Archive for the ‘Tips & Tricks’ Category

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Xero & simPRO – Official Release

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

simPRO_XeroThe simPRO to Xero and simPRO Digital Pen to Xero integrations have now officially been released!

Although we have numerous clients using both, it has just be officially signed off and published by the Xero team as a tried & true integration.

It was announced by Xero this week in their June 2010 Product Update Newsletter.

They have also made a nice little video, I must admit that the Xero team are excellent at make very succinct videos that give enough info to whet your interest without going too deep into details, something we need to learn from.

If you want more detail on the Xero online accounting and simPRO online estimating, job management and invoicing solutions, please see below:

Xero & simPRO Enterprise

Xero & simPRO Mobile Digital Pens

If you are looking for an estimation or project management package that gives you flexibility and delivers real productivity benefits then you can’t afford to miss the pairing of simPRO Enterprise and Xero – web based solutions at their best.

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Posted in Accounting, Announcement, Digital Pens, Tips & Tricks, Xero, simPRO, simPRO Enterprise, simPRO Mobile | No Comments »

Tips & Tricks – May 2010

Monday, May 24th, 2010

Quick Tips Due to the constant development of the simPRO software to improve functionality for our users we have decided to share tips & tricks with you regularly so that you can get more out of simPRO.  This month we are going to have a look at a couple of smaller tips to get you using your system more effectively.

Employee activity

Ever wanted to know about what was happening in your simPRO system by whom?  Traditionally you could always look at the log of a job or quote to find out what has happened, though what about an entire activity report so you can ensure that you’re getting the productivity you require or retrace your own steps to find that missing link of some changes you have made.

Enter the employee History log.  Simply this report reads through all the audit trails on the modules with auditing enables, groups it by users and presents the data across the board.  It is a fairly easy report to run, simply go to Reports->Employee->History Log, apply the filtering you are after and click `submit’.

This gives you total transparency as to who has performed what functions in the system.

Un-invoiced jobs

Do you ever wish you could just see at a snapshot of all the jobs you have worked on this month that have not yet had an invoice created? If you run a lot of service jobs I bet the answer is a resounding “YES”.

Another simple and effective report to use that is often underutilised is the Job Activity Report.  There are heaps of options on this report and one of the most useful filters is the “Un-invoiced” option.

Simply head over to Reports > Jobs > Activity apply some filtering (for example current or last month) and turn on the “Un-invoiced” option at the bottom right then click `submit’.   A simple report that will show you any job that has had activity on it (based on your filters) that has not yet had been invoiced.

Job Activity Report - Showing this months uninvoiced jobs.

Uninvoiced Jobs from this Month

Online Resource

Over the past year we have been generating many articles in to what we dub the “simPRO wiki”.  In there you can find plenty of how-to’s, explanations, videos, product walk throughs and technical information.  As we continue to develop new applications and features into simPRO these articles are updated and added into the wiki.

Even the online help system your already familiar with is interfaced with these articles… it is literally a treasure trove of information you can access about your system.

To search for help, articles or tips, simply go to Help > Online Resource and type in your search needs or simply browse by category.

Posted in Tips & Tricks, simPRO | No Comments »

SSL Certificates Explained

Friday, April 16th, 2010

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates are certificates provided by your server to your web browser that encrypt your data transfer. This is particularly important when accessing your confidential information (such as simPRO or Internet Banking) from public locations such as wifi hotspots. SSL certificates must be created against a domain name (eg. simpro.co.uk). There are two types of certificates:

1)       CA Signed SSL Certificates – These are certificates that are signed by a Certificate Authority. When applying for a CA signed SSL certificate, you are asked to verify that you own the domain name and some providers actually require phone number verification. If you are a hosted simPRO customer (using our datacenter), you automatically get one of these certificates set up for you (eg. simproelectrical.simpro.co.uk). If you are accessing your hosted simPRO site over an ip address (xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx), please contact the helpdesk for your .simpro.co.uk address.

2)       Self-Signed SSL Certificates – This is the type of certificate that comes by default with a dedicated simPRO server. They carry the same amount of encryption as a CA signed certificate, however to your browser it is viewed as “not trusted”, however the data sent to and from your simPRO server is still encrypted. Most browsers allow you to remove the SSL warnings, please visit our wiki at wiki.acornsoftware.com.au for tips on how to do this.

So what are the pros and cons?

CA signed certificates will remove the certificate warnings for all browsers. This is important if you have customers accessing your client side of simPRO to lodge jobs. However CA signed certificates are not free, and require renewal regularly.

Self-Signed SSL Certificates are free of charge, and the renewal period can be set as long as you require. They provide the same level of encryption as CA signed certificates. However they will display an error message in all browsers.

If you would like to discuss your options regarding SSL certificates, please contact the helpdesk via phone or email.

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Posted in Technology, Tips & Tricks | No Comments »

simPRO Tips & Tricks – April 2010

Friday, April 9th, 2010

Quick TipsThis month in Tips and Tricks we take a look at:

  1. How to use Kits to make reusable `Take off Lists’
  2. How to hand over a project to the maintenance department using asset tracking
  3. 3 Clicks to find out what jobs haven’t been invoiced this month.

Predefined Take off Lists

Ok, so you have to produce estimates fairly regularly for similar jobs.  Perhaps your business does house bashing (are we allowed to say that?) or you do light manufacturing jobs that always use the same components, or office fit outs etc…  Basically the work is fairly predictable and you are always putting the same items into quotes.

Wouldn’t it be easier if I could just setup a series of template take off sheet and just keep using those?

Not trying to be funny but simPRO can do it already for you!  It’s one way to think of simPRO kits.

What are kits though?

About 18 months ago we implemented a new layer of estimating by way of these things called kits.  The major difference between Prebuilds and Kits is this;

  • A prebuild will go onto your estimates, invoices and jobs as a single line item which generally means it’s great for per point pricing (amongst other things) though you need to go and find all the prebuilds each time you setup a quote, where as;
  • A kit comes into the quote as the breakdown of all the components that go into that kit (and can contain prebuilds that will still display as a single item).

So another way to think of a kit is `a prebuild of prebuilds and catalogue items’.  You can even put multiple labour rates into the kit to bring across so you can allocate the roofer, tiler and plumber all in one go.  Once you include a kit on a job all the items within that kit are brought across into your new quote, allowing you to simply go down through your list and put in the required quantities of each item you need (also a great way for not forgetting something!!).

Couple that with the recent upgrade that we spoke about in a February’s newsletter of allowing decimals of items; you can now have a really solid and automated method of smashing out quotes.

So with the boss happy that all these quotes are going out, and you’re happy because you have just reduced the items on your to do list, why not suggest a shout for a long lunch? (more…)

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, simPRO Enterprise | No Comments »

END OF MONTH – Simple Accounting Procedures that You Should be Doing!

Monday, March 22nd, 2010

“How can I be assured that the financial data in simPRO matches our accounts program?”

This is one of the most common questions I get from concerned bookkeepers and Accountants regarding the use of simPRO. One of the most important things to do here is to ensure that the security profiles of your users are adjusted to ensure that transactions cannot be created, deleted or edited by a staff member who does not understand the accounting implications of doing so.

If a financial transaction in simPRO has been posted to your accounts program and that transaction is to be altered or deleted, the user who has rights to do this will receive a warning message in red. The alteration will need to be manually adjusted in the accounting program as well.

The list below contains a step by step procedure that should really be followed at the end of month to ensure that your simPRO and accounts package reconcile.   It could also be followed for the whole financial year when the accounts are being closed off.

(more…)

Posted in Accounting, Tips & Tricks, simPRO Enterprise | 1 Comment »

Back to Basics – The 4 W’s of Job Creation

Monday, March 15th, 2010

Welcome to the first article in a series titled “Back 2 Basics” or B2B for short. In the B2B series I’ll be going back to the fundamental roots of simPRO. Whether you are a new user and learning simPRO or an existing user brushing up on your simPRO knowledge there is always something to gain from reviewing some of the simplest practices in your simPRO software package.

As this is the first article in the Back 2 Basics series I will be covering one of the most common question asked to me during implementation and training.

“How do I just create a job?”

Even though there are more than one methods to ‘just create a job’ (with two explained is this article), there are four questions that you must always ask yourself. I like to call these ‘ The 4 W’s’

Who, Where, What and When

Who – Who is paying for the work to be done?

Where – Where is the work to be done?

What – What work is required to be done?

When – When is the work to be done?

All other factors expand upon this.

(more…)

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Posted in Scheduling Software, Tips & Tricks, simPRO | 1 Comment »

simPRO Tips & Tricks – March 2010

Wednesday, March 10th, 2010

Quick TipsThis month in Tips & Tricks we show you how to:

i. Invoice multiple jobs at once,

ii. Set up your client side simPRO login, and

iii. Decide on who gets a Christmas Hamper this year.

    Invoice multiple jobs at once

    Do you do heaps of smaller jobs that could be invoiced without manual intervention or checking every single one?  What about using recurring jobs or jobs from the maintenance planner that you know are already at the correct rate?  You ask “Why oh why do I need to go into each one to send the invoice?”

    Answer, you don’t.

    A really neat little feature that not many people know about is the ability to invoice any number of jobs with a single click.  Simply head over to the completed jobs list, then tick off the jobs you would like to raise an invoice for down the left hand side (if you would like all of them just tick the box at the top) then go to the bottom of the list in your completed job options and click the invoice button.  Now obviously doing it this way won’t give you the opportunity to drill into each one to check them off but if you know you don’t need to then this is an easy peasy way to get it done.

    Now let’s say you have just created 100 invoices, rather than going to each of them to print them off, why not just print them all off at once?  Head on over to Report > Sales > Invoices, filter by invoices created today then select the format you would like the invoices printed (or emailed) in and click print to drop them onto your printer, or email to send them out to everyone’s inbox.

    Job done.  Now where’s that coffee?

    (more…)

Posted in Productivity, Tips & Tricks, simPRO, simPRO Enterprise | No Comments »

Tips & Tricks – simPRO Contractor Module

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

This month in Tips & Tricks we show you how to work with the simPRO contractor module and how you can use that to work collaboratively with sub contractors.

Contractor Portal and RCTI’s

If you work with sub contractors and find it difficult to keep track of what they are doing for you with any level of decent transparency, simPRO has a solution with the contractor module.

As part of our vision to allow all simPRO users to work together collaboratively using simPRO we also see it as important to allow you to work with people that don’t use simPRO. (more…)

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Posted in Contractors, Tips & Tricks | 1 Comment »

Ultra-Mobile PC System for Mobile simPRO Users

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

During our first newsletter we talked about the simPRO Mobile digital pens . Last month we looked at the PDAs and Smartphones and how you can best use growing technology such as iPhones and other handheld devices to improve your business productivity. Completing the simPRO Mobile suite of mobility solutions for field technicians is something that offers more power and a bigger screen – simPRO Ultra-Mobile. netbook

What is an Ultra-Mobile?

An Ultra-Mobile PC, or UMPC, is another name for a Netbook or small laptop – designed to be easily carried around and particularly useful for accessing web based applications. These are commonly available at most of the major computer retailers and also online.

(more…)

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, simPRO Mobile | 2 Comments »

Insiders Corner – Stock Control for Year End

Tuesday, December 15th, 2009

At the end of the year, the quiet Christmas/New Year holiday period is the perfect time to take some of those important challenges that often get pushed aside during the busy periods. This month from our insider, Andrew Crowe, simPRO’s Client Services Manager, discusses the options of managing stock control within simPRO and encourages you to use this quiet time to plan and set up good stock control systems for your business for the New Year.

What is Stock Control?

Stock control is the ability to manage the costs and parts currently on hand and manage the actual material costs on jobs. Just as the schedule is important to manage labour and labour costing, stock is just as vitally important in giving accurate figures and P&Ls for the jobs, quotes and the overall business.

(more…)

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Posted in Tips & Tricks, simPRO Enterprise, simPRO Mobile | No Comments »

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