H&J Petroleum Management and Consulting provides project management and consulting services to the oil and gas industry. Their legacy timesheet application, the Well Activity Reporting System (WARS), provided a complicated and poor user experience leading to dissatisfaction and operational inefficiencies. As existing HubSpot customers, they knew the power of HubSpot and challenged No Bounds Digital to extend the CRM in a way that has never been done before. No Bounds leveraged:
- The HubSpot CRM
- HubL
- Custom coded Node.js actions
- HubDB tables
- And numerous other HubSpot tools across marketing, sales, and operations hubs
The Challenge
H&J struggled with.
- Manual Processes: It took 48 steps for consultants to submit timesheets in the legacy system leading to delays and errors. Approving timesheets was similarly time-consuming and prone to error.
- Siloed Information: WARS relied on HubSpot data, but it wasn’t integrated requiring double entry and making it difficult to see how tracked time impacted project milestones and understand customer value.
- Mobile Experience: WARS’ poor mobile experience made it difficult for consultants working on oil wells to create and manage timesheets in the field.
- Reporting: WARS lacked needed reporting capabilities.
- Disconnect with Compliance: Using WARS, it wasn’t clear whether the consultant was in compliance. H&J is responsible for ensuring compliance in accordance with their master services agreements and non-compliant consultants could mean significant penalties.
The Solution
No Bounds Digital built a timesheet solution in HubSpot including a custom web interface with HubSpot landing pages for timesheet submissions and approvals. Custom objections, automations and custom coded actions power it. Within the platform, H&J creates and manages object records including deals, consultants as contacts, certain custom objects as well as the handoff to Quickbooks. Other custom objects are automatically created and managed.
Process Overview
Beginning of the process
- The consultant, approver, and customer are identified on the Sales Deal. Other information needed to produce the timesheet such as rates and billing terms are collected enabling streamlined processing as well as automatic alerts and reminders.
- Consultants are associated with a second pipeline, "Recruiting," which includes information about them, their skillset, and compliance. Consultants are associated with the Sales Deal through the web interface.
- The Scope Of Work is prepared for each of the consultants including their rate and other terms specific to the project and consultant.
Consultant Submits Timesheet
- The consultant receives an email with a link to access the timesheet portal.
- The consultant inputs their timesheet entry including job function, time worked, and wells worked on the password protected page.
- Timesheet data is automatically stored in the “Timesheets” custom object.
Timesheet Approval
- Once submitted, the timesheet approver receives an automated marketing email with a link to approve or reject.
- Consultants are sent an email if rejected and can edit their timesheet in the application. Clients and consultants are automatically alerted of approved timesheets.
- The approver digitally signs and submits the timesheet using a custom coded e-signature solution on a native HubSpot form that No Bounds Digital developed for this project.
| Get Geeky: The signature is a PNG file. We use binary-to-text encoding to convert the table into an array of Base64 strings. A custom coded workflow converts the strings into two PDF files for the customer and consultant sent using programmable email and attached to the Sales Deal Notes. |
- Workflows send compliance reminders to ensure consultants maintain necessary certifications for the project if necessary.
Financial Reconciliation
- A custom object filtered view displays Timesheet data for easy QuickBooks manual import including the human touchpoint H&J requested.
- Custom workflows ensure accuracy in billing and project tracking.
The Solution
HubSpot CRM
By leveraging CRM object data on landing pages, HubL, and JavaScript, we developed a robust application with dynamic content and complex data relationships. This data is stored in six Custom Objects and two Deal Pipelines.
Custom Objects and Properties
We created custom objects for Services, Wells, Approvals, Projects, Timesheets, and Consultants with numerous custom properties. HubL, JavaScript, and custom-coded workflows automatically manage objects providing a flexible and scalable solution that ensures data integrity and ease of use.
Workflow Automation
Automated workflows for compliance reminders, consultant notifications, and approval processes minimize manual work. Using HTML, HubL, and JavaScript, we dynamically populated Node.js-based custom-coded workflows ensuring real-time updates and accurate data flow.
QuickBooks Ready
We prepared data based on QuickBooks’ template for manual import automatically populating many of the fields with calculated properties and custom coded workflow actions. We leverage HubDB to ensure data consistency and accuracy minimizing errors and manual effort.
Custom Timesheet Application
The timesheet application leveraged the HubSpot CRM enabling comprehensive tracking and management of timesheet entries, project details, and compliance statuses in HubSpot.
Results and Impact
H&J’s timesheet application is simpler and faster for all, stops compliance issues in their tracks, and enables smart business decisions with data they didn’t have access to before.
IMPACT: Consultants now dedicate more time to billable hours instead of admin because of the streamlined process, better user experience, and mobile optimization. Consultants have improved job satisfaction because of less paper pushing and faster payment turnaround time.
IMPACT: H&J is growing and this timesheet application enables future growth without needing to increase the Accounts Payable team’s headcount.
IMPACT: Early identification and resolution of non-compliance issues mitigates substantial regulatory risk.
IMPACT: Custom reports and dashboards focused on Customer Analytics, Consultant Data, Bill and Invoice Processing, and Hours and Productivity have led to better resource allocation and identification of new business opportunities.
No Bounds’ strategic approach to CRM extensibility and process optimization drove significant operational improvements for H&J Petroleum enabling their future growth with a scalable, HubSpot solution.
