Delivery completed on 02/05/2017
1. A big step forward in managing your employees' absences!! |
1.1 Improvements to absence balances |
1.1.a Differentiation of quotas "In progress of being accrued" & "Accrued"
Until now, our absence balance management was a bit simplistic for many of you. To better match the display shown on your employees' pay slips, we have decided to allow differentiation of quotas
In progress of being accrued : Accrued during the current year (N)
Accrued : Accrued in the previous year (N-1)
You can then choose to allow (or not) your resources to use quotas In progress of being accrued.
Example 1: You do not allow resources to use quotas In progress of being accrued
Example 2: You allow resources to use quotas In progress of being accrued
This will allow you to better visualize when you (or one of your employees) have requested/used more leave than authorized.
P.S.: To see how to configure/use your absence balances and benefit from these new features, feel free to consult the tutorial created for the occasion.
1.1.b Differentiation between "requested" and "used" absences & "Accrued"
To save you from having to count the remaining leave yourself based on your requested absences, we have decided to differentiate the following indicators:
Used : Corresponds to the number of absences registered in fully approved timesheets*
Requested : Corresponds to absences used up to month M-1 + absences* requested from month M onwards
* : over the balance period
This allows us to calculate the following three indicators
Actual balance = Accrued (or In progress of being accrued) - Used
Forecast balance = Accrued (or In progress of being accrued) - Requested
Requested absences not yet used** = Forecast balances - Actual balances
** If you differentiate In progress of being accrued from Accrued, this value summarizes the total of both.
1.1.c History tracking of changes made to balances
So you can better understand/explain the values of quotas In progress of being accrued and Accrued, we have added some additional features:
History tracking of all automatic changes
There are two types of automatic changes:
When changing month (e.g.: February 1st): Depending on your configuration, the tool adds a monthly increment to the balances of your choice.
When changing period (e.g.: June 1st for Paid Leave, January 1st for RTT): Depending on your configuration, the tool adds an accrued quota and/or carries over the remaining balance from the previous period to the balances of your choice.
To better understand these changes, you can consult their history at any time. To do so, simply hover over the icon
displayed in the header of the counter:
Manager Interface > Resources module > resource record > Balances tab:
N.B.1: If you do not see the icon appear, it is because there is not yet a history of automatic changes made to this counter.
N.B.2: Automatic changes made before February 5, 2017 will not appear. You will start to see them from March 1, 2017
History tracking of manual changes
Beyond automatic changes, you can manually modify the values of quotas In progress of being accrued & Accrued. Thus, it sometimes becomes difficult to track and understand the displayed values (especially if you are not the originator of the changes)
To help you collaborate and better explain the values, we have made two improvements:
The possibility toadd a visible comment* next to each balance
* only by managers with write access to the resource record
Manager Interface > Resources module > resource record > Balances tab:
To edit it, simply click the Edit button:
The automatic storage in actions of manual changes
To best track changes made by managers, the tool automatically creates a Notification type action for each quota change (accrued or in progress of being accrued).
To consult them, simply:
1 - Go to the relevant Resource record > Actions tab
2 - In the filter, choose to display only actions of type Notifications then click outside the filter to apply your changes
3 - Observe actions starting with Modification of absence balances
Manager Interface > Resources module > resource record > Actions tab:
N.B.: Manual changes made before February 5, 2017 were not tracked. You will only see those made from that day onward
1. A big step forward in managing your employees' absences!! |
1.2 Display balances directly from absence requests |
To save you from going back and forth between absence requests and your balances, we now make visible from your absence requests the balances concerned by the requests made.
Manager Interface > Time, Expenses & Absences module > absence request record:
This display will help you:
Know how much leave you have left to date (to be able to create your absence requests)
Know if you can approve or not your employees' leave requests.
N.B.: The tool by default displays the balances of current periods. If you wish to make absence requests for future periods, simply save the absence request so it now displays the new balances.
2. Ability to upload attachments to a timesheet/expense/absence even when it is already validated! |
Make it easier to retrieve signed activity reports |
This improvement will please all those who have their timesheets signed by their clients. Until today, it was not possible to attach the signed PDF to the timesheet once it was already validated.
Now you can upload an attachment to your documents (timesheets/expense reports/absence requests) regardless of their validation status!
You can therefore adopt the following process:
Filling out timesheets/expense reports/absence requests by your employees
Validation of these documents by all validators in the workflow
Printing the documents then client signature
Attach the signed PDF to the timesheet/expense report/absence request
Thus, you can always get your hands on these documents without having to manage this outside of BoondManager!
3. Giving more meaning to the Active Positionings column! |
Choose the stages of opportunities/positionings you consider active |
In the Candidates, Resources and Opportunities modules, we display a column Active Pos. (Active Positionings) which allowed you to see the number of Positionings in a stage other than Won or Lost performed on these records.
However, some of you have added other stages (for opportunities and/or positionings) considered Inactive, so the values displayed by this column became obsolete.
Thus, to give meaning back to this column (very useful in your commercial activity), we now allow you to choose which stages of opportunities/positionings are Active/Inactive.
Administrator Interface > Global data configuration > Opportunities tab:
To do so, simply
1 - Go to the administrator interface > Global data configuration > Opportunities tab
2 - Choose the list of opportunity stages you consider Inactive (by moving them to the right column)
3 - Choose the list of positioning stages you consider Inactive (by moving them to the right column).
4 - Save to apply your changes
5 - IMPERATIVE: For these changes to be applied to all your existing data, you must ask us to update your database. To do so, please send an email to the following address ([email protected]) explaining that you have just changed the active/inactive stages.
4. WEmailing: No need for a relay SMTP server anymore |
Each manager can use their own SMTP configurations |
Since version 6.9, you can use WEmailing for free as long as you have an SMTP server operating in "relay" mode. To further simplify configuration and avoid having to subscribe to an additional offer, we now allow SMTP configuration by each manager.
Now, there is no need for a specific SMTP server, each manager can enter their SMTP configurations (login, password, ...) to use the application and send emails via BoondManager.
To configure your WEmailing application, you need to:
Administrator side
Go to the administrator interface > My Apps > WEmailing > Configure
Check the checkbox "Do you want to send PUSH or Messages? "
Select SMTP as the transactional email sending system
Enter default configurations to use (they will be used if your managers do not configure their SMTP information) <-- ATTENTION: If your SMTP server does not support relay mode, your managers will not be able to send emails from these configurations. It is therefore necessary to insist that they do their own configurations (explained just after).
Administrator interface > My Apps > WEmailing > Configure :
Manager side
Manager interface > My Apps > WEmailing > Configure :
Go to My Apps > WEmailing > Configure
Enter your own SMTP configuration information (Server hostname, Login, Password, Port, Security).
Save to apply your changes
P.S.: For example, if you have a GMail mailbox, you can refer to the following tutorial: https://support.google.com/a/answer/176600?hl=fr. The proposed hostname is then "smtp.gmail.com", port "465" and security "SSL"
5. Billing: Display your resources' names more simply in your invoice items |
Automatically insert your resources' names in your invoice items |
If you want to display the first name/last name of resources in your invoice items, it is now possible to do so automatically!
Administrator Interface > Global data configuration > Billing tab:
To do so, simply:
1 - Go to the administrator interface > Global data configuration > Billing tab
2 - Edit the Default labels of your monthly invoice items to use the new variables [RESOURCE_FIRSTNAME] and/or [RESOURCE_LASTNAME]
3 - Save to apply your changes
From now on, when you generate invoices (of monthly type*), they will include the first name/last name of the resources behind each billed line.
* Will not work with invoices from a Schedule-type order
Manager Interface > Billing module > invoice record:
6. New indicators for your reporting |
6.1 Billed Turnover based on billing period |
Until now, you could only display Billed Turnover/Margin/Profitability indicators based on document dates. To refine your period-by-period management, we now provide the following new indicators:
Activity Reports module > Reportings tab > Billing type:
Turnover period Proforma: Turnover of invoices at Proforma stage corresponding to the period studied
Turnover period Creation: Turnover of invoices at Creation stage corresponding to the period studied
Turnover period [...] : Turnover of invoices at [...] stage corresponding to the period studied
Turnover period Paid: Turnover of invoices at Paid stage corresponding to the period studied
Total turnover period billed: Turnover of invoices corresponding to the period studied
Activity Reports module > Reportings tab > Global Activity type:
Billed turnover period = Turnover of invoices corresponding to the period studied
Billed contributive margin period = Billed turnover period - Real cost
Billed contributive profitability period = (Billed contributive margin period) / (Billed turnover period) OR* (Billed contributive margin period) / (Real cost)
Billed operating margin period = Billed turnover period - Real cost - Operating cost
Billed operating profitability period = (Billed contributive margin period) / (Billed turnover period) OR* (Billed contributive margin period) / (Real cost + Operating cost)
* Depending on the configuration made in profitability calculation (see 9. Possibility to define a new rule in profitability calculation)
Activity Reports module > Projects tab:
Real margin billed period = Billed turnover period - Real cost
Real profitability billed period = (Billed contributive margin period) / (Billed turnover period) OR* (Billed contributive margin period) / (Real cost)
* Depending on the configuration made in profitability calculation (see 9. Possibility to define a new rule in profitability calculation)
N.B.: By default, these indicators are not displayed so remember to configure your reporting to make them appear.
6. New indicators for your reporting |
6.2 Daily Rate Production taken & Daily Rate Signed |
To help you better manage your resources, we have also added the following indicators:
Daily Rate* Signed
Daily Rate* Production taken
* Daily Rate = Average Daily Rate
Activity Reports module > Resources tab:
N.B.: By default, these indicators are not displayed so remember to configure your reporting to make them appear.
6. New indicators for your reporting |
6.3 Real Margin/Profitability Ordered |
To help you especially in monitoring your fixed-price projects. We now provide new indicators in the Project reporting (Activity Reports module > Projects tab):
Real margin ordered = Ordered turnover - Real cost
Real profitability billed period = (Real margin ordered) / (Ordered Turnover) OR* (Real margin ordered) / (Real cost)
* Depending on the configuration made in profitability calculation (see 9. Possibility to define a new rule in profitability calculation)
N.B.: By default, these indicators are not displayed so remember to configure your reporting to make them appear.
7. Retrieve attachment names when exporting Purchases, Time & Expenses |
Now, when you use the export function, the available attachments in the download center retain the name assigned to them (and not just the name of the document they were attached to).
No action is required on your part to benefit from this new feature, just perform your exports as usual:
Export Time/Expenses:
Go to the Time, Expenses & Absences module
Filter to display the timesheets / expense reports of your choice
Click on
*
Choose to export Documents & Attachments (for example)
The tool then provides this information in your download center.
* You must have export rights for the Time, Expenses & Absences module to see this icon appear
Export Payments:
Go to the Purchases module
Filter to display the Payments of your choice
Click on
*
Confirm the export
The tool then provides this information in your download center.
* You must have export rights for the Purchases module to see this icon appear
8. Search more easily for available resources |
Resources module:
You may already know/use the filter Only resources available immediately (+ 15 days), note that it is now much more relevant as it highlights all resources available and those that will be available in the next 15 days.
So if you were not used to using it, we hope this new feature will catch your attention and save you time in placing your resources.
9. Possibility to define a new rule for profitability calculation |
There are two different schools in profitability calculation, called Mark rate and Margin rate :
Mark rate = 100 x (Turnover - Cost ) / Turnover
Margin rate = 100 x (Turnover - Cost ) / Cost
Until now, we imposed profitability calculation in our tool based on mark rate. To give you more freedom and meaning to our figures, we now allow you to choose the calculation rule that suits you best.
To do so, simply:
Go to the administrator interface > Global data configuration > Opportunities/Projects tab > Projects section
In the Profitability calculation mode field, choose the mode that suits you
Save to apply your changes
administrator interface > Global data configuration > Opportunities/Projects tab > Projects section
This change will impact profitability calculation in your:
Opportunity records
Positioning records
Delivery records
Project records
Reportings (Activity Reports module > Reportings tab)
10. Various improvements |
10.1 More clarity in your expense extraction |
Until now, your expense extraction gave you in the same column the type of expense and the VAT rate. This could make the display unreadable when you had several VAT rates for the same type of expense.
To help you rework the data, we have now separated these two pieces of information into two distinct columns.
10. Various improvements |
10.2 History tracking of changes made to your schedules and invoice amounts |
To best track changes made by managers to your order schedules, the tool automatically creates a Notification type action for each change (modification, addition, deletion)
Manager Interface > Billing module > Order record > Actions tab:
To consult them, simply:
1 - Go to the relevant Order record > Actions tab
2 - In the filter, choose to display only actions of type Notifications then click outside the filter to apply your changes
3 - Observe actions starting with Modification of the Information tab
Similarly, we now track changes made to the total amount of your invoices. To display them, the principle is exactly the same:
Manager Interface > Billing module > Invoice record > Actions tab: