AMBER-JCS. Timesheet and Billing for Professionals INFORMATION PACK PART 1 SCREEN SHOTS. 1. Operational Sequence and Schema.

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1 AMBER-JCS Timesheet and Billing for Professionals INFORMATION PACK PART 1 SCREEN SHOTS 1. Operational Sequence and Schema 2. Screen Shots Main Menu Job List and Record Timesheet Record Weekly & Daily Sales Invoice List and Generate Sales Invoice Record Summary and Allocations Sales Invoice Print example format Reports Menu

2 Introduction Amber-JCS is a timesheet and billing system for professionals, such as consulting engineers, surveyors, architects and consultants. It is an office-based application based on a Microsoft platform, and therefore offers high speeds and userfriendliness. The benefits can be different for different firms, but essentially it s about improving efficiency. The Amber-JCS delivers visibility into your business (so you can better understand the financials for better decision-making), simplification and time-savings by automating repetitive tasks, and more efficient billing of fee-able time. This Information Pack will hopefully give an indication of these potential benefits, but you can download the Trial Copy for a more detailed evaluation. Operational Sequence of Events The main sequence of events in the Amber-JCS is as follows:- Function By Description Create New Client Job Manager Add Client details, including one or more Contacts At Job Start Create New Job Job Manager Enter Job Number and Job Title; select a Client; If required, enter job tasks and budgets, and any special staff fee rates Timesheet entry Fee earner Three formats available. Time is entered against a job and (optionally) a job task. Fee rates are looked up. In the detailed format, start and end times plus a description can be added. Expenses entry Fee Earner or Administrator Covers Job Expenses, Personal Expenses, and subcontractor invoices Daily Sales Invoice Generate Job Manager or an Administrator At regular intervals (E.g. monthly), sales invoices are generated from (untagged) timesheets and expenses. An approval process can be activated if required Weekly or Monthly Sales Invoice Review Job Manager Each draft invoice is reviewed by the job manager, and an invoice number then allocated. Optionally, the invoice can be posted to Sage 50. Sales Invoice Send Administrator The final invoices are then printed and posted, or sent by Reports Management At regular intervals, reports are printed to review job profitability, staff performance, and other financial information Monthly

3 Main Menu Design Notes: Apart from the menus above, there are two main types of screen - Listing (one record per row) and Record (one record per screen). Generally, the Listing screen is a navigation tool to locate a Record screen, but it does also offer some useful analysis (E.g. a display of all sales invoices for a month). The Listing screen is selected from the top menu bar buttons. The Timesheet format will default to your chosen format (Daily, Weekly or Batch). Other Job Costs include supplier invoices, job expenses and personal expenses. Job Expenses are paid for from company funds, requiring no reimbursement. Personal Expenses are paid from a staff s personal funds, and is reimbursable. Sales Invoices can be generated automatically, or created manually. Reports include a summary of WIP, staff timesheets, job costs and budget performance. Non-manager staff normally restricted to the data entry options only (timesheet and expenses). This simplifies the user interface for such users.

4 Job List Screen List screens like this one can be filtered (E.g. on Client), and columns can be sorted For a new job Job Record Screen The Job Summary tab gives an overview of each Job, including client details, start date and Job notes The Tabs across the top allow you to view different aspects of each Job such as Tasks, Budgets, Timesheets and Expenses. Some tabs can be switched off.

5 Timesheet Screen Weekly View This timesheet layout is suitable where detail (such as start time and descriptive notes) are not required. The weekly timesheet format records a staff member s totals for each day, in hours, by Job Name and (optionally) Job Task Costs are totalled by Job Name as well as an overall total for the week Timesheet Screen Daily View This timesheet layout is suitable where detail (such as start time and/or descriptive notes) are required. Certain fields can be switched off (ie hidden), such as the Approval pop-up and the Job Task pop-ups This record is largely read-only because it has been tagged to an invoice Note: There are two other timesheet formats

6 Sales Invoice List List screens like this one can be filtered (E.g. on Client), and columns can be sorted Sales Invoice Generate A sales invoice can be produced for any Job with new job costs, or just for a single job or client

7 Sales Invoice Record Summary Page Total Job Cost allocations are simply the theoretical charge based on the job cost allocations (see format below). Initially, this set the Total Net value You can override the Total Net value to a lump sum amount Information about the budget for this Job is displayed here Sales Invoice Record Job Cost Allocations Page This Job Cost Allocations page gives the breakdown of the Job Costs assigned to this sales invoices Once the invoice has been checked, the user selects Allocate Invoice No to seal the invoice

8 Sales Invoice Print Format (one example) We have used the Ambersoft logo here, but normally of course it would be your own. There are many different formats available. You select a default format for your company, but you can select other formats if the need arises. Some formats can include a timesheet attachment Formats are based on:- - fixed price, or - time and expenses, or - staged invoicing terms based on project completion percentages

9 Reports Menu The reports list can be reduced to just those options required, using Manage Options The filters on the right hand side of the screen are activated depending on which Report has been selected Reports can be printed or exported into a variety of formats

10 Your Next Step There is nothing quite like using the software. It gives you the opportunity to do a full evaluation, and it need not take too much time if you focus on just one current job. We offer two options for this evaluation stage:- On-Line Demo On-Line Demo and Installation We dial-in to your computer, set it up, and demo the key features. We then leave you to evaluate the software. Please contact us on or info@ambersoft.co.uk to arrange an on-line demo. Download Download and Automatic Installation You can download the Amber-JCS from here:- You may download either the Trial Copy for a trial period of 4 weeks. More Information Sales Invoice and Report Formats Further detailed information on sales invoice and report formats can be found here:-