Software for a New Age

 
 
 
"The new controls for managing projects and delivering real time information to team members are invaluable.
I particularly like the way
it now links all stages from estimating to invoicing. That really helps with reporting."

Gillian Recas
Deputy General Manager
The Creative Unit Ltd
a subsidiary of Jamaica National Building Society

Key functions

once:fabrik features standard functions for searching, browsing, editing, importing, exporting, sorting and reporting details stored in the database. Here is a summary of its key functions:

Contacts

Organization Displays details about each organization with a list of its branches and individual contacts.

Branch

Displays details about each branch, with common (inherited) organization details and a list of individual contacts within that branch.

Person

Displays personal contact details about each individual, with inherited organization and branch details. Any number of contact addresses (e.g. home, work, etc.) and methods of communication (e.g. phone, fax, direct, mobile, email) may be recorded.
Client Displays inherited contact details plus client-specific information including a summary of projects completed and/or in progress, as well as invoices and staff contacts associated with the client contact displayed. Bill To and Ship To Contacts details, a list of labour charge rates (linked to a pricing tier), client code, tax details and payment terms are also displayed.
Supplier Displays inherited contact details plus supplier-specific details including links to supplier invoices and purchase orders.
Staff Displays inherited contact details plus staff-specific details including his or her cost of labour and a list of labour charge rates (linked to one of a number of pricing tiers), used when billing on a time-and-material basis.
Summary A fast method for searching and displaying/reporting contact summaries.




Planner

Daily Planner A calendar-based view of work allocated to each staff member – with a simple graphical user interface for making diary entries of planned and actual time spent.
Planner A Project Planner list is constructed each time a Template is used to create a Component. It allows Activities and Events to be assigned to target dates.
Manager A Project Manager list is linked to each Project Planner. One is constructed each time a Template is used to create a Component. It allows Activities to be assigned to staff members.
Template To improve accuracy and to save time when setting up costings for new projects, plans can be constructed to predefine a Bill of Resources (labour) and key events list and a Bill of Material. A new Component is created each time a Template is added to a Job.

Projects

Project A Project displays cost, contact and project details. All unbilled Elements of all Jobs and Components of the Project can be billed as a single invoice at this level. Any number of files of any format can be stored on the server and linked to the project. Like the Propostion and Job screens, a free-format description of the work to be undertaken (Brief) can be entered here.
Proposition A Proposition is a placeholder for all of the Jobs, Components and Elements that comprise one project option. During the sales process, any number of propostions can be made. One of these (the Active Proposition) becomes the actual project. It displays cost and contact details, as well as the formal client proposal (estimate) for that proposition. This document can be formatted to suit your corporate graphic standards.
Job A Job displays budget and actual cost and sell figures for a job. It also displays a list of external contacts, job history and a list of components associated with the job. It also includes the formal client proposal (estimate) for an individual job and components of that job. This document can be formatted to suit your graphic standards. All unbilled Elements of all Components of the Job can be billed as a single invoice at this level.
Component This is the level where Resources (labour), Material, Requests for Quotation, Other Purchases and Purchase Orders are accumulated. It displays budget and actual cost and sell figures covering all material and resources for the Component. Elements can be invoiced based on the Budget or the Actual price. Optional material elements are displayed differently in proposals (estimates) and aren't included in totals. Unbilled elements of the Component can be billed at this level. Line items can be invoiced in whole or in part (split item). This screen links to Invoices, Timesheets, Requests for Quotation, Purchase Orders and Other Purchases.

Purchasing

RFQ Requests for Quotation show the details of items required to be purchased. They allow supplier bids to be entered directly into the relevant Component. RFQs can support optional elements. Purchase Orders can be created directly from an RFQ.
Purchase OrderPurchase Orders show the details of items to be purchased and the agreed pricing and payment information. They provide an orderly method for managing purchases from external suppliers. They may also be created by activating an RFQ or posted from the Component if the details are recorded when the project is set up.
Other PurchasesMaterial elements that don't require a purchase order can be recorded as Other Purchases.

Resources

Timesheet Allows staff to record their work, arranged by project, job, component and task. The system calculates the value of the work done, based on preset staff Cost and Charge rates. This is posted to an element of the selected component.
Summary A fast method for searching (by date range, project, job, component, task, staff member, etc.) and displaying/reporting time sheets summaries.
Administration Financial details that should not be visible to all staff are displayed here. This screen also allows details to be posted to the project or written off.

Accounts Receivable

Invoice Create invoices at the Project, Job and Component level. Transactions can be linked to preset general ledger codes for direct transfer to an external accounting system. The data can be formatted according to preferences set for all or an individual client.
Receipt Post client receipts for all or part of any invoice.
Credit NoteCredit notes can be issued to reverse all or part of a customer invoice.
Summary A fast method for searching (by invoice number, client code, date range, project, job, component, etc.) and displaying/reporting a summary of supplier invoices.

Accounts Payable

Invoice Payments to suppliers can be created by cross referencing the supplier's invoice with the original purchase order. Payments may then be posted directly to the actual costs within an element. They may be linked to preset general ledger codes for direct transfer to an external accounting system.
Payment Post supplier payments for all or part of an invoice directly to this screen.
Credit NoteCredit notes can be issued to reverse all or part of a supplier invoice.
Summary A fast method for searching (by invoice number, supplier code, date range, project, job, component, etc.) and displaying/reporting a summary of supplier invoices.
Discount Summary A fast method for searching and displaying/reporting a summary of discounts applied to supplier invoices.

Administration

General Preferences This set of screens manage counters and default field values that are required by other entry screens when creating new records. They include: client, supplier and other general ledger default settings, counters, exchange rates, tasks, charge rates and system general ledger codes.
Price Codes The Price Codes screen records standard prices and descriptions for all non-labour items. Price code data are accessed via Component, Planner, Other Purchases and Purchase Order screens.

Security

User Access Allows the System Administrator to monitor individual user access and to disconnect users who have not logged out correctly.
User Allows the System Administrator to reset a user's password if difficulties are encountered logging on.
Membership Allows the System Administrator to add and remove users to and from Groups.

Block

Allows the System Administrator to set each group's read, write, modify and delete access privileges to each screen (parent block) and repeating record portal (subblock).
Table Allows the System Administrator to set each group's read, write, modify and delete access privileges to each database table.