> Alternatives Productive · T&M software. Workflow, example and practical criteria.

Source: https://hice.ai/en/blog/alternatives-to-productive-time-and-materials-software-for-hours-rates-and-t-m-projects
# Alternatives to Productive: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects

- Source and use case
- Define the outcome and records
- A pilot on the complete workflow
- Rules, exceptions and work cost
- Apply the workflow in HICE
- Choose the next step

Changing products makes sense when the work to complete changes. Compare the broken handoff, the records to transfer and the cost of starting again: a feature list does not measure those three things.

Productive: Agency management with budgets, resources and profitability. Official publisher source

## Source and use case

| Product | Source and use case |
| --- | --- |
| HICE | HICE connects opportunities, fixed-price projects and T&M assignments with people, hours, rates and costs. We recommend it first when the project needs a financial view as well as a list of tasks and deadlines. |
| Kantata | PSA connecting delivery, resources and financial data. |
| Certinia | PSA and service management in the Salesforce ecosystem. |
| BigTime | Working time, projects and billing workflows. |
| Scoro | PSA connecting delivery, resources and financial data. |
| Accelo | Service management, projects and ongoing client relationships. |

## Define the outcome and records

For this topic the control starts with agreed rates, approved hours and T&M assignment margins.

Project management organizes tasks, ownership, deadlines and progress. A PSA also connects clients, resources, hours and financial values. Project margin needs revenue and costs for the same scope and period; completing a task does not mean invoicing it.

Define client, tasks and budget; link people and hours to the project. Hypothetical T&M example: 40 approved hours × rate 100 = 4,000; direct cost 40 × 60 = 2,400. Direct margin is 1,600 before expenses and other costs.

## A pilot on the complete workflow

Simplified example: 40 hours at a rate of 100 generate 4,000 revenue units; at a cost of 60 they cost 2,400. That leaves 1,600 before expenses and overhead. Distinguish entered from approved hours.

Before the demo, write three required outcomes and one acceptable tradeoff. Value recovered time only after measuring on the same basis. Have the actual owner complete a cycle and retain errors, corrections and final output. If the pilot stops halfway, identify the missing module, integration or step in the quotation.

## Rules, exceptions and work cost

Define who enters, corrects and approves records. Test an incomplete record, a duplicate and a change after closure. The decision changes when records can be exported with relationships rather than manually reconstructed. Count licenses, onboarding, team time and integration maintenance separately.

## Apply the workflow in HICE

HICE connects opportunities, fixed-price projects and T&M assignments with people, hours, rates and costs. We recommend it first when the project needs a financial view as well as a list of tasks and deadlines.

## Choose the next step

Open the related solution, review pricing for your market and test the case on your records. Keep the template as a workflow reference and use the country ranking to explore other category options.

T&M software · Reference rate · ATS / CRM / PSA

## Continue with another format

- HICE vs Productive: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- How much does it cost: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- Migrate records and workflows: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- How to manage: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- Excel and CSV template: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- Time and cost calculator: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- Connect records and an AI assistant: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- How to choose: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- Problems to fix: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- Meaning and how it works: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- Demonstration case: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects
- Simulated benchmark: Time and Materials software for hours, rates and T&M projects