David Kelly Partnership Improves Time Recording and Financial Control Through Smarter Project Management

David Kelly Partnership uses Milient's Project Flow, previously known as Rapport3.

In 2016, David Kelly Partnership began looking for a new system to address challenges around timesheets, fee proposals and project accounting. Their previous software made time recording cumbersome, leading to poor adoption, while project cost tracking, invoicing and debtor management were becoming increasingly difficult to manage.

As Gráinne Scully, Office Manager, explains: “We were looking for a new solution to allow staff to record their time (our previous software required many clicks and people were not inclined to use it). We also needed assistance with developing costs for fee proposals and tracking project costs, as well as issuing invoices and tracking aged debtors.”

Choosing Milient

The team carried out thorough research into available solutions, including attending software demonstrations, before making their decision.

Gráinne recalls: “We looked at a couple of different options before choosing Project Flow and were impressed with the demonstration provided. The software interface, especially for timesheet entry, was particularly appealing.”

Project Flow’s ease of use — particularly for timesheets — was a key differentiator, helping ensure staff engagement and consistent data capture across the practice.

Benefits of Milient

David Kelly Partnership selected Project Flow’s core Project Costing module, which covers administrative, project costing, and project accounting requirements. With dashboards displaying QA, timesheets, resource planning, budgeting, expenses and team management, the system enabled the team to work more efficiently and with greater confidence.

QA functionality was especially valuable given the practice’s ISO 9001 accreditation, providing a clear overview of project conformance and ensuring quality processes were consistently followed.

Project Flow has also significantly improved financial visibility and accuracy.

Gráinne explains: “Tracking debtors and forecasting billing has become much easier. With regular checks on active projects that lack a billing plan, we are less likely to miss out on claiming fees for smaller projects. We have also found that our calculation of Work in Progress figures at year-end is much more accurate, as well as being much easier!”

Timesheet compliance has also improved dramatically:

“The simplicity of the timesheet entry means that completion levels are much higher, which is helping us to accurately review actual costs on a project-by-project basis.''

Integration and Support

While David Kelly Partnership were able to rely on VPNs and remote desktop connections during periods of home working, Project Flow’s web-based nature provided additional reassurance.

Gráinne notes: “If we did not have that functionality, the fact that Project Flow is web-based would definitely be a major bonus. If we had had to work from home before taking on Project Flow, I would have struggled with employee claims for expenses.”

Ongoing support has been another major strength of the partnership.

“The customer service team is absolutely fantastic, and I cannot praise them highly enough. The level of response is amazingly high, and if my query cannot be resolved immediately, I am never left waiting long with regular updates provided in the interim.”

Looking Ahead

David Kelly Partnership see a significant opportunity to continue unlocking further value from Project Flow as they grow.

“I feel we have only begun to tap into the full capability and functionality that Project Flow has to offer.”

Milient looks forward to continuing to support the practice as they further explore and expand their use of Project Flow.