Retain Resource Planning Software

The Retain portfolio of resource planning software is ideally suited to departments where there are valuable resources to manage. It resembles the familiar manual wall chart booking system, and has a user-friendly graphical interface.

Retain is available in a number of editions, enabling you to plan from 10 staff to 10,000 staff. The Retain application features a built-in database for job costing and revenue forecasting which provides automatically updated fee/cost analyses. Other features include an integrated report writer to enable you to construct your own reports and data fields that can be tailored to your requirements. Retain can be linked to your existing time recording system or to our Retain Time time recording module to provide complete control over staffing.

Maximise utilization of staff resources to achieve optimum efficiency and, ultimately, profitability.

The Retain portfolio of resource planning software is ideally suited to departments where there are valuable resources to manage. It resembles the familiar manual wall chart booking system, and has a user-friendly graphical interface.

Retain is available in a number of editions, enabling you to plan from 10 staff to 10,000 staff. The Retain application features a built-in database for job costing and revenue forecasting which provides automatically updated fee/cost analyses. Other features include an integrated report writer to enable you to construct your own reports and data fields that can be tailored to your requirements. Retain can be linked to your existing time recording system or to our Retain Time time recording module to provide complete control over staffing.

Maximise utilization of staff resources to achieve optimum efficiency and, ultimately, profitability.

Timesheet Completion
In RetainTime, a timesheet is displayed for of each resource, for a predetermined time period. This can be filled in at any time, daily, weekly or monthly.

This timesheet already contains some data, although its status is ‘Incomplete’. You can add a task to the timesheet by selecting it from the drop-down list at the top left of the timesheet.

To enter time, just click on the cell that represents the relevant task and day, and enter in the desired number of hours.

You can also use the following options in respect of timesheets:

• There is an additional drop-down list in the timesheet screen, called task components. It is possible to set up RetainTime so that components are displayed against each timesheet row and so analyse the time recorded against tasks in greater detail.
  
  
• ‘Copy previous’ - copies tasks defined in the previous month’s timesheet into the current timesheet;
  
  
• ‘Get planned tasks’ - copies in planned tasks from Retain
  
  
  

Timesheet administration
You may wish to keep track of the status of timesheets submitted by your staff. For example, you may need to make sure that timesheets are always completed on time and that they are approved by someone with the appropriate authority. RetainTime helps you do this. In a networked environment, it can even allow your users to submit, review and authorise timesheets ‘on-line’.

Reports
By using your databases of resources and tasks, RetainTime can analyse how people have recorded their time in various ways.

Managers can run reports to analyse the time spent on tasks and projects and turn this into costs based on staff hourly rates. If being used with Retain, comparisons of the planned time and cost can be made.

Efficiency
RetainTime reduces the amount of time spent re-keying timesheet information into systems and removes the need for paper timesheets. Staff key their timesheet information directly into the timesheet system. Timesheets are still approved by managers before they are fully accepted into the system.

Monitoring your costs
Managers can review the timesheet information in a number of ways that paper based timesheet systems do not allow. In particular, the cost of projects can be tracked closely with RetainTime using the integrated reports. ‘Drill down’ reporting allows the reports to be viewed in more details.

Learning from your experience
The historic information in RetainTime can be used to aid the planning and budgeting of new projects. One of the biggest benefits of RetainTime is that it allows the comparison of the historic time spent with the original plans held in Retain, if you are using both products.

Access rights
Where RetainTime is used in a networked environment, staff can use the software directly from their own PCs, to fill out their timesheets, review and authorise timesheets, run reports and carry out various administrative functions. Access to the different functions in RetainTime is controlled by allocating each resource the required access levels. The capabilities of each access level can be customised using a separate set-up program, but the default levels are:

• Timesheet only - ability to enter own timesheet only
  
  
• Manager - can perform authorisation functions and edit all timesheets
  
  
• Administrator - can perform all functions, including database administration and security.
  
  
  

Remote timesheet entry
RetainTime is mainly designed for use on your network as a shared centralised application, using the TCP/IP protocol. However, for stand-alone PCs not connected to the network, timesheets are generated as Excel files that can be emailed to the center for import to the main database.