ImagineTime Inc. — ImagineTime Time & Billing
"Review of Time & Billing Programs"
The CPA Technology Advisor
October 2009

ImagineTime’s Time & Billing program is targeted at smaller accounting firms and it gets the job done. There is nothing fancy about this product, but we accountants don’t like fancy, we just want something that works. ImagineTime fits this mold.

Ease of Use — 5 Stars
ImagineTime has an intuitive user interface that is easy to learn and understand. Like other time and billing systems on the market, the design is simple yet effective. The user-friendly icons on the tool bar allow the user to easily navigate through the different sections of the product. The first screen you come to has four main buttons, Data Entry, Reports, Utilities and Management Reports. Once you decide the area you want to enter, you are off to the races.

Menus throughout the product are customizable. This is a nice feature because not all firms will take advantage of all of the utilities of the product. This makes the user experience much more pleasant when the screen is not cluttered with menu icons that are not being used.

If you are a power user and need to access multiple areas at one time, ImagineTime allows you to resize the windows to allow the user to see more than one set of information concurrently. This is a nice trick once you get more familiar with the program. If you are still used to the old DOS keystrokes and don’t like to use your mouse to click icons, ImagineTime has shortcut keys for all menu items throughout the program.

Users will have no problem setting up clients, nor will they have a problem learning the workflow of entering time and expense entries. The system also has a timer that will allow users to track time via a stopwatch and then automatically transfer the time worked to the time entry.

Management Functions & Reporting — 4 Stars
If you are a manager using this product, you will appreciate its simplicity. Reports are separated into three primary groupings: daily, weekly & management reports; transaction reports; and staff and client performance reports. The reporting features in ImagineTime allow you to analyze the productivity of your practice in many different ways. Staff reports include chargeable versus non-chargeable time reports.

The standard report templates included in the product are useful and don’t need much modification at all. These reports were designed well. If you need to create a custom report, the Report Wizard allows you to easily create tailor output based on the data fields in the system. All reports can be exported to Excel if you would like to analyze the data more.

Optional features that need to be considered are the due date monitoring module, contact manager & staff calendar module and the remote office time entry module. These modules are not included in the standard product, but can be added at any time. See the company’s website to learn more specific details about these features.

Billing Process — 5 Stars
The billing process in ImagineTime starts with a dashboard that lets the user know what clients need to be billed. This is a great feature to make sure you get your bills to your clients. From this dashboard, the user simply clicks on the entry that needs to be billed and the billing process begins. Next the user will select the type of bill that needs to be sent (retainer, initial, progress or final bill). The system then takes the user to a text editor where the user can customize the bill. Customization is very easy since an easy-to-use text editor is available. Once the content of the bill has been edited, the format of the bill can be changed as well. These changes can be made in the firm set up phase or at the individual invoice phase.

For complex billing situations, ImagineTime has a process called Super Bill. This function allows users to compile complex billing issues into one bill. You can bill for tax and audit work in the same bill when using the Super Bill process. This allows firms to get the bill to the client in a much quicker and simplified manner.

The system also allows for firms to send detailed statements, which is a nice feature when you have multiple invoices for one client. Firms can email bills or print them out for mailing.

Integration — 5 Stars
ImagineTime integrates with QuickBooks, Lacerte and UltraTax CS tax software. Additionally, the product has integration capabilities with Microsoft Office products such as Outlook, Word, Excel and Access. If your firm accepts credit cards or ACH payments, ImagineTime can also process these transactions.

Support & Help — 5 Stars
Users can access help anywhere in the product by hitting F1. The help menu will be able to answer most of your inquiries due to its comprehensive nature. There are three levels of customer support available, as well as online tutorials.

Relative Value — 5 Stars
ImagineTime is a quality time and billing product for tax and accounting firms. Its straight forward design and navigation, in combination with reporting features, make it a product that most small to mid-sized firms should consider when making a decision to purchase a time and billing system.

2009 Overall Rating: 5 Stars

Seven years of exceptional time and billing reviews!

ImagineTime  (excerpt from Accounting Technology Magazine 5/1/07)
by Barry Knaster

The Main Menu provides navigation to the four main aspects of the program. Data entry forms are where client setup, time entry, staff and payments occur. Reports/Daily includes daily and monthly time, invoices and payments, realization reports and client statements. Reports/ Management provides the client snapshot report, key management information and forecasts. Utilities provides housekeeping items like file maintenance and repair utilities. Navigation is facilitated by a sidebar menu, used to access the most frequently used menu options. This can be tailored by user level.

Setup includes entering staff names, rates and permission levels, client names and addresses and system-wide options. The Enter/Edit client screen is a comprehensive one-stop shop window where you can enter and view client name and address information, set up fixed fees and superbills, review client invoices, payments and work in progress and analyze client profitability. Included also is a scheduling, due-date monitoring and task management system. Rate templates allow you to create and assign rates to staff based on their level. You can set up individual rates for each staff person, assign a general default rate or assign specific hourly rates to specific types of work.

You can enter time using the after-event screen or the slip timer. Both methods record chargeable and non-chargeable time. The remote transfer option allows recording of time on a separate computer that can then update the home office. Another entry method is using the optional calendar/scheduling program. Once time is captured, the edit/view transaction screen displays information by date and transaction type, allowing edits and reviews of outstanding invoices and payments. The billing dashboard is the focal screen within ImagineTime from which just about any function is accessible, including bill generation, invoice viewing and write-offs. Bill formats include detail slip, progress bills, fixed fee bills and Superbill templates which are created to address a wide variety of billing situations and can then be copied to multiple clients. Bills can be output to PDF format.

Most of ImagineTime's reports are date sensitive, allowing the user to print balances as of any prior date and time. Payments, invoices and time slips posted after the cutoff date are automatically rolled back. Management reports include reports and graphs on staff performance, plus due-date monitoring, task management, tax tickler reporting and repetitive fee setup. The client snapshot report reflects client activity, aging and realization for the period selected, filtered by billing partner. The management reports provide staff contribution and chargeability information each month and for the year. The report wizard allows you to create custom reports via flexible sorting and filter criteria. Features include a group calendar that integrates with Outlook allowing due date and task tracking.

(From CPA Technology Advisor November, 2006 Issue)
by Isaac M. O'Bannon

Developed specifically for accountants by accountants, ImagineTime provides an integrated time-based billing system with practice management functions that support multiple billing methods; project-based time tracking and management; due-date monitoring; and a variety of budgeting, forecasting and analysis capabilities. The core time and billing system, which offers multiple data-entry options, starts at $295 for a single-user license. The company also offers various modules including more advanced contact management, staff scheduling/calendaring, remote data entry, due-date monitoring, PDA integration, and a calendar/contact management function.

Ease of Use/Navigation Features -- 4.5 Stars
ImagineTime opens to a text-based menu screen that provides quick access to each of the primary sections of the time management software system, with directories for Data Entry tasks, daily/monthly Reporting, Utilities and Management Reports. When working within specific task tracker windows, ImagineTime offers users four viewing options, including one with a customizable sidebar menu on the left that allows access to most frequently accessed tasks. Alternately, an icon-based menu at the top of the screen can be employed. The primary work area of this time, billing and scheduling software is beautiful, offering tabbed access to sub-tasks within a function (such as moving between expenses, chargeable items and other options within the time and expense entry screen). The system's client list is well organized with search capabilities, and client data screens provide a good summary of data, including billed and outstanding amounts, WIPs, allowances for unbilled WIPs, along with invoicing defaults and staff assigned to the client.

The program allows data entry to be performed through timesheets after-the-fact, directly from the calendar, with a PDA or utilizing the system's timer functions, which automatically complete some of the data entry. Timesheets and other data-entry screens are very intuitive, making it easy to understand the process of selecting clients, projects, tasks, billable items and other options, and automatically assigning staff rates according to default settings created by management. Only authorized users can access managerial reporting and rate information, which helps ensure system security.

"Imagine Time has been a great software change for our business,” says Barb Gacic, office manager for Sager, Haines & Co. LLP (www.SagerHaines.com), a full-service accounting firm in St. Charles, Ill. “The program is user friendly with a minimal learning curve and offers ease in inputting time as well as researching various information as needed for both employee and client time and billing. The reports generated are also easy to access and provide information in a concise, easy to access format.”

Management Functions -- 5 Stars
This timeslips software allows multiple rates per staff member, as well as client-specific billing rates and rules. In addition to supporting any number of clients, staff, tasks and expense items, the program can be used to manage more than one professional firm. The system maintains full histories of client billing and staff time performance data, along with the ability to easily access past invoices. ImagineTime includes strong analysis functions including staff and client performance reports, as well as very impressive integrated calendaring and due-date monitoring, which can be essential in keeping up with period tasks or client goals. The calendaring/contact management system provides side-by-side views of staff calendars, with the ability to convert calendar activities into timesheets. ImagineTime also offers a Tax Ticker system that can keep tax-oriented professionals on top of pending deadlines. Recent additions to the system include enhanced engagement budgeting and reporting and an e-mail “blaster” function for the contact management system. As well, a new final bill procedure allows a series of progress bills to be cleared against time with the engagement time history and profitability summarized on the final bill.

Billing & Reporting -- 5 Stars
ImagineTime's managerial reports are outstanding, providing excellent insight into data, which in turn can help monitor productivity at the client, staff or project level, as well as numerous other capabilities. The system includes an impressive array of customizable reports, and authorized users can run reports for any time period, regardless of closing periods. The program's invoicing functions provide good options for billing formats, including detail, comprehensive, narrative and summary, which lets users select the format they or their clients desire. Word processing functions are handled through MS Word, while reports can be edited in MS Access or Excel, depending upon the report.

Integration -- 4.5 Stars
The system integrates with QuickBooks for transferring GL, AR and AP data. It utilizes Word, Access and Excel for various reporting functions, which allows users to easily save documents in these formats as well as the ability to format or customize invoices, including the addition of logos, letterhead or other visual elements. ImagineTime’s contact management and calendaring system integrates with Outlook, as do the reminders and e-mail functions. The company offers a PDA interface application for remote data entry.

User Support & Help -- 4.5 Stars
ImagineTime’s Help system is fairly traditional, with an index-based system and some content-specific assistance, in addition to newly added interactive tutorials that are now built into the system’s main menu. An online Help center offers do-it-yourself guidance with such features as FAQs, system updates and tutorials.

2006 Overall Rating: 4.5 Stars

Project Management Features Control the Flow of Tax Deadlines. The Billing Dashboard provides access to all relevant data and tools required for billing
and invoicing functions. ( Reprinted from CPA Magazine August 2006 Issue By Richard Buse )

ImagineTime, Inc., in Bostic, N.C., was founded by a CPA with a strong technology background. Several other CPAs serve as senior managers. With ImagineTime also concentrating on developing software for smaller accounting and consulting firms (up to 40 users), the tools and features incorporated into the company’s Time and Billing application reflect that corporate perspective and market focus.

Features
ImagineTime installs on PCs using Microsfot (MS) Windows 98 or newer versions of the Windows OS. Add-ons extend Time and Billing access to Palm portable devices and integrate client contact and calendar information with MS Outlook. Data imports from Lotus and MS Excel spreadsheets, with additional data conversion services available from ImagineTime.

Time and Billing offers three versions of its main screen, with the Original Menu screen listing options and related function keys for individuals preferring the keystroke navigation style deployed by legacy systems. The Sidebar main screen includes a pane of links that open various functions, while the Icon screen features pull-down menus, toolbar icons and pop up windows commonly associated with MS Windows-based applications. Managers establish access privileges for various users.

ImagineTime records and retrieves client information from the Enter/Edit Client screen. Client contact information, as well as assigned partners and staff members appear, as do current billings, outstanding balances and work in progress. Various icons link to more detailed contact, fee, engagement and scheduling information. Searches locate client data based on client ID, name or type of engagement. Search options also encompass inactive clients.

Staff information enters on a similar screen. Icons link to screens detailing fee and expense designations, user permissions and options, and relevant certification and CPE coursework completed. This employee time tracking and management software has it all.

Work codes, descriptions and related fees enter in the Work Codes and Master Engagements screen, as well as applicable sales tax rates. The Time and Expense screen records time and expenses by individuals for various dates and clients. Time and Billing also accepts after the fact entries, while an optional timer lets users record exact start and stop times for various tasks.

In addition to posting current billings for invoice, the Payment entry screen allows managers to unpost particular billings in case of errors. The screen displays current accounts receivables totals for clients. Billing data sorts by client ID, name or invoice.
 
Due date monitoring with task and project management features control the flow of important tax and other firm deadlines. Use the task management features to schedule work for your staff, as well as print reports that compare budgeted and actual hours by task, tax form and engagement/project. The Billing Dashboard provides access to all relevant data and tools required for billing and invoicing functions. Drill down capabilities display client invoice and payment histories, as well as pending bills, unbilled timeslips and current balances.

Clicking on the Billing/Invoice Options button lets users determine the format and amount of information to be presented in invoices. Reusable billing templates allow for easy generation of follow-up invoices for balances not paid, while statement templates provide documentation for aging accounts and unpaid balances requiring collection activity.
     
Billing activity report categories include client, partner, date range, total activity, work in progress and new activity. Aging and reconciliation reports provide similar options. Daily/monthly reporting options address payment, work hours, expenses and invoice totals for an entire firm, as well as performance assessments for partners or individual staff member.

Help menus and a comprehensive online manual provide immediate assistance. ImagineTime offers Silver, Gold and Platinum annual plans that include program upgrades and varying levels of phone support. The company also offers on- site and web-based training.

Summary
Time and Billing’s features and functions reflect ImagineTime’s focus on serving accounting firms. Its default menu selections, screens, functions and data field descriptions fit the work flows and responsibilities of a typical small (up to 40 users) accounting firm. User-defined settings allow for further customization and allow managers to incorporate access privileges and restrictions for individual users. Add-on options integrate data with Microsoft Outlook and Palm portable devices. All told, Time and Billing delivers great value for the market it serves.

Software Review: The Time and Billing investment
(Reprinted from Accounting Technology May, 2006 Issue)
by Wayne Schultz

ImagineTime offers a robust time-and-billing system along with optional scheduling links to Microsoft Outlook for those users preferring to manage their calendars through the now ubiquitous interface.

All reports within ImagineTime are date sensitive. Preparing an accurate report does not rely on any hard closes of data. You enter in the exact date ranges for which you would like to report and the information is compiled and presented in a concise fashion.

Time is entered either via the standard time-entry screen or by use of on-screen timers that can capture data from multiple timers (great for multi-taskers striving to get more than eight billing hours from the day!) A third method of time entry allows you to enter slips directly from your calendar with the use of the optional calendar scheduling program available from ImagineTime.

When invoicing there are a variety of different billing layouts available. These include the detail time-slip layout, fixed-fee bill, progress bills, or any combination of the prior (referred to as super bills by the software). Three different types of layouts display as little or as much detail as required in the invoice. These pre-defined layouts are especially good for users who are not interested in making changes to their billing layouts and have clients who accept the standard invoice layouts without significant questions.

Most transaction entry can be accomplished on one screen. This is also true of data retrieval. Through the use of Billing Dashboards, the package allows for the efficient lookup of key information such as work in process and outstanding invoices. Once selected, the data on this screen is quickly transferred onto one of the supported invoice formats. If you need to touch up any of the wording on the invoice there is an included word processor that will allow you to modify the text, adding any additional explanations that you deem necessary.

ImagineTime is a full-featured time and billing system for firms that don't need the customization capabilities of other systems but would like more advanced features such as integration to Outlook and Due Date Monitoring. For the price, it's difficult to find a product with more features than ImagineTime.

Software Review
(Reprinted from April 17, 2006 Issue)
ImagineTime 5.31
by Ted Needleman

While many of the current T&B applications were actually designed for law practices, and adapted for use in an accounting or consulting practice, ImagineTime was designed from the bottom up by CPAs for other accountants, financial planners and consultants. The difference is subtle, but it's there if you look for it in the terminology and layout, which follow the way T&B is often handled in an accounting practice. The software was initially developed and marketed by Both Worlds Software, but ImagineTime was split off from the parent company last year, relocated from Florida to North Carolina, and renamed after its premier software product. Much of the staff and management relocated, so there is plenty of continuity in support and development.

ImagineTime eschews the flowchart-like navigation that's becoming the norm in accounting-oriented applications in favor of a simple comprehensive menu that groups tasks into four areas - data entry, reports that are run on a daily or monthly basis, reports that are management-oriented, and utilities. It isn't as glitzy as some of the applications we looked at, but it sure is easy to use and navigate through. This ease of use is evident everywhere in the application.

The pricing structure of ImagineTime allows you essentially to build your own application, paying for only those features that you want and will use. The basic application is priced from $295 for the single-user version, and includes remote data entry functionality in this version. This capability is priced separately in the multi-user edition.

By itself, the single-user package provides an excellent T&B system with fast data entry and a nice collection of very readable and usable reports. The included report generator lets you define the data fields to be used in the report and makes it easy to get only the particular data you are looking for. These reports can be exported into Word or Excel, which makes it easy to create custom reports and perform additional analysis, if needed.

In addition to the base system, ImagineTime offers three add-ons that are very much worth adding if you can use them. The first is an excellent due date monitor, which is a must in many accountable practices. Setting up tax due dates is a breeze, as is entering other client due dates. The due date monitor is available for $195, and is worth looking at even if you already use another vendor's T&B or practice management system. After all, you never want to have to explain to a client why you overlooked one of their due dates.

Another terrific add-on is the contact calendar and Outlook sync. If you currently use Outlook for your e-mail and contacts, this add-on gives you many of the features of a full-blown contact relationship manager application. Finally, the Palm Pilot Integration, a $125 (for first user) add-on, lets you record time and expense data on a Palm-based PDA.

As with several other vendors, ImagineTime provides a free demo for download on its Web site. It's very much worth downloading if you are in the market for a T&B system.

It is hard for many accountants to remember what computing was like 20 years ago, when the x86 computing architecture was brand new and pioneering firms built their own software applications to meet their own needs. But that was how Imagine Time began, as a DOS product used by just a handful of firms. Today it has grown to a robust suite of practice management, contact/calendar management, due date tracking, deadline scheduling and project/work reminder applications running under Windows and used by more than 3,000 companies.

Imagine Time brings a strong set of features to the accounting office, with an uncomplicated interface and a straightforward work style that translates into a shorter learning curve and more immediate productivity. There is a strong focus on reports, with over 40 standard reports, plus customized reports that can be generated using Microsoft Access. Reports cover not only accounts receivable but staff and client realization reports, a work-in-progress history and tax tracking.

ImagineTime keeps complete client and staff histories that include both billing adjustments and timeslip production for virtually an unlimited number of periods. It is date-flexible and does not require period closings that often limit access to prior detail information. For additional accounting support, Imagine Time integrates with Quickbooks.

Integration with Microsoft Outlook enables the firm to track clients and contacts, while staff scheduling and a remote office module form more elements of this fairly complete set of productivity tools. For the accounting road warrior, the software also provides tools to synchronize with PDAs and other devices on the Palm platform, as well as the ability to enter time and billing data after the fact.

Imagine Time was built by accountants for accountants, and its commitment to midsized accounting firms shows in its emphasis on technical support, usability, flexibility and robust practice management features. Retaining the solid workmanship of a mature product, Imagine Time is clearly focused on keeping pace with the needs of accountants in the 21st century and the tools they need to be productive and profitable.

Accounting Today Software Review: Time and Billing -- still an important task

(Reprinted from May 3-16th 2004 Issue)
ImagineTime 3.94 Both Worlds Software
by Ted Needleman

Time & Billing: Counting Time Still Counts

ImagineTime developers were CPAs who designed the product to meet the needs of the accounting profession. This Is most evident In the numerous screens and reports available for productivity analysis.

The main menu displays four areas; data entry, utilities, dally reports, and management reports, each of which list all applicable options. The enter/edit client screen displays the client’s billing status, unbilled time and expenses, and their client group ID, used to link related clients. (These features are all available for legal billing as well.) Additional fields track personal information, like the client's birthday. A unique feature is the tax tickler screen, which serves as a due date monitoring program for any kind of tax form or event. You can set up default billing rates or associate rates with specific work codes.

The time and expense entry screen displays tabs for chargeable and non-chargeable time and expenses. The Transfers feature allows remote users to email their time and expenses. For each date, you enter the client name, work code, staff person, billing rate and description of the transaction.

You can select a default description for more efficient data entry. You can also repeat the rate, date, code, or hours for the same client. Dally time is summarized at the bottom of the screen. The client's outstanding balance and work in process is also displayed, giving you a good sense of the client's current billing status.

The billing dashboard contains a plethora of information for determining which clients and invoices to bill and the billing format to use. Clients are displayed in order of descending WIP. Bills can be previewed on the screen before printing. Narrative invoices are created from stored templates and can be updated as you print bills. Invoices are reprintable, and you can choose to include their supporting time and expense entries.

ImagineTime excels at providing reports both at a detail and summary level.

Reports can be printed for any date range. The summarized cross-tab report displays days of the week and each timekeeper's hours in a matrix format.

The master file report displays billed balances and unbilled receivables by partner/manager, group ID, and client name. The client analysis tab displays key aging and realization statistics. The staff realization report shows chargeable time by staff adjusted for write-ups and write-downs.

ImagineTime provides a level of client productivity and staff realization reporting second to none. Firms of any size can take advantage of these reports to pinpoint problem areas and reward efficiency. This product provides all the information necessary to help you successfully manage your professional practice.