YearOne PowerLink 3.55 Job Costing

Transcription

1 YearOne PowerLink 3.55 Job Costing User Guide September 2014

2 Publication Date Product Version September 2014 YearOne PowerLink 3.55 YearOne Software Australia Pty Ltd ACN ABN Ross River Road, Mundingburra QLD 4812 Australia Tel Fax info@yearone.com.au Website: YearOne Software Australia Pty Ltd ii

3 Contents Introduction 1 Quick Start 1 Using Job Costing 8 Jobs Workflow...8 Time Workflow...9 Searching for Jobs...11 Create a New Job...11 Searching for Jobs...12 Create Job from Customer Master File...12 Print Job Cards Job Cards Notifications...12 Allocate Costs to Jobs 13 Allocate Time via Job Master File...13 Enter Time via Employee Timesheet...13 Apply Rates on an Activity Basis...14 Apply Rates on an Employee Basis...14 Apply Rates on a Customer or Job Basis...14 Allocate Stock via Job Master File...15 Allocate Stock via Stock Issues Program...15 Allocate Stock via Supplier Purchase Order...15 Allocate Purchases to a Job...16 Allocate Consumable Items to a Job...16 Allocate GL Journals to a Job...16 Re-Code Job Transactions...17 Jobs Dashboard 18 Jobs Home Page...19 Jobs in Progress...19 Jobs Not Started...19 iii

4 To Do List...20 Active Quotes...20 Details Page...20 Summary...20 Schedule...21 Details...21 Activity Page...22 Recent Job Activity...22 Manage Page...22 Jobs Complete Not Invoiced...22 Jobs Deliveries Due...22 Customers in Dispute with Jobs...23 Job Status Analysis...23 Overdue Jobs...23 Over Budget Jobs...23 Kanban Page...24 Introduction...24 Access Rights...24 Accessing the Kanban...24 Kanban Columns...25 Modifying the Kanban Display Card...26 Favourites Page...27 Quick Add (Add New)...27 Reports and Enquiries 27 Managers Enquiry...27 Customer Enquiry...28 Job Enquiry...28 Job Cost Detail Report...28 Maintain Cost Categories...29 Job Cost Totals Report...30 Job Listing...30 Work in Progress Report...30 Customising Reports and Enquiries...31 Invoicing Jobs 31 Invoicing Jobs...31 Create Job Invoice...34 Completing Jobs...35 Job Billing Report...35 iv

5 Quotes 35 Create a Quote for a Job...35 Create Budget for a Job...37 Budget Variance Report...37 Create PowerLink Invoice from a Quote...38 Generate Purchase Orders from a Quote...38 Quote Templates...38 Advanced Topics 39 Specify Job Code Format...39 Create a Job Department...39 Setup Default Department...40 Customise Job Card Layout...40 Customise Timesheet Entry Columns...40 Enter Time via Attaché Payroll...40 Enable Data Transfer in Attaché...40 Posting Timesheets to Attaché Payroll...40 Custom Fields and Forms...42 v

6 Introduction With PowerLink Job Costing you can: Create Jobs Raise jobs for fixed price or do-and-charge jobs and allocate time, materials and other costs to jobs Job Billing Generate job invoices on an individual basis or as a batch (eg. weekly or monthly billing). Invoices can be posted to your installed accounting system. Recurring Invoices Generate invoices for regular services based on an agreement or contract. Job Quotes Quote for new work and generate jobs from successful quotes. Reports Produce reports and access enquiries to help manage jobs. Note: Many features in PowerLink are shared in all modules. These include dashboard features, menu access rights etc. If you cannot find details of a feature in this user guide then you should check the Getting Started Guide. Quick Start This chapter contains a checklist for setting up PowerLink Job Costing. Refer to later sections in this user guide for more detailed instructions on setting up and using PowerLink. Important: You should have already installed PowerLink and completed the Quick Start checklist in the PowerLink Getting Started Guide before you can finish setting up and use PowerLink Job Costing. 1

7 1. Menu Access Rights. By default, access to programs and reports is restricted. Login as SUPERVISOR and Select Tools System Menu Access Rights to allow access to programs and reports for individual users. 2. Search Access Rights. You can search for jobs from the JOBS dashboard using the Menu gadget search bar. This requires access be given to the BI ENQUIRY SEARCH RESULTS JOB gadget via the Tools System Menu Access Rights program. (See the Menu Gadget Search Bar section in Getting Started Guide for more details on using this feature.) 3. Dashboard Gadget Access. By default, gadgets in CRM dashboard pages are not visible to users. You can allow access to gadgets on CRM dashboard pages in Supervisor Mode. Refer to the ViewPoint (Dashboard) section below for more information. 4. External Payroll. If employee information from an external Payroll company will be used, you will need to add it via the Add Company button in the Company tab in the Data Service Options or via Setups System Maintain Companies. 5. Job Code Format. Define the required job code format using characters to denote department (max 1 char), job (max 7 char) and sub-jobs (max 6 char). Use a dot "." delimiter to separate job and sub-job. The format cannot easily be changed once you have created a job, so choose carefully and consider future needs. Setups Job Costing Options Job Costing 6. Internal Customer Code. Select the Attaché Customer code that will be used for internal jobs. Manufacturing and Machine jobs are automatically assigned to the internal customer. Setups Job Costing Options Job Costing 7. No Job Code. Define your default No Job code. This should be used for overhead expenses. The Re-Code Job Costing Transactions program can also automatically re-code blank and invalid job codes to this code. Setups Job Costing Options Job Costing 8. Labour Cost and Charge Rate Options. Labour can be costed and charged using many different ways depending on your needs. You can use Attaché payroll or rates that you set-up in PowerLink to cost labour. If you use PowerLink to cost labour, then to calculate the applicable rate, PowerLink will look first at the labour schedule, then at the nominal cost on the employee, then at the shift/activity rates for the employee, then at the default cost for the shift. The same considerations can be applied to charge-out rates. a. If you cost labour from timesheets entered in PowerLink, rather than using the Attaché payroll costs, select to Use Nominal Pay Rate in PowerLink. Setups Job Costing Options Report Options b. Employee Rates. If you cost labour based on the employee rather than their activity, define the Nominal Cost for each employee. 2

8 Masterfiles Payroll Maintain Employee c. Shift Rates. If you cost labour based on the employee s activity, define a Default Cost Rate for each relevant shift code. Create extra shifts as needed. Setups Payroll Maintain Shifts d. Employee Shift Rates. If you cost labour based on a combination of the employee and their activity, define the Shift / Activity Cost Rates for each relevant employee. Masterfiles Payroll Maintain Employee e. Labour Schedules. If you cost labour at a different rate for different customers or jobs, create labour schedules to suit your needs. These can then be assigned when creating jobs and customers. Setups Payroll Setup Labour Schedules 9. Costing Supplier Stock Lines. Do you purchase stock specifically for a job, rather than issuing stock items to the job? That is, PowerLink will treat stock on purchasing documents as costed to the job immediately and not wait for it to be issued to the job from inventory. Setups Job Costing Options Report Options 10. Auto Create Stock Issues. Do you want PowerLink to automatically create stock issue entries to the No Job code job to adjust your inventory? That is, no separate stock adjustment will be required. TIP: This step only applies if Cost Stock Lines has been selected in the previous step. Setups Job Costing Options Report Options 11. Departments. Do you need to report on different types of jobs, eg do & charge versus fixed price, or jobs performed by different areas of your business? If so you can create additional departments as needed. If you are moving from a previous job system, you can also set the next job number. Setups Job Costing Maintain Departments 12. Timesheet Entry Fields. If costing labour using PowerLink timesheets, do you need to capture any extra data on the timesheet? PowerLink allows you to show or hide additional fields such as start and stop times, pay rate override, group etc. 3

9 Setups Payroll Options Timesheet Entry 13. Job Status Codes. Do you need to categorise the status of jobs beyond the three default status codes? Setups Job Costing Options Status Codes 14. Job Type Codes. Do you need to categorise the type of jobs? Setups Job Costing Options Status Codes 15. Custom Job Fields. Do you need to capture any information against jobs beyond the standard data entry fields? If so, you can create custom job fields and enter data in them when you create jobs. a. Setups Job Costing Setup Custom Job Fields b. Use F7-Add to create fields. Use F8-Update to save and update database. 16. Enter Jobs. All active jobs need to be entered. Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance 17. Job Balances. If you do not need a detailed history of costs, then job balances can be entered using a single journal for each job. TIP: If you want to enter a detailed costing history for each job then you can proceed to the next step. Any costs which you want PowerLink to automatically include when you invoice a job should not be entered as a journal. a. Transactions Job Costing Enter General Ledger Journal b. Select F4-AutoNew to create a new journal; enter a Description and press F9-Accept. c. Enter a single line for each job. If you want to categorise labour and materials, then you will need to enter multiple lines for each job. Account Code is not important as this journal will not be posted to the GL, but you do have to enter a balancing journal to the No Job code to accept it. 18. Stock Transactions Consumables, Non-Stock Lines and Stock Lines already Issued from Attaché. Materials which have already been issued from stock must be entered as non-stock items or consumables. That is, they must be entered with no product code. a. Transactions Job Costing Job Maintenance - Enter Materials. b. Enter Date, Job, Description, Qty, Cost and Price. For each job, you can enter the items used on the job. c. Items which you want to appear on costing reports but excluded from billing should be entered with a zero Price. IMPORTANT: You must leave the Product Code blank, otherwise stock will be issued from Attaché the next time you do F7-Post Attaché and cause your stock to be out of balance. 19. Stock Transactions Stock Lines to be issued from Attaché. Enter all stock which is to be issued from Attaché. 4

10 a. Transactions Job Costing Job Maintenance - Enter Materials. b. Enter Date, Job, Product Code, Description, Qty, Cost and Price. For each job, you can enter the items used on the job. c. Items which you want to appear on costing reports but excluded from billing should be entered with a zero Price. 20. Timesheet Transactions. Transactions which need to be billed or detailed must be entered. These include timesheets, stock issues and purchases. a. Transactions Job Costing Job Maintenance - Enter Time. For each job, you can enter the time spent on the job. TIP: You can also enter time on jobs for each employee using Transactions Job Costing Enter Payroll Timesheets. b. Items which you want to appear on costing reports but excluded from billing should be entered with a zero Unit Price. This field can be temporarily enabled if necessary. See Timesheet Entry Fields step above. 21. Print Reports. Print the Reports Job Costing Job Cost Totals Report and check against your previous system. 22. Next Invoice Number. PowerLink assigns its own invoice numbers. To ensure that these do not clash with Attaché, you should set the next invoice number to a value which will not cause an overlap. This is especially important if you have disabled the Allow Duplicate Invoice Numbers option in Attaché. Setups Quoting Options. TIP: Invoice numbers are 8 characters long. By setting the next invoice number so that the first character is a digit allows you to instantly recognise that the Attaché invoice was produced from PowerLink. TIP: If you want PowerLink generated invoices to sequence with normal Attaché invoices, you can remove the Document Number ( OrderNo field) from the Customer Invoice KFI Format. See Setting Up Attaché Transaction Screens in the Getting Started Guide. 23. Add Cost Centre Code to Attaché Transaction Screens. If costing lines on Attaché customer invoices, supplier invoices / purchase orders add the cost centre field on the Attaché data entry screens. a. The screen designer for customer orders and invoices can be started from the Setups Customers Screen Designer menu b. The screen designer for supplier purchase orders, goods received notes and invoices can be started from the Setups Suppliers Screen Designer menu. 5

11 24. Attaché Customer Order and Invoice KFI Formats. If sending customer order / invoice information to Attaché for billing - setup Attaché KFI layouts. TIP: This is normally done automatically during the PowerLink installation. This step should only be necessary if you want to include additional information on invoices. (See Setting Up Attaché Screen Layouts ) 25. Job Quote Layout. Do you need a layout for your job quotes which is different from the standard, or to add your company logo? If so you can use the Quote Designer to create your own. a. Setups Job Costing Quote and Invoice Designer b. Select Copy - Standard Quote and then Quote Simple (for example) and F9-Copy to create a customised version of a standard quote. c. After making changes, you can Preview and the Save changes. TIP: Preview will only work if a quote has been created and printed using a standard layout. To create a quote, select Transactions Quotes Maintain Quotes - Simple. (Quotes are a special type of report. See the Reports Designer User Guide.) 26. Job Invoice Layout. Job invoices can be printed from PowerLink if a special layout is required which cannot be handled by the Attaché Forms Designer. Do you need a special layout? If so you can use the Quote Designer to create your own (invoices and quotes are compatible documents and treated by PowerLink as the same type of document). (See Job Quote Layout in the previous step.) 27. Job Card Layout. Job cards can be printed when creating jobs. Do you need a layout for job cards that is different from the default? a. Setups Job Costing Job Card Designer b. Select Copy - Standard Job Card and then JobCard and F9-Copy to create a customised version of a standard quote. c. After making changes, you can Preview and the Save changes. TIP: Preview will only work if a job has been created and printed using a standard layout. To create a job, select Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance. (Job Cards are a special type of report. See Reports Designer User Guide.) 28. Job Costing Report Layout. Do you need a layout for job costing reports that is different from the default? a. Setups Custom Reports Custom Reports Designer b. Select Copy - Standard Report and then Job Cost Detail Report (for example) and F9-Copy to create a customised version of the standard Job Cost Detail Report (found on the Reports Job Costing menu). c. After making changes, you can Preview and the Save changes. TIP: You must have the Reports Designer module (module code R ) installed to create your own reports. Contact your PowerLink Consultant if you want to add modules. (See Reports Designer User Guide.) 29. Post Timesheets to Attaché Payroll. Do you want to post timesheets entered in PowerLink over to the Attaché Payroll? If so, you can create mappings from Shifts to Income Types. Setups Payroll Maintain Shifts 6

12 30. Accessing Job Costing Features. Most Job Costing features can be accessed from the Jobs dashboard, the Time, Jobs and Std Orders workflow and the menus. a. Time Workflow. The Time workflow can be accessed from the Start Page Time tab. The most common programs and dashboard pages for billing time are arranged as a work flow menu showing a suggested processing sequence. b. Jobs Workflow. The Jobs workflow can be accessed from the Start Page Time tab. The most common programs and dashboard pages for billing time and materials and managing jobs are arranged as a work flow menu showing a suggested processing sequence. c. Jobs Dashboard. Many features are accessible from the Jobs dashboard. You can search for a job and display details and activity. The Add New button allows you to quickly add jobs, quotes and notes. d. Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance. You can create jobs, enter time and materials. You can add notes, s, quotes and view history from the History tab. 31. Customised Job Solutions. You can create your own Job solution comprising customised dashboards, reports, tables and forms using other PowerLink modules (available separately). These tools are available from the Solutions workflow tab on the Start Page. a. Report Designer. Design reports using the Report Designer (Setups Custom Reports Custom Reports Designer). b. ViewPoint. You can also create dashboards gadgets using the Report Designer and then add them to a dashboard using the ViewPoint Template Designer. c. Solution Builder. Create your own data entry forms and tables to store additional data using Solution Builder (Setups Solution Builder Form Designer). 7

13 Using Job Costing Jobs Workflow The main process for Job Costing workflow can be accessed by clicking on the Jobs menu button. Common tasks are displayed as icons in a work-flow arrangement. The solid arrows show the suggested processing flow. The dimmed arrows show additional optional but nonetheless important tasks. When you hover over an icon, you ll see help text that explains more about the task. When you click an icon it launches the relevant program, report or dashboard page. The following tasks are accessible from the Jobs Workflow. It is important to know that not all tasks are shown on the workflow. Only commonly used tasks are shown. Create Job Quote. Many jobs start with a quote. If accepted, a job and budget and even supplier purchase orders can be automatically created from the quote. Employees can manage their quotes on the Jobs Home page. Create Job. If a quote isn't required, you can create a new job manually. Send messages using predefined templates, which can automatically update the job's History. Monitor workload via the Jobs Home page. 8

14 Schedule Job Appointments. Schedule job appointments using a calendar interface. One job can have multiple appointments. Work performed can be entered against appointments and processed into timesheets; see the Time workflow. Enter Time and Materials. Labour and materials can be entered directly against an individual job via the Time and Materials tabs. Alternatively, update multiple jobs via Stock Issues (materials) and Timesheets / Appointments (labour). Issue Stock. If you issue stock randomly to multiple jobs, it's more efficient to use the Stock Issues program. Whichever method suits, you need to run this process regularly to ensure accurate stock levels in Attaché. Job Cost Report. The Job Cost Details report groups and totals costs based on category. Other job reports include Work In Progress and Budget Variance. You can also monitor work performed on jobs via the Activity page. Job Billing. Invoice a single job or a group of jobs with a great amount of flexibility. Transactions to be invoiced can be approved and modified prior to final invoicing for total control. Check Job Details. On the Job Details page you can search for and select a job to see various details including contact, status, budget, cost details, labour details, history notes and upcoming appointments. Check Dashboard Warnings. The Jobs Manage page includes warnings about jobs that are overdue or over budget; complete but not invoiced; and where the customer is flagged as in dispute. Overdue job purchases are also displayed. Time Workflow Some Job Costing users focus heavily on time costing, so the Time workflow describes some extra processes. The time costing and payroll processing workflow can be accessed by clicking on the Time menu button. 9

15 Common tasks are displayed as icons in a work-flow arrangement. The solid arrows show the suggested processing flow. The dimmed arrows show additional optional but nonetheless important tasks. When you hover over an icon, you ll see help text that explains more about the task. When you click an icon it launches the relevant program, report or dashboard page. The following tasks are accessible from the Jobs Workflow. It is important to know that not all tasks are shown on the workflow. Only commonly used tasks are shown. Check active appointments. The Job Planner allows scheduling of appointments. When work is done, the appointment status should be changed to Attended. Check this via the Job Planner Appointments page. Review Appointments to be Processed. Specific details about work performed can be entered against appointments via the Comments field. The Review page displays billing details for Attended appointments so you can correct any anomalies. Import appointments to timesheets. Time entered via appointments can be processed automatically into PowerLink timesheets. Print the Job Planner Import Report to check details prior to import. Timesheet Details Report. The Timesheet Details report displays all details of PowerLink timesheets, with flexible parameter and sort sequence ranges. You could also check the Timesheet Analysis report and the Job Activity page. Post Timesheets to Attaché. You can read PowerLink timesheets into the Attaché Payroll module to eliminate double entry. Print the Payroll Hours report first to see the pays which will be created and make any required changes. Job Billing. Invoice a single job or a group of jobs with a great amount of flexibility. Transactions to be invoiced can be approved and modified prior to final invoicing for total control. Check Dashboard Warnings. The Jobs Manage page includes warnings about jobs that are overdue or over budget; complete but not invoiced; and where the customer is flagged as in dispute. Also see the Jobs Workflow. Enter Manual Timesheets. Employees who don't work to appointments can enter time via the PowerLink timesheet entry program. Details entered via a timesheet are also visible on the Time tab of the job masterfile. 10

16 Searching for Jobs (See the Menu Gadget Search Bar section in Getting Started Guide for more details on using this feature and customising searches.) The best way to search for a job is using the Menu Search Bar on the JOBS dashboard. Enter the search text and press ENTER or the magnifying glass button. Select Edit to open the Job Maintenance program or Details to view customer details on the Jobs dashboard Details page. TIP: The Quick Find feature is also available in most PowerLink programs and is launched using F2-Find or by clicking on the Search Tool icon (magnifying glass). This can also be used to search for a job while in a program. Customising Search Results Columns The search results can be customised using the Report Designer. Copy the BI ENQUIRY SEARCH RESULTS JOB gadget and add any additional fields (columns) that you want to see. Customising Search Fields Results (Context) You can modify the scope of the search by modifying the SQL of the BI ENQUIRY SEARCH RESULTS JOB report. Creating Custom Search You can also create your own custom search gadgets using the ViewPoint module which may be better than customising the existing search results as a custom gadget will not affect other users. With ViewPoint, you can also design a dashboard to house your custom search gadget and add more gadgets. (See the ViewPoint User Guide for more details.) Create a New Job The most common way to create a job is using the Job Maintenance program (Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance). 11

17 Select the relevant job Department and press F4-Next Number to create a new job in this department. Enter a job Description and select the Customer code. Optionally enter Contact Person, Contact Phone, Comment, Assigned To etc. Save Job (F9) Press F9-Save to save the job. Refresh (F5) Lists with codes from your accounting system can be refreshed at any time using the Refresh feature, and is available throughout PowerLink. Next Number (F4) This feature automatically selects the next available job number for the department. You can reset this number via Setups Job Costing Maintain Departments. Searching for Jobs The Quick Find feature allows you to search for jobs using code, description, custom fields or a keyword entered when allocating costs to the job. Create Job from Customer Master File Jobs can also be created directly from the Customer Master File (Masterfiles Customers Maintain Customers.) Select the customer Code. If unsure of the customer s code, click on the Search box to search for a customer based on any or all master file fields (including address, or custom fields). Press F8-New Job. This creates a new job in the default department, and assigns the customer automatically to the job. Print Job Cards You can print a job card using the F4-Job Card. You can select a standard layout or a custom layout which you have designed yourself. Creating your own job card layout is discussed in a separate chapter. Job Cards Select F8- Job to print the job card. Check details and press Send. PowerLink will save addresses for employees assigned to jobs when they are first used. ing job cards assumes that you have a correctly configured mail server. (See CRM User Guide for more information). Notifications When a job is assigned to another person, that person can be notified via . This option can be enabled via the PowerLink Job Costing options person when job assigned (Setups Job Costing Options General Tab). Only employees with a valid address will be notified. You can check addresses via the PowerLink Maintain Employee program (Masterfiles Payroll). 12

18 Notifications assumes that you have a correctly configured mail server. (See CRM User Guide for more information). Allocate Costs to Jobs Allocate Time via Job Master File 1. Open the job via Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance and select the Enter Time page. 2. Enter Date of the service. If left blank, today s date will be assigned when the line is updated. 3. Enter a Shift code to describe the type of activity performed. The charge out rate (Unit Price) is automatically entered based on the shift, but can be overridden. You can create as many shifts as you need with different charge out and cost rates. Refer Creating Shifts below. 4. Enter an optional Description. This will appear as comment lines on the customer invoice when it is billed. 5. The Hours field can be overridden if necessary (eg. minimum charge). Enter Time via Employee Timesheet 1. Select Transactions Payroll Enter Timesheets and select the relevant Pay End Date. 2. Enter details of work performed on each timesheet line. 3. To delete a line in timesheet entry (rather than the entire timesheet), highlight the line by clicking on the far-left column corresponding to the record, then press your delete key. Customise Columns You can show or hide columns by specifying which fields to Hide in the payroll options (Setups Payroll Options Timesheet Entry page). Delete Timesheet Lines To delete a line in timesheet entry (rather than the entire timesheet), highlight the line by clicking on the far-left column corresponding to the record, then press your delete key. Delete Timesheet (F6) To delete an entire timesheet use the F6 Delete function. 13

19 Pay End Date Timesheet lines entered via Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance - Enter Time are automatically assigned a Pay End Date based on settings in the options (Setups Payroll Options). Apply Rates on an Activity Basis PowerLink can handle the charging of time on jobs for almost any situation. Shifts can be used to charge time based on activity. You can charge different employees at different rates for the same activity or you can charge customers at different rates for the same activity. 1. Select Setups Payroll Maintain Shifts. 2. Enter a unique Shift Code. By default, PowerLink creates a shift code for each Attaché payroll income type, but you are not limited to these. 3. Enter a Default Cost Rate and a Default Charge Rate. 4. Enter a Minimum Value if a minimum charge applies for a service when billing. A Maximum Value can also be applied. Posting Timesheets to Payroll The Shift Breakdown and Day is only relevant if you intend to post timesheet data to the Attaché payroll. This topic is covered in a later section. Apply Rates on an Employee Basis You can charge employees at different rates according to their experience in Employee Maintenance (Masterfiles Payroll Maintain Employee). In the Shift Charge Out Rates and Costs section, enter the charge out and cost rates which will override the defaults for the shift, for the employee. Apply Rates on a Customer or Job Basis You can contract services at different rates for different customers or jobs using Labour Schedules. For example, customers may enjoy a lower rate for on-site services if they are on a maintenance agreement. A labour schedule is basically a schedule of charge out rates, cost rates and pay rates for each shift code for each payroll group (employment level). 1. Select Setups Payroll Setup Labour Schedules and select a schedule Number, or use F4AutoNew to create a new schedule using the next available schedule number. 2. Enter a Schedule Name and select Pricing. 3. Press F11-Zoom In and enter Charge Out, Pay Rate and Cost Rate for each shift or allowance Code. 4. To assign the schedule to a customer, select Masterfile Customers Maintain Customers, and enter the Labour Schedule on the Other Information page. 14

20 5. To assign the schedule to a customer job, select Masterfile Job Costing Job Maintenance and enter it in the Labour Schedule field. Payroll Group You can also apply different rates for employees on different Attaché Payroll Groups. For example, a first year apprentice electrician in group ELECT01, can be paid, costed and charged differently to a second year in group ELECT02. Allocate Stock via Job Master File 1. Select Master Files Job Costing Job Maintenance and go to the Enter Materials tab. Enter details of materials used. Updating Stock Levels Stock levels can be updated regularly in the accounting system via the Transactions Job Costing Enter Materials, F7-Post function. The frequency of updating stock levels depends on how critical accurate stock levels need to be. Most users would not need to update more than once a day. Allocate Stock via Stock Issues Program Where stock is issued from stores randomly to multiple jobs, it is more efficient to use the Stock Issues program. 1. Select Transactions Job Costing Enter Materials (Stock Issues). 2. Enter the Job and Quantity for each stock item issued. 3. Use F7-Post to update stock levels in the accounting system. Allocate Stock via Supplier Purchase Order If purchasing stock specially in for a job, you can allocate it to the job when you enter the purchase order. The following examples illustrate how this is done in Attaché using a Product line. PowerLink can then automatically issue the stock for you when the supplier invoice arrives. In Attaché, the screen layout needs to have the Cost Centre Code added to the Product Line section if it is not displayed. (See Setting up Attaché Screen Layouts in the PowerLink Getting Started Guide ). Enable Auto Stock Issues To get PowerLink to automatically issue stock as soon as the invoice is received, you must enable this option. This only needs to be done once. 15

21 1. Select Setups Job Costing Options Report Options 2. Select Cost Stock Lines. This option will treat stock on purchasing documents as costed to the job immediately, and not wait for it to be issued to the job from inventory (as shown in above sections) 3. Select Auto Stock Issues. If selected, PowerLink will automatically create stock issue entries adjust your inventory. No separate stock adjustment will be required. Post Stock Issues Stock which has been auto-issued must be posted to the inventory. This will occur automatically if the stock issues table is not in use by another user, otherwise you can manually post. 1. Select Transactions Job Costing Enter Materials (Stock Issues). 2. Use F7-Post to update stock levels in the accounting system. In Attaché, purchases can also be entered on Goods Received Notes and Supplier Invoices, bypassing Purchase Orders. Allocate Purchases to a Job Non-stock purchases are allocated to the job when you enter the purchase order. The following examples illustrate how this is done using a Sundry line. In Attaché screen layout needs to have the Cost Centre Code added to the Product Line section. (See Setting up Attaché Screen Layouts in the PowerLink Getting Started Guide ). The Line Type and Product Code determine whether the line is categorised as Materials, Sub-Contract or Other. You can assign your own product codes to the standard cost categories via the Setups Job Costing Maintain Cost Categories program (see later section), although by default the following rules apply: Materials: Are entered as Product Lines or Sundry Lines. Sub-Contract: Entered as Service Line or Sundry Line with reserved code PLSUB. Other Costs: Entered as Sundry Line with reserved code PLOTHER. In Attaché, purchases can also be entered on Goods Received Notes or Supplier Invoices, bypassing Purchase Orders. Allocate Consumable Items to a Job Consumable items, disbursements and other miscellaneous expenses can also be allocated to a job using the Transactions Job Costing Enter Materials (Stock Issues) program by using a non-stock or service product code which has been setup in your accounting programs inventory system. PowerLink will automatically recognise non-stock codes when these are entered, and allow you to modify the description and cost, and ignore these entries when posting stock issues to the inventory. Allocate GL Journals to a Job You can enter adjustments to jobs using General Ledger Journals. 1. Select Transactions Job Costing Enter General Ledger Journal 2. Minimum information required is a Date, Account Code, Debit or Credit amount and the Job Code. 16

22 3. Use F7-Post if you need the journal to update the general ledger. Otherwise, you can use any general ledger account and do not worry about posting. The journal must balance so will need to add a balancing entry to the No Job code. You can also use journals to: Enter opening balances for jobs. Adjust amounts from one job to another as an alternative to using the Transactions Job Costing ReCode Transactions program. Adjust amounts from one cost category to another (for example, from Sub-Contract to Materials) as an alternative to using the Transactions Job Costing Re-Code Transactions program. Re-Code Job Transactions While codes are validated when you enter transactions, there is always the possibility of an operator not entering or not knowing the correct code at the time of entry. You can re-code a transaction to another Job Code or to another Job Cost Category (on the Job Cost Detail Report). 1. Select Transactions Job Costing Re-code Transactions. 2. Select either Job Code or Job Category. 3. Select F11-All Modules and select a range of transactions based on Date Range and Job Range. You should also select All Transactions in Range unless you are checking for transactions coded to blank jobs or jobs which no longer exist. 4. Press OK to see transactions matching the criteria. 5. Enter the New Job code as required. 6. Once transactions have been coded, press F9-Process to permanently update the codes stored in PowerLink. If all transactions are not re-coded, you will be prompted to automatically code transactions with blank or invalid codes to a specified overhead job specified in Setups Job Costing Options. 17

23 7. Use F3-Clear to remove transactions which you do not want re-coded. Note: This program does not update the job codes on the original transaction in your accounting system (eg. Purchase Orders, Supplier Invoices etc). Jobs Dashboard Most of the features described in this user guide are accessible from gadgets on the JOBS dashboard. Jobs gadgets are the same as ViewPoint gadgets in that you can sort, filter, print, and view the data in various formats. For more information see the ViewPoint User Guide. Some pages and gadgets are filtered using the currently selected job or sales rep. Selected Job To select a job, type the description, code or contact from the job into the menu search bar and press ENTER. Select Details (highlighted below) to populate the gadgets on the page. To show all items enter *. Selected Sales Rep To select a sales rep, choose from the Rep drop down list (highlighted below) on the main toolbar. This should automatically be selected for you when you login. If not, you will need to assign your sales rep code to your user name in the Dashboard Options (also highlighted below). Refer to the Getting Started Guide for more information. Assigned Employee Some gadgets display information only for jobs assigned to your employee code (highlighted below) in the job master file. 18

24 This should automatically be determined when you login. If not, you will need to assign your employee code to your user name in the Dashboard Options (similar to the selected sales rep discussed above). It should be noted that the sales rep assigned to the job is not used to determine ownership of jobs because both employee and sales rep can be assigned to the job, and most people use employee code to assign ownership to a job. If you do not use the Attaché Payroll you can still enter employee codes via the Masterfiles Payroll Maintain Employee program. Drill Down and Mouse Over Many gadgets allow drill down into the job master file, customer master file or have other mouse events enabled. These drill down fields are identified by a dotted blue line in the gadget. The function for most drill down fields is obvious and will not rate a mention in the gadget help. Only special drill down fields will be documented. Jobs Home Page The Jobs Home page contains gadgets which provide information about things you need to do today. Information available includes outstanding jobs, quotes and tasks. Jobs in Progress The To Do List shows all jobs which are in progress. These jobs have a percentage complete between 1 and 99%. Overdue jobs are shown in red. Jobs Not Started A list of all jobs which have not been started (percentage completion is 0%) is shown in this gadget. 19

25 To Do List A list of all job related tasks for the selected sales rep is shown in this gadget. You can add a job note or task by tying in the text box and pressing the + button. Active Quotes A list of all job related quotes for the selected sales rep is shown in this gadget. Overdue quotes are shown in red. Details Page The Jobs Details page displays information for the selected job in separate gadgets. Summary A summary of the basic information for the selected job is show in this gadget. Edit Customer will open Customer Maintenance program to edit customer details. To update Attaché with this information, you need to have the Data Transfer enabled. See Enable Attaché Data Transfer in the Getting Started Guide. Edit Job will open the Job Maintenance program to edit job details. 20

26 Send Job will open the send mail program to send an to the job contact for the selected job. See the CRM User Guide for more information. Schedule Appointments in the Job Planner for the selected job are shown in this gadget. You will only see appointments or be allowed to create new ones if you have the Job Planner module. Upcoming shows any active (Tentative or Confirmed) appointments, even if the date is in the past (which may highlight a missed appointment). Complete will show appointments which have been Attended, Held or Processed. All shows all past and future appointments of any status. Appointment Date when selected will open the selected appointment in the Planner. Open Job Planner will open the planner to allow you to add a new appointment. See the Planner User Guide for more information. Details All activity and costing transactions for the selected job are shown in this gadget. Timesheet Details will show all active or processed timesheet lines entered via PowerLink. Attaché payroll timesheets lines are shown under the Costing Transactions. Contact History shows all task and notes for the job. Costing Transactions shows all timesheet lines, Attaché and other transactions which contribute to the costs against a job. 21

27 TIP: Use the Totals feature on the shortcut menu to display totals for Qty, Cost and Income columns. Activity Page The Jobs Activity page displays information about job activity in separate gadgets. Recent Job Activity All activity across all jobs as entered as timesheets into PowerLink is shown on the gadget. This gadget answers the question what is everyone doing? TIP: Use the Filter feature on the shortcut menu to restrict information for the Employee, Shift, Customer or Dept columns. Manage Page The Jobs Manage page displays management information about jobs in separate gadgets. This information is high level and designed to give a manager snapshot information about the state of all jobs which they are responsible for (are the selected employee). If you want to see information across all jobs then set the selected rep to (All Reps). Jobs Complete Not Invoiced Jobs which are Complete but are not invoiced for the selected employee are shown in this gadget. This gadget uses the job master file flags (highlighted below). As jobs are invoiced they should be flagged as such so they no longer appear on this list. Jobs Deliveries Due Jobs waiting on materials on order with a supplier which have not arrived for the selected employee are shown in this gadget. 22

28 This gadget uses the information on Attaché Purchase Orders. Once the PO has been completed then the information in the gadget will no longer appear. Customers in Dispute with Jobs Active Jobs assigned to customer who are in-dispute or have exceeded their credit limit for the selected employee are shown in this gadget. Job Status Analysis A breakdown of incomplete jobs based on their % complete for the selected employee is shown in this gadget. No Jobs when selected will display a list of jobs showing job code, description and date required. Overdue Jobs Active Jobs whose required date has passed for the selected employee are shown in this gadget. The number of days passed since the job was due (Date required) is shown. Over Budget Jobs Incomplete Jobs whose costs has exceeded budget for the selected employee are shown in this gadget. 23

29 Only jobs which have a budget are displayed. Kanban Page Introduction The Jobs Kanban allows you to visually see the status of jobs using cards. You can access the Kanban from the Jobs dashboard Kanban page. The Kanban displays all your jobs in columns based on the % Complete field value. The Kanban when rendering automatically considers the % Comp values in the Job Status codes list and based on this information can add up to 9 columns on the Kanban. While all jobs in all departments are shown by default, you can filter the Kanban based on job department. You can also customise the columns for each department. Cards use images to convey information quickly about the job type, urgency and person assigned to the job. You can add your own images if you do not like the default images supplied. For example, employees are shown using a generic image with the person initials but it is common to replace these with a picture of the person or a preferred avatar. You can display your Kanban in your office reception or workshop and have it automatically refresh when data has changed. Access Rights User access rights must be granted to view the Kanban. By default, Kanban gadgets are disabled to users. Access rights need to be granted via Supervisor Mode which is available to Administrators (see Dashboard Options). All columns use the same data source so you only need to grant access to the Not Started (0%) column and the others are automatically made available. Accessing the Kanban The Jobs Kanban is accessible from the Jobs Kanban dashboard menu. 24

30 Kanban Columns Kanban columns are built automatically for users based on the % Comp values in the Job Status Codes table in Job Costing Options Status Code page. By default PowerLink ships with 3 status codes; Not started (0%), In Progress (50%) and Complete (100%). Out of the box the Kanban will display 4 columns. These columns will be headed Not Started (0%), In Progress (1% - 50%), (51%-99%) and Complete (100%) The Kanban will look at the different percentage values in the Job Status Codes and will automatically display extra columns if required. Consider the following Job Status Codes: This set of % Comp values will result in a 0%, 1%-10%, 11%-15%, 16%-50%, 51%-99% and 100% column. NB: That the status code will display on job card but it is the % complete field that determines which column the card is displayed in so that all jobs are displayed in one of the Kanban columns. It also means that multiple status codes can have the same % comp value. It is possible to add as many Status code s with varying % Comp values. PowerLink will automatically calculate the column headings but can only display up to 10 columns. To ensure that all cards are displayed 3 columns are reserved for a special roll. The first column displays jobs with 0%, the last column displays all jobs that are 100% while the second last column will display all jobs that do not fall into the other columns ensuring that all jobs fall into a column. You will notice that the cards are a set size. When you add columns PowerLink will automatically work out how many cards can fit. 25

31 You can customise columns by pressing the Settings button which appears at the top of each list. Initially all the settings are blank which means that jobs from all departments are shown, and that PowerLink will attempt to give each job status a column for itself up to a maximum of 9. You can control how many columns are displayed by selecting percentages as shown below. The column headings can also be customised. Once columns have been customised then only the 3 reserved columns and the customised columns will show. The reserved columns can have their name changed and the last column can be hidden by flagging the Hide 100% complete column. The Kanban layout can be customised on a per Department basis by selecting the Department code and then customising the columns. In the above example the Kanban has been customised for Department A. If no department is selected and customised then this layout will be used for any departments that do not have an individual layout. Using this form as well the Kanban view can also be filtered at the department level and the milestone level using the Department and Milestone fields. The Automatically refresh Kanban for this department. Option allows the user to set a Refresh Interval so that the Kanban can refresh automatically. The automatic refresh is started by selecting Masterfile Viewpoint Viewpoint. If the Automatically refresh Kanban for this department. is set for multiple departments then the display will cycle between the different department views. This is most useful for displaying updated information in a public area. If you intend to do this then a specific login name will need to be setup and used on the display computer. Modifying the Kanban Display Card The Kanban cards have a section for the job type image, and employee image. The user can add custom images for job types and employees. The format for employee images is "icon-employee[empcode].png" and "icon-type-[jobtype].png" for job type images. Eg if the Employee code is 26

32 "ADEJ" then the image will need to be called "icon-employee-adej.png" and if the job type is "Fixed Price Quote" then the image needs to be called "icon-type-fixed Price Quote.png". These will need to be put in the user's Desktop folder. If no job type image exists, the default image will be used and the first letter of the job type will be overlayed. The full job type name will be displayed if you hover over the image. If the employee doesn t have a custom image then the default blue person image will be used and the employee's initial will be overlayed. The employees name will also be shown if you hover over the image. Favourites Page The Favourites page can be used to add any gadget content that you want. See the Favourite Gadgets section in Getting Started Guide for more details on using this feature. Quick Add (Add New) The Quick Add button is not a dashboard page but a quick access menu for adding new Job documents and items. Reports and Enquiries Many standard reports and enquiries are available. Reports can be accessed via the Reports menu. Most reports include many parameters to allow for very flexible reporting. Enquiries are accessible via the relevant programs in the Masterfile menu. Managers Enquiry You can monitor and access all jobs for all customers via Managers Enquiry. 1. Select Masterfiles Management Managers Enquiry and click on the Jobs button 27

33 2. Select Rep and the Dept to see jobs assigned to a specific person in a specific department. Use F5Active Tasks to restrict list to entries active jobs only. 3. Drill into a Job or Customer master file by double clicking the relevant code. Refresh: You can press Refresh to update the list at any time. To automate refreshing, specify the number of seconds between refreshes. A value of 0 will disable automatic refreshing. Customise Buttons: The view (buttons) of Managers Enquiry can be customised via Setups System Options Managers Enquiry. See Customisation Features Training Course for further information. Sorting: You can re-sort the list to suit your needs. To sort in job code sequence, just click on the Job column and select Tools Records Sort Ascending / Descending from the menu. To sort by customer and date, drag the Date column next to the Customer column, select both columns and select Tools Records Sort Ascending / Descending from the menu. Customer Enquiry You can monitor and access all jobs for specific customers via Customer Enquiry. 1. Select Masterfile Customers Maintain Customers program (or drill into the customer from Managers Enquiry) 2. Select Enquiry page and select Customer Active Job Enquiry from Select Enquiry. 3. Drill into the job by double clicking on the Job code. Job Enquiry You can monitor a specific job via Job Enquiry. 1. Select Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance (or drill into the job from Managers Enquiry or Customer Enquiry) 2. Select Enquiry page and select Job Costs Details Enquiry from Select Enquiry to see all costs for the job. Job Cost Detail Report This is the main job costing report used in PowerLink. Costs are grouped and totalled according to cost category. 1. Select Reports Job Costing Job Cost Detail Report. 2. You can select ranges including Job Code and Date Raised. 28

34 Maintain Cost Categories When reporting costs to a job, PowerLink uses the following standard job cost categories: Materials, Employee Labour, Sub-Contract, Machine (and Plant) and Other. You can create your own job cost categories for reporting purposes using the Setups Job Costing Maintain Cost Categories program. If you wanted to track transportation costs to a job, you can create a category, and define codes for different transactions which will be recognised and automatically classified. In the example shown above, if the code TRUCK is used on a supplier order or invoice, it will be classified as a TRANSPORT cost, and appear as such on the Job Cost Detail Report. 29

35 While you can have as many categories as you like, all custom categories must be assigned to a standard category for report and budget total classification. For example, TRANSPORT will report with Other Costs. Job Cost Totals Report The Job Cost Totals report shows a single line per job summary and is printed via the Reports Job Costing Job Cost Totals Report program. Job Listing As the name suggests this report lists jobs which meet the parameters entered. 1. Select Reports Job Costing Job Listing. 2. You can select ranges including Date Raised, Employee, Job and Customer and you can limit the list to Active Only, Complete Only or All Jobs. Work in Progress Report The Work In Progress report shows a single line per job summary and is printed via the Reports Job Costing Work In Progress Report program. This report can be printed monthly and used by the accountant to record work in progress on the company Profit and Loss / Balance Sheet. 30

36 Customising Reports and Enquiries Customise a Report: You can copy a standard report and modify the layout to suit your own needs. This can include removing unwanted information, adding extra information or changing the layout. Customise an Enquiry: You can copy a standard enquiry and modify the column layout to suit your own needs. This can include removing unwanted columns, adding extra columns or changing the column headings. 1. Select Setups Custom Reports Custom Reports Designer. 2. Select Create a New Custom Report Based on an Existing Report. 3. Select to copy a Standard Report, and select the report or enquiry from the list. 4. Enter a name for the report and press Copy. 5. See Customisation Features Training Course for details on how to use the Reports Designer. Invoicing Jobs PowerLink allows you to create job invoices by importing time, stock and purchases which have been allocated to the job (estimated price or do and charge jobs), or using the budget income for the job (fixed price or tendered job). Invoicing Jobs PowerLink Job Billing allows you to invoice a single job or a group of jobs with a great amount of flexibility. All transactions to be invoiced can be approved and modified prior to final invoicing, giving you total control. 1. Select Transactions Job Costing Job Billing. 31

37 2. Select Jobs to Invoice. You can select a Single Job, a Range of Jobs. 3. Select to Create Invoices From either Transaction Costed to Jobs or Budget Income. Invoicing using budgets is more suited to fixed price jobs. Larger jobs can be invoiced progressively using % Complete. 4. When creating invoices from transactions costed to jobs, you can also Select Transactions to Invoice. For example, you may want to invoice timesheets separately from stock or supplier transactions. 5. When dealing with a large number of transactions, you may prefer to Consolidate Lines on the basis of activity, employee or product code. For example, you can bill all Boilermaker activity on Timesheets or all Bolts used from Stock as a single line showing total quantity / hours and price. 6. While Timesheets are priced at the time of entry, you can Price Lines for Supplier and Stock transactions using % Markup, % Margin or usual Customer Price. Note: The default % Markup or % Margin default can be set at the product level or supplier level with the product level default value taking precedence. The product default or supplier default can be set on the Other Information tab in the Product Maintenance and Supplier Maintenance forms by using the Margin on Job Issues field. This option requires that the Apply margin on Job Purchases is selected. 7. Stock issued to (or purchased specifically for) a job can be invoiced as a stock line using the Import as Stock Line option. When stock is issued, it is allocated immediately from stock. This option will un-allocate the previously allocated stock so it can be re-allocated as if it was invoiced directly to the customer in the first place. Note: Stock purchased from a supplier is allocated to the job automatically when it is read into PowerLink, but only if the Cost Stock Lines and Auto Stock Issue options are enabled in Setups Job Costing Options Report Options. You can look for new purchases and read them into PowerLink prior to billing by selecting the Check For New Purchases option. 8. Mark Jobs as Invoiced and Mark Jobs as Complete will set the Invoiced and Completed flags and dates on the job master file for any jobs which have invoices created and posted to your accounting system. 32

38 9. Press F9-Continue to display a list of transactions for final approval and adjustment. 10. You can mark a transaction to be invoiced by changing the Approved status to Y. Transactions marked as N will be withheld, while those marked as D will be marked as never to be invoiced. 11. The Price charged can be modified directly, or by manipulating the %MU (mark-up) or %GP (gross profit margin) value. 12. Transactions can be re-coded to a different Job or Job Category also at this time by selecting from a drop down list. 13. You can Filter by Job, Type and Approved status and Order the list using up to three of the columns displayed. 14. To generate invoices, press the F9-Continue button. Invoices generated can be viewed via the Invoice List tab. Important: Only transactions displayed will be processed. If you apply the Filter By Job then only approved transactions for that job will be processed. That is, only transactions that you see on the screen which are approved will be invoiced. 15. The Status column shows WIP (work in progress) invoices, ie invoices related to active jobs. Jobs can be viewed or updated via the Edit Job button. The job may still show as WIP even if you have selected to Mark Jobs as Invoiced, until the invoice has been posted. 33

39 16. Use the Hold Invoice button to exclude invoices from being posted at this time. For example, you may want to invoice weekly but release an invoice only if significant amount of work has been completed. 17. You can Edit Invoices and manipulate them further, such as adding additional comments and charges. You can also remove items which were accidentally invoiced, or that you want to invoice at a later date. This is covered in the next section. 18. Billing Report will print a detailed listing of invoices including line totals and GST. This should be printed and check before posting and printing invoices. 19. Select the Print Invoice or Print All Invoices button and choose the required layout. Post invoices to the accounting system individually using the Post Invoice button, or in a batch via Post All Invoices. Create Job Invoice You can also create an invoice for a specific job at any time from the Job Card. This method suits do and charge type jobs. 1. Select Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance and go to the Invoices page. button to create a new invoice for the customer coded to this job. Click on the New 2. Click on Import Timesheets to charge time entered on timesheets allocated to the job. Time allocated to the job will appear on the invoice with the charge out rate which appeared when the time was originally entered. When importing, you can choose to combine lines with the same Shift (Activity), Employee or Charge Out Rate. 3. Click on Import Stock to charge stock issued to the job. When importing you can choose to price stock using the customer s usual price, or by applying a margin or markup. You can also choose to combine lines with the same Product Code. 4. Click on Import Purchases to charge for job expenses and disbursements entered via supplier purchase orders and invoices. When importing you can choose to price purchases using the customer s usual price (via a product code look-up), or by applying a margin or markup based on the cost. You can also choose to combine lines with the same Product Code. 5. Customer address details, reference etc can be modified via the Customer Details page. The invoice date can be modified via the Parameters page, which also shows the GP on the invoice. Remove Lines on an Invoice If you are progress billing a job, you may not want to invoice all time, stock and purchases. These can be removed, and billed later. 1. Select the lines to remove with your mouse and press the Delete key on your keyboard. You will be asked to confirm the deletion. 2. Answer YES to Will these lines ever be invoiced. These lines will be added to the next invoice you raise for the job. Consolidating Lines on an Invoice Sometimes it is desirable not to show every bit of detail on an invoice. For example, you may not want to show all the parts used, but simply show a single line. 1. Select the Cons check box for each line and click the Consolidate button. 2. If the lines were imported, you can un-consolidate them by deleting and re-importing them on to the invoice. 3. To view details of the consolidated lines, double click on the product code field of the conslidated line. View Source Transaction Details PowerLink allows you to F11 Zoom-In on an invoice line to see more detail, including the source of the transaction. Printing Invoices Print the invoice via the F4-Print function key. Multiple invoice layouts can be created via the Quote Designer and selected when printing. Posting Invoices Create and Post the invoice in the accounting system via the F7-Post function key, which also allows posting in batch mode (see Invoicing Jobs section). Customise the Invoice Print Layout You can use the PowerLink Reports Designer to create a new invoice one of the standard invoice layouts. As a minimum, you will probably want to include your logo on 34

40 invoices, but you can also create different layouts for different situations. For example, some jobs may require a report style invoice, while others may only need a simple layout. 1. Go to Setups Quoting Quote Designer. 2. Select Create a New Custom Report based on the Standard Report called Invoice - Simple and press Copy. 3. Modify the layout and press the Save button. See Customisation Features Training Course for details on how to use the Reports Designer. Applying Different Margins for Supplier Purchases PowerLink allows you to apply different margins for purchases from different suppliers. Select Masterfiles Suppliers Maintain Suppliers and check the Apply margin on Job Purchases option and enter the margin to be applied in the Margin on Job Purchases field. Applying Different Margins for Products PowerLink allows you to apply different margins for products from the same supplier. Select Masterfiles Products Maintain Products / Kits and check the Apply margin on Job Purchases option and enter the margin to be applied in the Margin on Job Purchases field. Payment lines PowerLink invoices support payment lines, and for do and charge jobs, many customers pay when the job is completed. You can enter the customer payment directly on the invoice by selecting the PMT line type, and pressing F11-Zoom In. Completing Jobs When the job is complete: 1. Select Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance. 2. Go to the Job Details tab and tick the Completed On check box. This flags the job as 100% complete and defaults to the system date for completion.. The job can now be billed (see later). Job Billing Report The Job Billing Report shows timesheet lines, stock issues and supplier purchases which have not been invoiced to jobs. 1. Select Reports Job Costing Job Billing Report. 2. Jobs which are fixed price can be excluded by excluding them using the Job Range. Quotes Create a Quote for a Job To create a job quote or estimate: 35

41 1. Select via Transactions Quotes Maintain Quotes. TIP: If you just want to create simple invoice style quotes using the Maintain Quotes Simple program. 2. Select a Customer (or prospect). Select a quote Number, or use F4-AutoNew to create a new quote using the next quote number. 3. Select Pricing and create at least one section by entering a Section Title. The quote can be split up into several sections to represent different stages (sub-jobs) of the entire job by entering a valid Sub Job code. 4. You can Zoom In and Zoom Out of each section and enter lines on the quote, with appropriate quantity and price. You can zoom in further to enter supplier and cost details for sundry lines. The Line Type and Product Code determine whether the line is categorised as Labour, Materials, SubContract, Machine or Other. You can assign your own product codes to the standard cost categories via the Setups Job Costing Maintain Cost Categories program (see later section), although by default the following rules apply: Materials: Are entered as Product Lines or Sundry Lines Labour: Entered as Labour Line. When selected, you can see a list of activities (setup via Setups Payroll Maintain Shifts program). The appropriate hourly cost and price for the selected activity is automatically used. Machine: Entered as Machine Line. When selected, you can see a list of machines (setup via Masterfiles Job Costing Maintain Machines program). Sub-Contract: Entered as Service Line or Sundry Line with reserved code PLSUB. Other Costs: Entered as Sundry Line with reserved code PLOTHER. 36

42 Create Budget for a Job It is often desirable to create a budget for a job, and monitor costs against this budget. Budgets for a job can be created in two ways: Manually via the Job Maintenance program's Budgets tab. Using a PowerLink Quote Manual Budget Entry You can enter a budget for a job: 1. Select Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance and enter the Job Number. 2. Select Budget tab allows you to enter amounts (Show Costs) and quantities (Show Amounts) for each of the standard job cost categories; Labour, Materials, Sub-Contract, Plant or Other. Create Jobs and Budgets from a Quote You can also create budgets directly from a quote. 1. Open the quote via Transactions Quotes Maintain Quotes. 2. Select lines on the quote to be included in the budget either manually using the Job check box, or automatically by using the Tag Lines (visible on Parameters and Pricing pages) 3. Select F7-Process to start the creation of jobs and budgets. 4. Select Create Job / Update Budgets and press OK. Budget Variance Report The Job Budget Variance report can be used to monitor the performance of a job. 1. Select Reports Job Costing Budget Variance Report. 2. Select Job Range. If your job has sub-jobs, be sure to select the range to include these. 3. Pro-Rata Budget Value Using % Complete. For large value jobs which may take months to complete, the Budget Variance Report does not mean much unless you know how complete the job is. You can print the report taking the % complete of the job into account. The % Complete can be regularly updated via Masterfiles Job Costing Job Maintenance. 37

43 Create PowerLink Invoice from a Quote You can generate an invoice for a fixed price job from a job quote. 1. Open the quote via Transactions Quotes Maintain Quotes. 2. Select lines on the quote to be included in the invoice either manually using the Inv check box, or automatically by using the Tag Lines (visible on Parameters and Pricing pages) 3. Select F7-Process. 4. Select Generate Customer and select PowerLink Invoice from the list and press OK. Note: You can also export quotes directly to Attaché as an Invoice or Order. If you generate a PowerLink Invoice, it allows for more flexible invoice layouts; and batch posting of invoices to Attaché later. Progress Claims: Multiple invoices can originate from a single quote. Just select the lines you want to invoice to create a progress invoice. If another invoice needs to be created from the quote then the Complete option will need to be unchecked on the parameters page before processing. Any lines that nd have already been processed cannot be processed a 2 time. Generate Purchase Orders from a Quote You can generate supplier purchase orders from a quote. 1. Open the quote via Transactions Quotes Maintain Quotes. 2. Select lines on the quote to be included in the invoice either manually using the PO check box, or automatically by using the Tag Lines (visible on Parameters and Pricing pages) 3. Select F7-Process. 4. Select Generate Supplier Purchase Orders and press OK. Quote Templates Quote templates allow you to create quotes for common jobs in a very short time. Once the quote template is setup, you simply copy it to create a new quote, and from there; jobs and budgets. To create a template: 1. Select Setups Quoting Setup Templates. 2. Select a template Number, or use F4-AutoNew to create a new template using the next template number. 3. Select Pricing and create at least one section by entering a Section Title. Like quotes, templates can comprise several sections. 38

44 Sub-Jobs: Use sections to split a large jobs into smaller sub-jobs by assigning a sub-job number to each section. To create a quote from a template: 1. Select via Transactions Quotes Maintain Quotes. 2. Select a Customer (or prospect). Select a quote Number, or use F4-AutoNew to create a new quote using the next quote number. 3. Select the Template field and press F3-Search and select Template and OK. 4. A list of available documents will appear in the template list. When a template is selected, you will be asked to confirm to read in the template. Select Yes to continue. Other Documents: Templates can also be used for other compatible document types such as Invoices and Standing Orders. You can also use other documents (quotes) as templates. Advanced Topics Specify Job Code Format The default job code format is DJJJJ.SS where D is department, JJJJ is a 4 digit job number and SS is an optional 2 character sub-job number. When jobs are created, they are automatically formatted to conform to this format. This format is critical to multi-level reporting, so it cannot be changed once jobs are created. All existing jobs must be deleted before you can change the job code format, so it is a good idea to work out how large your job numbers will need to be before you start. 1. Select Setups Job Costing Options. 2. Select Numeric Job Code check box to allow automatic incrementing of job numbers. 3. Select Multi-Department check box to enable departmental reporting. 4. Specify Job Code Format. Refer to F1 on-line help for examples of job code formats. Create a Job Department PowerLink allows multiple departments which can be used to separate different types of jobs for reporting and management purposes. 1. Select Setups Job Costing Maintain Departments. 2. Enter a Description and Next Job Number (if continuing from an existing system). 39

45 Setup Default Department 1. Select Setups Job Costing Options. 2. Under Job Entry Defaults, enter default Department. Customise Job Card Layout You can use the Job Card Designer to create a new job card using the standard job card as a starting point. 1. Select Setups Job Costing Job Card Designer. 2. Select the option to Copy the Standard Job Card called JobCard. 3. Enter your own name for the job card, or keep the standard name and press F9-Copy. 4. After making changes, save and close the report. Multiple Job Cards: You can create as many job card layouts as you like (eg. Different job types). Job cards can be as sophisticated or as simple as you like. For example, you can define a job costing report as a job card. Reports Designer: The Job Card Designer is based on the Reports Designer. (See the Reports Designer User Guide for more information). Customise Timesheet Entry Columns You can show or hide columns by specifying which fields to Hide in the payroll options (Setups Payroll Options Timesheet Entry page). Enter Time via Attaché Payroll You can also assign time directly to a job via Attaché Payroll using the Transactions Payroll Timesheets Create or Modify program. This method is very inflexible, and not recommended for timesheet billing situations or where flexible costing is required. Enable Data Transfer in Attaché Data Transfer can be enabled in Attaché under the Tool Company PowerLink Data Transfer. You can automatically start Data Transfer for a particular user in Attaché using the File Set Up and Delete Users program. Posting Timesheets to Attaché Payroll Timesheets entered into PowerLink for costing and billing purposes, can be posted to the Attaché payroll to save double keying. Map Shifts to Income Types 40

46 Because PowerLink uses Shift Codes and Attaché uses Income Type Codes, you must specify how Shift codes in PowerLink will map to Income Types in Attaché. For example, a 10 hour Boiler Maker shift entered in PowerLink may map to 7.6 hours ordinary, 2 hours time and a half and 0.4 double time. 1. Select Setups Payroll Maintain Shifts and enter a Shift Code. 2. In the Shift Breakdown, enter the hours and income types in the order in which they will come into affect. Make sure you allow for all situations, such as unusually long shifts. Process Timesheets You can import PowerLink timesheets into Attaché payroll thus eliminating double entry. 1. Login to Attaché, selecting the payroll company. 2. Enable data transfer via Tools Company PowerLink Data Transfer. 3. In PowerLink, select Transactions Payroll Process Timesheets. 4. Pay End Date Range. Select the pay period to process. Multiple Pay Periods: A benefit of PowerLink timesheet entry is allowing you to enter timesheets for multiple pay periods. For example, if your pay period ends Sunday but is paid on the following Wednesday, you can start entering timesheet lines for the next pay period. This is especially useful in costing applications where timesheet costs are entered daily. 5. Generate Attaché Timesheets. When selected, the Payroll Disk File is created. When unselected, only a report is displayed showing the pays which will be created. 6. Select F9 Generate to create a Attaché timesheet file, and to print the payroll hours report. 7. Read timsheets into Attaché Payroll via the Transactions Payroll Disk File Entries Read File Entries. Timesheet lines from PowerLink are merged with the employee's standard pay, so you can still have banking lines, deductions and static allowances setup in Attaché. 8. Check pays, print payroll reports, payslips and process pays as you normally would. Un-Process Timesheets You can reverse the Process Timesheets action using Transactions Payroll Un-Process Timesheets. This process has no effect on Attaché. Any partially read timesheets would need to be deleted, before reprocessing. 41

47 Clear Current Timesheets You can remove ALL timesheets entered into PowerLink which have not been processed using Transactions Payroll Clear Current Timesheets. This process is useful if mistakes have been made, and you want to start entering timesheets from scratch. Custom Fields and Forms PowerLink allows you to store additional information about your jobs, customers, products, suppliers etc. This can be simply extra master file fields or extra transaction forms. Create Custom Fields Extra master file fields can be maintained from the Custom Fields page from the relevant master file program Masterfiles Customers Maintain Customers (for example). To setup new fields: 1. Select Setups Customers Setup Custom Customer Fields. 2. Use F7-Add Field to add new fields. Give fields names with no spaces and staring with z. Eg. ZCustomerSince. 3. Use F7-Update Data to permanently update the database. You must have exclusive access to the database. Create Custom Forms Extra master file forms can be maintained using F11-Forms page from the relevant master file program Masterfiles Customers Maintain Customers (for example). To setup new forms: 1. Select Setups Solution Builder Forms Designer. 2. Select Create a New Blank Custom Form with a unique name. 3. Select the master file program to Launch Form From. Eg. Maintain Customers. 4. Select the table Where the data is stored for the Form. Eg. zmarketinginfo. Use the Custom Table Designer to create a table with the binding master file field code (eg. CmCode for Maintain Customers), and other fields you want on the form. 5. Select Field Used to Select Record (eg. CmCode ) and Press OK. (See Solution Builder User Guide for more information). 42