How to make MSP billing and project management easier – TubbTalk #34

Richard talks to Steve Duckworth, CEO of Harmony PSA, about how their automation software can help MSP billing and the four different ways that MSPs can use it to sell.

An Interview with Steve Duckworth
How did Harmony PSA Come About?

The PSA software was built in response to a need that Steve identified in a previous role, where there was a need for a more effective order management system. Steve noticed that the core reporting was good, but at the point of sale, the information wasn’t recorded properly, meaning that incorrect details were used on the order paperwork.

It was initially aimed at ISPs (internet service providers), to give them an order processing system with timesheets and billing. Later on, Steve and his business partner saw the potential for the software to be used by MSPs (managed service providers).

How does Harmony Work?

Harmony has a rich and powerful product engine at its core and sells in four major ways – transactionary, recurring, pre-payment and consumption. Steve says that within those four major subclasses there is an infinite variation, and explained how each works:

Transactionary: Is focused on time or selling a one-off item. The system generates an email which can be delivered by a project

Recurring: This is stable revenue that a company can predict and knows it will continue to generate in the future with a high level of certainty

Pre-payment: Also known as a ‘block hours contract’, Harmony’s version differs because they have a flexible model which also includes cash or tokens, and each choice can be applied to the same customer

Consumption: Billing by a device, which can be automated with your RMM (remote monitoring and management) to run queries and automate invoices

How Harmony PSA Differs from its Competitors

Many MSPs complain that the tools they use within their business require them to adopt the tools’ methodology too, which is something they don’t always want to do. What Harmony does is to ask the MSP how they run their business and adapts to that instead.

Steve explains that a key design principle for Harmony is flexibility, and while they won’t version the code, they do put a lot of effort into reconfigurability. The MSPs are given a platform where they can model their business and change it whenever they want without having to replace the software. 

Harmony’s Range of ‘Multi’ Options

Harmony has been designed to provide MSP users with a range of options for all aspects of the platform, which they term ‘multis’. These include:

Multi-currency: Harmony stores every financial transaction in three currencies: the transaction currency, the legal entity accounting currency and the consolidation currency, as well as being a real-time consolidation engine

Multi-legal: The build has the tax rules and account codes integrated, as well as its own finance interface so you can run a multinational group in a single instance of Harmony

Multi-country: This is useful for timesheets and invoices, allowing staff in one country to work on a project in another country. Their timesheets appear on the invoice, and Harmony resolves transfer prices for costs too

Multi-lingual: This feature works throughout the Harmony software, including in PDFs and other documentation. Initially introduced for German resellers, the 25,000 code changes the developers made now mean that they can add a language pack in a week. It also integrates with Microsoft Culture 7 to make it multi-culture

Multi-time-zone: Harmony supports overnight time zones, allowing MSPs to outsource to a company in India (for instance) and Harmony’s ticket SLAs (service level agreements) can understand the time zone

Mentioned in this Episode

Datalogic
Solarsoft
Microsoft Culture
Salesforce
SolarWinds MSP
Ninja
BlueSnap
Zapier

Interview Transcript
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The post How to make MSP billing and project management easier – TubbTalk #34 appeared first on Richard Tubb.