Procurement Timecard Processing for Hourly Contractors
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prior art procurement management systems are not well suited to handle invoices from hourly contractors or milestone-based contracting, as they assume a purchase-order-based model that does not easily accommodate these scenarios.
Innovation Solution
The integration of timecard processing into procurement management systems, allowing service providers to create and submit timecards, which are then approved and processed for payment, with features such as special user interfaces for timecard creation and approval, tracking of multiple billing rates, and hiding billing information from service providers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a purchase-order-based model is used in procurement management systems, then the system structure remains simple and easy to implement, but the system cannot handle hourly contractors or milestone-based contracting scenarios
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the procurement process into distinct modules: timecard creation module, approval module, and payment processing module. This segmentation allows the system to handle diverse contracting models (hourly, milestone-based) through standardized components without increasing overall system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The timecard processing system serves multiple functions: tracking hourly labor, managing milestone-based contracts, controlling billing rates, and processing payments. This multi-functionality enables the system to handle various contracting scenarios within a unified framework, improving adaptability without proportionally increasing complexity
2Loss of information
If billing information is made visible to service providers, then transparency and trust are improved, but the system cannot control billing rates or hide sensitive financial data
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies different information visibility to different users: service providers see timecard data and approved billing amounts but not billing rates, while approvers and administrators see billing rates and sensitive financial data. This local differentiation of information quality maintains billing rate secrecy while preserving operational simplicity for each user role
Solution Approach 2:
The approval module acts as an intermediary between service providers and the billing system. Service providers submit timecards through this intermediary, which processes and approves billing information without exposing sensitive billing rates to the service providers, thus maintaining secrecy while simplifying the user interface
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides timecard processing in a procurement management system. A service provider creates and submits an on-line timecard, the timecard is approved by an approver, and the billing information is forwarded to a payment processing function. An embodiment comprises the steps of: providing a user interface for entry, modification and approval of timecard data; reading a timecard projects table to add data to the timecard data; comparing the received timecard data to the timecard projects table to determine if the received timecard data is valid: reading a contractor profile table to add data to the timecard data; reading timecard business rules; applying the timecard business rules, reading an approval matrix; notifying at least one approver to the existence of the received timecard data; computing billing amounts; accepting changes to the timecard data; receiving approval for payment of the billing amounts; and transmitting payment data.