July 21 – 23, 2010 we’ll be exhibiting at the SIA conference in Philadelphia at the Lowes Hotel (the swanky place at 1200 Market St). Please come by our booth to say “hi” or check out a demo of Quantify, our rental billing and inventory management software.

If you aren’t attending the show but are in the area, let us know so we can schedule a time to meet you.

sales@avontus.com

800-848-1860 x 2

 


Actions: E-mail

New Features

We’ve added a new feature that allows you to add custom properties (fields) on a job site. These include user/employee lists such as salesperson, a customer contact, your own custom lists, text field entries, dates, and more. You can customize the label for the list name as well as set it to be required during job site setup.

    Jobsite properties in options.














    Options (click for larger image)

    image 
    Properties On Job (click for larger image)

To report on these new options you’ll find a new job site pivot report that includes job site details and the new custom job site properties. This is found on the Materials tab Reports menu.
image

The first User custom property field (‘Salesman’ in the image at the top left) on the job site is linked to the invoice and is displayed on the “Invoice Additional Charges” pivot report, which allows you to see the invoice amounts by employee. This is commonly used to calculate a salesperson’s commission.
image

Enhancements

We’ve added start/stop dates to the job site. The labels for the dates, as well as if the dates are required, can be customized in Global Options on the Tools menu.
image

We also added the option to turn email notifications for shipments on and off. This is useful if you only want to receive warranty expiration emails.
image

Additional enhancements:

  • Added initials to the user dialog box and the user report.
  • QuickBooks Sync now adds the name in the first User custom property field on the job site (for example, the salesperson’s name) to the invoice as long as the first name and the last name of the person in Quantify match the Sales Rep in QuickBooks. (Match is by firstname and lastname fields.)
  • Added a notes textbox in Options for a note that can appear at the end of invoices.
    image
  • Implemented the ability to allow a customer to log in without requiring their assignment to specific job sites when location-based security is off.
  • New option on accounting tab to copy shipment details onto summary invoice line items as well as to split rent into multiple lines by shipment. Lines also display the billing range. This affects the “advance with credits” billing method only.
  • Enabled filtering in products within custom columns when the display of these columns is turned on.

Bug Fixes

  • When the report option to show the create date is checked off, the create date no longer appears below the logo on the invoice.
  • Fixed display of invoice with zero rent items when invoice has only items with zero rent.
  • An exception was thrown for a job site that is billable and has shipments that have rate profiles that were removed; Quantify now skips these jobs when generating invoices.

Posted in: Quantify , Updates  Tags:
Actions: E-mail
This post will show you how to edit the rental rates on a shipment.


While the rate profile is set on each job site’s Billing tab, you can change the rates charged on an existing shipment by selecting a different rate profile (change) or editing the existing rate profile (update).
  image

 

 image

If you want to keep the same rate profile but make updates to it, first edit the rate profile. (From the Billing menu, select Rate Profiles. Select the rate profile you want to edit, make your edits and click “OK”.) Next, update the shipment(s). On the Shipping tab, select the shipment(s) you want to update. From the Change dropdown menu, select “Change/Update Rate Profile on Selected Shipments”. Select the Rate Profile you are using and click on the “Change” button. (If you don’t want to accept your change, click on “Close”.) Invoices generated after updating the shipment(s) will use the edited rates. Existing shipments will not be affected unless they are updated this way. New shipments using this rate profile will, however, use the edited rates; when a shipment is created, the rent rates that exist in a rate profile at the time of the shipment will remain in effect until you intentionally change/update the shipment’s rate profile.

If you want to use a different rate profile for your shipment(s) than the rate profile assigned to the job site, select the shipment(s) you want to update and, from the Change dropdown, select “Change/Update Rate Profile on Selected Shipments”. Select the Rate Profile you want to change to and click the “Change” button. If the job site uses the rate profile A, for example, and you change a shipment to use the rate profile B, note that this change does not affect the job site, which will retain the Rate Profile A; new shipments to this job site will continue to use the rate profile A.

History - You can view the changes made to a shipment by clicking on the History tab for the selected shipment. Below you’ll see that the rate profile for this shipment was changed from the “New customers” to the “Dawson Rate”.

image


Actions: E-mail
susie.sargent posted on May 3, 2010 18:10

If you normally have a minimum number of days that you rent out your equipment, you may encounter a situation in which you don’t want to charge your customer the minimum. For example, you might transfer equipment from one job site to another for the same customer. This post will show you how to override the minimum.

image  





The minimum days is set for all products under “Billing method” on the Billing tab for each job site. 

If an individual item has a different number of minimum days, this exception is entered on the Rate Profile.

image

In order to override any minimum days, first select Global Options from the Tools menu. On the Shipments tab, check the option "Allow editing of minimum days".

image

In the Organization tree, right click on the job site and select Edit. On the Billing tab, check the option "Allow Override of minimum days from rate profile when specified".

image

When you create a shipment or transfer to a job site with this option enabled, you will see a “Min. Override” column on the Material’s tab. If the cell is left empty, the minimum days will be unchanged; Quantify will use the minimum days rent established by the job site’s billing method and rate profile. Entering a value such as 0 or 10 will change the minimum days rent for that item to zero or 10 days, respectively.

image


Posted in: Quantify  Tags: ,
Actions: E-mail

We frequently post feature updates and “how-to” documents on our blog. You can have new posts delivered automatically to your Outlook 2007 mailbox by subscribing to the blog.

To subscribe, locate the ‘RSS Feeds’ folder in your Outlook mail folders. Right click on this folder and select the ‘Add a New RSS Feed…’ menu item.

image

This displays a dialog box in which you enter the location for our feed,
http://www.avontus.com/blog/syndication.axd

image
An additional dialog box is displayed on which you can click the Yes button, unless you wish to configure more advanced options, such as how often to check for new posts and the name of the folder.

image


Once subscribed you’ll see an ‘Avontus Blog’ folder that you can click on to see all of the latest news. When the
folder is bold it indicates that there are new posts that haven’t been read. We’ll keep you up-to-date and in the know.


Posted in: Company Information , Updates  Tags: ,
Actions: E-mail
susie.sargent posted on February 15, 2010 13:44

Quantify uses Google to bring you unique mapping features.

Quantify can map the real time location of your branch offices (laydown yards) and jobsites.

image

Click on the Google Earth button on the Organization tree and your locations will be mapped out using the addresses you have entered.

 image    image 

Zoom in for a closer look.

image

You can also bring up a street map and driving directions for a particular location. Wherever you see an address box you’ll also see two buttons. The left button will map the address and the right button will give you driving directions.

image   image

In order to map all of your locations with the Google Earth button, Google Earth must be installed on your computer. You can download it free here: http://earth.google.com/


Posted in: Quantify  Tags: , ,
Actions: E-mail
susie.sargent posted on February 2, 2010 16:23

For the typical scaffold company with hundreds or thousands of billable jobs, integration with accounting software is often a chore. The sheer volume of data creates a tedious, error-prone, and often expensive task in even the most efficient accounting department.

Quantify and QuickBooks communicate with each other seamlessly, eliminating the burden of manual data entry. Invoices that are created by Quantify are automatically added to QuickBooks in a single step. What’s more, the jobs and customers associated with the invoices are linked to these items in QuickBooks, giving you instant and accurate job costing, receivables, commission tracking, posting of taxes due, and other vital financial data.

Quantify does this by 'synchronizing' data with QuickBooks. Synchronization is a two-way process in which information is linked between QuickBooks and Quantify. Invoices in Quantify are updated with payment status and other data as they change in QuickBooks. This synchronization occurs automatically with new invoices and continues until the invoices are paid and jobs are closed.

image

Setup

To set up the communication link between Quantify and QuickBooks, first start both programs. From within Quantify, open Global Options from the Tools menu. On the Accounting tab under Accounting Integration, select QuickBooks and your QuickBooks company file. Then test the connection by clicking the Test Settings button. QuickBooks will display a certificate dialog box and ask you if you’d like to allow Quantify to connect. Select the item 'Yes, whenever this QuickBooks company file is open' and then press the Continue button.

image

Rental and Additional Charges

When an invoice is created in QuickBooks a single invoice line item is added for the total of the rental on the Quantify invoice, as well as for each additional charge. These line items are matched by name and can be renamed after the linkage occurs. Rental is mapped through the “Rent item name” in Global Options (on the Accounting tab, under Rent invoice options), while additional charges are mapped by Accounting ID. When you attempt to synchronize an invoice you will be notified if an additional charge cannot be found. The invoice won’t synchronize and you’ll be able to correct the issue by adding the item in QuickBooks and resynchronizing in Quantify.

image

Quantify Invoice Line Items

image

Corresponding QuickBooks Invoice Line Items

image

Synchronizing Invoices and Credit Memos

Sychronization is easy and accomplished in a single button click. Once you have created invoices in Quantify click the ‘Synchronize Invoices’ menu item from the QuickBooks toolbar button on the Invoices tab. After synchronization is complete you will see a summary dialog box that shows you the details of what was added and updated.

image image

Quantify invoices are now linked to the newly created invoices in QuickBooks and their details are updated upon all subsequent synchronizations. Columns in the grid that are related to QuickBooks will appear once synchronization has started. The invoice due date, total in QuickBooks, and status (paid, not paid, etc), are displayed in blue text. The invoice status, payment date, and other details are updated with QuickBooks values until they’re fully paid in QuickBooks (note that a partially paid invoice will display a ‘Not Paid’ status in Quantify).

image

You can filter the list of displayed invoices by status by clicking on an item in the Filter menu.

The Quantify invoice number will be updated to the number that is auto-assigned by QuickBooks when the invoice or credit memo is added to QuickBooks. In Quantify this number is required to be unique and a case can arise in which QuickBooks assigns a number that is in use by another Quantify invoice. If this occurs then the invoice is saved in QuickBooks but the Quantify invoice will be assigned a new number. You can change the invoice number in Quantify and QuickBooks but the invoice number must be unique. This behavior also occurs for credit memos.

image

image

Rental credits are created in Quantify when they are due for early returns and other situations. These rental credits are created with a single rental item and should not contain any additional charges. If a credit memo contains additional charges you will receive a warning to remove them. To issue a credit for previously invoiced additional charges, create a credit memo within QuickBooks.

image

The status for a credit memo will display the text 'Not Paid' when it has any unapplied amounts in QuickBooks. When the amount of the credit in QuickBooks has been fully applied to customer payments the credit will display a status of 'Paid'.

image

To remove the link between QuickBooks and Quantify for an invoice, highlight the invoice in Quantify and select the ‘Reset Synchronization’ menu item. If there is an invoice (such as a zero invoice) in Quantify that you don’t wish to import into QuickBooks, highlight the invoice and select the ‘Do Not Sync’ item prior to synchronizing. Invoices with a status of ‘Do Not Sync’ are ignored.

After an invoice is synchronized with QuickBooks it cannot be changed in Quantify. If needed, changes must be made in QuickBooks. You can, however, reset the synchronization in Quantify, void or delete the invoice in QuickBooks, then edit the invoice in Quantify and synchronize again. Doing these steps will re-add the invoice in QuickBooks. Keep in mind that the invoice number in QuickBooks may change.

Customers

Customers are required on invoices in both QuickBooks and Quantify. Once synchronization occurs Quantify will match customers by name and ‘link’ them. Unlike most other data, a customer is required to be set up in QuickBooks first and invoicing won’t proceed without a matching customer. This is so that you can maintain the QuickBooks relationship with other software, such as CRM and Point Of Sale. If you attempt to synchronize and a customer name isn’t matched you will receive a warning similar to the one below.

image

If a matching customer is found, Quantify will 'link' the customer with an underlying ID that is stored and reused in later synchronizations. This link is established so that you can rename the customer in Quantify or QuickBooks and maintain the relationship. Although the link will still work, it is recommended to keep these names similar at all times.

image

If for some reason a customer cannot be found in a later synchronization (such as if it was deleted in QuickBooks), Quantify will detect this condition and remove the link so that it can be reestablished. You will see a warning similar to the one below when this happens.

image

Job Sites

Unlike customers, Jobs are automatically added to QuickBooks if a matching job (by name) isn’t found. By default, in QuickBooks, the sales rep from the customer is added to the job so that you can track commissions.

image

If Quantify attempts to fetch a job in QuickBooks and it’s not found for some reason (due to deletion, for example) then Quantify will remove the link so that it can be reestablished. You will be notified of this condition when it happens as shown below.

image

The billing address on the Quantify job site is added to the QuickBooks job.

Quantify Job Site

image


Corresponding QuickBooks Job Site

image

Taxes

If using Quantify and QuickBooks for taxes, only the first tax code is used in Quantify. Once a tax code is matched between Quantify and QuickBooks it is linked. The taxes on an invoice are posted to tax agencies in QuickBooks from a Quantify invoice. For items that have multiple tax agencies (such as state and county) set up a tax ‘group’ in QuickBooks and associate multiple tax rates per that group. Use a single tax code in Quantify with the combined rates (add them together) and name it the same as the QuickBooks tax group. Quantify expects your QuickBooks installation to have two tax codes: taxable and non-taxable. Upon synchronization Quantify will use the first taxable and non-taxable codes that it finds. Please contact Avontus if you’re using more than one taxable or non-taxable code and would like to use the non-default one.

Posted in: Quantify , Rental Billing  Tags:
Actions: E-mail
susie.sargent posted on January 22, 2010 16:41

Serialized inventory is set up in the same location as your other inventory, in the Product Catalog.

  image

When you buy or rent serialized parts from a vendor you’ll first add the serial numbers to your product catalog. To do this, locate the part and click the Serialized button, which has three dots “…”

image   Note: When a part is serialized, the three dots will have a number before it. This number reflects the total serialized parts (stocked and non-stocked) in your product catalog. In this example, there are 3 serialized parts:
                             image

Once you’ve clicked on the Serialized button, you will see a window in which you can add, edit, or delete serialized parts. (You can only delete a serialized part if it’s not in use). There are also various reports that you can print.


image

To add a serialized part, click the Add button. If you’re re-renting the serialized part from a vendor, be sure to set the “Owner‟ in the dropdown list.

image

 

The new part you add will have a “Stocked as” status of “Not stocked‟. Use a transaction to add this part to inventory (stock it).


Close the Product Catalog. From the Transactions tab, click on the Add button to create a new transaction.

image

On the Materials tab of the transaction look at the Serialized column; you’ll see serialized parts indicated by the button with three dots.

image

 

Click on the Serialized button to view the parts and add them to the transaction by checking the box next to the serial number(s) that you want to use.   image

Once you have stocked a serialized part via a transaction, it will appear on the Materials tab with a hyperlink.

image

Click on the link to see details about the serialized parts.

image


Actions: E-mail
susie.sargent posted on January 12, 2010 12:17

You can see the inventory you have in your laydown yard or at a job site at any time by selecting the location you want to view and the Materials tab.

image

If you want an inventory report for one or more locations, you can create a Quantity Pivot.

First select the location you want to view in the organization tree. If you want to see just one job site, select it in the organization tree. If you want to view multiple job sites, select your Company.

image

 

 

              On the Materials tab, under Reports, select Quantity Pivot.

image

 

If you selected your company in the organization tree, all locations will be included in the report by default. To filter the locations included in the report, move your mouse over the Location button and click on the funnel icon in the right corner. Check/uncheck job sites you wish to include. 

image

Customize the report to your needs. To view quantities on rent, drag the On Rent control to the Grand Total column. If you also wish to see equipment for rent (at the branch office/laydown yard), drag the For Rent control here, too.

image

You can also remove a field you don’t want to include (such as Location Type) by selecting it and dragging it to the top of the window next to the other, unused controls.

image

Next click the Print Preview button in the upper left of the window to view and format, save or email your report.

image


Posted in: Quantify  Tags: ,
Actions: E-mail

This post explains the different features of estimates, reservations and shipments and how they interrelate.

Estimates

Estimates are used to provide a quote to your customer for material rental as well as unit prices (consumables and services). They are associated with a specific customer but not with a job site and do not affect your inventory balances. An estimated return date is required in order to calculate the anticipated costs to your customer.

An estimate can be converted into a reservation or directly into a shipment.

 Estimate summary tab

As you can see above, you can attach documents or photos just as you can with reservations and shipments.

You can also track the status of an estimate:

Estimate status dropdown

 

Here’s what a sample estimate looks like:

Estimate sample

Reservations

An estimate can be converted into a reservation or you can create a new reservation from scratch. A reservation requires that you specify a job site and reserves materials so they are not available to be shipped to another job site. A rent stop date is not required.

Shipments

Estimates and reservations can both be converted into shipments. Reservations appear on the Shipping tab and are turned into shipments by clicking on the Send Selected Shipment button.

image

Alternatively, you can create a new shipment by clicking on the pallet of boxes to ship items to a location.

image

There are three types of shipments:

  • Deliveries – moves equipment from your branch office or laydown yard to a job site
  • Returns - moves equipment from a job site back to your branch office or laydown yard 
  • Transfers - moves equipment from job site to job site, or branch to branch

Once a shipment has been entered your inventory is automatically updated so you always know your available balances at each location.


Actions: E-mail