4.6.38 - 19 Aug 2024
- Maria Harreguy
- Lisa Robb
- Rob Faggetter
Workbench Release Notes
Upcoming Functionality & News
Important announcement on Contract Claims Accrual Process
In November last year, we released the new & improved process to accrue uncertified Contract Claims. This can be enabled with a beta control parameter. Until today both ways are still available, and the time has come to deprecate the old way in early September.
We encourage you to check out the details of the new process either in the Release Notes [HERE] or in the User Documentation [HERE]
New Webinar Advanced Procurement - 13 August
Register HERE
How well organised is your Procurement for large projects?
Most businesses involved in delivering construction projects need to procure a range of items as part of the project, defining what you need at the estimate phase of the job is often well done but when it comes to actually ordering and organising the materials to site during the construction phase this can often be poorly executed.
Learn how Workbench can assist you in getting better with your procurement by putting structure and controls around the whole topic.
Become more efficient when ordering
Have more visibility of what is needed and when it is needed.
Quickly compare pricing of like items from different suppliers before ordering
Manage material call-ups from the field
Join Clive Gardner as he takes us through a discovery session on a range of features within Workbench to enable you to become experts in the art of Procurement.
Community Forums
Workbench is excited to announce that the Community Forums are live and ready for you to dive in. We’ve created a detailed topic outlining the Guidelines for using the Forums, which you can check out here: Forum Guidelines.
If you don’t have a login, please click this link: Freshdesk. This will send us an email, and we will send you a link to set up your Freshdesk portal password.
We look forward to hearing your ideas and seeing you engage with the community. Remember, your votes on other people’s ideas help shape the future of the Workbench product, so don’t hold back!
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:
Capture Claimed Values.
Capture Certified Values.
Available from September 2024 as a beta feature.
New Features
New access to System Update
A new way to access the latest updates on each release.
You can check the summary of the new features, and be informed of important upcoming changes or news by opening the System Update screen using the new megaphone icon on the top bar, next to the notifications bell.
All users have access to this feature. If you like keeping up-to-date with new functionality, check it out.
The icon will have a red dot when there is something new for you to check. You can open it anytime. The information on this screen is updated with each release.
Alternatively, you can always access in-detail Release Notes via the Release Notes option on your profile menu.System Update
Export Control - enhancements to help you manage your batches better:
We trust that these additions on the Export Batch screen will make your exporting and troubleshooting of exporting errors a breeze.
A new link to open the actual batch you are working on in case you need to make any further changes or fixes.
New direct link to open the document batch
When an AP Invoice or AR Invoice batch errors, in the Error details pop-up you will now see a link to open the specific invoice that failed.
Direct access to Invoice that errored in batch
Feature Revisions
User Experience enhancement
Navigation changes on the previous release - Back To Invoice List/Back to Invoice buttons
Back to Invoice/Back to Invoice ListWe have removed:
the To Invoice List button on the Job Invoice screen and
the Back To Invoice button on the Input/Output Get Sales screen,
to be consistent with the navigation throughout the rest of the application, and encourage the correct use of breadcrumb menus.
When opening a Claim from the Contract, you will always go back to the Claims list, rather than going back to the Job Invoice list by mistake.
When opening a Job Invoice from the Job Invoice List, you will always navigate back to the Job Invoice List (if specific filters were used, those are kept when going back to the Job Invoice List to open the next invoice in your filtered list).
A new tooltip has been added to guide users to use the breadcrumb menu to navigate back:
Displaying the correct buttons when first opening some document screens:
We have enhanced the user experience when opening the following screens so that when the document is opened the user sees only the appropriate buttons corresponding to the status the document is at.
(instead of briefly seeing all possible buttons first, until the not required ones are hidden):Job Invoice
Job Invoice credit
Contract Claim
Internal sale
Revenue Journal
Contract Schedules
Bin icon for deleting a page of records:
We have revisited the bin icon functionality used for deleting records in bulk, as users could only use it on the first page of records but it was not working on subsequent pages. This has been enhanced on all grids.
Job Contract
Job Work Centres - Extension columns import
For those using Job Work Centres' extension columns extensively, you might find the new import of Extension Columns data handy. You will find it in Data Imports: Job Work Centre Extension Column
An example of when JWC extension columns are used is by adding Purchase Order numbers for each Work Centre/project stage so that it can be billed accordingly.
Purchasing
AP Vouchers - default GST type on manual lines:
The GST Type now populates in manual lines on the This Voucher tab, based on the Job and Activity selected.AP Invoice Line import - incorrect validation removed:
The import was validating that the LogNumber on the Log’s Client was the same as the Ap Invoice Supplier, but that is incorrect. The AP Invoice’s supplier has nothing to do with the Service LogClient.
Subcontracts
Who to notify when a Subcontract Claim has been approved:
A new Setting "Email on Subclaim Approval" has been introduced to provide multiple options of whom to notify by email when a subcontract claim has been approved.
Multiple, one or none options are valid, and they are a comma-separated list with the following valid options:Claim Submitter (default for WF approval process only),
Job Manager
Job Account Manager
Subcontract Administrator
Applies to both the Standard and Workflow approval process.
Note that the default Claim Submitter option in the new setting is to ensure backward compatibility for Workflow approvals. When the setting is blank, no email is sent out.
Quotes
New Notes tab:
Users can now add Notes of any kind to a Quote, from the new Notes tab.Quoted By filter in Quotes list is now a list of active employees.
Licences
Licence changes:
A Stock site licence is not required anymore to access the Stock Item List. This list is not only used for Stock management but also for the creation of BOMs.
Minor enhancements:
Custom Job Statuses:
We have limited the creation of Job Statuses to a maximum of 30 characters, and no non-alphanumeric characters are allowed. Validation is in place for this.Data imports - import templates:
A few data imports were missing the data import template that users can download to ensure they use the correct format when importing. The imports below now have a template available:
ImportCompanyAlphaAdjustments with Log Numbers
Company People
GL Accounts
GL Trial Balances
Job Outputs By Log No
Opening WIP
SSRS reports edited with a new version of SSRS:
SSRS reports edited with a new version of Microsoft Report Builder were not compatible with Workbench. We have made changes so they now are.
Integration
SAP
New SAP B1 agent update:
A new version of SAP B1 agent is available. Please contact our support team for an upgrade.
New version includes:Update Job Receipt No mapping to OCRT.DocNum. This will enable the user to match Receipt No to the corresponding receipt in SAP.
Enhance error messages for AR and AP exports to display the invoice number instead of the line ID of the invoice with the error.
Upvise
Driver Sync Optimisation
We've optimised the integration between Workbench and Upvise so that when a plant item driver is removed in Workbench, the corresponding driver field in Upvise is now cleared, while the Owner field remains unchanged.
Project Code in Job “Linked to” field
The project code, is now visible in the job linked to the field, enhancing clarity and improving project management efficiency.
Resource Scheduler - Equipment Tile
We've enhanced the Resource Scheduler by updating the equipment tile colour to a more visible dark grey, making it easier to identify scheduled equipment on the platform.
Fixes & Technical changes
Things we are busy working on...
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)