ArchiOffice Online Tutorial

This tutorial covers the basic procedures involved in project setup, time tracking, billing, payment, project management and reporting.

Contacts

The Contacts screen is used to create and maintain profiles of contacts such as employees, clients, contractors, consultants, and anyone related to a project.

To enter contact information:

1. Click the Contacts tab on the navigation bar.
2. It displays a list view of your contacts. Select New from the Action drop-down list on the button panel to add a new contact.
3. Enter the required information about the contact on the Work tab such as Name, Company, Address, Phone, etc. The default settings specified in Preferences are automatically applied when a new contact is created.
   • You can add more address tabs to this screen by clicking . Additional tabs provide the ability to enter multiple addresses and phone numbers (that is, home, billing, job site, assistant, etc.). This helps keep the contact details organized and easily accessible.
4. Click Save.

All projects are built based on the client’s contact information. Before proceeding to create a project, you must have entered the client’s contact details (for example, address and phone) first.

Projects

The Projects screen allows you to create and maintain a profile of your projects or jobs. Default settings specified in Preferences are automatically applied when a new project is created.

1. Click the Contacts tab on the navigation bar.
2. Select a listed contact to edit.
3. Click the Projects tab located below the contact details.
4. Select New from the Action drop-down list on the Project tab's button panel.
5. Enter the required information such as the type of project- Billable (contract work that will be billable), RFP (pre-contract) or Internal (internal office work that is non-billable or project related), client, project name and number.
6. After entering this information, you automatically move from the Contacts screen to the Projects screen.
7. On the Details tab, you can enter the project’s basic details such as employees (team) working on the project, and phases and job codes included in the scope of this project as stipulated in your contract. In addition, phases and job codes can have sub classifications to accommodate consultant fees or any other sub categories related to budgeted phases and job codes. Click Save on the Project-Details tab button panel.
8. Click the Projects-Billing tab. Select Options from the drop-down list on the tab's button panel and set the project’s Invoice Method. This is important prior to entering the project’s budget.
9. Select Budget from the Projects-Billing tab's drop-down list. You will see that the phases (sub phases), job codes (sub-job codes) have already been set. Enter the fees and hours budgeted for each phase. This will coincide with information stipulated in your contract.
   • Budgets must be set for all projects (hourly, stipulated sum, percent of construction or unit cost). Without a budget, you will not be able to effectively report on or evaluate the efficiency of your projects. Hourly projects do not require a budget, but it is important for you to estimate your fees and the time that you will spend on each phase of the project so you can manage each project accurately to ensure profitability.

After project setup, you and your team members can begin tracking  time on it.

Time and Expense

The Time/Expense screen is where all time and expenses are entered in ArchiOffice Online. It displays all the existing time and expense entries in the system.

1. Click the Time/Expense tab on the navigation bar.
2. On the Time tab, select an employee from the drop-down list (your login name is pre-selected by default).
3. Below the grid, enter the required information such as date, project, job code, task/description, hours, etc.
4. Specify whether the time entry is chargeable or not by selecting/clearing the Charge check box.
5. Click  to add the time entry.
6. Click the Expense tab and select an employee from the drop-down list.
7. Enter the required information such as date, project, expense type, description, etc.
8. Specify whether the expense entry is non-reimbursable (NR) or employee reimbursable (ER) by checking the relevant check box.
9. Enter the quantity and rate of the expense.
10. Click  to add the expense entry.
    • If you prefer, both time and expenses can be entered on the Detail tab. Here, you have the option of using a timer to track your time, place a time and expense on hold, enter notes and so on. 

Billing

ArchiOffice Online provides several options for generating invoices and applying payments. For each project, you can generate invoices using the Projects-Billing screen. Here you can set the defaults and billing options for a project. You can also perform the billing functions using the Billing screen.

To generate invoices:

1. Click Projects on the navigation bar.
2. Select a listed project to edit.
3. On the Projects screen, click the Billing tab and select Options from the drop-down list on the tab's button panel.
4. Here you will see the invoice method previously selected when the project was created. If necessary, select a different invoice method. In this explanation we will use Stipulated Sum as the Invoice method. In the stipulated sum grid, enter the amount to be billed.
5. Select each tab below the stipulated sum grid and set the appropriate options for the invoice, including the invoice format and output settings.
6. Selecting New from the Action drop-down list to generate the invoice.
   
   • After an invoice is generated, it becomes a draft invoice, which can then be finalized and sent to the client. 

The Billing screen is used to view and generate invoices for projects. You can also view outstanding, draft and historical invoices here and apply payments to outstanding invoices.

To produce an invoice in batch mode, do the following:

1. Click the Billing tab on the navigation bar.
2. On the Billing-Projects tab, use the filters to only view projects with unbilled time and expenses.
3. Select the check box for the projects you want to bill.
4. Select Generate Invoice from the Action drop-down list to create an invoice and enter the invoice date. This creates draft invoices.
5. Review or print the drafts.
6. Click the Drafts tab.
7. Selecting the check box of listed draft invoices and select Finalize from the Action drop-down list. Finalized invoices can be printed from the Project screen as well.

Payments

Payments can be applied for individual projects using the Projects screen.

To apply payments:

1. Click Projects on the navigation bar and select a listed project record.
2. Click the Billing tab and select Transactions from the drop-down list on the tab's button panel.
3. Select New from the Billing tab's Action drop-down list to record a new payment.
4. Enter the payment date and corresponding notes (that is, check number, payment details, etc.).
5. Select the payment option.
6. Enter the payment amount received and confirm the amount to apply.
7. Click Apply  on the grid for the corresponding invoice.
8. Click Done when finished.

If you prefer to enter the payment in a batch mode, you can do so from the Billing screen.

1. Click Billing on the navigation bars and then click the Outstanding tab.
2. Find the desired invoice for the payment. Use the filters as needed.
3. Click Enter Payment to apply the payment for an invoice.
4. It will automatically open the Transactions Detail screen where you can enter the payment (as explained above).

Reports

The Reports screen allows you to save and run standard and custom reports in a detailed or summarized layout. You can also view your reports in different formats such as PDF, RTF or Excel. We recommend that you check each category and run the reports included and see how each would best represent your data. After you have the report filters and criteria set properly, you can save the report for future use.

1. Click the Reports tab on the navigation bar.
2. Choose a report from the Standard Reports list on the left.
3. Specify the display details for the selected report such as Type, Sort By, Output Format, etc.
4. After configuring the report settings, click Run Report to view it.
5. If you want, click Memorize to save your report as a custom report.