Companies can bill faster and more efficiently by using project management software that integrates or interoperates with Quickbooks accounting software. They can also bill more and increase revenue by using project management software to set-up of their projects and track time against specific tasks within those projects.
The interoperability or integration with Quickbooks means that book-keeping or accounting people don’t have to spend time entering in timesheet data from one system to the next. The timesheet information can be exported to Quickbooks accounting software, allowing for an invoice to be generated in a few simple steps.
Setting up specific tasks and projects in a project management software that integrates with accounting software means that its much easier for an account manager or accountant to see every single step that was taken to get a project done. Steps and time that were previously overlooked can be seen and billed.
Companies have experienced 90% gains in efficiency in billing by using project management software that works with Quickbooks, cutting down the amount of time it takes to bill a customer from 16 hours a month to less than two.
Companies have also experienced near 100% increases in revenue and billing by using project management software that integrates or interoperates with accounting software, catching time that was previously overlooked on projects.
So many things have to go right for projects to be delivered, its amazing that projects get done at all. Not to even speak of the near miracle status of an on-time or on-budget delivery.
No less a Hero than Hiro Nakamura from Yamagato Industries has to travel through time and space to make sure things go right on his project.
Most project managers don’t have this ability. Instead, a project manager has to rely on a unique combination of people skills, experience, communication and patience.
Even with perfect knowledge of what’s going to happen, Hiro Nakamura still needs to exercise hands-on control of critical project variables. He understands risks and manages them while the project is live and ongoing, during the control phase of project management.
This is a poorly publicized secret in project management.
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Thinking about buying collaborative project management software?
Have you outgrown Basecamp or are you looking for a replacement to Basecamp or a Basecamp like tool?
Here is a review which compares Basecamp to Vertabase Pro. It also provides a framework in which to evaluate Basecamp against other online or web-based project management solutions.
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Hiro Nakamura from NBC’s show Heroes has done the truly remarkable. The man from Yamagato Industries has broken all rules in project management and set new boundaries. Sure he can move time with his mind, bend the space time continuum and teleport. But yesterday he did something even more remarkable.
He executed a project using a comic book as the project plan.
Most project managers plan projects using some form of project management software or a Microsoft Project like tool. Even those that don’t use any project management software will, at least, use a spreadsheet like MS Excel to list all their tasks and keep note of their status. (These can get pretty complicated -as complicated as some project management software, with a variety of Excel Macros and built-in MS Excel functions set to automatically track and calculate the overall health of their projects.)
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YouTube would be a bad move for Google.
It is bad for shareholders since it makes Google less competitive on search since it provides a disincentive to make any advances in search technology. It also may create additional legal exposure for Google in terms of click-fraud lawsuits.
It is also bad for advertisers since it dilutes the value of Google’s ad distribution network. Advertisers are the life-blood of Google’s revenue model.
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Here is a rough translation of an internal memo to Hiro Nakamura (from NBC’s new television show Heroes). It is from the project management office of Yamagoto Industries.
While the PMO has been enthusiastically trying to recruit Hiro for a project management job, the memo points out two areas where Hiro needs to improve his project management skills.
These are lessons all project managers face.
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Thinking about buying collaborative project management software?
If you are benchmarking or comparing Microsoft Project to newer web-based project management software (like Vertabase Pro), here are 3 key factors to consider when reviewing this type of project management software.
1. Difference in Philosophy.
Microsoft Project’s philosophy keeps the traditional project management paradigm but patches the tool with collaborative features. It has many robust project planning and resource allocation tools. However, it is very much a project manager’s tool. It is geared towards people with training both in project management methods and in using Microsoft Project project management software itself.
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Does Google’s very economic model cause it to violate its principle to “do no evil?”
In all fairness, the same question could be asked of all automated ad distribution networks, not just Google’s Adwords program.
Looking at how the ad networks work, it seems that the more content there is on a subject (that is, the more popular or broad a keyword is), the more competition there will be for producers of that content to get noticed.
Therefore, producers will bid-up the price of an ad on that keyword. Is this the most efficient way for searchers to find relevant results?
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Bainbridge OMPG carries on an interesting exploration on the value of automated ad distribution networks to distribute ads across offline media. That is, does it make sense for advertisers to hire companies like Google, Yahoo or MSN to do their non-online media buying?
(Which brings up another question on how much media convergence is really valuable for brand advertisers -but that’ll have to wait for a different day).
The Bainbridge post talks in terms of relevancy and targeting.
Another angle to bring into the discussion is the supply of online content and the ease with which it can be created. While television channels have proliferated in the last two decades, and video content is ever finding new places to be viewed, it pales in comparison to the amount of content available on the web.
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For comic book fans, X-men fans and all around superhero fans in the project management community a hero has been born: Hiro Nakamura, the 24 year old sales salary-man for Yamagoto Industries in Tokyo, Japan.
Hiro is one of the main characters on NBC’s new show, Heroes. He would be a fantastic project manager.
His communication, risk management or people skills haven’t yet been revealed. But in terms of raw assets, this guy would be value-add to any process or project -from six sigma, to ISO to best practices, Agile, whatever. His super powers transcend project management methodology. They are project management black-belt in the rough.
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