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ONLINE SUPPORT On the pages that follow, you will find answers and solutions to the questions and problems you may have. Check here first. Common Questions Tips & Tricks, FAQs Site Map |
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How can I get my employees to do their time sheets and do them on time? It is easier than ever to get employees to do time sheets in this economy! Huh...Right! We've received incredulous looks and remarks every time we make this statement but it is true. The bottom line is that times are tough and employees know that now more that ever. A recent conversation that we had with a user about this topic motivated her to have a staff meeting and take a relentless stand on getting employee time sheets done every day. She has 10 billable people. She explained to them that every single second of billable time was important in order for them to stay in business, for them to keep cash flowing for pay checks, and to keep their jobs! She demanded that all employees have their time sheet finished by the end of each-and-every-day because everyone's recollection is better at the end of the day or work session instead of the end of the week or month. She also told them that management was going to check each day and be ruthless. Since they are users of our software her employees already had an easy way to do time sheets and management had an easy way to check and see if time sheets had been filled out. It is just that the motivation was not shared by her employees until she leveraged the thing that means the most to them, the future of their jobs. She called back to say that after the meeting all of her employees immediately started getting their time sheets in on time. We have had this same conversation now over-and-over with our software users and inquirers. A firm stand by the employer seems to work every time. Have your meeting! TOP |
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What do I do with a project file after the project has been finished and invoiced? Creative Billing Online: Under the Project menu, select 'Archive.' Check the project to archive and click to archive. You may view them at anytime, but only the Premium Subscription Plan allows you to reactivate or unarchive the project for further use. Creative Billing Stand Alone(retired): We suggest that you keep your old projects so you can use that information to review your business and aid in producing future estimates for similar projects. DesignSoft is able to archive or copy your project into another folder so it is out your way but still available for future use. To archive a project simply display the project and select Archive under the Display menu. We also have an add on module utility program called Batch Archive & Delete that allows you to archive many projects at once. See our order form for pricing. TOP |
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How do I produce estimates or proposals with DesignSoft? Creative Billing Online: There is quoting feature now built in. Under the Project menu, select Fee, Expense, or Cost entry. At the top of any of those screens, check the quote box. This will earmark the entry to be used in 1) preparing and printing a quote (under the Billing menu), 2) on the Project summary screen, 3) or on the Summary and Quote Comparison screens under the 'Reports' menu. Custom quotes can be prepared by establishing a quote format and then creating and printing or downloading the resulting file. Creative Billing Stand Alone(retired): An estimate is produced the same way a regular project is. You initiate the project by giving it a number (some users put the letter "E" at the end of the project to indicate that it is an estimate or proposal.) Then enter the description of the potential project as you wish it to show on the estimate. Once the "estimate" project has been started simply go to the entry screen and go down the list of fee and expense codes and enter the anticipated number of hours or dollars for each category. Once finished click the "Estimate/Report" button on the DesignSoft Navigator and choose your estimate format. (estimate formats are set up exactly like an invoice or statement formats) Once chosen you will see a list of your projects. Select the estimate project you just created and your estimate will appear. You can make any final changes on the estimate itself and you can save it as a document for future use. Once your estimate is finished you may wish to archive it to your archive folder or another folder (if you have Batch Archive & Delete) that holds just estimate projects. You can also use the estimate project to bill from once the projects is finished. Chances are that your real project file will not match the estimate down to the penny. So by restoring the Estimate project and billing from it you have a quick and easy way to bill your client with out making many changes to the invoice. TOP |
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How do I bill quoted projects that don't come out to the penny with Time & Billing? Creative Billing Online: On the Project summary screen there is button that will take you to the Adjustment screen. Here you can make additions and subtractions that will appear on the invoice if you wish to document them. Otherwise you can define an invoice format under 'Billing' that just shows the quoted amounts and then use that format to create your invoice. Creative Billing Stand Alone(retired): You can use the original estimate project to bill from once the projects is finished. Chances are that your real activity project file will not match the estimate down to the penny. So by restoring the estimate project and billing from it you have a quick and easy way to bill your client with out making many changes to the invoice. For information on creating estimates see the item above. TOP |
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How do I
share my accounting data with my accountant? |
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What is the procedure for ending the year in Time & Billing or Time Sheet Manager? Creative Billing Online: Because all of your data is stored in one place (online) there is nothing to move or rename. The only thing you have to do is to reset your project numbering formula if it contains the year, and therefore is date driven. Creative Billing Stand Alone(retired): Year-End Checklist TOP |
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How do I keep track of prepayments |
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Can more than one person use Time & Billing? |
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How do I do scheduling with Time & Billing? |
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I just got a
new computer, how do I move There is no reason to reinstall the software and its components.
Everything you need to run DesignSoft Creative Billing and it's modules are contained
inside the DesignSoft folder. There are no extensions or other items outside the
DesignSoft folder that you have to be concerned with. The only set up necessary is to go to Page Set Up inside the DesignSoft
invoice, estimate, statement, and custom report formats and then save the formats
with the page set up settings. |
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