Is your organization struggling with the manual, error-prone process of cross-charging costs between departments, business units, or projects? Managing inter-project financials can be a complex web of spreadsheets, emails, and reconciliation headaches.
ConnectPlans 360, as part of the Microsoft Preferred (PPM) solution to manage cross charge, provides a robust, centralized platform to bring clarity, accuracy, and automation to your cross-charge processes. Move beyond guesswork and implement a seamless, auditable system for internal cost allocation.
Instead of simply assigning a named resource, you can formally "engage" them from a central resource pool to a specific project. Assign these cost resources to tasks and input the exact amount to be charged. This allows you to track and allocate non-labor expenses directly to the consuming project, ensuring every cost is captured and billed correctly.
Instead of simply assigning a named resource, you can formally "engage" them from a central resource pool to a specific project. This engagement captures their negotiated cost rate for that specific work or a set cost rate. The project manager requesting the resource knows the exact cost upfront, and the resource's home department can accurately bill for their time. All financial data is tracked in ConnectPlans 360. .
Connect Plans 360 gives the ability to planning and scheduling tools to create custom fields to tag categorize and assign the work to the resource. ConnectPlans 360 provides out of box configuration ability to create lookup table for Internal Charge Codes or Department Codes. .
All resources submit their time against project tasks through a unified timesheet interface. This is the engine of the process. Submitted time is automatically translated into actual costs based on the resource's engagement rate. This data becomes the single source of truth for what to charge, eliminating disputes over hours worked and manually collated timesheets.
ConnectPlan 360's data can be easily visualised and exported from Power BI. Create real-time dashboards that show cross-charge summaries by department, project, or cost type. Finance teams can monitor outstanding charges, project managers can track their budgets, and department heads can see their cost allocations at a glance.
Use built-in or custom workflows to manage the approval process for resource engagements and timesheets. This Ensures that no time is billed without proper approval. An automated workflow can require a project manager to approve a timesheet before the costs are finalized, adding a layer of financial control and validation.
Enhanced Budgetary Control
ConnectPlans 360 provides a clear and granular breakdown of all expenses incurred for a specific project.
Understanding where project funds are being spent allows for more informed decisions about resource allocation.
Accurate Profitability Analysis
For projects that are revenue-generating, accurate cost charging is crucial for determining true profitability.
Informed Decision-Making
With precise cost data at their fingertips, project managers and stakeholders can make more strategic and data-driven decisions.
Facilitates Performance Measurement
Project cost charging serves as a critical metric for evaluating project performance.
Supports Client Billing and Invoicing
For projects undertaken for external clients, accurate cost charging is fundamental for transparent and correct billing.
