive cards for that functionality as well.

As AMERICAN SYSTEMS continues to explore Costpoint’s latest innovative features, they are currently investigating the benefits that Dela™, Deltek’s AI-powered digital companion, can provide. AMERICAN SYSTEMS is exploring how Ask Dela, Costpoint’s digital assistant, can bring even more efficiency to end users by allowing them to ask questions about projects and contracts and get answers or summarized information in a matter of seconds without having to search for the information manually.

Revolutionizing Business Processes with Costpoint

Costpoint's interactive emails have revolutionized the way AMERICAN SYSTEMS handles time submission and has the potential to do so for more of their business processes.

By simplifying and streamlining these tasks, the firm has achieved greater efficiency and productivity. AMERICAN SYSTEMS is just one example of a Costpoint customer enjoying the tangible benefits of entering time through Outlook and Teams, and illustrating how the adaptive cards functionality is invaluable for any organization looking to optimize their operations.