Extensibility & Screen Enhancements
Question:
Have you ever wanted to add a specific screen enhancement to an existing Deltek Costpoint application? Personalize an important setting control screen? Or connect to another data source?
Answer:
Our Costpoint Extensibility process improvement allows customers to perform screen enhancements for existing Costpoint applications as well as extend their current capabilities using business logic custom software.
Benefit:
Extensibility ‘extends’ Costpoint to better meet your needs. These extensions provide customers with the capability to perform endless personalized enhancements for Costpoint applications that were only previously possible through customizing production codes or embedding license triggers.
Problem:
Costpoint is a great ERP solution for government contractors and project-focused organizations, but it can be limited "out-the-box." What if you need to connect your Costpoint system to another application? Or need to access data from another source in Costpoint?
Extensibility easily addresses those questions - It provides you with the ability to tailor and improve Costpoint to be more efficient for you! Additionally, it allows you to update and keep changing Costpoint as your business grows to meet new challenges and demands.
Solution:
Costpoint process improvement can be performed using the Costpoint Extensibility Designer. The Extensibility Design Studio segregates application extensions from the core software, for minimal impact during upgrades. With this feature you can create new:
• Fields and layouts
• Enter default values and validation
• Workflows and approvals
• Business logic
• Applications
All of which show within the existing Costpoint framework, and are stored in a custom metadata schema, matching the existing look-and-feel of your Costpoint system.
Our Costpoint Extensibility Solution Examples:
Kinetek Workflow Authorization (WA)
The Work Authorization (WA) applications are designed for use in support of sound time-keeping practices. The applications are configurable by Costpoint company and allow for work authorizations to be required on a project-by-project basis. Additionally, the applications allow your organization to authorize employees to charge projects and allow for the following:
1. Identification of project code and PLC (if applicable) by the employee;
2. Identification of the period of performance authorized for each employee to charge;
3. Identification of the statement of work for each employee to define authorized work that may be performed;
4. Notifications to the employee of any new, modified, and – if allowed – deleted work authorizations via batch email;
5. Integration with Deltek Time and Expense to validate charging via a custom Timesheet Pre-Save stored procedure
Kinetek Performance Planning Functionality
Integrate Kinetek Performance Planning (KPP) functionality directly into Costpoint. Our plug-and-play application leverages your organization’s existing accounting environment, enabling you to streamline and automate many aspects of your forecasting process.
1. Budget costs by employee, subcontractor, and/or account group at a project level you define
2. Leverage Deltek’s Costpoint pool setup to apply indirect rates and compute forward pricing rates
3. Leverage PLCs or other billing rates from Deltek Costpoint to calculate T&M revenue
4. Calculate revenue based on cost buildup and the standard project revenue formulas (T&M, CPFF, Fixed Price)
Kinetek Application Maintenance
Perform application maintenance directly in Costpoint using extensibility. Allow system administrators to schedule application (Kinetek Performance Planning) tasks alongside Costpoint tasks and utilize Costpoint’s job scheduler to manage application (KPP) maintenance.
1. Budget costs by employee, subcontractor, and/or account at an organizational level you define
2. Leverage Deltek's Costpoint pool setup to apply indirect rates to costs using target, actual, and/or provisional rates
Contact us to learn more about screen enhancements and Costpoint Extensibility.
Our Value Add:
Kinetek understands the requirements that drive successful enhancements within Costpoint. We have extensive experience in developing tailored solutions to help customers expand and improve their system functionality.
Our approach brings industry best practices, tailored to results that matter to your organization. We can help you:
• Streamline existing processes
• Create new workflows and approvals
• Automate manual processes
• Reduce data entry
• Integrate and show data from other applications
• Develop, test, and deploy customizations
Greater extensibility means more opportunities for companies like yours to address their shifting business challenges with your existing software and tools.
The Bottom Line:
Kinetek Consulting understands Extensibility and how to best apply software development design methodology to add new functionality and capabilities to your existing systems, tools, and frameworks. Contact us below and let’s discuss how we can help customize and extend Costpoint’s functionality to better suit your organization.
Lead Subject Matter Expert:
Phong Starzewski
Additional Content:
Lean and Mean: Controlling G&A and Improving Cash Flow in the Current Climate