Tåga employs 14 consultants who principally work on financial and OHAS assignments in and around the Swedish county of Norrbotten. Before switching to TimeLog, the company used another well-known online solution for time registration.
“However, our previous time registration system couldn’t integrate with Fortnox, which is the ERP system we use. This meant we had a horrible time trying to invoice our consultancy hours. I had to print out everything from the time registration system, and then use the hard copy lists to create all invoices manually in Fortnox,” explains Jessica Nilsson.
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Payroll operations were handled in a sister solution to the time registration system and even though the solutions were integrated, the process needed a lot of manual input, as Jessica Nilsson relates.
“I had to check all the salaries personally every month because mistakes could easily creep in. In addition, I found the program difficult and time-consuming to work with, and it took so many clicks to perform even the simplest of tasks.”
When Jessica Nilsson started working at Tåga in the summer of 2019, the company employed 12 consultants. Invoicing their consultancy hours took an entire day or more every month – with the payroll processing alone taking more than two hours.
“Above all, the invoicing situation was untenable; we simply had to do something about it as we were also planning to grow and take on more staff. I was convinced that there had to be a better solution than the one we were working with. While you can register time in Fortnox, that feature is mainly centred on reporting presence and absence. We needed deeper, more detailed insight than that, so I started checking out possible solutions,” relates Jessica Nilsson.
Tåga wanted to continue using Fortnox and had decided to start using the solution for payroll processes as well. So it was essential that the new time registration system could be integrated with Fortnox.
“Our owners gave me free rein to choose the most suitable solution, and in the end, I went with TimeLog. My decision was based on several small things – for example, that the software is straightforward, neat and clear,” recalls Jessica Nilsson.
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Faster and simpler financial reporting
Tåga has now been using TimeLog since autumn 2020, and Jessica Nilsson has found that the solution exceeds even her high expectations.
“Using TimeLog has helped us cut the time we spend on invoicing and payroll management by more than 75% – even though we employ more people now. What is more, our consultants find the program a lot simpler to work with than our previous solution, and our controller says that it is much quicker and easier than before to present the financial reports to our owners and at staff meetings.”
Moreover, the monthly invoicing routines are now largely automated and take up no more than two hours of Jessica Nilsson’s time.
“And when I say two hours, that includes everything: from checking that all employees have reported their hours correctly and that the projects look OK, to transferring all the invoicing documentation to Fortnox, from where I send and book the invoices. Some of our customers want us to specify what our consultants have done day by day, and for those customers I simply extract the reports from TimeLog and attach them to the invoices. This is included in the two hours I mentioned, too, so you can see that TimeLog helps me save a huge amount of time.”
Another important benefit is that all consultancy hours are now actually invoiced, as Jessica Nilsson explains.
“When you have to handle the invoicing routines manually, it’s easy to forget to fill in a value – which then isn’t included in the invoice. Through the TimeLog integration with Fortnox, everything is included automatically so we don’t forget to invoice hours any more.”
Faster payroll processing and less paper
Payroll processing is also largely automated now, so Jessica Nilsson only needs to devote around 30 minutes a month to this activity.
“I simply draw the payroll documentation from TimeLog and enter it into Fortnox. Then it’s just a matter of checking it through to make sure it looks OK. After that, the salaries are ready. It’s incredibly efficient.”
The automation has cut paper consumption dramatically in the contexts of both payroll processing and invoicing.
“Before we started using TimeLog, I had to print out stacks of paper, which we then had to store somewhere. That’s all in the past now.”
Jessica Nilsson relates that it was quick and simple to start using TimeLog.
“We had three workshops with TimeLog’s implementation consultants to go through the settings we needed to enter – after that, we were up and running. Since then, I’ve only called their support department once. TimeLog is clear and simple to use, and you don’t need a degree in computer science to work with it.”
Integrating TimeLog and Fortnox was quick and easy as well, thanks to the standardised API.
“We worked with the TimeLog consultants to integrate the invoicing and payroll systems, and it was incredibly simple: a couple of clicks and everything was ready. The integration has run smoothly ever since. It’s not uncommon for integrations to turn into train wrecks, but this one ran sweetly from start to finish.”
Jessica Nilsson is delighted with TimeLog and cannot see any drawbacks at all with the solution.
“I have just one suggestion for improvement: it’d be great if you could set the system up to make sure that the documentation some customers want attached to their invoices is carried over automatically from TimeLog to Fortnox.”
TimeLog is constantly developing the platform and has recently invested in an even bigger development department, and the new functions that the company is creating are the ones that customers are asking for. Jessica Nilsson therefore hopes that the company will soon accommodate her request.
The best advice Jessica Nilsson has for financial staff at other consultancy companies is to switch to TimeLog.
“TimeLog is an excellent program. I’ve saved a huge amount of time and there’s no reason not to do it. If you have ten or more employees, the administration can soon start to take up a lot of time. I don’t just work with our in-house finances, I’m a consultant too – so when I have more time, that means we can bring in more customers,” she says.