Newsletter - May 2011
Statistics: The Buddy has now prepared 2245 time studies serving 6 counties.
News: At the next CEC Users Group meeting on June 7 in Sacramento, Dan Gardner will make a presentation covering CEC claiming for Non-Welfare and Extraneous programs.
New Features: The following features were added to the May update of the Buddy:
- Unit groups: Units may now be placed into “groups” to match your organization structure. This is an optional feature that will be useful for counties with a large number of workers. This feature is a stepping-stone to automatically printing SSTRP reports and organization charts.
- Verify Payroll: This feature allows an Administrator to “verify” and lock payroll data. If time study corrections need to be made, emails are automatically sent to the workers asking them to correct, re-print, and re-sign their time studies. This is a stepping-stone to 1) electronic signatures, and 2) uploading of payroll batch data.
- Continuous Workers: Navigation improved, including the ability to continue with time studies in the next quarter even though you are not yet finished with the current quarter.
- Worker Login: Made it easier for workers to login to the Buddy using email links.
- Other: A number of improvements were made to increase operating speed and usability.
Future Features: These features will be available soon:
- Electronic signatures: No more paper going back and forth. Both the worker and their supervisor will be able to electronically sign their time studies. This process will comply with generally accepted practices and regulations, including a complete audit trail.
- Payroll data upload: Counties can upload their payroll data directly into the Buddy. The Buddy then compares the payroll information to the time studies, and if there are differences, automatically begins a reconciliation process.
- Custom Time Study Codes: Counties will be able to customize for its own needs: 1) the Fiscal “green-yellow-red” Indicator, 2) the Comment, and 3) removing a code if its no longer needed.
Case Study: Attached is a case study about how Marin County maximized revenue in children's services by using the Buddy.
Presentation: Our fiscal admin presentation, including sample reports, may be viewed at: