FAQs

Running a specialist contracting business is no easy task and there are a number of potential pitfalls within every project.

Here are some of the questions which we regularly get asked – and which econsys can solve. But if you have a question which we haven’t answered then get in touch

What can econsys do to make my business more resilient in such a volatile industry?

Changing the way that you work will naturally help your business to become more resilient and that’s exactly what econsys will do. The introduction of a defined workflow together with access to a detailed overview of all of your contracts and essential data will ensure that you never miss anything. A further benefit of econsys is its ability to act as a GRC (Governance, Risk Management and Compliance) software package. With its ability to aggregate numerous spreadsheets and standard office applications in one place, this provides access to consistent and recognisable information which can be used by the entire team to manage contracts on a daily basis and highlight problems as soon as they arise.

BUSINESS RESILIENCE

How will econsys help me to understand how my business is performing?

Easily accessible, empirical data that will enable you to analyse and understand how your business is performing. The type of information which you can expect to find includes:

  • Quote to order ratios per client, salesperson, consultant
  • Project margin, payment and progress performance
  • Resource and cash-flow forecasting

In fact, wherever there is data, econsys can generate an analytical report.

REAL TIME INSIGHTS

How will econsys help me to encourage co-operation between the various parts of my business?

At the very heart of econsys is the ability to drive co-operation within a business through every step of the project whether that is through direct co-operation at the sales stage, through engineering or commercial quote review or through order acceptance where the sales, commercial and operational teams analyse the information received and attend to the appropriate tasks. Co-operation is cultivated by econsys every step of the way through the availability of live data for each project.

WORKFLOW

How can I get regular and consistent project progress reports from project teams?

The Project Progress Report generator within econsys is a fully configurable embedded template for use by the Project Lead. Users are prompted to generate and submit reports in line with the business or project rules – these can then be accessed by the management team driving consistency and prompt reporting.

INTELLIGENT USER ASSISTANCE

How can I minimise risk at the order acceptance stage?

Order acceptance is core to the success of every contracting business. What you agree at this stage will affect the project throughout its lifecycle. Proven commercial and contractual good practice is used by econsys to guide you through the process of receiving, reviewing and responding to Purchase Orders, Subcontracts, Letters of Intent, emailed requests to commence and even verbal requests to commence. By following the flows applicable to each, your company’s exposure to risk will be greatly reduced and your margins protected.

BUSINESS RESILIENCE

How do I get requests for payment (applications and invoices) submitted on time, every time and in the correct format?

The key payment details are captured within econsys prior to commencement of the work together with any client formatting requirements. Standard company documentation and templates are also embedded into the software to ensure consistency of use and to greatly reduce compliance issues. The user is then prompted by econsys whenever action is required ensuring that key dates, such as submission or notice dates are not missed.

INTELLIGENT USER ASSISTANCE

What can I do to become more time efficient when it comes to retrieving business and project critical information?

The amount, and type of information which can be uploaded and accessed via econsys ensures that you are only ever two clicks away from vital business critical project documentation.

REAL TIME INSIGHTS

How can I ensure I get paid for increased costs arising from the project being delayed?

It is not uncommon for projects to continue past the original end date or for disruption to occur and both of these situations can lead to an increase in costs. econsys allows you to confirm a baseline plan for each job and as the project progresses, the user is prompted to review the baseline plan against actual progress. Through regular review, areas of concern are identified early and action can be taken to mitigate against the increased costs caused by delays.

BUSINESS RESILIENCE

WORKFLOW

How can econsys help me to ensure my retention money is paid?

Your ability to ensure the prompt and full payment of a retention is greatly improved by having the critical information available and one of the key benefits of econsys is its ability to pick up a retention within the Order Acceptance stage. The software drives Practical Completion confirmation which in turn will help with the recovery of the first moiety of retention. It will then log the value and date of release of the second moiety payment and the user can set alerts to prompt the relevant personnel within the business to chase this money when it becomes due.

INTELLIGENT USER ASSISTANCE

How do I integrate econsys with existing systems, processes and documentation?

Integration with third-party applications for data import, synchronisation, and more is simple as econsys supports standard SOAP protocol and any system supporting REST API can be easily integrated for both data extraction and data ingestion. Where you have no API support from third-party applications, econsys supports integration through standard Import/export in a .csv format. Custom APIs can also be generated to support data extraction and ingestion.

THE IDEA BEHIND ECONSYS