An Epic Search For A Time And Expense Solution Ends With DATABASICS

International development has its complexities. Projects and personnel are constantly changing. New countries are added to the roster while others are retired. And tracking time and expenses across multiple countries isn’t easy, especially when trying to address global and local requirements.

TechnoServe is a leading nonprofit organization operating in 30 countries that works to fight poverty by helping people build regenerative farms, businesses, and markets that increase incomes. Since 1968, TechnoServe has helped millions to create lasting prosperity for their families and communities.

The organization, based in Arlington, Va., struggled with complexities such as local compliance and correlating spending to specific projects and funds. In addition, it has a complex billing structure where it bills time to a department or responsibility center, and then to a fund code, and finally to an award restriction for each of the countries where it is currently engaged.

TechnoServe developed its own time and PTO system in 2010.

“It worked fine, but as the organization grew, our application became more difficult to use and maintain. So we started to look for a solution that can meet our needs and grow with us.”

- Jim McKinney, Senior Director, Global ICT at TechnoServe

TechnoServe spent several years looking for the right time and expense solution. But due to the complexity of its project-based accounting and distributed geography, it was difficult to find one.

“Time tracking is so critical for us because we have more than 100 projects, and time spent on each project must be allocated to the correct project. Likewise, we need to track expenses to those same projects carefully. Due to the complexity of time and expense allocations, we wanted one system to do both.”

- Jim McKinney, Senior Director, Global ICT at TechnoServe

Other features important to TechnoServe include better controls and the ability to automate compliance. It also needed to capture transactions in all currencies where it operates and configure foreign exchange to meet its policies.

“We chose DATABASICS because of its flexibility and because it has both time and expense, which was one of our requirements.”

- Jim McKinney, Senior Director, Global ICT at TechnoServe

The mobile app was also a factor in the decision. With so many people on the road, the ability to enter time while traveling was a big plus.

In evaluating solutions, TechnoServe had a hard time finding one that would meet its integration needs.

“Integration is important for us, where we can manage integrations ourselves and push the data out because our data changes so dramatically, both people and our accounting dimensions.”

- Jim McKinney, Senior Director, Global ICT at TechnoServe

These daily data changes need to be reflected in its other software. TechnoServe gets extracts from time and vacation and has complex GL and AP extracts that require different integrations. The organization needed the ability to load this data into its Serenic Navigator ERP software.

“With DATABASICS we can tailor these data flows.”

- Jim McKinney, Senior Director, Global ICT at TechnoServe

Implementing DATABASICS Time was easy and straightforward. McKinney says “Our change management was pretty low, which I think speaks to DATABASICS’ ease of use.”

When TechnoServe rolled out DATABASICS Time across the whole organization at once, McKinney says the transition was incredibly smooth. “I didn’t get any complaints. It just worked,” he adds.

Implementing DATABASICS Expense took more time because TechnoServe had to analyze the different statutory accounting requirements in each country. The organization rolled out DATABASICS Expense first in the United States, then implemented it in each country individually, a process that’s nearly complete.

“The beauty of DATABASICS is that it’s flexible enough to meet the requirements of individual countries.”

- Jim McKinney, Senior Director, Global ICT at TechnoServe

TechnoServe went live with DATABASICS Time in February 2020 with a successful mass global launch to about 1,800 users in 30 countries. In May 2020, the organization began a gradual implementation of DATABASICS Expense, starting with the United States, and then to other countries individually, giving the organization time to customize reports for each country’s laws and accounting standards.

One of TechnoServe’s biggest accomplishments in deploying DATABASICS software was the ability to configure it for its complex accounting structure and diverse geography without modifications to the applications. In addition, the organization seamlessly integrated DATABASICS with its HRIS system automating updates for its constantly changing accounting dimensions, making DATABASICS very easy to maintain.

DATABASICS has been embraced by end users due largely to its intuitive user interface, its multiple language capability and its simple system administration.

“The finance and program users are really excited. The mobile application has been really well received by the field team.”

- Smitha Allapat, TechnoServe’s Senior Director of Finance

DATABASICS’s tight integration with Serenic Navigator is making TechnoServe more efficient because accountants don’t need to manually rekey information from a time tracking application into the ERP software. After end users enter their time into DATABASICS Time, and the organization’s accountants review and approve time entries, DATABASICS automatically exports the results to Serenic Navigator. Data accuracy is also improved.

“It’s a huge benefit for us. Everyone is doing time more quickly, and we spend less time tracking people down. There’s been significant time savings for everyone.”

- Jim McKinney, Senior Director, Global ICT at TechnoServe

In addition, McKinney says his data engineer was spending three quarters of his time manually maintaining the homegrown time portal. Once the integrations were in place, DATABASICS completely freed him up for other projects. McKinney says that in 2022, when DATABASICS is fully implemented, TechnoServe expects to see maximum efficiency with many people’s time freed up.

“The interface is perfect, and as we roll it out to our countries, it’s very easy for people to learn and understand the system.”

- Smitha Allapat, TechnoServe’s Senior Director of Finance

And, she reports that the monthly close process for countries has been reduced and the home office is able to generate financials faster for each country.

Working with DATABASICS has been a smooth process, and McKinney says, “TechnoServe has had a great experience. The implementation team was excellent, and customer support has been top-notch. I would highly recommend DATABASICS to any organization similar to TechnoServe.”

Allapat says that she would also recommend DATABASICS.