Client Retainer Plan vs Actual Analysis Report Notes

The Retainer Plan vs Actual Analysis report compares planned Hours and Fees to actuals recorded in Timesheets for the Retainer.

In the table, conditional formatting is used to highlight large variances between planned and actual. Where planned exceeds actual, a blue shade is used. Where actual exceeds planned, a red shade is used. The shade is darkest for the highest variances.

Since planned Fees are usually billed to the Client on a monthly basis, the purpose of the Fee comparison is to evaluate how these billings compare with:

• The Value of Time - The value of the income had all staff been charged at hourly Rates. This indicates over/ under servicing trends.
• The Cost of Time - The portion of actual Operating Cost used to service the Retainer.

More information about how the portion of Operating Cost is calculated can be found in the help topic How to Analyse Client Profitability In Chase Insight Chase Insight. Hence this comparison indicates whether the Agency is making a net profit or loss against a Retainer.For this report to be accurate, the information used to calculate this report should be up to date. Specifically:

• The planned Fees should match those billed to the Client. For example, if a monthly Retainer Fee is adjusted, the Retainer Plan should be adjusted accordingly. Ref How to Setup a Retainer Plan and Analyse Retainer Plans In Chase Insight.

  Note: In comparing Fees, we are really comparing the Value of Time spent against the Retainer to the plan.

• Jobs that are out of scope (OOS) of the Retainer Plan should be marked as OOS on the Chase Job Bag (since Chase v6.2).
• The hourly Rates and Costs (or Salaries) used to calculate the Retainer Plan should be up-to-date. Likewise, the Operating Cost of the Agency should be entered. The System report 'Employee Salary, Rate and Cost Setup Exceptions' will draw attention to any missing information required for this and the Client Profitability reports. This is best scheduled for delivery shortly before this report is drawn.

The detailed calculation of Value of Time can be found in the report 'Client Time with Rates'.

Note: This report requires 'Rates Editor' rights as it displays Staff Rate information.

This report is best used for each Client Retainer with detail per Department. For this report to used optimally:

• The plan should be split by Department. If your Retainer Plans do not have details, these can be added relatively easily.
• A report filter should be created for each Retainer. This can be done by choosing the Client and reporting Period. As the report tables summarise by quarter, a good choice is Last 4 Quarters.