Projects - Team Schedule

Since coordinating efforts for a Project usually requires the efforts of more than one individual, being able to see their schedule just a click away is important especially when scheduling action items that involve more than one person.

We have created Tradepoint so the Schedule for Assigned Staff for a Project can be visible within that Project.  Any Appointments set will in the main Schedule and in any assigned projects as well.

If there are multiple individuals assigned to a Project then you will see multiple schedules listed here.

Projects - Custom Info

Projects also includes a section for Custom Information. This can be anything but is typically specific data to your work flow and products and/or services you provide.

Examples include IT based information such as Computer and Network Requirements for an Installation, Specifications for Industries such as Building Construction,  Architecture, Water and Soil testing,  Accounting, Legal, and Patient work flows for Medical Practices in specialties such as Orthopedics.

Below is the screen where these Specifications will be structured and listed.

One thing to remember is that when you start a Custom Field within windows you are in fact bringing up the Setup Configuration Tool that is also found in the drop down menu when you click the Globe in the Upper left hand corner of your window.

To create a new Custom Field click on the Custom Info Icon next to projects. The window you see below will open allowing you to name a Custom Field and assign the appropriate properties(numeric, alpha numeric, financial, etc.)for that field.

Projects - Teams

Assigning a team to a project both within your company and with contacts from your client company as well is important to streamline communications and have everyone be able to function and keep current as action items are completed.

This screen shows the drop down menu that you can assign teams both internally and with clients. The process is the same to establish teams internally or externally.

Once teams are established the schedules of each individual will be viewable within the Schedules sections of Projects.

Projects - Products Involved

This section is modeled after the Products Owned section within the Customers. You can keep a record of any Products Owned by a Customer within a Project. Products Owned would be any product or service you charge for . Additional information regarding Inventory and Supply Side Management will be addressed in a separate Help File Tutorial.

If you are a company with a large number of products and/or services only the first 20 will automatically come up. Simply typing part of the name or an item number will bring up any items beginning with the letters or product numbers you enter. 

Essentially the Advanced Search functionality in the Search Tool is also included in any drop down list where inventory is stored.

Projects - Budget 

The Budgets section within projects helps you track any outstanding budget items for a related Project. Whether it is projected budget for hours, budget items for products or any ongoing fees related to the project they will be listed here from top to bottom on the main window below.

Any budget items will be listed below and similarly to other windows clicking on any one of them will open a window with further detail available.

The screen view below gives additional information.

The 'New Budget Item' icon in the lower right hand corner opens a smaller window on the next page allowing you to specify additional details.

Categories can be set along with authorization by a specific individual if necessary. Each Budget item that is added will then be listed in the main Budget window .

Projects - Expenses

Expenses within Projects can be tracked in this section. Similarly any outstanding expenses will be listed here in the window below in the same manner.

Clicking the 'New Expense' Icon will open the smaller window you see and you can enter in any relevant details for that expense. A screen view of the Expenses screen is shown below and is designed in a similar format to the budget screen.

One important thing to note about both the Budgets section and Expenses within Tradepoint is that depending on a user's security settings these sections can be made visible to only authorized personnel.

The last two Sections within Projects are Documents and Email. The Documents section is identical to the Documents sections found elsewhere in Tradepoint with the same full functionality for scanning, importing and creating new documents.

The Email section within Projects allows email to be sent to the group assigned to that Project and not just storing related emails.

Projects-Time

Tracking a budget, expenses, and billable hours is crucial to accurately planning and managing a Project. Within projects is time costing allowing you to track who has been putting time in for a project, what their billable rate is per hour, and the totals for billable hours that a client can be billed for.

As hours by assigned Employees are added they will be listed in the order they start by date. The totals of hours, number of Employees, and the amount of billable hours that a client can be billed for will be tracked in the fields at the bottom of the window.

At the bottom of the screen you see above is an icon that will allow you to generate an Invoice from any existing Billable Hours logged by any or all Employees. Simply highlight the set/s of hours and  click the 'Add to Invoice' icon and an Invoice will be generated for those hours.

As hours by assigned Employees are added they will be listed in the order they start by date. The totals of hours, number of Employees, and the amount of billable hours that a client can be billed for will be tracked in the fields at the bottom of the window.

Projects-Documents

Documents can be stored in a Project using the same format and functionality as in other sections of Tradepoint. The main page for Documents in a projects will look like the screen you see below. Any Documents already existing in Tradepoint will appear in the format you see below based on any categories you have created.

Its important to remember that the data compression ratio we use in Tradepoint is approximately 12:1 with a consistent performance of 10:1 so, many Office based and PDF documents can be stored with the exclusion of Autocad and most image files(which we recommend you setting up a link to those files and storing them on a separate device such as a Sever).

Adding a New Document will open the window you see on this page. You have a choice of creating a new document, establishing a link to and existing one or importing an existing document from your hard drive.

Projects-Email

Tradepoint provides you with the ability to track email communications that are specific to a given Project. The window for this is shown below. Any existing emails will be listed in chronological order.

Since email is inherently personal assigning an email to a Project has to be done from your main email screen as they come into your Inbox or assigned Folder. From the Main Email section right clicking on an email will open the drop down menu you see below.

Right clicking on any email in the main email section will enable the above functionality in a drop down menu. From the drop down menu above choose the highlighted icon to move an email.  A smaller window will open with several choices of where to move this email.

Clicking on Project will allow you to view all Projects that you have User Access Settings for and you can then move a specific email to a Folder, Contact, Customer or in this case a Project.

Projects -Punch Clock

Earlier in Projects tutorial we went through the Time Costing function of Estimated Billable hours for a project. The Punch Clock within projects is the tool for tracking actual hours spent on a project. Using this is quite simple.

If you are in a project that you are going to be working on simply click on Punch In and your time will be logged from the minute you have Punched In. It is the same for Punching Out when you are within a Project.

Another way to Punch in can be done by clicking on the Time Clock icon at the top left side of the screen in Tradepoint. The time clock will open and look like what you see below.

The Project(which is labeled Case) is for the Test project we have used to illustrate the functionality within Projects. An Employee has already Clocked In due to the highlighted Punch Out Icon being the live icon available.

To show additional Projects you have user access permission for simply click the small arrow on the right side of the Case field.

From there when you are finished working on a project simply click Punch Out on the Punch Clock.

You will know if you are punched in or out by which icon is live on the Time Clock. You can always check to see if you are still clocked in by clicking on the time clock in the upper left hand corner to make sure.