STOP! Please read this message.

As you probably are already aware, your cvlTracker site has been updated to version 4.0.3. It is important that you read this entire message as it contains important details about this update.

• Weekly/Emergency messages: Your cvlTracker site has been outfitted with our weekly tips module which appears once per week on Monday, with tips to help you understand the cvlTracker system. The tips will only show once so please read them as they will give you useful insight into the cvlTracker system. This system will also be used for emergency notifications about your cvlTracker system.
• Gears: We are allowing users to try our BETA Gears program. Gears was developed for several reasons but most importantly for performance increase. Gears will boost your cvlTracker performance anywhere from 65-75%. Gears is BETA and is not yet available for use with cvlDesk. Future plans for Gears include new offline modes and MicroSoft Silverlight integration.
  • How do I get Gears to work with my system?
    • Please go to the cvlTracker login page and select the "Performance Controls" drop down.(located in the upper left of the login screen)
      
    • Choose "Install Gears Program"; once the Gears program is installed please "Load Gears Files" on your computer. That is it. You have successfully installed Gears.
    • When new cvlTracker updates are available you will need to remove and re-load Gears Files. You will be able to do this directly from the login screen. When an update is available you will receive an email with instructions on how to do this.
• Multi-Phase projects: We have completely redesigned this page. Please link to our Multi-Phase setup video for more information on this page. This is one of the largest redesigns completed in this update. Video: http://www.cvlsoft.net/helpvideos/multi_phase_projects/multi_phase_projects.html
• Timecards: For ease of distinction the managerial timecard page has been renamed to: "Selectable Timecard". The "My Timecard" page has not been renamed.
  • Selectable Timecards: From this page managers can approve and disapprove time directly from the timecard. You will see all pending hours appearing in red on each employees' timecard. Check the checkbox next to each pending hour item to be presented with the approve or disapprove options.
  • To populate the timecard drop downs please hit the ENTER key after typing the job number or project name.
  • At the top of the My Timecard and Selectable Timecard pages the user may choose to display just the work week or to display the entire week: cvlTracker will remember this choice the next time the page is opened.
  • Critical Timecard Changes:You may allow users to select pay categories for timecards. You must turn this setting ON if you want the column to appear on the timecards. To turn this setting on/off please click on the settings button at the bottom of the "Selectable Timecard" page (Manager's Password is required). Pay categories can be used with the QBsync in order to associate the correct pay with hours. If you are going to use the QBsync with pay categories you must make sure that your pay category items in cvlTracker match the pay category items in QuickBooks. To setup pay categories in cvlTracker go to: Tools>Setup>Employee Pay Rates. Then select the "Create Pay Category" button. You will most likely have some default categories setup. If these are currently in use then cvlTracker will not allow you to remove them. Once you have created your pay categories you must assign the categories and their corresponding rates to each employee. This is all accomplished from the same page. Simply select the employee and assign the category(s) and rates to the selected employee.
    To use the pay category option with the QBsync you must download and install the latest version of QBsync:
    

    http://texas.cvltracker.com/download/QBSyncV4.0.3Latest.zip (if you have a customized sync DON'T download this sync)

    IMPORTANT---WHEN INSTALLING THE SYNC IT IS GOING TO ASK IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DELETE YOUR QBSYNC MAPPING ACCESS FILE! MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT DELETE IT!!!! THIS WILL COMPROMISE YOUR SYNC!!! IF YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT DOING THIS INCORRECTLY THEN PLEASE CONTACT YOUR CVLTRACKER REPRESENATIVE.
  • Export timecards: you can now export timecards as well as print a nice format of the timecard by using the "Print/Export" button at the bottom of the timecard page.
• Job's Timesheet: The job's timesheet has been formatted to export to Excel as well as having a new printer friendly page.
  • You can now change the job number of time entered from the job's timesheet. This allows for quick swapping of time from one job to the next, if needed. NOTE: switching time from one job to the next is ONLY compatible with simple projects. It is also only compatible with simple projects that have the same project type. If a task list is associated with a simple project swapping time will not be permitted. These stipulations are for invoicing and data integrity. If you cannot swap time then you must delete the time and re-enter it under the correct job number.
• Header Changes: You may have noticed that there have been some new changes made to the header and menu of cvlTracker.
  • New Icons: the most obvious is that the icons have been added.
  • Project name; Client name; Job-Invoice#:
    • Use the project name field to search a project by its name.
    • We have added a client name field to pull up client details by simply typing a client's name. We have added some important reports to the client details page in order for quick reference. (I.E. All the client's jobs or Accounting transactions for the client)
    • Job-invoice: this field is the same as it has always been with one change. Using this field you can now type simple estimate numbers and multi-phase proposal numbers to view their active text information. If you would like to view an invoice you can also use the Job-Invoice # field. Simply type the invoice number preceded with an "i". For example: i{invoice#} or i2784 ---2784=example invoice #.
  • Menu: We have added a way for you to open a popup window without leaving the page you are currently viewing. Just click on the little gray arrow found in the upper right of the menu item:
    
    
• Field Crew Login Page: We have created a new login page to make it easier for field crews to login to cvlTracker. The page has some basic new functions like allowing the user to punch in and then update projects to "In Field" without actually logging into cvlTracker. The other added bonus is that the user can choose to login to drill into different pages bypassing the control panel. To access this page http://{your company URL}/Login/FieldCrewLogin.aspx ---Bookmark this page for your crew members. If you have Gears installed a prompt will appear asking you to bookmark it.
• Drafting Calendar: A new drafting calendar has been added to the system. You can locate this calendar under: Calendars & Notes> Drafting Calendar. The calendar is similar to the crew calendar.
• Crew Calendar: The crew calendar has a nice new look to it with some added features. We have setup a category hatch for each job. You can change these hatches and their colors to represent anything you would like. Some examples would be jobs that are high priority or certain equipment is needed on the jobsite. Although this page is still a large page it has also been optimized for load time.
  
• Invoices: As always we have added some new features to the generate invoices page.
  
  • One of the very nice updates is the view items button found directly at the top of step number 1. Type the job number and then click on view items. This will allow you to view all of the unbilled items for that project. Select which items you would like to show in step 1 & then create your invoice.
  • On the invoice add non-billable time so that your clients know how much time you are not billing.
  • Add plain text lines to an invoice.
  • Add subtotals.
  • Settings buttons have been added to step one to allow administrators to adjust invoice defaults from the generate invoices page.
• Mass/Bulk Updates: You are going to see a lot of this added to the system in various places. In this update you are going to see it on the control panel for the "Projects I am Managing Panel" & "Active Tasks" panel. Bulk updates are a quick way of updating statuses, due dates, assignments, etc. for multiple projects at once. This will help keep all projects and tasks up-to-date.
  • To use mass updates check the checkbox next to the item(s) you would like to update:
    
    As soon as you do this drop downs will appear at the top of the panel. Choose what you would like to change for the selected item(s). Click the "Go" button and you are done.
  • Custom Panels: the bulk update feature has been added to custom panels as well.
  • Bulk updates for employees. This will allow for quick updates for following fields:
    
  • Unbilled project items: use the bulk update for deleting bulk items and generating invoices for multiple projects at once.
  • If you have any ideas where bulk updates will be useful please email us your idea at support@cvlsoft.net
    
• Statuses: Please take the time to review the new setup options for statuses.
  • Simple Project statuses:
    
    Notice the status color drop down. Use this to choose a color that you would like to associate with the status. Currently this is being used on the Graphical Project Viewer---but future updates will also use this color.
  • IMPORTANT: we have added a new checkbox that will identify what an active project is. Previously we used any status set before Billed/Complete as an active project. We have decided to allow you to decide which statuses constitute an active project.
  • Phase statuses: we have now added an option for you to add phase statuses. We don't believe many companies will use this feature as the tasks of a phase are descriptive enough for the status of a phase. Although we do see adding some new statuses such as "Awaiting Client Reply" or "On Hold" ...etc.
• Client Setup: We have added some quick reports to the client details page as shown here:
  
  Clicking on these links will popup the quick client report.
  • Notice the Default Billing Rates and Fixed Rates buttons. These can be used to setup client defaults for hourly and fixed override rates for clients.

FAQ: (questions from clients that have BETA tested this update)

• Q: You have removed the multiple selection for project managers. How do I select multiple project managers now?
  • A: We have not removed the multiple selection option, rather changed the format of the drop down. Instead of using a drop down we have changed the project managers field to an input field. To select a project manager begin typing their name and you will see a list of suggestions automatically appear. We have also added this to all reports where selecting an employee was possible. Remember on all reports if you do not select an employee by which to filter the report, then all employees are selected by default (this only applies to reports not when selecting a project manager.)
    
• Q: On the selectable timecard I was previously able to choose any billing category for any employee. It seems that the billing categories are now being limited according to the employees setup. Is this correct?
  • A: Yes, you are exactly correct. The purpose for this was to fix a logical bug in the system. It is important that the billing categories are limited to the selected user. To help with quick setup of billing categories we have added the bulk update on the employee setup page. This should ensure an easy way to setup the correct billing categories for each employee. Please take a couple of minutes to set this up correctly.
    
    
• Q: I don't quite understand the purpose of the Burden Labor Rate.
  • A: The Burden Labor Rate main purpose is to determine the burden or cost your company incurs for each billing category. This can simply be the average pay rate for all employees assigned to that billing category. Some companies have taken it further to include non-billable time and materials. For example, some companies have calculated that for every one dollar spent on payroll, $0.82 are used for utilities and other expenses. So to determine the final burden labor rate the calculation would look similar to:
    
    

    Billing Category	Average pay rate cost for category	Per dollar calculation for utilities and expenses	Formula	Total
    Professional Surveyor	$58.00	$0.82	$58 * $0.82=$47.56 $58 + $47.56=$105.56	$105.56