Setting up Client Owners, Job Managers and Project Leaders

The names you use for the person responsible for a client and/or job(project) can be set up from the Administration menu.

Companies may have client owner/s and job owner/s who are responsible for a particular client or job.

These may or may not be the same person and depending on your company naming system, you might call them Directors, Team Leaders, Principals, Project Managers, etc.

The default names in Abtrac are Client Owner, Client Owner 2, Job Owner, Job Owner 2. Client Owner and Job Owner are used extensively in reporting to filter, group and sort data by who is responsible for the work.

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Glossary: Job / Project Details

This page briefly explains all the fields available on the Job / Project Details Page.

N.B. The name Job / Project is a variable that you can set yourself in the Administration >> Settings >> System Settings area. From this point forward, we will refer to them as Projects

There are a few different classifications for Projects, so here are the different definitions you will see below.

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Glossary: Client Details

This page briefly explains all the fields available on the Client Details Page.

For more complicated fields, there will be links provided to supporting articles.

Name: This is the Client name, Contact name, or Sub-Consultant name you want to manage through Abtrac.

Abbreviation: A short form of text for the Client Name used in the timesheet screen for faster entry for the user. The abbreviation is also used in some reports where space is at a premium.

System Code: The System Code is an alphanumeric field that is mandatory.

The default number is set from the Administration >> Settings >> Invoice and other office settings section in Abtrac.

In this screen, you can set an initial client number for one office under the option you have marked as the “Default Invoice Setting” or set specific numbers for each “invoice and other office setting”. The place to set the default is controlled under the “Next Client Number”.

If you prefer an alphanumeric code, you will need to make them up and manage them yourself each time you enter a client.

The system code is there because many Abtrac businesses link their Abtrac data and invoices with their accounting system. The system code is one way of providing a unique link, so the two systems always match up. It also enables Abtrac to manage the differences between two clients who have the same name.

If you aren’t sure what to enter as a system code, leave it alone, and Abtrac will automatically give it a number. Later on, you can change this data if needed.

Creation Date: The date the client was created, defaulting to the date the entry was added.

Current: This represents if the client is someone you are currently working with. It is recommended to mark all clients you no longer work with as non-current to minimise the amount of data Abtrac and your staff need to go through when searching, entering time, and generating reports.

Billable: States whether this is a billable client or a non-billable contact.

You are recommended to set yourself us as a non-billable contact so you can record time against yourself.

This client is used for admin time, sick leave, annual leave, training, etc. These are all set up as individual jobs/projects for yourself.

Synchronised: Indicates if the client has been synchronised with your accounting package during an invoice upload process or by clicking the synchronise button.

Learn more about your accounting packages here

Is a sub-consultant: You can use sub-consultants in Abtrac if you outsource work to third parties and need to manage them over the duration of one or more projects.

Read more about sub-consultants here.

Work This Sub-Consultant Does: Work This Subconsultant records the sub-consultants type of work. Bu classifying this here, you can subsequently query all sub-consultants who do the same type of work.

Client Owner: Is an employee that takes responsibility for this client. Client Owner is a displayed name that you can set to something that means something to you. An example of a reason to change this is to change it to ‘Principal’ or ‘Director.’

The screen to set who can be a client owner is found in Administration >> Employees Owners.

The area to set the displayed client owner name is under Administration >> Settings >> System Settings. Make sure you are in the Clients and Jobs/Projects tab on the left, then down the page in the section For Display on Forms and Reports.

Client Owner 2: This is the same as Client Owner 1 but a second option.

Client Type: Client type allows you to create a list of client types so they can be allocated to each client. This will allow you to see what clientele you are attracting to your business.

To maintain your list of client types, go to Administration >> Maintenance >> Client Rating.

Client Rating: Client Rating will allow you to set up a rating scale for your clients.

To maintain your client ratings, go to Administration >> Maintenance >> Client Type

Office: Shows what office this client belongs to. This can be left blank, so you can leave this unless you manage multiple offices and want to know differences during reporting or restrict employees by their office.

Is Master Client: If you tick a client as a master client, this tells Abtrac that this client can become a parent company for other clients. You then use the selection box to associate other clients with them by selecting their names from the drop-down list.

Is Master Client: Indicates if this client is a master client with ‘child client’ associated with it.

Master Client: This shows the client associated with this master client.

Comments: Whatever comments you want to associate with a client. E.g. “formerly called XZY Limited but changed their name in 20XX”, or “These guys are really bad payers, so contact Jo if you have any queries from them or requests for more work”.

Abtrac KB# 2180

Managing Project Numbers

Project Numbers in Abtrac can be as complex or as simple as your company requires.

Project Numbers are managed in two locations from the Administration Settings screens.

From Administration >> Settings >> Invoice Settings you can determine the next Project Number.

You’ll need to scroll down past the Invoice Setttings and Templates in order to maximise the ‘Client, Project, Proposal, Purchase Order Numbering’ Tab.

Project Numbers can also have a prefix, suffix, and separator.

These options and the name you use for a Project (Job, etc) are managed from Administration >> Settings >> System Settings.

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Creating and Managing Tasks aka Stages/Phases

A Job/Project Task is the bit of the job you are working on – and can budget against. (Sometimes they are called Stages or Phases)

Tasks are the most efficient and effective way to measure and manage your jobs.

Generally, your job tasks will match those items detailed on your original fee proposal letter.

If you’re not sure whether you should be using tasks or activities, then this article is a good place to start.

There are quite a few key details to get your tasks set up and working the way you need them.
If you are new to tasks and budgeting in Abtrac, then it’s a good idea to read through this article from start to finish, but we have also summarised the key components below for quick reference:

About Tasks, Sub Tasks

Where to enter job/project budgets, as fee estimates, percentages or building the scope with detailed estimates by employee

Template Tasks

How to set up templates and clone frequently used tasks when creating new jobs/projects

Configuring the layout of the Tasks screen

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Making Tasks Mandatory in Timesheets

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Renaming Tasks to Stages – Phases – or something else

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Task Threshold Warnings

Scope Creep Notifications. How to enable a warning on timesheets when task budgets are exceeded

Entering Progress Assessments

For job/project management and billing estimates

Managing Variations

And reporting on variations by using the Actual vs Budget by Job/Project, Task and Additional Values report

Click on the links above, or read on for details

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Tasks or Activities, Which should I use?

One Frequently asked question from new Abtrac users is whether to use Tasks or Activities in their timesheets.

Here’s the difference between the two: Tasks are Quantitative, Activities are not.

Tasks are where you enter the budget for the job.

2016_TasksTasks are also sometimes called Stages or Phases.

They should be exactly the same as budget items on the fee agreement you document to the client.

You give each task an estimate of both time and fees, and then analyse them later using reports such as Actual vs Budget by Task, or Invoice Preparation Information Report. These reports compare your proposed amounts, time spent, and amount invoiced.

You can learn from them over time to see how good staff are in getting through work allotted to them as well as how good you are in your estimates. If necessary you can modify your thinking and estimating to more correctly budget the next job based on what you’ve learnt from previous jobs.

Examples of Tasks (depending on your line of work): Concept Design, Feasibility Study, Developed Design, Media Monitoring

Activities are not Quantitative.

2016_Activities.pngIf Tasks are the bits of the job you’re working on, Activities are what you’re doing on each bit.

Really activities are to save you typing the same comments over and over again.

There are limited reports based on activities other than those used when reviewing timesheet entries and preparing descriptions for invoice lines.

Activities are generic across all jobs whereas tasks and the values associated with them are very much specific to a particular job, especially when there are variations and extras on a job by job basis.

Examples of Activities (again depending on your line of work): Office Work, Travel, Research, Meetings, Site Visit

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