Question: As an IT Consultant with people already working as many hours as they can, how can I make more money without adding overhead or needing to find new clients?

Answer: The short answer is -bill faster.

Most IT Consulting shops have thousands of dollars of free cash bottled-up in unbilled time.  The problem is either:

• Technicians have been on-site, done the work but haven’t reported their time or
• Their time has been entered but it takes a long time for someone to re-key that time in Quickbooks or another accounting package so that it can be billed to the client.

As a recent case study from Network Consulting Services shows, Vertabase project management software can help.

• The online timesheets make it easy for technicians to enter in their time;
• Exporting to Quickbooks is a snap with Vertabase project management software and;
• Detailed time reports for each client or job can be printed directly from Vertabase or exported as PDF’s or Excel spreadsheets.

Here is an excerpt from the case study about online timesheets:

“The principal distinction between Vertabase 4 and the numerous other software solutions that we tried is ease-of-use,” said Brian Zifkin, Sales Manager, NCS. “Efficient pull-down menus eliminate the need to type and a Web-based interface means that time sheets may be sent from any location. It’s amazing how much more streamlined our billing process has become since we introduced Vertabase 4. And, more importantly, simplified billing has led directly to accelerated cash flow.”

“With operations and clients across several states, we provide hardware, software, infrastructure and support to our clients largely in the manufacturing and medical sectors. With about 25 projects on-going at any given time, time-tracking is essential to our success. In the past, one of our biggest challenges was getting our technicians to track their time punctually. It was a hassle. Until now, no other software solution worked to our satisfaction. We’ve streamlined our billing and accelerated our cash flow - all because Vertabase 4 is so easy to use,” Mr. Zifkin concluded.

The Midwest Technology Leaders conference hit a home run this year with the quality of the people it drew.  I’m talking about the CIO’s, Directors of IT and most excitingly the IT entrepreneurs, those small business people who have slugged out an IT business in Michigan and have continued to grow.

Frankly, this was a group of people I didn’t know existed in the area (and I’ve been here for 11 years). I saw a slue of these companies come into existence during the .com boom but after the implosion, the landscape seemed dead.  Seeing these people all in one room, talking to them -all still hungry,  seasoned and focused on growth, created a buzz that I haven’t felt in Michigan in a long time.

I’ve attend conferences and business meetings across the America’s, felt the buzz and creativity in other cities. Attending this event opened the door for a perception change about this region. 

And what is the secret to this event, what brought these people out of the woodwork? The credit’s got to go to the people behind the scenes who dreamed it and made it happen (people -and not organizations), specifically,  Tracy Ann-Palmer. She launched the symposium and benchmarked it with leadership conferences from around the world. Thank you Tracy-Ann for brining the vision to this area.

This year, Tracy-Ann, had another powerhouse behind the scense to make it happen and up the energy level even more: Cindy Eggleton from CERB Associates.

I talked to many people there and the consensus seemed to be the same. I don’t know how they did it or what it is, but this year more than others, the event inspired and energized those who participated to reach farther and grow further -no small feat in Michigan today.

BTW, the location rocked, the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. Who knew we had such a gem of conference facility in the area?