By Jeff Barger, Business Analyst, TMP Worldwide
Summary: TMP Worldwide is the global leader in talent acquisition and digital strategy recruitment advertising. In industries from healthcare to government to retail to technology and more, TMP Worldwide is committed to finding new ways to leverage software, strategy, and creative to enhance its clients’ brands—and revolutionize the way companies and candidates connect.
Processes Now Online, Automated and Integrated
For a long time TMP Worldwide was heavily print based. But as things started to move online, we needed to digitally transform our business to compete more effectively and participate in things like search engine optimization and online job postings.
We had—and still have today —many internal systems that our account executives and sales people use. So, when we were deciding upon a system for project accounting and creative-based projects, it was important for us to choose an online system that allowed us to tie back into those existing systems and processes. That’s exactly what we found with Deltek. With Deltek, we now have a system that's enabled us to automate and bring online processes that were manual and paper based and to integrate them with our other online systems.
Since implementing Deltek, we’ve seen a range of benefits from faster and more efficient invoicing to better companywide time tracking to more consolidated, project-based communication.
TMP Worldwide Improved Time Tracking, Invoicing and Cash Flow with Deltek
Dramatic Improvements to Efficiency and Cash Flow
We’ve realized tremendous efficiencies in our new invoicing system, starting with the invoice approval process. As with many of our other processes, our invoicing process had been paper-based. Draft invoices had to be printed, sent to accounting for mark-up, sent back, re-created, approved, and so forth before being sent to the customer. With Deltek, we’ve eliminated nearly all of the manual, paper-based processes.
Now, when we create a job within the system, we can easily create an associated invoice and send that invoice through an automated workflow that goes through finance, the account team, and any other departments where approvals are required. By eliminating manual processes we’ve been able to deliver invoices to clients much faster—which has dramatically improved our cash flow.
Another benefit we’ve realized, that we did not necessarily anticipate, was the ability to consolidate communication. In the past, our collaboration was quite decentralized. For example, there was a lot of back and forth email communication regarding invoices, which resided on different people’s computers. Now, everything is centralized within one system and captured against the invoice within the system, including comments and approvals. It’s a much more efficient process—which is a huge benefit.
One System for Time Tracking Improves Visibility and Accuracy
The area where we’ve seen the most benefit is in our time tracking. One of the reasons we chose Deltek was that it gives everyone in the company the ability to enter their time into a single system. Previously, our creative and account management services teams were entering time in separate systems. This was problematic because there was no way to merge the two systems or to apply account management services to the project being serviced.
Now with Deltek, we are able to apply time from both teams to the same job. This gives us a more holistic view of the actual hours already worked for each project. This visibility also enables us to improve the accuracy of our cost estimates for each project.
Another benefit Deltek provides that cannot be overlooked is its customer service. The customer service that we experience from Deltek is exceptional. If you are considering Deltek, you can be confident that they won’t just sell you a product, implement it, and then disappear. Deltek has worked with us every step of the way, and they continue to work with us. When we suggest customizations—things that would benefit other companies as well as our own—Deltek is very receptive. It's been a fantastic working relationship. We don't see Deltek as just a vendor; we really see them as a partner.
About the Author
As Business Analyst for TMP Worldwide, Jeff Barger works with various groups throughout the organization to identify areas of improvement for systems, business processes, workflows and reporting to increase overall productivity. With over 14 years of experience, he plans and executes all aspects of new software releases for internal systems while providing technical and operational support for end users. For more information on TMP Worldwide, visit www.tmp.com/
