Product Update

June 9, 2007

1. Projects: New option for Incurred vs. forecast revenue recognition rule; enable/disable project dashboards at the project level; display total for task numeric custom fields in project outline view.

2. Expenses: Define tax location within expense items; bulk change for expense items.

3. Invoices: Footer graphic on invoices.

4. Other module enhancements: Data exchange, Account-wide.

5. Would you like to see previous OpenAir product updates?

6. Suggestions, problems or questions?


1. Projects: New option for Incurred vs. forecast revenue recognition rule; enable/disable project dashboards at the project level; display total for task numeric custom fields in project outline view.

There are several important enhancements to the Projects module in this release. First, when using the Incurred vs. forecast revenue recognition rule (Incurred = "Approved hours multiplied by user cost" and Forecast = "Approved and booked hours multiplied by user cost"), users now have the option to use the date of the last day with approved entered time to determine the break between approved and booked hours. This feature is beneficial in instances where a month end occurs mid-week (when using weekly timesheets). For example, the last day of the month of May is Thursday. With this feature, for weekly timesheets with a start date of Monday, the break date would occur on Thursday (for the week of May 28). Thus, the Incurred vs forecast rule will take into account approved hours through Thursday May 31, and booked hours beginning Friday, June 1. To activate this feature, please contact OpenAir Support.

Second, project dashboards can now be enabled/disabled at the project level in addition to the project stage. Previously, the project dashboard could only be enabled at the project stage level; therefore all projects in that project stage would have the project dashboard enabled. The default behavior is set to "Project stage", so there is no change in behavior for accounts that have the project dashboard enabled at the project stage level. To enable/disable the dashboard for a specific project, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Projects > Projects > [select a project]. In the Edit project form, under "Dashboard enabled/disabled according to:", select the "Project" radio button. Check/uncheck the "Enable dashboard for this project" option, to enable/disable the dashboard. For more information on project dashboards, please see the March 2006 product update.

Third, users now have the option to roll up numeric custom fields associated with the task and display the total for the phase and a complete total at the bottom of the project outline view. To enable this feature, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to My Account > Company > Settings. Under Projects Options, check the option "Show totals for numeric task custom fields on project outline".


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2. Expenses: Define tax location within expense items; bulk change for expense items.

There are two significant enhancements to the Expenses module in this release. First, users have the ability to define the tax location within a particular expense item. To define a tax location for an expense item, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to My Account > Account > Expenses > Expense items > [select an expense item]. Select the appropriate tax location under the "Tax location" dropdown. Configure the rest of the settings as desired and save. Please note that it is required to have at least one active tax location. The designated tax location will be assigned to receipts associated with the expense item. To activate this feature, please contact OpenAir Support.

Second, if the user has role privileges to modify receipts, the expense receipt bulk action form has two new options to mark the receipts as either "Billable" or "Non-billable". To use this feature, navigate to Expenses > Envelopes > Open > [select an envelope]. From the list of receipts, check the boxes for the receipts to be modified. To toggle the entire column of checkboxes on and off, click the checkmark icon at the top of the column. Click the circling arrows icon to run the action. Select either "Mark the selected receipts billable" or "Mark the selected receipts non-billable". Click OK.


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3. Invoices: Footer graphic on invoices.

There is an important enhancement to the Invoices module in this release. Users now have the ability to insert a footer graphic onto an invoice. To insert a footer graphic, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Invoices > Options > Invoice Layout > [select a layout]. In the “Footer settings” section, click on the “Browse” button and insert a file to be used on invoices with this layout. Please note that users will need to enter a "Bottom Margin" for the graphic to show properly. The footer graphic is applied to both the PDF and HTML views. A footer graphic may be useful, for example, when applying an electronic signature to an invoice.


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4. Other module enhancements: Data exchange, Account-wide.

Data exchange:

    • A major enhancement has been made to the OpenAir OffLine application. Users now have the ability to submit timesheets and expense reports for approval directly from the OffLine application. Users can click on the "Submit" button located on both the Timesheets and Expenses form. The status of the timesheet/expense report is "Queued for submission" until the "Update" button is clicked. This will submit the timesheet/expense report, thus updating the status to "Submitted". Additionally, when the user clicks on the "Submit" button, there is a new option to be able to submit the timesheet/expense report even if warnings exist for that item. To download the latest version of OpenAir OffLine, please navigate to My Account > Exchange > Add-on services.



Account-wide:

    • New proxy approval restriction roles have been added to prevent users from approving their own items when proxying in as another user. When proxying in as another user, users can be prevented from being able to approve their own timesheets, expense reports, schedule requests, authorizations, purchase requests, POs, proposals, booking requests, deal booking requests, and invoices. To enable these new role settings, users navigate to My Account > Account > Account data > Roles > [select a role]. Under the "Proxy restrictions" section, check the appropriate options and save.


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5. Would you like to see previous OpenAir updates?

Click here to browse previous product updates including all new features, modules and functionality.
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6. Suggestions, problems, or questions?

As always, please contact us at support@openair.com or 888.367.1288 (outside the U.S. and Canada, call 617-351-0226). We pride ourselves on the outstanding care we give our customers. Please let us know how we improve your experience with OpenAir.