CRI’s Costpoint Implementation Process: Insights, Planning, and What to Expect

Knowing what you’re getting into when moving forward with a Costpoint Implementation is key for both choosing the right implementor and ensuring the end result is what your organization needs. Having guided many firms through successful implementations, we stand by our practiced and perfected process as the gold standard for Costpoint Implementations. As transparency is an important part of that process, we wanted to share a breakdown of how our Costpoint implementation process identifies your needs, guides you through the procedure, and ensures the functionality and support you need during and after the implementation.

Insights from What We’ve Seen

The most common client needs/objectives we’ve seen and addressed have revolved around:

​Flexibility Project/Work Breakdown Structures (More Levels) Unlimited Indirect Rate Structures (More Pools) Multi-Company Accounting Structure with multiple lines of business Automated Revenue Calculations	Visibility Into all Business Processes ( i.e. Purchasing, A/R Collections) Better and more timely Project Management Reporting (Get rid of spreadsheets, one version of the truth)
​Integration Between Time, Expense, Accounting and HR Credit Card imports for A/P and Expense Vouchering With other software packages (i.e. Benefit Vendors)	​Automation Invoicing for ACRN and WAWF (Improve Dales Sales Outstanding) A/P to Fixed Asset Integration with ability to track government assets/property Leveraging technology to streamline business processes (e.g. A/P, Billing, HR, etc.)

Planning a Successful Implementation

​Things to Consider Know your data conversion options (There are several) Understand the IT Environment choices (On-Premise, Cloud, etc.) Assemble the Team (Internal & External) Small teams work best, but make sure they represent all major functions Know what your external partner is bringing to the party Define the Project Understand your implementation options (Big Bang vs. Iterative Approach) Important to ensure the project is completed successfully and on time Have a Project Plan and Schedule Decide on the number of tests you’ll need Develop Communication Plan More is better This will ramp up as you get closer to Go Live

Data Conversion Options

​ETL Uses a predefined methodology to create Projects, Accounts, and Organization codes Requires Data Verification & Validation "Is What it Is" - Is it what you want?

​Costpoint Celerity Predefined structures for Projects, Accounts, and Organization codes Options for Data Conversion from previous system Does this work for your business?

​Design & Build Design & build structures for Projects, Accounts, and Organization codes Options for Data Conversion from previous system Built for your business and processes

CRI's Costpoint Implementation Process

1. Software Installation or Deltek Cloud Previsioning

2. Project Planning & Scheduling

3. Business Rules Analysis

   1. Review of all Business Processes that will be implemented in Costpoint

4. Requirements & Design Sessions

   1. Requirements Documented

   2. Data Conversion Specification (Don’t bring bad data into Costpoint)

   3. Design Sessions (Documented)

      1. Project (WBS) – Why Pillar

      2. Account – What Pillar

      3. Organization – Who Pillar

      4. Other Ids – Employee, Vendor, etc.

5. Data Mapping, System Configuration, and System Implementation

   1. Project

   2. Account

   3. Organization

   4. Control & Setting Screens

   5. System Security (User Group, Users, File Management, etc.)

6. Test #1

   1. User Training

      1. Create Training media

   2. Functional Testing (Using Test Scripts)

   3. Update Design & Mapping Docs as Needed

7. Test #2 (Optional)

   1. Regression Testing

      1. Completely “tie-out” Balance Sheet, Income Statement, Open A/P & A/R, etc.

      2. Recommend a “mini” parallel type approach

   2. Integrated Testing

      1. Time & Expense – Import/Export

      2. Cognos – All reports

      3. Others – Employee Preprocessor, A/P Voucher Workflow Automation, etc.

8. Go Live Prep

   1. Review Test Results and Ensure All Requirements are Met

   2. Prepare cutover plan

   3. End User Training

      1. All users trained on the system and workflows that they are responsible for

9. GO LIVE

10. Post Go Live Support

    1. Helpdesk for end users

    2. 1st Month End Close Support

    3. Are there any items that got moved to a post Go-Live Status?

    4. Implementation Review

Timeline

CRI as Your Functional Implementation Partner

You have a lot of options when picking an implementation partner, but with all those options comes a wide range of quality and service. We take a “Goldilocks” approach with our implementations, looking at your needs from a functional perspective to provide the appropriate balance of intimacy and expertise.

At CRI, our philosophy is rooted in providing the best possible customer service and ensuring that you get exactly what you want and more. We cultivate a relationship with our clients so they know who is working on their implementation, where we are in the process, and how we are aligned in our unified goal. Our transparency and knowledge base has proven to be an effective combination in ensuring customer satisfaction.