Workbench Release Notes

Upcoming Functionality & News

GST-registered clients/suppliers

We are planning to change the way Companies (suppliers & clients) are flagged as GST registered in Workbench (Use GST) when syncing from the Financial Systems.

Our current logic is : New companies, the Use GST flag on the company will be set to true only if the template company has it set to true, and the GST Number is populated in the financial system. However, this is only set on create (i.e. the first time this company is synced or created from the financial system; updates to the financial company thereafter will not update this field in Workbench).

Proposed Improvement:

1- On creation (synced from the ERP) of new companies, the Use GST flag on the company will be set to true only if the template company has it set to true. 

2- On update of the company, the GST flag will not be updated. 

3- The template company flag will be displayed on the financial Integration screen in Workbench, so that the user who is setting up the integration for the first time, or every time the user performs a manual import to bring new companies, it can clearly see the rule for the Use GST flag (probably ticked meaning ALL imported companies will be flagged as Use GST). 

4- Add Use GST flag on Company lists and filters, so people have a quick way to verify and search.

5- Job Template’s option for Use GST will only be Client. The Template option will not be available for selection anymore.

Open

Job Template

Benefits:

• there won't be any issues with surprises in Job Invoices/ContractClaims/SubcontractClaims with NO GST.

• users will know the rules for the Use GST flag and it won't cause so much confusion. 

Disadvantage:

• if there are any companies that are not GST registered, the user must manually go and untick the flag on Company maintenance.

Workbench API Licence

The use of the Workbench API will now require a licence. An API User licence will enable you to access all the Workbench functionality available through our API.

Contract Progress Claim Process - upcoming changes you need to know 

We will be making changes to improve the Claiming process on Contract Claims, and users will soon be able to:

1. Capture This Claim Claimed Values.

2. Capture this Claim Certified Values.
   
   

Available from August 2024 as a beta feature.

New Features

Contract - Project Trust Accounts

• When a Payment or a deposit has been made from/into the incorrect Bank account, the record is highlighted in red in the Ledgers.
  
  

  Open

  

  Comments on Trust Account Ledger

  
  We have now added a way for users to indicate they have taken care of this (for example, that the funds were transferred to the correct account). And also the ability to add any additional comments on any of the records.
  A set of icons will be displayed and each has its own meaning/status for the comments. They are intuitive, and here is the explanation for them:
  Highlighting one of these scenarios:
  Principal deposit into incorrect PTA account.
  Beneficiary not paid from PTA.
  Beneficiary Retention releases not paid from RTA.
  A comment has been added and not marked as Done/completed yet, meaning some action is pending and someone might be doing something to take care of this.
  There are comments or a mismatch in Cash Account, and all has been taken care of. No further actions are needed.

  A grey i (information) icon means no comments have been entered for this record.

  The comments are added to the Eventlog, and record the person and date the comment was added, and a date and user name for the person that completes the comment, by ticking on the Done column and saving.
  
  
  

• Updates on MYOB Advanced Integration:
  As part of the development we are doing to bring Project Trust Accounts functionality to our clients in Queensland, we have now released a change done on the integration with MYOB Advanced, that brings across the cash account’s GL Code for AP Payments (Cash account from which Payments have been made). This will be used to validate that the correct Bank Accounts are being used, as required by the Queensland Building & Construction Commission (QBCC).
  We will be working on Xero and Business Central integrations next (MYOB AccountRight & MYOB Advanced are completed and released).
  
  

Changes tracking on Settings

As in many other screens where we have been adding visibility of changes done on a document & Control Parameters for better audibility and accountability, we have now introduced this event logs tracking on Settings.
New Last Updated column: date and user that made the last change, and a hyperlink to a list screen with the history of changes on that specific Setting.

• How awesome is this? No more guessing or asking around. Just check the History.

Feature Revisions

UX enhancement

• Multiline text fields and the use of tabbing:
  When using the tab key to navigate and move from field to field, we have made a change so when you tab on a multiline text field (which has a pencil to edit as well), the user can type directly on the field of use the pencil if preferred for a larger typing area. The example below in a Quote Costsheet’s lines:
  
  

Billing from EBA

A number of areas were tidied up related to billing based on EBA transactions:

• The Retail value of each source timesheet line is now recalculated as the sum of the Retail values on the generated EBA lines so that even though the timesheet line is not billed directly, the value of unbilled job transactions is correctly reflected on the job.

• The pricing of all EBA transactions and associated Job transactions is now performed as part of the EBA generation.

• The Reprice Job Transactions utility now recalculates the EBA transactions and associated Job transactions.

• The uninvoicing and partial invoicing of EBA transactions was corrected.

Subcontracts

• Subcontract Retention Balance Statement in Retention Reporting:
  The Retention balance used across the application includes any subcontract claim, but there are cases where clients are creating a full retention release and leaving it unapproved, ready to be used in the future (even 1 year ahead). In this case, the subcontract is not included in the report, because the retention release is included as if it has been approved, making the retention balance $0.
  
  We have made a change to the logic of the Retention Balance Statement so it is populated when there is a balance of approved retentions different to $0, as opposed to a retention balance different to $0 (including ALL existing subcontract claims regardless of their status)
  
  A new column will be added on General Release to display the Approved Retention Balance, in addition to the existing value Retention Balance on the Retention Reporting tab on Retention Management.
  
  

Quotes

Enhancements:

• Default the Cost Sheet Input Method:
  Now every time a user creates a new Cost sheet the input method will default from the last Cost sheet created by them, or if this particular user has not created one before it will default from the last created Quote. If there are multiple cost sheets on the latest quote, the last Cost sheet will be used.
  This will help if users mostly use one method, and is one less thing to remember to select.

• Users cannot create a new Job if they do not have the 'Create Jobs' permission. This permission is included in the General Role, which is inherited by all users.

• On new Quote revisions, the Report Text and Extension Column data and Attachments will now be copied over.

• The Cost Sheet Schedule data import now has the Sell Basis column.

Month End

• WIP Adjustments - link to batch:
  In the WIP adjustments screen the Batch in which the Adjustment is included is now displayed as a new column as a hyperlink to the actual batch.
  Batch No has also been added as a filter.
  
  

Minor enhancements:

• Improved Control parameter description:
  Control Parameter ‘Daysheet Entry Mode’ description updated to "Switches on how header job affects daysheet lines. Job field on Header must be left blank, in order to display all Jobs"

• Daysheets - Default activity in Timesheets:
  after entering a Time Code, the Activity will not be updated to the user’s default activity code.

• Purchase Orders and Inwards Goods - Quantity columns now display 4 decimals.

• Job Margin report:
  New filter added to see the list by Job Category, to be able to distinguish between real project jobs, and other types of pseudo-jobs like plant, stock locations and admin jobs.

• Subcontract Claims - new filter:
  A new Assigned filter has been added, where a user can find sub-claims assigned to a specific user.

Upvise

Daily Outputs- Details

An enhancement that enables the "Details" field to sync from Upvise to Workbench has been implemented.

For existing sites, you can now add the "Details" field to your Daily Outputs subform in Upvise. The information entered in this field will seamlessly sync and populate into the corresponding Workbench output transaction.

Integration

Business Central/Wiise

• New dimension has been added: Header Job Dimension
  New setting to configure this called Export Header Job.
  In Business Central/Wiise, include this setting in the Dimension 2 Value dropdown.

• Compatibility issue with version 24:
  Business Central made a change on version 24, that affected the import of Job receipts into Workbench. Fixed.

Fixes & Technical changes

Things we are busy working on...

New series of webinars starting in July. Visit our new Events page on our website.

Contract Claims: record claimed and certified values on each Claim (like in Subcontract Claims). New approval process on Contract Claims to resemble the certification process.

Custom Views on List screens, and exploring the ability to add extension columns to these views. This will expand your reporting ability on the List screens.

Audit for configuration changes.

Month End Process: controlled and easy to follow.

Analysis graphs on Sales Invoices.

🔨 Interval- Based Equipment Maintenance in Upvise (e.g. 250-hour increments- 250, 500, 750, 1000 repeat)