Product Update

September 15, 2007

1. Account-wide: Target utilization; display task custom fields on Calendar view; other Account-wide enhancements.

2. Projects: Project budgets; create straight line billing projections; other Project enhancements.

3. Expenses: Expense grid.

4. Other module enhancements: Workspaces, Reports.

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

6. Suggestions, problems or questions?


1. Account-wide: Target utilization; display task custom fields on Calendar view; other Account-wide enhancements.

Two significant Account-wide enhancements have been added in this release. First, target utilization percentages can now be entered for each resource with corresponding effectivity dates. The target utilization feature may be beneficial in scenarios where a resource may have varying utilization percentages over time as a result of different roles in the company. Reports may be run to identify how a resource's target utilization will impact the number of target days and hours a resource will have. Managers can also leverage the target utilization functionality to compare a user's actual utilization against the targeted utilization. To enable the target utilization feature, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to My Account > Company > Settings. Under "Optional Features", check the option "Enable target utilization feature". To assign a user with a target utilization, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to My Account > Account > Account data > Users > [select a specific user]. Click on the "Target utilization" link. Enter a "Start date" and desired "Target utilization".

There are six new report values associated with target utilization available in summary reports. Users can now choose "Resources – Base target days", "Resources – Base target hours", "Resources – Base target utilization", "Resources – Target days", "Resources – Target hours", and "Resources – Target utilization" as report values. These reporting values can either be based on a user's base work schedule or work schedule. The "Resources – Target utilization" value is based on the target utilization entered for each resource for that specific time period. The "Resources – (Base) target days" value is calculated as the target utilization for the resource multiplied by the number of days in the resource's (base) work schedule. The "Resources – (Base) target hours" value is calculated as the target utilization for the resource multiplied by the number of hours in the resource's (base) work schedule.

There is also a new detail report value associated with target utilization available. Users can now report on the current target utilization percentage for users in a User detail report. To run this report, users with the appropriate role privilege navigate to Reports > Detail > Account-wide > Users. In the "Report layout" edit form, select the value "Target utilization (current)". Configure the rest of the settings as desired and run the report. The report results will show the current target utilization for users.

The second account-wide enhancement gives users the option of displaying task custom fields on the Calendar view. There are two new company settings that allow for the display of custom fields on the calendar view. Users have the option of displaying custom fields for task assignments as a summary or detail on the calendar. To enable these settings, users with the appropriate role settings navigate to My Account > Company > Settings. Under "Display Options", check the options "Show custom fields for task assignments as summary on the calendar" and/or "Show custom fields for task assignments as detail on the calendar". Once the company settings have been enabled, if a user has access to a task, all custom fields associated with that task are visible. Users who have the ability to view calendars for other users can view the task custom fields by navigating to My Account > Dashboard > Calendars. Users who do not have the ability to view other users can view task custom fields on their own calendar by navigating to My Account > My Calendar.

Other Account-wide enhancements in the current release include:

    • Administrators can now restrict users from re-using prior passwords when they are prompted to reset their OpenAir password. This feature provides additional password security. To restrict the use of old passwords, administrators navigate to My Account > Company > Settings. Under "Password Options", select the number of prior passwords that should be restricted from re-use. Currently, the default setting is set to "Disabled".
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2. Projects: Project budgets; create straight line billing projections; other Project enhancements.

Several important enhancements have been added to the Projects module. Users now have the ability to update the project budget as the project progresses. Users also have the ability to view the historical transactions made to the budget. To activate this feature, please contact OpenAir Support. Once enabled, project budgets must be enabled on a per project stage basis. To enable project budgets for a project stage, navigate to My Account > Account > Projects > Project stages > [select a project stage]. In the "Options" section, check the box next to "Budget" and save. To create a budget for a particular project, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Projects > Projects > [select a project]. Click on the "Budget" link and from the "New entries > Create" dropdown, select "Budget". Enter the date and the budget amount.

When entering a project budget, it may be helpful to indicate a budget category. A budget category can be defined in My Account > Account > Projects > Budget categories. Examples of budget categories may include "Fees" and "Expenses". The percentage of the budget transaction can be allocated to multiple users (no more than 100% can be allocated). To allocate a percentage per user, from the Budget edit form in the "User allocations" section, select the resource and assign the allocation percentage. A budget activity can also be selected to indicate the activity corresponding to the resource. Budget activities are defined in My Account > Account > Projects > Budget activities. Examples of budget activities include "Lead generation" and "Proposal close".

Please note that once the feature is enabled, the "Budget" field located in the Edit project screen will be read-only and the Net budget amount will be displayed. From the "Budget" list view, individual budget transactions are displayed allowing users to view changes that have been made to the budget.

There are four new project budget report values available in summary reports. Users can now choose "Projects – Average project budget transaction", "Projects – Project budget", "Projects – Project budget allocation (%)", and "Projects – Project budget allocation (money)" as report values. The "Projects – Average project budget transaction" value is calculated as the average of all historical project budget transactions (including negative transactions). The "Projects – Project budget" value is the project budget amount entered for that time period. The "Projects – Project budget allocation (%)" value is the percentage of the project budget allocated for each user. The "Projects – Project budget allocation (money)" value is calculated as the project budget allocation (%) multiplied by the project budget amount. Please note that users can also subtotal by Budget transaction, Budget category, and Budget activity. Users also have the ability to filter on Budget category and Budget activity.

There are also four new detail reports associated with project budgets that are now available. Users can now choose to run Budget categories, Budget activities, Budgets, or Budget allocations detail reports. To run these reports, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Reports > Detail > Projects.

In a second enhancement to the Projects module, users now have the ability to create straight line billing projections based on a project's budget amount and start and end date. To enable the straight line billings feature, users with the appropriate role privileges will first need to create a checkbox custom field associated with the project stage by navigating to My Account > Company > Custom Fields. From the "New entries > Create" dropdown, select "Checkbox Field". In the "Field name" box, enter "straight_line_billing_projections" and in the "Association" dropdown, select "Project stage". Then, to enable the feature for a specific project stage, navigate to My Account > Account > Projects > Project stages > [select a project stage]. Check the box next to the newly created custom field and save.

When charge/timebill projections are generated, any project that is in a project stage that has the "straight_line_billing_projections" custom field checked will have the projections generated by evenly spreading the budget amount between the project start and end date. All billing rules will be ignored. To run charge/timebill projections, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Projects > Options > Charge/Timebill projections. Check the "Run Charge/TimeBill projections now" box and save.

Please note that the system calculated project end date will be used unless a date custom field associated with the project is created. To create this custom field, navigate to My Account > Company > Custom Fields. From the "New entries > Create" dropdown, select "Date Field". In the "Field name" box, enter " project_end_date" and in the "Association" dropdown, select "Project". From the project edit form, users can manually enter a project end date in the "End date (MM/DD/YY)" field. The manually entered project end date will then be used instead of the system calculated end date in the calculation of straight line billing projections.

Other Project enhancements in the current release include:

    • Users are now able to duplicate the workspace folder structure from an existing workspace when creating new projects. To duplicate the folder structure, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Projects > Projects. From the "New entries > Create" dropdown, select "Project". From the "Create associated workspace duplicating folder structure:" dropdown, select the workspace from which you wish to copy the folder structure. Configure the rest of the settings as desired and save. Please note that only folders are copied over and not documents.
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3. Expenses: Expense grid.

A significant feature has been added to the Expenses module in this release. Users now have the ability to enter/modify all receipts for an envelope/expense report from one screen. The Expense grid enables users to save significant time by eliminating the need to create/modify multiple receipts via individual forms.

To allow visibility into the expense grid, the role setting "Use expense grid" must be enabled for users. To enable this role setting, navigate to My Account > Account > Account data > Roles > [select a role]. Under the "Expenses" option, check the option "Use expense grid" and save. Repeat for all other roles as necessary. To utilize the expense grid feature, users navigate to Expenses > Envelopes/expense reports > [select an envelope/expense report] > Expense grid. Please note that the expense grid can be set as the default view of an envelope. To set the expense grid as the default, navigate to My Account > Company > Settings. Under "Expenses Options", check the option "Default to expense grid when viewing an envelope". The default setting can also be configured on a per user basis in My Account > Options > Preferences. Under "Expenses Options" check the option "Default to expense grid when viewing an envelope". Please note that the expense grid does not currently support multi-currency.
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4. Other module enhancements: Workspaces, Reports.

Workspaces:

    • An important enhancement has been added to OpenAir’s Workspaces module. Users now have the ability to exclude specific folders and discussions from sending out workspace alerts. This functionality is applicable when all workspace alerts are turned on. To exclude a specific folder, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Workspaces > Workspaces > [select a specific workspace]. Click on the "Document" link and from the "New entries > Create" dropdown, select "Folder". To exclude the folder from sending out alerts, check the box "Exclude from workspace alerts". Please note that any documents created within a folder that is excluded from workspace alerts will also be excluded from alerts. Similarly, to exclude alerts for discussion, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Workspaces > Workspaces > [select a workspace]. Click on the "Discussions" link and from the "New entries > Create" dropdown, select "Discussion". Users also have the option to enable the exclude alerts feature by default for new folders and discussions. To exclude alerts by default, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Workspaces > Workspaces > [select a specific workspace] > Alerts. Check the option "'Exclude alerts' on by default".

Reports:

    • Summary reports have been enhanced to include the ability to filter and subtotal by controlled custom fields associated with an invoice. Controlled custom fields include custom fields of type checkbox, radio group, dropdown, or dropdown/text. Previously, the ability to filter and subtotal by controlled custom fields was limited to custom fields associated with users, projects, or customers. For more information on filtering and subtotaling controlled custom fields, please see the April 2005 product update.

    • The Advanced timesheet/envelope status reports have been enhanced to include a new status code. The status code "N" has been added to identify users who may have a missing timesheet or envelope as a result of not being a part of the company during the reporting period. To run a timesheet/envelope status report, users with the appropriate role privileges navigate to Reports > Advanced > Timesheets/Expenses > Timesheet status/Envelope status. Configure the report by checking the box “Not in company during reporting period (if missing)”. If the timesheet or envelope is missing for a given period, “N” indicates that the user account was created after the end of the reporting period in question.
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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.