HMS has announced some changes to their free TimeControl timesheet Trial site that will make trying the TimeControl timesheet system that much easier.  First of all, the dashboard on the main page has been updated to show some readily accessible online learning resources such as the TimeControl Online Learning Center.  Also, data in the free trial has been updated to make the flow of trying the system once new users log in more intuitive.

The biggest news though is the new Evaluation Guide that guides a user through basic functionality of the hosted trial from the registration right through adding a timesheet, adding a vacation request using TimeRequest and doing some reports click-by-click.  Now anyone who wants to see just how easy TimeControl is to use can be guided through those steps screen by screen.  The Evaluation Guide was based on the hosted trial site itself and describes what the user should see at every step and where to click or type next in order to put TimeControl through its paces. 

The TimeControl trial site has its data refreshed nightly but users who register for the system will have access to it for 2 weeks.  There are no restrictions on functionality though users are cautioned not to upload any information that is confidential or sensitive as the data is open-access.  There is no cost to users to access the Free TimeControl timesheet trial.

To see the new Free Hosted TimeControl Trial Evaluation Guide, click here.

To access the updated Free Hosted TimeControl Trial, click here.

To visit the TimeControl Buyer’s Guide where there are numerous resources for evaluating timesheets, click here.

Over at my firm, HMS, there’s a great case study on the use of TimeControl at EXFO.  EXFO has been a TimeControl client since 1999 and recently they were gracious enough to allow us to interview them and do a case study on their use of TimeControl.  EXFO wasn’t a publicly traded company when we first sold them TimeControl but they sure are now.  The company has expanded enormously since our first visit there years ago.  The case study is on our website and available in both French and English.  Our thanks to Andre Richard who took time out of his busy schedule to do the interviews for us and to review the final copy.  We invite you to read how EXFO has been able to enjoy some of TimeControl’s key benefits and see how the timesheet links to multiple systems for multiple purposes within the EXFO environment.

To see the EXFO case study in English, click here.

To see the EXFO case study in French, click here.

As part of our new R&D Solution Portal, we’ve created a brand new white paper that you may find of use.  The extensive paper covers an overview of how R&D tax claims work.  We cover something we call the “Triangle Audit” which describes how most government tax agencies go about doing an audit of Research and Development tax claims.  There is a section on how TimeControl timesheets work in an R&D setting and even instructions on how you can configure your own TimeControl to comply with auditing requirements.  There are screen shots of individual TimeControl tables and example reports.  The paper covers an overview of R&D claims in the regions we know best which includes: The US, Canada and within Canada, the province of Quebec where HMS Software’s headquarters are located.  HMS has extensive experience with doing our own R&D claims. 

For those who want to do more research, there are links to appropriate areas of websites at the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the US, Revenue Canada (for the SRED program), Revenue Quebec, HMRC in the UK and in the EU. 

You can download the R&D white paper for free at HMS Software’s Research and Development Tax Credit Solution Center.

The HMS Software TimeControl timesheet system has been used for years by organizations that must meet exacting standards for Research and Development tax credit audits.  R&D tax credits are offered all over the world including the US, Canada, the UK, Australia and throughout the EU.  These programs are designed by governments to provide incentive for organizations to do innovative work within their jurisdiction and they’ve proven to be highly effective.  The programs can return millions to the organizations which take advantage of them but with those kinds of benefits, you can be sure that there are some reporting strings attached.

R&D programs we’ve encountered all require that the work that is claimed be tracked at a task level with some tasks being eligible for the claim and some not.  This cries out for a timesheet system and TimeControl fits the bill.  The TimeControl timesheet system is flexible enough that it can be used by project management, payroll, HR, Finance as well as the Research reporting team to provide the reports and the audit trail for all the work required. 

HMS has just made a number of new tools and resources available on the TimeControl R&D Tax Credit Solution Center which includes an extensive white paper explaining R&D claims and how TimeControl can help create an auditable environment for R&D Tax return reports, a webcast describing the R&D programs HMS has encountered and demonstrating a TimeControl system that has been configured for R&D, slide shows, case studies, letters from clients and a list of links to online resources from the tax departments of several countries and jurisdictions we’re most familiar with.

Take a look at the R&D Tax Credit Solution page on the TimeControl website at www.timecontrol.com/solutions/randd/.