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The Federal Aviation
Administration’s (FAA) Information Media Division realized
in September 1999 that it needed a much improved method for
tracking projects, resources and expenses.
Specifically, the division’s print and multimedia
departments determined that project time was not being
tracked or allocated as efficiently as possible through
existing software.
Proper billing of time is critical because the departments
are operating under the franchise authority and, therefore,
must recover their costs. This was an especially
important requirement for the multimedia department, which
produces training and safety videos for the Department of
Transportation and other government agencies.
The FAA reviewed several
software packages, looking for a solution that would offer
precise cost accounting, and selected BillQuick, from BQE
Software, Inc., in Torrance, Calif.
BillQuick is
one of the most powerful timecard and project management
tools on the market. It is designed with a complete
open architecture that makes add-ons and custom modules
possible to greatly enhance and customize the product’s
features. Benefits include reduced overhead, more
accurate time tracking and increased revenue.
A key benefit
the multimedia group, which relies heavily on BillQuick, has
now realized is that it can effectively track billable hours
to recover costs and to isolate pre-, post-, and production
phase hours associated with its videos. With
BillQuick, the department creates budgets, tracks time and
expenses, produces budget comparison and other project
management reports, generates invoices and tracks funding
against projects.
The FAA is
delighted with its choice of BillQuick, because it is a
cost-effective and easy to use solution that enables the
multimedia department to track funds against various
organizations, with usage by quarter.
The
department’s customers, other government agencies, now
benefit from much more accurate estimates and efficiencies
because project costs, such as expenses and travel time,
have been tracked much more effectively.
The
multimedia department’s projects include videos covering
subjects such as training for flight instructors, human
physiology (e.g. what happens when a pilot goes into a
spin), survival in hostile environments, seat belt usage,
the effects of white light from snow on pilots in Alaska and
flight over national parks.
BillQuick Overview
BillQuick enables billing based on criteria such as
fixed fee, time and expense, hourly billing, hourly billing
with a “not to exceed” amount and contractual billing, based
on percentage and/or progress payments of a fixed fee.
Users of the product include architects, engineers, computer
consultants, attorneys, system integrators, management
consultants, programmers, designers, accountants, and many
others.
The product
also accommodates project phasing, especially important to
the FAA’s multimedia group, and billing against retainers.
Users can track time and expenses and create in-depth
analysis reports to track project and office profitability.
At a base package price starting at $395, the solution is a
fraction of competitive offerings.
Time-tracking
also is a key consideration of the FAA’s multimedia
department. With BillQuick, users can enter time in as
little as three keystrokes. The program will review
the client data and bill intelligently at the appropriate
time. The Time Card module gives employees full access
to enter their time directly into the system, while limiting
their access to confidential information.
Because the
FAA’s multimedia group serves numerous government agencies
with customized videos, it is important that billing rates
can be assigned to any combination of project, activity or
employee and that reports, statements and invoices are
completely customizable. This customization is
possible in BillQuick through Seagate’s Crystal Reports.
Some of BillQuick’s key features include:
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Window 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000
and XP compatible
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Microsoft® Access & SQL Server
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Web enabled
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PDA enabled-Palm/Pocket PC
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Email Time Cards
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Automatic detection of
incomplete time cards
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Email invoices
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QuickBooks® Integration
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Dozens of standard reports at
a mouse click
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Users level access control for
network security
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Data exchange with popular
databases and spreadsheets
About BQE
Founded in 1995, BQE’s flagship product, BillQuick, was
introduced in May 1996. Initially used by architects
and engineers, BillQuick has been adopted by virtually every
type of service professional, as a result of the product’s
unmatched features and flexibility. The company
continues to lead the consulting industry by embracing new
technologies and offering innovative features. For
more information, visit
www.bqe.com.
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