We frequently post feature updates and “how-to” documents on our blog. You can have new posts delivered automatically to your Outlook 2007 mailbox by subscribing to the blog.

To subscribe, locate the ‘RSS Feeds’ folder in your Outlook mail folders. Right click on this folder and select the ‘Add a New RSS Feed…’ menu item.

image

This displays a dialog box in which you enter the location for our feed,
http://www.avontus.com/blog/syndication.axd

image
An additional dialog box is displayed on which you can click the Yes button, unless you wish to configure more advanced options, such as how often to check for new posts and the name of the folder.

image


Once subscribed you’ll see an ‘Avontus Blog’ folder that you can click on to see all of the latest news. When the
folder is bold it indicates that there are new posts that haven’t been read. We’ll keep you up-to-date and in the know.


Posted in: Company Information , Updates  Tags: ,
Actions: E-mail
susie.sargent posted on February 15, 2010 13:44

Quantify uses Google to bring you unique mapping features.

Quantify can map the real time location of your branch offices (laydown yards) and jobsites.

image

Click on the Google Earth button on the Organization tree and your locations will be mapped out using the addresses you have entered.

 image    image 

Zoom in for a closer look.

image

You can also bring up a street map and driving directions for a particular location. Wherever you see an address box you’ll also see two buttons. The left button will map the address and the right button will give you driving directions.

image   image

In order to map all of your locations with the Google Earth button, Google Earth must be installed on your computer. You can download it free here: http://earth.google.com/


Posted in: Quantify  Tags: , ,
Actions: E-mail
brian.webb posted on February 2, 2010 16:25

A new release of quantify has been published that has the following

Features

Enhancements

  • Added ability to change a single rate on shipment. This feature is not available when using rate profiles.
  • Changed the way automatic updates are checked connecting to Mobile Tools. If Mobile Tools has been updated but the client version hasn't, the client will be prompted to update.

Posted in: Updates  Tags:
Actions: E-mail
susie.sargent posted on February 2, 2010 16:23

For the typical scaffold company with hundreds or thousands of billable jobs, integration with accounting software is often a chore. The sheer volume of data creates a tedious, error-prone, and often expensive task in even the most efficient accounting department.

Quantify and QuickBooks communicate with each other seamlessly, eliminating the burden of manual data entry. Invoices that are created by Quantify are automatically added to QuickBooks in a single step. What’s more, the jobs and customers associated with the invoices are linked to these items in QuickBooks, giving you instant and accurate job costing, receivables, commission tracking, posting of taxes due, and other vital financial data.

Quantify does this by 'synchronizing' data with QuickBooks. Synchronization is a two-way process in which information is linked between QuickBooks and Quantify. Invoices in Quantify are updated with payment status and other data as they change in QuickBooks. This synchronization occurs automatically with new invoices and continues until the invoices are paid and jobs are closed.

image

Setup

To set up the communication link between Quantify and QuickBooks, first start both programs. From within Quantify, open Global Options from the Tools menu. On the Accounting tab under Accounting Integration, select QuickBooks and your QuickBooks company file. Then test the connection by clicking the Test Settings button. QuickBooks will display a certificate dialog box and ask you if you’d like to allow Quantify to connect. Select the item 'Yes, whenever this QuickBooks company file is open' and then press the Continue button.

image

Rental and Additional Charges

When an invoice is created in QuickBooks a single invoice line item is added for the total of the rental on the Quantify invoice, as well as for each additional charge. These line items are matched by name and can be renamed after the linkage occurs. Rental is mapped through the “Rent item name” in Global Options (on the Accounting tab, under Rent invoice options), while additional charges are mapped by Accounting ID. When you attempt to synchronize an invoice you will be notified if an additional charge cannot be found. The invoice won’t synchronize and you’ll be able to correct the issue by adding the item in QuickBooks and resynchronizing in Quantify.

image

Quantify Invoice Line Items

image

Corresponding QuickBooks Invoice Line Items

image

Synchronizing Invoices and Credit Memos

Sychronization is easy and accomplished in a single button click. Once you have created invoices in Quantify click the ‘Synchronize Invoices’ menu item from the QuickBooks toolbar button on the Invoices tab. After synchronization is complete you will see a summary dialog box that shows you the details of what was added and updated.

image image

Quantify invoices are now linked to the newly created invoices in QuickBooks and their details are updated upon all subsequent synchronizations. Columns in the grid that are related to QuickBooks will appear once synchronization has started. The invoice due date, total in QuickBooks, and status (paid, not paid, etc), are displayed in blue text. The invoice status, payment date, and other details are updated with QuickBooks values until they’re fully paid in QuickBooks (note that a partially paid invoice will display a ‘Not Paid’ status in Quantify).

image

You can filter the list of displayed invoices by status by clicking on an item in the Filter menu.

The Quantify invoice number will be updated to the number that is auto-assigned by QuickBooks when the invoice or credit memo is added to QuickBooks. In Quantify this number is required to be unique and a case can arise in which QuickBooks assigns a number that is in use by another Quantify invoice. If this occurs then the invoice is saved in QuickBooks but the Quantify invoice will be assigned a new number. You can change the invoice number in Quantify and QuickBooks but the invoice number must be unique. This behavior also occurs for credit memos.

image

image

Rental credits are created in Quantify when they are due for early returns and other situations. These rental credits are created with a single rental item and should not contain any additional charges. If a credit memo contains additional charges you will receive a warning to remove them. To issue a credit for previously invoiced additional charges, create a credit memo within QuickBooks.

image

The status for a credit memo will display the text 'Not Paid' when it has any unapplied amounts in QuickBooks. When the amount of the credit in QuickBooks has been fully applied to customer payments the credit will display a status of 'Paid'.

image

To remove the link between QuickBooks and Quantify for an invoice, highlight the invoice in Quantify and select the ‘Reset Synchronization’ menu item. If there is an invoice (such as a zero invoice) in Quantify that you don’t wish to import into QuickBooks, highlight the invoice and select the ‘Do Not Sync’ item prior to synchronizing. Invoices with a status of ‘Do Not Sync’ are ignored.

After an invoice is synchronized with QuickBooks it cannot be changed in Quantify. If needed, changes must be made in QuickBooks. You can, however, reset the synchronization in Quantify, void or delete the invoice in QuickBooks, then edit the invoice in Quantify and synchronize again. Doing these steps will re-add the invoice in QuickBooks. Keep in mind that the invoice number in QuickBooks may change.

Customers

Customers are required on invoices in both QuickBooks and Quantify. Once synchronization occurs Quantify will match customers by name and ‘link’ them. Unlike most other data, a customer is required to be set up in QuickBooks first and invoicing won’t proceed without a matching customer. This is so that you can maintain the QuickBooks relationship with other software, such as CRM and Point Of Sale. If you attempt to synchronize and a customer name isn’t matched you will receive a warning similar to the one below.

image

If a matching customer is found, Quantify will 'link' the customer with an underlying ID that is stored and reused in later synchronizations. This link is established so that you can rename the customer in Quantify or QuickBooks and maintain the relationship. Although the link will still work, it is recommended to keep these names similar at all times.

image

If for some reason a customer cannot be found in a later synchronization (such as if it was deleted in QuickBooks), Quantify will detect this condition and remove the link so that it can be reestablished. You will see a warning similar to the one below when this happens.

image

Job Sites

Unlike customers, Jobs are automatically added to QuickBooks if a matching job (by name) isn’t found. By default, in QuickBooks, the sales rep from the customer is added to the job so that you can track commissions.

image

If Quantify attempts to fetch a job in QuickBooks and it’s not found for some reason (due to deletion, for example) then Quantify will remove the link so that it can be reestablished. You will be notified of this condition when it happens as shown below.

image

The billing address on the Quantify job site is added to the QuickBooks job.

Quantify Job Site

image


Corresponding QuickBooks Job Site

image

Taxes

If using Quantify and QuickBooks for taxes, only the first tax code is used in Quantify. Once a tax code is matched between Quantify and QuickBooks it is linked. The taxes on an invoice are posted to tax agencies in QuickBooks from a Quantify invoice. For items that have multiple tax agencies (such as state and county) set up a tax ‘group’ in QuickBooks and associate multiple tax rates per that group. Use a single tax code in Quantify with the combined rates (add them together) and name it the same as the QuickBooks tax group. Quantify expects your QuickBooks installation to have two tax codes: taxable and non-taxable. Upon synchronization Quantify will use the first taxable and non-taxable codes that it finds. Please contact Avontus if you’re using more than one taxable or non-taxable code and would like to use the non-default one.

Posted in: Quantify , Rental Billing  Tags:
Actions: E-mail