In this paper
we propose to put together a detailed presentation
of a project in respect of ‘Employee Reimbursement’
for a medium sized hotel. This hotel is undergoing
extensive property renovations as well as review/upgrades
of the policies and procedures under new ownership
and management. We will enumerate five points
of the project scope checklist. We will also focus
on the objectives, priorities, and the milestones.
We will be dealing with the technical requirements,
limits and exclusions. Finally we will build a
work breakdown and responsibility structure.
Analysis
We will set the ball rolling by putting together
a project scope checklist. These are briefly discussed
below:
(a) The project is restricted to a small part
of the whole accounting system, albeit a very
important part. This importance stems from the
fact that employee reimbursement is a sensitive
area for the employees. Delays in reimbursements,
as also the cuts, are deeply resented. Employees
take it as a personal affront. Even when the employees
are in the wrong they take objections and regard
the cuts as victimization. They key is to make
the policies known well in advance through special
meetings conducted specially for explaining the
salient features and issues. And also get the
employees to sign off on the new policies and
procedures as ‘understood’ and accepted’.
As most reimbursements are in cash that makes
this subject even more important.
(b) The scope will cover all types/kinds of
reimbursements. These are as follows:
Petty cash expenses
Purchase expenses
Travel (out of city/country travel) expenses
Out of pocket expenses
Mailing (postage) expenses
Engineering expenses
Reimbursements of temporary and permanent Floats
Reimbursement of mileage (car operating) expenses
(c) The project will involve the participation
from Accounting and Information Technology departments.
There will also be contributions and inputs from
the Front Office, Food and Beverage and Sales
and Marketing.
(d) The project scope will include the writing
of policy and procedures manual/instructions in
respect of Employee Reimbursements.
(e) The project will combine safety features
with employee convenience.
The project objectives
The objective of the policy is to have a system
that is easy to understand and easy to operate
without sacrificing the necessary controls, audit
trail being an integral part of the objectives.
The objective is also to communicate the rationale
and features so that there is no ambiguity. Confusion
compounds problems and it will be one of the objectives
to remove causes for confusion.
The deliverables
In the context of our topic the relevant areas
for deliverables would include project overview,
project definitions and project plans.
It would also include progress review procedures
and risk management. Progress review would be
particularly intensive during the installation
and immediate post-installation period.
The risk comes only from the point of view of
resistance from old timers and also from the point
of view of cash handling. The deliverables would
also include project organization chart and a
breakdown of task allocation by individual personnel.
Tracking, reviewing and reporting will be given
due emphasis as these form an inseparable part
of any effective system.
There will also be an action review log and
weekly and monthly reports for review and record.
Documentation will also be included here
Project Milestone
The milestone of the project will come out of
the test results. Tests would be run during the
project planning stage when consideration will
be given to trade-offs among scope, cost, schedule,
and risk. We will employ the learning and simulation
toll called milestone to test our ideas. For example
we will trade off approval by the signing authority
with approval from another department head of
equal standing in case of the former’s absence.
(Project Management Partners: Milestones 2004)
Milestone would be an ideal mix of simple documentation,
quick approvals and comprehensible rules.
The project team will be open to suggestion
and replanning wherever warranted. The team will
see the relevance f application of the earned
value performance measurement technique which
is used to forecast cost and schedule results.
The technical requirements.
The technical requirements
will include a thorough knowledge of all aspects
of the employee reimbursement process. As mentioned
designing of the forms is an important issue and
will form a part of the technical requirement.
The data processing perspective and the issues
involved with that will also form part of the
technical requirements. (Developing & Managing
Technical Requirements 2004)
Limits and exclusions
The limit of the process would
commence from the moment an expense is incurred
or sometimes even before that say when an employee
needs to take a travel advance and fill out a
form for that. Whatever follows will be a par
of the process.
The conclusion of the process will be when the
paid vouchers are safely filed away after the
internal and statutory audits. Anything beyond
that will come under ‘exclusions’.
The Project Priorities
Project priority will be commencement, development
and conclusion of the program in time. Low cost
and high efficiency, an objective, can also be
termed as a priority.
Work Breakdown Structure
Our project team will be charged with the responsibility
of defining the ‘employee disbursement system’
and its objectives. The various forms of disbursements
will be linked together in terms of common requirements
and also if a different requirement is necessary
in one particular type of disbursement.
( The Work Breakdown structure 2004)
A model WBS is as follows:
Flow of work
Processing with in the department (say sales
and Marketing)
First filling in of the Travel expense form
by the sales person
Next approval by the Sales and Marketing Manager
after due scrutiny
From Sales and marketing to Accounting (Financial
controller’s Office)
From the Financial Controller’s office
to the payable in charge
Detailed checking by the Accounts Payable Incharge
for
Entitlements of class of travel
Meal claimed to be vetted against entitlements
Hotel Accommodation claimed against entitlements
Local travel claimed against entitlements
Telephone expenses and other miscellaneous expenses
claimed against
Entitlements
Cross checking against the vouchers
Checking calculations, extensions, and totals.
Signing off as checked and verified
Final approval from the Financial Controller
Disbursement through check or cash or direct
credit to bank
Filing away of the paid voucher
Retrieval for audit whenever the audit commences
Responsibility Matrix
In a large project obviously the people responsible
or creation, for review and for approval will
be different. A matrix is designed to impart clarity
and agreement on who does what. Expectations are
set out and made known. Columns, as shown below,
can be defined with as much detail as desired.
(‘Define Work - Responsibility Matrix 2004)
|
Sponsor/Owner |
GeneralManager |
Financial ontroller |
| Project Definition |
A |
R |
C |
| Communication Plan |
A |
C |
C |
| |
|
|
|
and so on.
We have discussed the essentials of the project
management as applied to our hotel model. Though
it is not a major model and the various concepts
and tools may not appear as being applicable directly
or substantially. Yet it does serve to illustrate
the role of the essential of project management.
List of Works Cited :
‘CHECKLIST FOR DEVELOPING A’ Retrieved
on October 7, 2004 from the website www.projectmgt.com/page3.html
‘Define Work - Responsibility Matrix’
:
‘Developing & Managing Technical Requirements’.
‘Project Management Processes, Deliverables,
Articles & Tools | gantthead’ Retrieved
on October 8, 2004 from the websitegantthead.com/Gantthead/
departments/departmentPage/1,
‘Project Management Partners: Milestones
The Work Breakdown structure Retrieved on October
8, 2004 from the website
http://www.nnh.com/ev/wbs2.html
|