Projektinhallinta, tuntikirjaus ja kannattavuus: miten ERP pitää katteen kunnossa

In small business projects, margins typically disappear for three reasons:

1. Hours are not logged in real-time: an employee estimates at the end of the week how many hours were spent. The actual number of hours is often higher than the estimate.
2. Extra work is done without invoicing: the customer asks for a “small change” which in reality takes hours. Small extra tasks accumulate.
3. Margins are not tracked during the project: profitability only becomes clear when the project is over and the invoice has been sent. By then, it's too late to correct.

According to research by the PMI (Project Management Institute), organizations with mature project management practices are significantly more likely to achieve their goals, and budgets are less often exceeded.

Eemel ERP brings project management, time tracking, budgeting, and invoicing into one place:

• Time tracking: employees log hours directly to the project from mobile or browser
• Real-time margin tracking: you can see at any time how many hours and money have been spent on the project vs. budget
• Automatic invoicing: hours and materials can be invoiced directly from the project
• Anomaly alerts: the system warns when the budget is about to be exceeded

These three basic rules keep margins in check:

1. Log hours on the same day: logging from memory at the end of the week leads to under-logging. The same-day rule significantly improves the accuracy of entries.
2. Agree on additional work in writing before starting it: a “small change” must be priced and approved before the work is done.
3. Check margins weekly: don’t wait until the end of the project. A weekly report reveals discrepancies in time.

The greatest benefit of an ERP system is data consistency:

• Logged hours transfer directly for invoicing – no separate Excel lists
• Invoices are generated based on project data – no manual copying
• Invoiced amounts appear automatically in accounting
• The true project margin is always up-to-date

A five-person IT consulting firm carried out customer projects at a fixed price. Profitability varied wildly: some projects were very profitable, while others were loss-making.

The implementation of Eemel ERP revealed the reason: time entries were inaccurate, and additional work was not invoiced.

After the change:

• Hours are logged daily using a mobile application
• Additional work is approved by the customer before starting
• Project margin is visible in real-time on the dashboard
• Profitability significantly improved within six months

This article is general in nature and does not constitute legal advice.