Workbench Release Notes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh_0fHIZs1IUpcoming 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 late September - version 4.6.41
We encourage you to check out the details of the new process either in the Release Notes HERE or in the User Documentation HERE
AP Vouchers
Approval by Delegation issue:
When an AP Voucher is reassigned for approval to someone else, the system is only checking the approval $ limit of the new assigned approver, but is not checking for the "Approve AP invoice" permission.
We will make a change on 4.6.42 to address this and validate accordingly.
Contracts - Forecast Adjustments:
We are reverting the changes done on the previous release where an Adjustment cannot be deleted if the Adjustment was added on previous Forecasts (only zeroed out).
The issue we are trying to address is old adjustments being carried over from past Forecasts when they shouldn’t (older than the immediate previous Forecast).
On release 4.6.41 or 4.6.42, we will make the following changes:
Only Uncommitted Adjustments and Risk Adjustments from the latest existing Forecast will be carried over when a new Forecast is created (except those that are $0).
Any Uncommitted or Risk Adjustment can be deleted (except when the Forecast Period is closed and cannot be edited anymore).
📣 New Webinar
Sharperlight Reporting - 16 September
Join Justin Gardner and Donald Wynne from Sharperlight as they highlight the key features of Sharperlight and how it can greatly enhance your Workbench experience.
Step beyond the standard Workbench reports and build a custom reporting strategy tailored to your business, gaining measurable insights into your business based on your own metrics and data definitions.
16 September - Topics:
Sharperlight Introduction
Overview of key features
Examples of different reporting options
Practical example of building a Sharperlight Dashboard and displaying it within Workbench
Q&A session
📣 New Webinar
Workforce Management - 16 October
Navigating timesheet management and award interpretation can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be. Still dealing with manual reimbursement of staff expenses? you don't have to. Trying to work out who is free to start a new project next week, now you can.
Ideal for HR professionals, payroll managers, and project coordinators, this session will provide practical strategies and tips to enhance your workflow and streamline your workforce management.
16 October - Agenda:
Standard Costing Principles and the use of Employee Classes
Options for Timesheet Capture
Award Interpreter Overview
Leave Management
Resource Scheduling
Expense Claims
Future Enhancements
New Features
Leave Management
New mobile-compatible Leave requests screen
Users can now request their leave from their mobile devices.
A new Leave Requests Mobile screen has been released, where a user will see first a list of the top 20 latest Leave requests and can open an existing one or create a new one.
The request is a simplified version of the desktop version. Each leave type must have the correct defaults (job, Activity, Time Code, Work Centre) for Timesheet transactions to be created on approval.
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Feature Revisions
User Experience enhancement
Subcontract claims:
The ‘Copy last claim comments as default?’ prompt when creating a new Subcontract Claim now only displays when there is actually a comment on the previous subcontract claim. It was previously showing up when there were no comments on the previous claim or there was no previous claim. Note that this checks the Comments column (not the Reason column).
Job Maintenance - improved display response time:
When opening Job Maintenance the data loads much quicker now. No need to go grab a coffee while waiting anymore.
Jobs
Contracts - Project Trust Accounts
Xero Integration: We have finalised changes to the Xero integration to support the Project Trust Account functionality.
AP Payments will now display the From Account with the GL Code for the Bank Account the payment has been made from (typically the PTA).
Job Receipts will now display the To Account with the GL Code for the Bank Account into which the client has made its deposit.
Purchasing
Vouchers
Docket lines by GST Types:
On a Voucher with Docket lines, the system was aggregating value regardless of GST type. This was a particular issue for MYOB integration, as Workbench passes GST Types, rather than GST values, and MYOB calculates the GST value.
The system will now split the This Voucher lines values for Dockets based on GST Type to ensure it flows correctly through to the AP Invoice and MYOB.
Subcontracts
Balance of Retentions by each Trust Account:
If you need to know what the balance is on each Retention Trust Account (RTA), you can now use the Subcontracts Retention Management screen to do so. You could then reconcile this with the balance on each Bank Account.
A new filter has been added so you can choose an RTA and get the total balance.
Grid management and new columns have been added to the Retention Releases tab:
New columns Approved Retention Balance and Approved Retention GST Balance are not also available on the Retention Releases tab (they were previously added to the Reporting tab in release 4.6.37)
These new columns are hidden by default and can be enabled using Grid Management - grid Subcontract Retention Release.
Approved Retention Balance only includes documents that have been approved.
File attachments can now be added to an Approved Work Order
Files cannot be deleted though.
Utilities
WIP reversal batch:
When a WIP batch is flagged as Not For Export, the system will automatically generate the WIP Accrual ReversalNew utility wbRepriceUnbilledTransactions released on 4.6.39 can now be scheduled from the Utility Scheduler. It takes a date as a parameter, to define up to what date transactions should be included. When scheduled a date far in the future like 2099-01-01 can be used.
Minor enhancements:
Job Scheduler:
Enhancements have been made to avoid duplicate entries when multiple users edit the Scheduler at the same time.
Integrations
Workbench API
A new endpoint is now available to access Contract Forecast adjustments. See further detail here.
Xero
Warnings if attachments to be exported exceed 2MB:
Xero does not allow the import of attachment files greater than 2MB. Therefore, Workbench will display a number next to the Suceeded status to indicate that there is a warning that you might want to take a look at. The warning message will say: Attachment xxxx.xxx exceeds 2MB size limit. Meaning it will not be exported.
The export of AR/AP Invoices will not fail, rather the attachment will not be exported.
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)