10 July 2017

*** New Licenses Required for 4.2 Upgrade ***

• Please note you will require your licenses to be re-issued for this upgrade, so it is recommended you get these before you begin.
• Read more detail below.

New Module - Subcontracts & Subcontractor Portal

Background

• The web architecture permits delivery of both modules in one application that provides functionality for the Job Manager (the internal User who is managing the Subcontract) as well as for the Subcontractor; with appropriate permissions.
• The two screens from which the Subcontracts functionality is accessed are the ‘Subcontract List’ and ‘Work Order List’.
• The focus is on facilitating ease of communication between the parties, and ease of use from the new user interface.
• Two key configuration apply to this module:

• • The Subcontract permission [View Other Subcontractors Information]. This is typically granted to internal roles to allow viewing of all subcontractor data. It cannot not be granted to a subcontractor and is hardwired to be excluded when using the Subcontractor Portal List and Subcontract Portal Work Order List site maps. The effect is that the user’s company will be assumed to be the subcontractor, and all subcontracts, work orders and users list will be filtered on this context.
  • The Work Order permission [View Unapproved Work Orders]. This is typically granted to internal roles to allow viewing of unapproved work order data. It may not be granted to a subcontractor user role. The effect is that unapproved work orders will be filtered out from lists and aggregated values.

Work Orders List

• Display a standard filterable list of subcontract work orders.
• The [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission and determines whether the list is pre-filtered for a subcontractor context. Alternately the Subcontract Portal Work Order List site map is always filtered for a subcontractor.
• The [View Other Subcontractors Information] AND [Edit Work Orders] AND [View Unapproved Work Orders] permissions are required for the ‘New Work Order’ button is displayed.
• The [View Unapproved Work Orders] permission determines whether the list is pre-filtered to exclude unapproved work orders.

Work Orders Detail

• Provides for the capture of the work order header details, and work order lines.
• Work Order Type defaults to the existing filter value, or if none apply then Original Contract for the first WO created. Subsequent Work Orders default to Approved Variations (as these two will be the most common).
• Redesigned work order lines editing functionality now supports line cloning, and line import from Excel with template support. The template supports basic data validation for the format.
• The Work Order permission [Edit Work Orders] should not be granted to subcontractor roles, and this limits the user to view only access.
• The standard approval permissions are available:
  • Approve Work Orders
  • Approve Own Work Orders
  • Approve Work Orders On Behalf Of Others
  • Unapprove Work Orders
  • and Approve Over Budget Work Orders

and must be configured in conjunction with the person specific “WO Approvers Limit” setting. Also affect are the budget validation setting.

Authority For Expenditure (AFE)

• AFEs / Purchase Reference is available as standard functionality; and this can be enabled with the “WO Approval Process” control parameter. The AFE data is still assumed to be externally managed and there is no screen for its input or update.
• AFE data structures now have explicit fields for ProfitCentreCode and SupplierAPAccountCode for explicit match validation, and support recording of AFEs and their variations.
• Four control parameters dictate the breakpoints for AFEs:

• • Compulsory AFE Number
  • Bypass AFE Suppliers
  • AFE Tolerance Percentage
  • and AFE Tolerance Cap

• Selectable AFEs are matched on WO currency (or local), ProfitCentreCode and SupplierAPAccountCode.
• AFE validations raise warnings on a save action to allow continued data capture, but raise errors on approval.

Budget Validation

• WO may be validated against budget. This is enabled by:

• • Control Over Budget WO control parameter, when enabled prevents approval
  • and Check Against Budget job maintenance attribute

• If in excess, the WO can only be approved by a person with Approve Over Budget Work Orders permission, even if the job Check Against Budget attribute is ‘Warn’.

Subcontracts List

• Display a standard filterable list of subcontracts.
• The [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission determines whether the list is pre-filtered for a subcontractor context; and whether the ‘New Subcontract’ button is displayed. Alternately the Subcontract Portal List site maps is always filtered for a subcontractor.
• The ellipsis menu is available for contextual Work Orders and subcontractor Users based on Subcontract type permissions.

Subcontract – basic tabs

• Summary tab provides key work order and claim summary data. The [View Unapproved Work Orders] permission determines whether unapproved work orders aggregate into the summary values of “Original Subcontract”, “Approved Variations”, and “Recharges” for the current user; and whether “Subcontract Contingency” and “Unapproved Variations” work order type are displayed. The “View” links provides a pre-filtered shortcut to the various work order types.
• Subcontract tab provides for input of basic subcontract data; including the new Subcontract Administrator who is the preferred recipient to automated notification rather than the Job Manager. An important element here is the Retention Type that dictates the retention ratio on claims. The [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission enables the tab to be editable.
• Dates tab allows for capture of common dates and custom dates. Claims Certification Days and Claim Payment Days are specifically used to derive claim due date based on a claim’s Received Date. The [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission enables the tab to be editable.
• Messages tab allows for explicit messaging between users; which are also delivered by email. The omission of [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission defaults the “Message To” as the job manager. System initiated notifications (e.g. claim submission notification) are also visible in the Previous Messages panel.
• File Attachments tab provides for attachment and categorisation of files to the subcontract; and is not permission limited.

Subcontract – Insurances tab

• The Insurance tab provides a pre-filtered view of the subcontractor or current subcontract insurances; instead of all insurances as per the company view.
• The omission of [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission i.e. presumed to be a subcontractor user, limits the user to only attaching insurance files and view only access to the tab grid.
• Insurance Types have been enhanced to specify if a type is optional or mandatory at a subcontractor or subcontract level.
• The insurance types and insurance expiry is validated and actioned per the control parameters:
  • Insurance New Subcontract Checking
  • Insurance WO Checking
  • and Insurance Sub Claim Checking.

Subcontract – Claims tab & Claim Detail

• Displays a list of subcontract claims with a New Claim button; and is not permission limited.
• The Claim Detail popup is dependent on the [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission.
• There can only be one open claim at a time i.e. entered or submitted.
• A new claim is initially put into a default batch as specified by the control parameter ‘Def Subcontract Claim Batch’.

Subcontractor Portal

• The simplified claim detail is displayed if the [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission is omitted i.e. presumed to be a subcontractor user.
• This allows basic specification of a claim without the work breakdown elements, and at each save the user is prompted if they are ready to submit for certification. If submitted, the claim is locked from further subcontractor changes and an auto notification sent to the Subcontract Administrator (preferred) or Job Manager (otherwise).

Standard

• The standard claim detail version is displayed if the [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission is granted i.e. presumed to be an internal user.
• This standard view allows the user to create a claim and certify the values. A redesigned layout with collapsible rows and scenario specific filters (eg. Claimable, This Claim, Reason Required) and certification buttons should make this easy to use.
• The claim line buttons indicate
  • ? To be evaluated
  • √ (tick) Full claim to date certification
  • X Partial or declined certification
• Three standard reports are available – Payment certificate, Claim schedule, and Claim schedule approved.
• An ellipsis menu navigates to the respective work order.
• The main tab displays a summary of the certified values and any retention based on the subcontract retention type specified. The Certification Due and Payment Due dates are based on the respective days on the subcontract from the claim Received Date. The dates are blank if the days are not specified.

Approval

• Claim approval is setup based on person limits for “Subcontract Claim Approvers Limit” setting, and if not the assigned user then the person requires the subcontract permission “Approve Subcontract Claims On Behalf Of Others”.
• Reasons are defined for declining a claim and may be configured under Edit Lookups for the Unapproved Reasons type.
• Note the “Subcontract Over Certification” setting defines the behaviour on over claim or over certification.
• An ‘Approved’ claim may be ‘Unapproved’ rights permitting, but not a ‘Batched’ claim.
• An Approved claim is Batched to mark it for export to the financials.

Subcontract – Variation Request tab

• Should the subcontractor be requested for, or completes additional work they would submit a variation request to include this element for claiming.
• This tab displays a list of variation requests, and a New button. The [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission determines the form of the tab.

Subcontractor Portal

• The simplified variation request tab is displayed if the [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission is omitted i.e. presumed to be a subcontractor user.
• This allows basic specification of a variation request, and at each save the user is prompted if they are ready to submit & notify the subcontract administrator / job manager.
• The notification may be configured under Template Management for Notification-VariationRequestOutstanding.
• If submitted, the variation request is locked from further subcontractor changes and an auto notification sent to the Subcontract Administrator or Job Manager.
• Variation line import from an Excel file is supported with a template that includes basic format based data validation.

Standard

• The standard variation request version is displayed if the [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission is granted i.e. presumed to be an internal user.
• This version allows the user to create/edit a variation request and specify its work breakdown before inclusion into an unapproved work order. The layout allows cloning of work breakdown details from a source line to selected target lines with the Defaults button.
• Should the required unapproved Work Order not exist, the work order can be created directly from this page.
• Processing the variation line creates the line in the selected work order, then status and work order are updated for reference by the job manager and subcontractor.
• Link icons on the grid allows easy navigation to the WO assigned to a variation line.

Auto Claim

• An auto claim checkbox is available to indicate that the variation request / work order line should also be pre-populated with a full value claim. This would typically be used if the variation request is submitted after completion of the work – the job manager still has the option of disabling the claim pre-population before accepting the variation request into a work order.
• An auto claim pre-populates into the current open claim (if available) or create a new claim.
• These display as claims against non-claimable work orders until the respective work order is authorised. This ensures that the integrity of all approval processes are maintained – work order approval (possibly using AFEs), and claims approval.
• Should this functionality not be required, it is recommended that the Claim indicator and Claim Reference be hidden using grid management on the “WORequired” and “WORequiredExternal” grids.

Subcontract Retention Release

• Displays a standard filterable list of subcontracts for retention release. Key filters include Retention balance, Next release date, and Subcontractor, amongst others.
• The grid allows multiple release to be defined on screen based on percentage or value, with a Next Release Date; before saving to generate the respective AP invoice.
• Any post release editing of retentions must be performed on the AP invoice screen.

New Features

Contract Management

• Forecast - The Forecast options for calculating Balance of Budget have been introduced. These are setup on the Job Work Centres tab of Job Maintenance where the option may be set per work centre. They can also be defined in the Job Template to ease job setup.

Jobs

• Job Templates - Job Templates now supports associations to Output Schedules as part of template definition.

Purchasing

• Purchase Order Details - Purchase orders have been enhanced to support Standing POs where lines are not completed, and Outstanding values are not updated.

Feature Revisions

Contract Management

• Contract Enquiry - The are several display changes on the Summary tab:
  • Total rows now have a blue background
  • Headers are right align for consistency
  • The Budget Margin % was incorrectly displayed as decimal, and now correctly displays as a percentage

Jobs

• Job List - The Job List ellipsis menu item now auto hide based on the user's license and so do not need explicit management. Access is explicitly granted by the respective permission:
  
  • Job List - Budgets
  • Job List - Contracts
  • Job List - Enquiry
  • Job List - Maintenance
  • Job List - New Sub Job
  • Job List - Subcontracts

• Job Maintenance - Buttons have been added to easily swap between the Job Details and Maintenance views.
• Job Invoice Details
  • The invoice attachment filename is now also in the form 'ARInvoice1111.pdf' where 1111 is the invoice number.
  • On concurrent saving of job AR invoices an error message may be displayed requiring the user to retry their save. This has been optimised to reduce the potential for deadlock. Data integrity was never compromised and no duplicate invoice numbers were saved.
  • The GST on the contract claim retention line of an invoice is now selectable on the line and not fixed to the Sales Code, although it continues to be defaulted based on the sales code.
  • On indicating the Final Invoice the invoice attachment is currently named ARInvoice.pdf. The attachment name is now 'ARInvoice1111(2).pdf' where 1111 is the invoice number and 2 is the iteration number since the invoice may be generated multiple times. Also when attaching a new invoice pdf, the previous attachment detail is appended with 'Superceded'.

Timesheets

• Admin Timesheet - On Timesheet Admin Approval, when an admin person enters timesheets on behalf of a person, the name displayed in the screen title did not change when a different user is selected. This has been rectified, and the data capture was always correct.

Purchasing

• Purchase Order Details
  • Editing a purchase orders without the 'Edit PO/PR Foreign Currency' permission was displaying an invalid error message. This has been rectified and no purchase order data was affected.

  • The input for purchase order delivery address has been simplified from its initial mde based model that required 3 actions to select job site address. Now on purchase orders the company addresses are immediately available, and the job addresses available on selecting a job. On work orders the job addresses are immediately available, and simly removing the job will make the company addresses available.

  • On concurrent saving of purchase orders an error message may be displayed requiring the user to retry their save. This has been optimised to reduce the potential for deadlock. Data integrity was never compromised and no duplicate purchase order numbers were saved.
• AP Invoice Details - The available jobs were being incorrectly filtered by the 'View Other Job Managers Jobs' permission, and has been removed so only the base user Profit Centre Group criteria is used.

Plant

• Plant Item Details - The Transfer Rate is now optional, and the checkbox may be ticked to indicate a NULL as opposed to 0. Also the activities are now limited to Plant activities.

Administration

• Licensing
  • The license names have been aligned with the offering terminology and hence EVERYONE will require their licenses to be re-issued for the 4.2 upgrade. This release introduces the Role Based license option in addition to the previous Functional licenses.

Functional
Contracts
Daily Diary
Datasheet Admin
Datasheet User
Expense Claims
Human Resources
Leave Management Admin
Leave Management User
Plant Management User
Purchase Orders
Purchase Requisition Admin
Purchase Requisition User
Resource Scheduling User
Resource Scheduling View
Service Desk Admin
Service Log Entry
Stock
Subcontracts
Subcontractor Portal
Timesheets

Role Based
Finance
Data Entry
Project Manager

General
System Admin
Portal

• • All aspects of the application are now under the new licensing model, therefore there may be application functionality that a user was previously able to access without an explicit license. This access will now require the appropriate license.
  • As part of the named license implementation the same username should not be used across different browsers or machines as this will cause the earlier session to be logged-off. That is if I use my login on Chrome then also simultaneously on IE, then the IE session will log out the Chrome session. Or if I'm logged in on Chrome then also simultaneously log in on Chrome from another computer, then my earlier session will be logged out. However, your login remains valid in the same browser across multiple tabs and windows on the same machine.
• User List - The [View Other Subcontractors Information] permission has been integrated for the Subcontractor Portal to determine whether the list is pre-filtered for a subcontractor context, and limits the users listed to the same company as the current user.
• Site Maps
  • The "Admin V4" site map that is default for the workbench user has been restructured to align with the standard client "Admin Master" site map, although it continues to include additional screens that may not be available or apply to the client.
  • The user's site map now auto hides any items that are not licenced to the user to ease access management. A user site map can now be setup based on their appropriate access and these become visible as the licences are allocated.
• Reporting Types - Additional criteria conditions have been added to report type to support th between, <= and >= operators.

Integration

General

• Exports now supported without WBInterface Database.
• Fields for Default Location, and Template Company have been added to the Financial Company screen to facilitate integration to Xero and MYOB.

Xero

• AR Credit and AP Credit Exports to Xero are now supported.
• Workbench now populates PaymentTermsType and PaymentTermsDays when syncing Companies from Xero. These can be seen in the Financials tab of Company Details.

• When posting AP Invoices to Xero, the <InvoiceNumber> is now populated with APInvoices.InvoiceRef. The APInvoiceID, which was previously encoded in the <InvoiceNumber> in order to provide matching of Payments back to Workbench, is no longer included.

• Tracking Categories in Xero have been enhanced. See /wiki/spaces/XEROAPI/pages/44619202
  • There are now 2 tracking categories that may be populated on exports: the Profit Centre as previously, and a new tracking category base on a Job Group specified on the job.
  • Tracking category options are now created on the fly, as required - there is no need to entered them in Xero in advance.
• Inter-Company postings to Xero are now supported.  See /wiki/spaces/XEROAPI/pages/46847448

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