Time registration-based reports for the EU
Erhvervhus Sjælland chose TimeLog for keeping track of their time registrations in connection with EU funding and reporting.
Torben Kristensen, Growth Consultant at Erhvervhus Sjælland, explains: “In an organisation like ours, government funding is the sole source of income. As such, incorrect EU reporting can lead to us missing out on funding – and our livelihood.”
Consultancy for small companies
At Erhvervhus Sjælland, they offer a range of aid projects, particularly at regional level. They visit up to 500 companies a year who have joined events and/or completed projects with a consultant from Væksthus Sjælland. The primary aim is to provide small companies with a means to kick-start their business, and to offer optimisation and bankruptcy consultancy for companies struck by the recession. Erhvervhus Sjælland also helps small and medium-sized companies of 2–20 employees to draw up business strategies and development processes.
“When I meet with other businesses whom I feel could benefit from the tools in TimeLog, I don’t hesitate to recommend the system,” Torben relates. “I have done so before and will again.”
Using TimeLog, budget figures are brought down to employee levels, which is a brilliant feature.
Measures working hours in real time
Previously, Erhvervhus Sjælland collected detailed timesheets – on physical sheets as well as by using severely outdated time registration software. “The problem was that the hours came in too late, so we had no time to react to overruns or underutilised hours,” Torben explains.
“This led to double work, as the employees had to track time in several places, and checking excess hours against target hours was confusing. It simply wasn’t clear for the employees or for us as leaders. Using TimeLog, budget figures are brought down to employee levels, which is a brilliant feature,” says a thrilled Torben.
The paper tiger revealed
“As regards EU projects, work hours need to be meticulously registered. You, also need to provide documentation on the hourly rates of all employees involved. The EU point of view is that project participation subtracts time from an employee’s usual work, i.e. time multiplied by hourly rate for company investments,” Torben explains, adding:
“TimeLog has helped us to manage our projects by keeping track of this necessary documentation. Every six months, we submit complete project documentation of our working hours in order to receive our funds. Talk about your paper tiger! TimeLog has increased the efficiency of our time registration by 20%”
Keen on specific EU reports
Reporting to public authorities isn’t the only benefit of working with a specific business system: project managers and management have new and improved tools as well. However, Torben still believes the system can be further utilised. As of now, all three sister organisations (Copenhagen, Sjælland and Southern Denmark) have embraced TimeLog in their everyday work with reporting internally as well as externally.
“The features allowing us to keep track of our projects and ‘traffic light’ colour codes for initiatives [project factor], all tied in with our underlying finances, salary cost analyses, etc., is a strong foundation for us to realise our goals,” Torben concludes.
