Sage Master Builder Version 14 and Subcontracts

Prior versions of Sage Master Builder have a Subcontract module to assist with the management of Subcontracts. Version 14 solves many of the concerns that users of prior versions have had about the module.

When processing a subcontractor’s invoice against an existing subcontract, users of earlier versions had to research approved change orders and prior invoices to ensure that the current invoice was correct and that the correct cost codes were being charged with the costs. This was often a frustrating problem, particularly with heavy users of the subcontract module.

Version 14 of Sage Master Builder takes giant strides to improve controls over subcontracts created with Version 14 and later versions. Unfortunately, subcontracts created with earlier versions do not get “converted” to the functionality of Version 14, do not have the same controls available, and will have to be handled using the processes developed for earlier versions of the program.

What’s so special about Version 14 and Subcontracts?

• When approved Subcontract Change Orders are created on the Budget and Sub Change Details tab in menu 6-4-1, the system will “post” the change order to the grid of the original Subcontract in menu 6-7-1. So, whenever one looks at a Subcontract Grid in 6-7-1, one can see both the details of the original Subcontract, and how that original Subcontract has been changed by approved Subcontract Change Orders.
• When a subcontractor’s invoice is entered in menu 4-2 against a Subcontract created with Version 14, the Accounts Payable Invoice grid is populated automatically with the lines that exist on the Subcontract grid. After adjusting the amounts in the grid to reflect the amount of the invoice being processed, the AP Invoice can be saved with Auto-Costing, and the job costs will be charged to the proper cost codes specified on the Subcontract grid. This also helps prevent processing invoices against Subcontract Change Orders that have not yet been approved, since they will not show up in the grid. The AP invoice amounts are then also “posted” to the corresponding lines of the Subcontract grid. Whenever one looks at a subcontract record and its grid, one can see immediately how much has been invoiced against each line item of the Subcontract.

We can arrange for an on-line demonstration of the new features if you want more insight into these enhancements. Just send an e-mail or call at your convenience.

Sage Master Builder Version 14 and the Paperless Office!

Most contractors have probably given thought to going paperless. When one factors in the cost of storing paper documents, the environmental impact of consuming large quantities of paper, and the general inconvenience of having to dig in a filing cabinet when one wants to research an issue, going paperless seems like a terrific idea. But until now, the idea also required a significant investment in separate software to capture and organize the information, and the link between the captured electronic document and the accounting record was tenuous at best.

Sage Master Builder Version 14 includes an exciting feature that users will surely have to consider – Attachments. If you can create or find a file or website, you can attach it to a record so that the file or website is available to anyone following in your footsteps in the program.

Consider the following scenarios that represent real opportunities for Master Builder users:

• An accounts payable bookkeeper has an inexpensive flat bed scanner (cost less than $100) attached to his computer and scans vendor invoices to a .pdf file saved to the desktop. During the entry of the vendor invoice with a Review status and the hot list box checked, the bookkeeper attached the .pdf image of the invoice to the record. Later, the project manager reviews the hot list for his project, sees the Review status invoice on the hot list, opens up the AP invoice record, opens the .pdf image of the record, records a comment indicating approval of the invoice and how it was job-costed, removes the hot list status and changes the status to Open. The paper copy of the invoice never gets lost or misplaced, the bookkeeper can keep track of invoices in need of approval, and there is no file cabinet required as the image is in the computer, attached to the proper record!
• An Estimator is assembling subcontracts for a project by preparing Requests for Proposals in menu 6-11-1. Pages of the plan specifications book are scanned to pdf, along with the applicable section of the drawings, for the scope of work requested. The RFP record is completed along with careful notes and instructions in the Notepad note. The RFP report is printed to a pdf for emailing to the potential subcontractors and the pdf is attached to the RFP record also. The RFP pdf, along the specifications and drawings are emailed directly from the RFP attachments button. When the proposal comes back from the potential subcontractor, the proposal is scanned and attached to the RFP record as well as noting that the RFP has been responded to. When the proposal is accepted and a subcontract record is created, the attachments can be attached to the subcontract record, along with a scan of the fully executed subcontract document. Since everything is attached to the subcontract record, a superintendent in the project field office can remote into the office computer and see all of the important and related documents while online. This couldn’t be done if all the documents were still on paper, filed in a filing cabinet!

These are just two of the hundreds of possible scenarios where Sage Master Builder Version 14 and its Attachments feature can be used to go paperless and drastically improve efficiency in the office.

Sage Master Builder Version 14 is Coming Soon!

When Sage announced that there would not be any significant enhancements added with the Version 13 release, I was disappointed. I understood that they needed the time usually devoted to new enhancements in order to translate the existing program from Visual Basic, to a more powerful and adaptable language, C# (C sharp), that would provide a better platform for moving Sage Master Builder forward. So the Master Builder world waited…and competitors got busy trying to suggest that this was a death-knell for Sage Master Builder, that Sage was ignoring Master Builder to promote the more expensive and more complex Timberline Office product.

Sage has announced that it will begin shipping Sage Master Builder Version 14 in August, 2009.

I can now say that the wait was worth it! I have been playing around with a pre-release version of Sage Master Builder Version 14, and I can’t wait to show it to my clients and prospects! Some of the enhancements found in Version 14 include:

• Attach Files and Links to Records – So powerful that I’ll devote an entire blog entry to this enhancement!
• Mouse Wheel Scrolling Enhanced – Users can now use their mouse wheel to scroll through grids, lookup windows and the Service Dispatch Board.
• More Under-billed Jobs Available for Display on the Executive Dashboard – A link to show all under-billed jobs (instead of the top five most under-billed) is now available on the Executive Dashboard.
• Support for 64-bit Operating Systems – SMB now supports the 64-bit versions of MS Windows XP Professional, Vista Business, and Server 2008 operating systems.
• Integration with MS Outlook – Outlook can now be launched with a file attachment from many points in the program.
• Improved Workflow for Changing Periods and Closing the Fiscal Year – The user interface has been improved for the old menu item 1-6 Audit/Close Books to reduce confusion and misunderstanding of the process.
• New Income Statement Format – Report 2-3-0-34 Income Statement by Period has been added which now shows each of the 12 periods of a year and a total for the year. This report must be printed on legal sized paper.
• Post Retention-only Progress Bills – One can now post a progress billing that merely reclassifies amounts from Retention to Currently Due, even though there is no current income being billed and still be able to create a “Next” Progress Billing record.
• New Columns Added to Open Invoices and Paid Invoices Lookup Windows in Vendor – This will help with looking up vendor invoices.
• Payroll Check Date vs Quarter Audit Error Handling – Users can now correct their own payroll audit errors arising from conflicts between payroll quarters and payroll check dates, because the payroll quarter field is now editable on saved payroll records.
• Certified Payroll Reports Now Can Mask Employee Social Security Numbers – A new global calculated field has been added that makes masking an employee’s social security number much easier.
• Reprint Direct Deposit Report – An option has been added which permits the reprinting of a direct deposit file report.
• Update Maximum Only for Payroll Calculations – An option has been added which permits users to “push” new calculation maximums out to appropriate employees without wiping out the rates elected by the individual employees, which is particularly useful for 401k contribution calculations.
• Daily Field Report Grid Notes to Payroll and Job Cost Records – Grid notes from the daily field report module now transfer to payroll records and resulting job cost records.
• Integration of Subcontract, Subcontract Change Orders and Accounts Payable Invoices – Another killer enhancement, so powerful that I will devote another separate entry on it.
• RFI and RFP Numbering by Job and Phase – The program can now be configured to assign numbers sequentially by Job and Phase, rather than continuously for all jobs.
• Job Income Statement Report – Report 6-1-4-71 Job Income Statement has been added to the standard reports. It reflects job costs by cost type, billings from both contracts and service receivables, gross profit and gross profit percentage by job and phase. It does not, however, recognize percentage of completion adjustments and thus may not be a true representation of profitability.
• Financial Review and Project Review – The modules found in menu 13-1 and 13-2 have long been broken and did not reflect correct information. Sage has corrected and enhanced these graphical representations of key financial and project information! This should be a real plus for those managers who find graphical information more useful that traditional tabular accounting data!

There is also a long list of fixes and enhancements to the online Help text.

I hope you will agree that many of these enhancements are exciting, and a number of them have been long overdue. Keep an eye on the mail in August for your copy of the new program!