GET STARTED USING OFFICE MANAGEMENT

Transcription

1 GET STARTED USING OFFICE MANAGEMENT This guide helps you set up and start using Office Management. More information about Office Management and other areas of the software is provided in the HelpDesk. WELCOME TO OFFICE MANAGEMENT... 1 INITIAL OFFICE MANAGEMENT SETUP... 1 COMPANY INFORMATION...2 INSPECTOR INFORMATION...2 FEES: TOTAL AREA BILLING (Premier Editions Only)...2 FEES & PRODUCT BILLING CODES...3 INSPECTION REQUESTS (Premier Editions Only)...4 JOB INFO SELECTIONS (Premier Editions Only)...4 JOB INFO MISCELLANEOUS FIELDS...5 CUSTOMIZE SELECTION LISTS...5 SETTING UP THE SCHEDULER (Premier Editions Only)...5 USING OFFICE MANAGEMENT... 6 ADDING AND FINDING JOBS...6 INVOICING...7 USING THE SCHEDULER (Premier Editions Only)...8 USING WITH REPORT WRITER & DOCUMENTS... 9 LINKING AND OPENING INSPECTIONS...9 MERGING JOB DATA INTO INSPECTIONS AND DOCUMENTS...10 WELCOME TO OFFICE MANAGEMENT Office Management automates collecting and maintaining job and contact information, producing job related printouts, and linking or merging data to the Report Writer and attached documents. Premier editions include a Scheduler, expanded screens and features, and the ability to post sales data to QuickBooks or Peachtree Accounting software. Upgrade to Premier through our website or sales at Any edition works best and most efficiently once you ve set up business-specific information. INITIAL OFFICE MANAGEMENT SETUP When you launched Office Management the first time, a wizard helped you setup: Company Information Inspector Fees Company Logo for inserting into report header (Use report writer Preferences > Preferences, Logo tab to select or change your company logo later.) Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 1 of 12

2 COMPANY INFORMATION To edit or enter expanded Company Information, use Maintain > Company Information. Company Information tabs also let you setup automatic ing and uploading for invoices and inspection reports to clients directly from your 3D software. See the Company Info Help screen for setup details. Save and Exit when finished. INSPECTOR INFORMATION To adjust inspector information, use Maintain > Inspectors. Add additional inspectors or use the Search button to adjust existing inspector information. FEES: TOTAL AREA BILLING (Premier Editions Only) If not using a Premier Edition, skip this section. Premier edition users who charge based on square footage, may choose between (a) charging various flat fees based on square footage ranges, or (b) charging a minimum base price, with an additional per square foot charge for larger buildings. Premier users who prefer method B can set up a special Total Area Billing feature. Otherwise, for option A (entering pre-set ranges as normal product billing codes), skip this option and proceed to the next section. Total Area Billing calculates the fee based on the Total Area entered in the Job Info tab when you click the Fill Invoice with Selected Products button on the Invoice tab. (Discussed later). To set up, use Customize > Total Area Billing: 1. Enter a Product Code to represent your total area billing in the invoice. 2. Enter your Base inspection fee, or minimum charge 3. Enter you Base square footage, or area your minimum charge covers. In the example shown, user set a base square footage of 1500 since he charges $ up to a 1500 square foot building 4. Enter the Amount per additional square feet over your minimums. 5. If you want to have a maximum inspection fee cap, enter it. Otherwise, leave the Maximum inspection fee set to 0.00 if you do not want a maximum to apply. 6. Click OK when done to save your information. Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 2 of 12

3 FEES & PRODUCT BILLING CODES Next, use Customize > Product Billing Codes to enter any additional products and fees. 1. Enter all your products and fees in the window. If you base fees on sales price or square footage ranges, or other criteria, add all these increments and ranges and their corresponding fees. Also include add-on charges for extra services or items (i.e. Radon, Lead, Water, Termite, Mileage, re-inspection, extra baths, cottage), fees for different types of inspections (Duplex /Triplex, Commercial, Relocation inspections, Insurance, $xx per hour), and any other services or fee items that might appear on your invoice (Discounts, etc). For each item, enter: Product Code or brief abbreviation. These labels will be used on your data entry screen for Inspections Requested, invoicing, and other selections. Description to print on the client s printed invoice or receipt as the service rendered. These may also be used as main categories for certain Sales reports. Price or typical fee for the item. Prices and quantities can later be adjusted for specific jobs. If you want the pricing to be based on a percentage of the total fees, enter the percentage instead and tick the Percent box. (i.e. enter -10 in Price to discount invoice by 10%. Or 5 to add a 5% surcharge). A percentage amount is calculated based on the original total when the invoice is filled or when the percent product code is added. Sales Account, Cost, Cost Debit, Cost Credit items are only used for posting to QuickBooks or Peachtree accounting software (Premier Editions only). Use Accounting Software Interface documentation to set them up later. Note: As you add Items to the grid, they are ordered alpha-numerically for convenience, but this does not determine how they may be placed on your Office Management screen. 2. Save when done to update and return to the main Office Management screen. Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 3 of 12

4 INSPECTION REQUESTS (Premier Editions Only) If not using a Premier Edition, skip this section After entering your Product Codes, Premier Edition users can attach or place them on the Inspection Requests tab. In addition, Product Codes may be attached to selections for some items in Job Info. After items are selected for a job, your fee can quickly be totaled automatically (more on that later). First, set up the main Inspection Requests. 1. Click Customize > Inspection Requests. Your screen tick boxes will correspond to the placement of each item and column. 2. Use selection buttons to choose Product Billing codes for the items the way you want them displayed. Although most items will likely be Product Codes, you can also add non-fee items by simply typing them. Inspection Requests Tips: Group related items together for easier job booking. For instance use the first couple columns for main services, and other columns for add-on charges (i.e. Radon, Termite, Lead, etc.) Leave gaps between groupings to leave room for future expansion. You may decide to omit infrequent or rare services, since those can always be added directly to an invoice if needed. Some Product Billing Codes could be attached to other fields in Job Info (e.g. Crawlspace, Additions, Bedrooms/Baths), thus reserving Inspection Requests boxes for other items (we ll add other Job Info items next). Arrange your Inspection Requests labels in the order desired BEFORE entering live data. Once you enter actual jobs, avoid moving existing labels, since tick marks for prior jobs will remain in their respective location and won t move with any labels that are moved, possibly causing them to have incorrect labels. 3. Exit to update the Inspection Requests tab with your settings. JOB INFO SELECTIONS (Premier Editions Only) If not using a Premier Edition, skip this section. Premier edition users can enter common selections for the various fields on the Job Info tab. These selections can also be attached to Product Billing Codes for use with the automatic Fill Invoice feature (more on this later). To set up, use Customize > Lists. 1. Enter common selections or answers in the first column for each field. 2. (Optional) If needed, you may also attach Product Codes to certain items using the selection button. Where Product Codes are attached, the fee is automatically added to the invoice when the item is selected for a job. Note: Avoid attaching the same Product Codes to selections in both Inspection Requests and to specific fields, if you don t want the fee duplicated in your invoice when both items are used. Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 4 of 12

5 USAGE EXAMPLE: If you charge extra for buildings over one-story, you could add a Product Code for Extra Story using Customize > Product Billing Codes, and then attach that fee to Customize > Lists Stories selections. In the example shown, no Product Code is attached to 1 story, since there is no extra fee, but the Extra Story Fee is attached to the other items. If the fee was different fee for 3-story, a different product code could have been used. When adding jobs, if 2 story is selected, the Fill Invoice button automatically would insert the Extra Story charge and other Inspection Requests and Job Info fees selected. 3. Save when done. Your selections are now available for the various fields, and any Product Codes can work with the Fill Invoice feature (discussed later). JOB INFO MISCELLANEOUS FIELDS If you need additional fields that are not available, you may add a few custom Miscellaneous fields to the Job Info tab. Premier editions contain expanded fields and tabs, more Miscellaneous fields, and the ability to enable or disable certain additional optional fields or contacts using Customize > Features. Consider upgrading to a Premier edition if you want all these additional items. To add additional custom Miscellaneous field labels and selections not covered by other fields, using Customize > Miscellaneous Fields: 1. Use tabs to select a field to customize. Enter a Label to display for the field, and any desired selections in the Item List column. 2. Premier edition users only: If needed (Optional), you may also attach Product Codes to certain selections. Where Product Codes are attached, the corresponding fee is automatically added to the invoice when that selection is chosen for a job. This works like Inspection Requests and other Job Info selections that have Product Codes attached. 3. Save when finished to add the labels to Job Info. CUSTOMIZE SELECTION LISTS Other Office Management fields can be preset for common selections using Customize > Lists. Use tabs at the top to select fields and enter your common answers as desired. When entering job information, most selections will auto-fill when typing or may be selected from the menu. New items entered are generally added to the list automatically. SETTING UP THE SCHEDULER (Premier Editions Only) If not using a Premier Edition, skip this section. Premier editions integrated Scheduler must be set up for use: 1. Click the Schedule button at the top of the main Office Management screen Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 5 of 12

6 2. When prompted, choose to configure a Schedule. 3. Type Main or another name as your Schedule name. 4. Select Inspectors in the order you want them listed. If you need to add Inspectors, exit and use Maintain > Inspectors, and return later. 5. When finished, Save your schedule layout. 6. Close to return to the main Scheduler, which displays your new schedule. Until jobs are booked, no items will show on the scheduler. For jobs to display, they must contain an Inspector, Inspection date, time, and hours. 7. Close the schedule when done. When actually using the Scheduler, you may leave it open and switch between it and your main program using your Windows taskbar. See Help for details about using the Scheduler. Online Scheduling: If you are interested in booking and collecting jobs online from your website, and automatically importing them into Office Management, various thirdparty scheduling services that export to 3D software are available. See Backup or Transfer Data topic Online Schedule Interfaces topic in Office Management Help. You are now ready to use Office Management. The rest of this guide will give you an overview of features. USING OFFICE MANAGEMENT We recommend you also review the About Office Management Screen and Office Management Basics topics in Office Management Help. Help screens have additional details about the features. Here is a brief overview of basic features. Menus and tools access common features, while most of the screen is for viewing and entering job information. Use your mouse, quick tabs along the top of information, and TAB or SHIFT+TAB to move through fields. Some selections can be customized for your business, as described in prior sections of this guide. Add New jobs or use the navigation toolbar to Find or browse through existing jobs. The Record Number, Job Name, and date the record was added is shown at the top. Premier Editions are especially designed to help office staff to ask common property questions, upsell services, accurately quote fees, and book jobs. When items attached to Product Codes are linked to your fees, a total fee or quote can instantly be tallied by clicking Fill Invoice with Selected Products in the Invoice tab, after which invoices, work orders, or other items can be printed or ed to clients or inspectors. ADDING AND FINDING JOBS To add a new job, click Add New button and enter job information. See About the Office Management Screen Help topic for details about fields and items. Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 6 of 12

7 Record Number and Job Name New jobs are automatically assigned an arbitrary "Record Number" for internal indexing. Conveniently, it also automatically copies to your "Job Name" for automatic numbering, although you can change the Job Name to reflect your own numbering system. The Record Number and Job Name do not need to match. The Job Name becomes the filename for linked Report Writer inspections. (TIP: To automatically number jobs sequentially starting at a higher number, increase the Record Number itself when adding your next record. Whenever new records are added, the program simply adds 1 to the highest existing record number) Finding Existing Jobs Use navigation tools to locate jobs. Click Find to search, or browse through jobs in the order they are stored internally, or to first and last records. Add or Edit Contacts on the General or Contacts tab Type your content name. Enter names in a Last name, First name, Honorific format so the program can auto-fill information and make later searching easier. If it finds a matching existing contact name, it auto-fills as you type. Or use the Search button. to find contacts based on other information. To view or edit the complete contact information click Edit. Otherwise, after a new contact name is entered, moving to another field automatically displays the Add contact window automatically. If the name was entered as recommended, tab through the name fields to autofill them and complete any additional information. Premier edition users can enable other types of contacts using Customize > Features. Entering Dates & Times Choose a date from the calendar or enter it in 6-digit format MMDDYY. Times may be abbreviated when entered (enter 9a for 9:00am, 3p for 3:00pm, 3:15p for 3:15pm) Dates and times are formatted automatically when you tab to the next field. INVOICING Use the Invoice tab to enter job invoicing information. Fill Invoice with selected products Premier edition users can link product codes to various job selections (See earlier Setup sections in this guide). After filling out job information, clicking the Fill Invoice with Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 7 of 12

8 selected products button in the Invoice tab automatically imports the selected products and their fees and totals them. This feature is only in Premier editions. Manually Adding Invoice items All users can manually add product codes to the invoice and adjust them as needed. (To set up Product Codes use Customize > Product Billing Codes) Use the selection buttons in the Product Code column of the invoice to add them. Printing Invoices, Work Orders, or Labels Print invoice forms like invoices or work orders for your current job using the Print tool. these items using the button. For ing to work you must set up ing and Messages options in Maintain > Company Information. See Help. Customize your Invoice or Work Order design using Customize > Customize Invoice Forms. See help documentation for further instructions. USING THE SCHEDULER (Premier Editions Only) If not using a Premier Edition, skip this section. If you would like to add the Scheduler, contact 3D Inspection Systems about upgrading to a Premier Edition. Premier editions include an integrated Scheduler for booking jobs. If you haven t already set up your main schedule, see Help for details. You may keep the Scheduler open and use your task bar to switch between it and your main program. For jobs to display on the Schedule, they must contain an Inspector, Inspection date, time, and hours. Use the calendar tools to display dates and adjust your view. You may click and drag multiple days in the calendar, or hold CTRL to select and compare specific days. Adjust pane sizes by dragging them. Select and hover over scheduled items to view details. Scroll to see additional off-screen details. Reschedule jobs by clicking and dragging them to new date, timeframe, or inspector. Display a job in Office Management by double-clicking it. Use Add New in the main Office Management to add any new jobs. Adjustments to scheduled times or inspectors saved in either Office Management or scheduler will be reflected in the other. Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 8 of 12

9 Block Off other time (personal appointments, vacation) by highlighting the desired time slots on the scheduler (click and drag) and clicking Block Off selected range. Print your selected day schedules using the Print button if desired. USING WITH REPORT WRITER & DOCUMENTS Switch between main areas of the 3D Inspection System software when needed by clicking the appropriate Action. For example, while working on an inspection in the Report Writer, you might switch to Office Management to book new jobs, then return to Report Writer to continue your open inspection. Office Management information can also merge into Report Writer inspections and documents. Use the Begin and Open Inspection buttons (discussed next) at the top of Office Management as shortcuts for launching linked Report Writer inspections. LINKING AND OPENING INSPECTIONS The Job Name in Office Management link jobs to actual Report Writer inspections when it matches the filename of a Report Writer inspection. Use Begin and Open Inspection buttons at the top of Office Management to easily create or open linked regular reports. Begin Inspection: Create a new Report Writer inspection linked to the current job. This makes it easy to locate or launch inspections later, and allows job data to be merged into the linked inspections and attached documents. Choose the inspection name and desired form group and click OK to start a new inspection. Open Inspection: Accesses existing regular Report Writer inspections linked to the current job. If button is not available, then no existing inspections are linked. TIP: If an inspection you created is not linking to an Office Management job, you may either (a) adjust the Job Name in Office Management to match the inspection filename or (b) rename the inspection.r3d file to match your Job Name using Windows rename features (be sure to leave the.r3d extension) or using File > Save As in the Report Writer. As long as the inspection filename matches one of the Job Name combinations Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 9 of 12

10 listed in New Inspection, it will link. After adjusting a job or inspection name, you may need to click Save in Office Management to refresh your record. Cloud3D / Pocket3D Inspection: Create or converts mobile inspections that are linked to the current job. To create a new mobile inspection for the job, use the Create option, and to convert a finished mobile inspection for the job, use the Convert option. See also our tips article: MERGING JOB DATA INTO INSPECTIONS AND DOCUMENTS You may merge Office Management data into inspections and attached documents by including Office Management Fields in forms or documents, as described here. When Report Writer inspections are previewed or printed, or attached documents printed, any Office Management Fields in the documents are automatically merged from the linked job. See also the Report Writer Help topics Attaching Documents to Inspections and Header, Footer, and Index for further details. If Office Management data does not merge into attached inspections or documents: Make sure the inspection is actually linked to the Office Management job. Check whether the Open Inspection button at the top of Office Management shows it listed. If the inspection is not listed or the button unavailable, the inspection file is not linked. To cure, you may need to rename either the Job Name in Office Management or your inspection filename (the portion before the.r3d) to match. Afterwards, in Office Management click Save to refresh the record. You may need to reinsert Office Management Fields in certain documents or reselect report Narratives containing fields afterwards to remerge data. If the inspection is linked to the Office Management job and doesn't merge the desired data, make sure appropriate merge fields were included in the master documents used. (See below) Make sure the data you are trying to merge was entered for the job. Merging into Inspection Forms: You may include Office Management Fields in inspection forms, for instance as Narratives that are selected in the Report Writer. When selected while writing the inspection, they will import the appropriate information from Office Management. Forms provided with your edition may already include Narratives set up this way (possibly labeled DB Import or something similar), or you may add your own: In the Report writer use the Add or Modify button below your Narratives menu to add or modify the desired item. While editing the Narrative text, use Insert > Office Management Field to insert the desired field. To make the information import automatically when you start future inspections, you may want to tick the Default box for the item (Otherwise, you must click the item manually while writing inspections in the main program to import the data). Note: Defaults merge automatically at the time an inspection is first created, so items that don t merge because of missing information or not being linked to a job may simply need be selected again manually if needed after adding missing information, correcting the job link, or adding a new menu item containing office management merge Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 10 of 12

11 fields. See also our tips article: Merging into Inspection Header/Footer or Index You can use Office Management fields to merge inspection and client address or other job information into the header, footer, or cover page and index for inspections. Merging occurs for these items at final print time. To include Office Management fields in these master documents: 1. Switch to the Report Writer 2. In Report Writer, click File > Page Setup. 3. Use the Customize button next to the Header/Footer or Index document to edit them. Your Header/Footer document prints on each page of your inspection body, so it normally only includes a header and footer. Your index document usually prints at the beginning of an inspection to include a Cover and Table of Contents. 4. While editing the document, Insert > Office Management Fields where desired. (You may also Insert fields to import page numbers, dates, logos, cover image, or other items). See Insert Menu help topic in the document editor for details. Simply type any regular standard text that applies to all inspections where desired. 5. When finished Save and Exit. Create and print a new inspection to test changes. Note: The Index document is attached to inspections when they are first created. To adjust the index for an existing inspection only, open the _index.w3d document in the lower Attached Document pane in the Report Writer and adjust information as desired for that specific inspection only. Merging into other Document attachments: Generally you d want to include Office Management Fields in your master document templates used for each inspection (although you can insert them into a document already attached to remerge or include information for a specific job only): 1. Use the Action pane or Word Processor to open the desired document template. Or for documents already attached, right-click them in the lower Attached Documents pane in your inspection and Open. 2. Create or modify your document as desired. Where you want to import Office Management data, position your cursor and Insert > Office Management Field. Expand (click the plus) the desired Office Management table, highlight the desired field, and click OK to import the Field into your document. The field will be replaced with the actual appropriate job data later. Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 11 of 12

12 3. Repeat Step 2 for any additional fields you need to include. 4. When finished, save and exit your document. When the document is attached to your inspection (or reopened if already attached) the appropriate Office Management information merges. Note: Documents cannot recursively merge Invoice information, nor merge in labels for Inspection Requests items or Utility status (only true/false values can merge). For additional details or help with any Office Management feature, please check the full documentation provided in the HelpDesk. Office Management Getting Started Guide ver D Inspection Systems, Inc. Page 12 of 12