mackay and sposito case study

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Microsoft DynamicsCustomer Solution Case Study

Consulting Firm Improves Profitability byAligning Project Management and

OverviewCountry or Region: United StatesIndustry: Professional services

Customer ProfileMacKay & Sposito provides a fullarray of consulting services,including civil engineering,planning, land and constructionsurveying, landscape architecture,and construction management andinspection.

Business SituationBecause project management andaccounting practices did not align,the company lacked the ability totrack and report on performance ata meaningful level.

SolutionWith help from Microsoft GoldCertified Partner Synergy BusinessSolutions, MacKay & Spositoconfigured its implementation of Microsoft Dynamics SL to reflect theway the company does business.

Benefits• Streamlined accounting• Better insight into company

performance• Improved cash flow and

“We can provide information to our executives,marketing group, and project managers that wewere unable to before. … This reporting toolsetwill help us grow as the economy recovers.”

Marcy McCoy, Controller, MacKay & Sposito

Engineering consulting firm MacKay & Sposito servespublic-sector, commercial, industrial, and residentialcustomers in Washington and Oregon. Economicchallenges and increasing competition and budgetpressure on private-sector and public-sector projectsrequire the ability to track detailed project performanceand to measure company performance against specificgoals. The company relies on the financial and projectmanagement capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics SL tohelp align its business management, accounting, andoperational functions. As a result, MacKay & Sposito’sexecutives can measure performance in specificsegments of the business and redirect business

development efforts to ensure that the company meetsits goals. Project managers exert precise control overtime and billing and track resource utilization at adetailed level to optimize profitability and cash flow.



SituationMacKay &Sposito providescivil-engineeringconsultingservices topublic-sector,commercial, andresidentialclients inWashington andOregon. Withmore than 60employees, the35-year-old firmspecializes indevelopment,infrastructureplanning, survey,landscapearchitecture,engineering, andconstructionmanagement.

To thrive in thechallengingeconomicclimate, andfacing intensecompetition fornew contracts,the firm needs todirect itsbusinessdevelopmentefforts very

precisely. Thisrequires a deepunderstanding of the business—knowing whichprojects andsegments aremost profitable—and the ability toapply this

information tosales andmarketingactivities. Inaddition, projectmanagers atMacKay &Sposito areunder increasedpressure tocontrol projectcosts andmaximizeresourceutilization on adaily basis. Thecompanyrequires anenterpriseresourceplanning solutionthat can betailored to itsunique project

managementmodel whileclosely aligningbusinessmanagement,generalaccounting, andoperationalfunctions.

SolutionMacKay &Sposito relies on

MicrosoftDynamics SL forboth projectaccounting andfinancialmanagement,including customreports thatprovide theintelligence that

executives needto navigate thetroubledeconomicwaters. Thecompany workedwith MicrosoftGold CertifiedPartner SynergyBusinessSolutions todefine aconfigurationthat wouldsatisfy theuniqueaccounting,executive,operational, andproject reportingneeds at MacKay& Sposito.Synergyperformed a

business analysisto betterunderstand whatinformationMacKay &Sposito neededand how thecompany trackedand managedprojects. MacKay& Sposito’sexecutive andaccounting staff

worked closelywith Synergy totailor MicrosoftDynamics SL toalign moreclosely with theway MacKay &Sposito doesbusiness.

Aligning theSolution withBusiness GoalsTo enable theanalysis andreporting MacKay& Spositorequired,Synergy first hadto align thefinancial-accountingstructure withthe ProjectController. Thetwo companiesworked togetherto configure thefollowing corefinancial modulesin MicrosoftDynamics SL:• General Ledger• Accounts

Payable• Accounts

Receivable• Payroll• Project

ControllerSeries− Project

Controller− Time and

Expense− Project

Allocator

− FlexibleBilling

“MicrosoftDynamics SLoffersextraordinaryflexibility,”explains JeredCady, Executive

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“Microsoft DynamicsSL offersextraordinaryflexibility. To ensurethe client receivedmaximum value fromthe solution, weneeded to understandMacKay & Sposito’sproject-accounting,GL, AP, AR, andfinancial-reportingneeds from aconceptual standpointand a technicalstandpoint.”

Jered Cady, Executive Vice



Vice President of SynergyBusinessSolutions. “Toensure the clientreceivedmaximum valuefrom thesolution, weneeded tounderstandMacKay &Sposito’s project-accounting, GL,AP, AR, andfinancial-reporting needsfrom aconceptualstandpoint and atechnicalstandpoint. Onlythen could weaddress the

projectmanagementchallenges.” “Today, we canextract themeaningfulinformation weneed to makeinformedbusinessdecisions,” addsMarcy McCoy,

Controller atMacKay &Sposito.“Synergy spentthe time tounderstand whatinformation weneed and howwe use thatinformation to

manage ourbusiness andthen configuredMicrosoftDynamics SL tofit those exactneeds.”

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Focusing TheirEffortsWith severalconsulting-practice areasand a businessthat spanspublic-sector,commercial,industrial, andresidentialclients, thecompany’sbusiness plansproject revenueand growthindependentlyfor each of manysectors. MacKay& Spositofocuses itsbusinessdevelopmentefforts on the

most profitablemarket segmentsby takingadvantage of thereporting andanalysiscapabilities of MicrosoftDynamics SL.

Custom fields inMicrosoftDynamics SL

classify projectsby marketsector, enablingMacKay &Sposito to trackperformance atthe sector leveland makeadjustmentswhere necessary

throughout theyear. Whenproject managersset up a newproject in thesolution, theyadd marketsector codes totrack billing,revenue, andeven collectionsby marketsector.

Reportsenumerate workperformed,signed contracts,and backlog foreach sector.Executives usethis informationto measureperformance

against theestablished goalsfor each segmentand to determinewhere to directbusinessdevelopmentefforts to bestachieve theirgoals.“Executives usethese reports toidentify the areas

that needattention so thatwe can hit ourforecasting,”says McCoy. “If asegment isfalling short, wecan evaluatewhether to spendmore marketing

resources ordecide that thesegment justisn’t as feasibleas we thoughtwhen we createdthe businessplan. MicrosoftDynamics SLhelps us directour marketingefforts to ensurewe get theresults we need.”

ManagingProjects andResourcesMacKay &Sposito also usesMicrosoftDynamics SL toprovide moredetailed

information toprojectmanagers.Reports createdthroughMicrosoft SQLServer ReportingServices makereal-time project-accounting dataavailable onlinethrough aMicrosoft

SharePointServer–basedweb portal.Project managerscan view all jobsin their portfolioor drill down toview detail for aspecific job tosee which

resources havecharged time toa project, checkactuals againstbudgets, orreview accountsreceivable for aproject or client.

Managers alsouse thesereportingfunctions to trackresourceutilization. Theycan track eachemployee’sactual billingbased on time-card data andview weeklyutilization reportsto identifyvariances by

comparing actualbilling againstthe billing goalsthat have beenentered inMicrosoftDynamics SL foreach employee.Themanagementgroup viewsweekly reports,which show

utilization for theprior week, andcan quickly levelresources oradjust workloadsto ensureoptimalutilization. Inaddition,employees

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always know howthey areperformingrelative to theirgoals for billabletime, and themanagementteam is betterpositioned tohelp staff meetthose goals.

StreamliningFinancialProcessesFor detailedanalysis, such ascalculatingadjustments forstandard laborcost variances,McCoy exportsdata fromMicrosoft

Dynamics SL toMicrosoft Exceland uses pivottables to breakdown the data. Inthe future,MacKay &Sposito plans todeploy executivedashboards,which will letexecutives viewkey performance

indicators at aglance andreduce manualreporting.

MacKay &Sposito has alsostreamlinedroutine financialfunctions, such

as month-endclosing andbiweekly payrollsince theredeployment,enabling thecompany toabsorbreductions inheadcountnecessitated bythe economy.

BenefitsBy configuringMicrosoftDynamics SL toclosely reflectthe uniquerelationshipsbetweenfinancial andprojectmanagement,

MacKay &Sposito enjoysefficient routineaccounting andreportingfunctions, deepinsight intoproject andcompanyperformance,and tight controlover projectmanagement

and resourceutilization.

StreamlinedAccountingThe day-to-dayoperation of thecontroller’s officeflows veryefficiently,

thanks to thestreamlined corefinancialprocesses of MicrosoftDynamics SL.“Having accessto detailedinformation thataligns with ourbusiness modelhelps me helpour principalsmanageeffectively,” saysMcCoy. “I canrespond quicklyto even theirmost challengingfinancialquestions; whenthey requestdata, I can easilypull that

information fromMicrosoftDynamics SL.”

With routineaccountingfunctionsfacilitated byMicrosoftDynamics SL,McCoy cancomplete month-end closing and

process biweeklypayroll in lesstime—even withreduced staff.“We’ve reducedthe time requiredfor month-endclosing from fivedays to two days,and payroll

processing nowrequires only twohours twice amonth,” shenotes.

Better Insightinto CompanyPerformanceBy aligning theprojectmanagementand accountingfunctions withinMicrosoftDynamics SL,MacKay &Spositoexecutives havea timely,accurate pictureof performanceat the companylevel, the project

level, and eventhe resourcelevel. “We knowhow our projectsare set up andhow our projectsare trackingcosts,” saysMcCoy. “We canprovideinformation toour executives,marketing group,

and projectmanagers thatwe were unableto before. Thecombination of MicrosoftDynamics SL,SQL ServerReportingServices, and

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“Over time, given ourtight managementcontrols, we expect tosee improved cashflow and profitability

on a job-by-jobbasis.”Marcy McCoy, Controller,

MacKay & Sposito



SharePointServer has beena good thing forus; it enables usto be proactive.This reportingtoolset will helpus grow as theeconomyrecovers.”

Improved CashFlow andProfitabilityMcCoy assertsthat effectiveresourceutilization is thekey to increasingprofits. “Ourproduct is time,”explains McCoy.“Properlymanaging the

number of minutes chargedto a projectimpacts ourprofitability. Overtime, given ourtightmanagement

controls, weexpect to seeimproved cashflow andprofitability on ajob-by-job basis.”

• MicrosoftDynamics

MicrosoftDynamics is aline of integrated,adaptablebusinessmanagementsolutions thatenables you andyour people tomake businessdecisions withgreaterconfidence.MicrosoftDynamics workslike familiarMicrosoftsoftware such asMicrosoft Office,which meansless of a learning

curve for yourpeople, so theycan get up andrunning quicklyand focus onwhat’s mostimportant. Andbecause it is

from Microsoft, iteasily works withthe systems thatyour companyalready hasimplemented. Byautomating andstreamliningfinancial,customerrelationship, andsupply chainprocesses,MicrosoftDynamics bringstogether people,processes, andtechnologies,increasing theproductivity andeffectiveness of your business,and helping youdrive business

success. For moreinformationabout MicrosoftDynamics, go to:www.microsoft.com/dynamics

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For More InformationFor more information aboutMicrosoft products and services, callthe Microsoft Sales InformationCenter at (800) 426-9400. InCanada, call the Microsoft CanadaInformation Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the UnitedStates and Canada who are deaf orhard-of-hearing can reach Microsofttext telephone (TTY/TDD) servicesat (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50United States and Canada, pleasecontact your local Microsoftsubsidiary. To access informationusing the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.com

For more information about MacKay& Sposito products and services,call (360) 695-3411 or visit thewebsite at: www.mackaysposito.com

For more information about SynergyBusiness Solutions products andservices, call 1 (800) 481-8590 orvisit the website at: www.synergybusiness.com

This case study is for informational purposesonly. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES,EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published August 2010

Software and Services• Microsoft Dynamics

− Microsoft Dynamics SL• Microsoft Office

− Microsoft Excel• Microsoft Server Product Portfolio

− Microsoft SharePoint Server• Technologies

− Microsoft SQL Server ReportingServices

Partners• Synergy Business Solutions

http://www.mackaysposito.com/

http://www.synergybusiness.com/

http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics

http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics

http://www.microsoft.com/



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