Following the release of our new navigation experience last month, we’ve now begun upgrading the Administration area of Abtrac.
This month’s update focuses on the Maintenance section and the pages used to manage system lists, classifications, and configuration data behind the scenes. While these pages aren’t used every day by most staff, they play an important role in setting up and maintaining your Abtrac environment.
For most users, nothing about how Abtrac works has changed. The same functionality remains available, your data is unchanged, and your existing workflows continue to work exactly as before.
What has changed is the experience.
Many of the Maintenance pages have now been rebuilt using the new technology platform that will power the next generation of Abtrac. Along the way we’ve refreshed the interface, improved consistency between pages, and introduced some of the modern tools you’ll begin seeing throughout the application over the coming months.
This video provides a quick overview of the changes and a preview of what’s still to come.
What’s changing?
Modernised Maintenance Pages
Most of the lists under Administration > Maintenance have now been upgraded to the new Abtrac user interface.
You’ll notice cleaner page layouts, clearer page headings, improved spacing, more consistent controls, and a design that better aligns with the direction outlined in our roadmap updates.
For simple maintenance areas such as:
- Job Status
- Client Types
- Project Types
- Job Status
- And other lookup lists
the functionality remains largely unchanged.
The main difference is a more modern and consistent experience.
You’ll notice that Default Project Notifications still uses the older style. That’s expected for now, and it will be updated as part of a future Notifications enhancement.
Related Information Grouped Together
Some Maintenance areas contained information that was closely related but previously managed in pop ups or separate screens.
As part of this update, we’ve begun grouping these items together using tabs.
For example:
- Activities
- Activity Groups
are now managed from the same page, allowing you to move between related information more easily without navigating throughout multiple screens.
You’ll see this approach used more frequently throughout future updates.
New Grid Technology Arrives
One of the most significant changes in this release is the introduction of Abtrac’s new data grid technology.
The Disbursements page provides the first look at how larger data management screens will function in the future.
New capabilities include:
- Column-based filtering
- Multi-column sorting
- Faster searching
- Customisable column selection
- Improved pagination for large datasets
- More actions available directly within the grid
- Better support for bulk administration tasks
For organisations with large lists of disbursements, rates, employees, or accounting mappings, these improvements will make finding and managing information much faster.
While this month’s release focuses on Maintenance pages, you’ll begin seeing the same technology appear throughout other areas of Abtrac over time.
A New Home for GL Code Mapping
We’ve also redesigned one of the most commonly used accounting configuration areas.
Previously, General Ledger account mappings could be found in several different locations throughout Administration, depending on what was being configured.
To make these settings easier to manage, we’ve introduced a dedicated GL Codes page.
The new screen provides a central location for managing account code mappings across:
- Job Types
- Offices
- Office + Job Type combinations
- Disbursements
- Invoice Categories
For customers using Xero or MYOB, this provides a clearer view of the account coding rules that affect invoice export and accounting integration.
Rather than moving between multiple setup screens, the information is now available in a single location. All your existing mapping rules are now visible here.
Introducing the New Sidebar Editor
The new GL Codes page also introduces another feature you’ll see more widely across Abtrac in the future.
Instead of opening separate windows or navigating away from the page, records can now be created and edited using a contextual side panel.
This new sidebar editor provides:
- Faster editing
- Less page navigation
- Improved bulk update workflows
- A more consistent experience throughout Abtrac
Over time, you’ll see more forms and configuration screens move to this approach as we continue reducing reliance on traditional pop-up windows.
Why Are We Making These Changes?
This update is about more than refreshing a handful of Administration screens.
As part of the broader modernisation of Abtrac, we’re replacing older technology components with a new platform that provides:
- Faster development of new features
- Improved consistency across the application
- Better performance with large datasets
- More flexible user interfaces
- A foundation for future AI-assisted workflows
Many of these improvements happen behind the scenes, but they allow us to deliver the larger roadmap items planned for the months ahead.
While Maintenance pages are not the most frequently visited area of Abtrac, they provide an excellent example of where the platform is headed.
If you’d like a preview of the future Abtrac experience, we encourage Administrators to spend a few minutes exploring the updated pages.
Improving with your Feedback
Last month we introduced the new vertical navigation experience, one of the most significant interface changes we’ve made in recent years.
As expected, the change generated plenty of feedback, and we appreciate everyone who took the time to share their thoughts.
Two common themes emerged. Some users found the fly-out menu too sensitive, while others found keeping the menu pinned open reduced the available screen space for larger grids and reports.
We’ve been listening. Since the initial release we’ve already reduced the sensitivity of the fly-out menu, and we’re continuing to review further refinements as more areas of Abtrac are upgraded to the new platform. One option we’re actively considering is moving to a click-to-open experience in the future.
While the move to vertical navigation is here to stay, your feedback is helping us improve the experience along the way. Thank you for your patience as we continue modernising the platform.
A Reminder of What’s Still to Come
This month’s Administration update is just one step in a much larger programme of improvements across Abtrac.
As outlined in our roadmap update, we’re continuing to modernise the platform with refreshed interfaces, enhanced administration tools, redesigned scheduling, expanded AI capabilities, and smarter ways to work.
You can revisit our roadmap here:
The Future of Abtrac – Roadmap Update
We’ve already delivered several of the improvements outlined in that article, and you’ll continue to see new features and updates released progressively over the coming months as we build toward the next generation of Abtrac.
Coming Next
October’s release is the first phase of the Administration refresh.
In November 2026, we’ll begin rolling out updates to some of the most heavily used Administration areas, including:
- Employees
- Employee Rates
- Permissions and Responsibilities
- System Settings
- Invoice Settings
These pages contain significantly more functionality and will benefit even further from the new grid technology, sidebar editing experience, and streamlined page layouts.
You Don’t Need To Do Anything
There are no settings to configure and no actions required.
Your existing data, permissions, accounting mappings, and system setup remain unchanged.
This release simply introduces a more modern Administration experience while laying the foundation for the next generation of Abtrac.
As always, we’ll continue rolling out these improvements gradually and keep you informed through future product updates as new functionality becomes available.
For a complete list of everything included in this month’s release, visit the About This Version page.
These temporary release notes were last updated 15/10/2026
Abtrac AV# 0047