NEW FEATURES ADDED FOR VERSION 2.83 - Release 10/11/01

IMPORTANT!!! There have been minor changes to the structure of a number of databases in this free upgrade. You can download (save on your hard drive) the required upgrade file. However, you must contact us prior to installing this upgrade so that we can walk you through a five minute set of procedures. Please call our technical support number (1-908-670-6839). Also, please have all users logged off of ArchAdministrator and the "Password for Databases" removed prior to calling.

Submittal Logs - New Module!!!
The new Submittal Logs module has been designed to simplify the task of recording, organizing and tracking submittals that have been received for review and/or distribution by the architect. The user can create a submittal log record for each received or requested item specified in the construction documents. Each submittal log can be associated with a specific project, specification section number, title, and detailed description. The Submittal Logs module has been specifically designed to do the following:

* automate creation of submittal logs that can be tracked/printed
* simplify sorting of submittals by specification section, date, project, etc.
* automate creation of detailed tracking history for submittal items
* find & display submittal logs based on a variety of search criteria
* organize requests, replies, reviews, distributions, required actions, etc.
* notify user of "open" submittal logs and tracking history items
* automatically create/print transmittals based on submittal tracking logs
* provide a database of default specification section numbers and titles

An unlimited number of submittal logs can be associated with each submitted item. ArchAdministrator allows the user to delineate the following:

* whether item an has been received by (or sent to) a contractor, consultant, etc.
* to whom or from whom the item had been sent/received
* the action required of the architect, consultant, contractor, etc.
* the quantity of (and date noted on) items sent/received
* the name of the employee who logs the tracking item
* whether the item is considered "Open" or "Closed"; and much more.

The user can access the Submittal Log module by selecting "Transmittals/Repros and Submittals" from the Main Menu (or Administrator Menu) and then selecting "Submittals" from the dialog box that follows. The user can also access the Submittals module by selecting the "Transmittals/Submittals" text from the list of modules to the left of each module sub-menu and then selecting "Submittals" from the dialog box that follows.

All Modules - Default Project
1. The user now has the ability to select a default project when working in ArchAdministrator. This feature allows the user to specify a default project that is automatically carried into all other areas of the program. The project selected will automatically become the default project when creating new records, performing searches, and more. This feature will simplify the task of creating and searching for records associated with the specified default project. The user can set the "Default Project" by selecting an active project number from the drop-down list located in the lower left corner of the Main Menu view. Please note that the user can disable this feature by selecting "All Projects" as the default project.

2. The "Project Title" will now appear along with the "Project Number" in many drop-down lists when selecting a project while creating or searching for records throughout the program. The additional information will help the user in determining which project number they are looking for.

Accounting
1. A powerful feature has been added to the Account Receipt view that allows ArchAdministrator to automatically enter all outstanding invoice line items for a specified "Received From" entity with one click of the mouse. When initiated by the user, the program determines all outstanding invoiced items recorded in the Billing Invoice module and automatically creates receipt line items that are associated with the outstanding invoice selected. The program automatically enters data into the "Project Ref", "Invoice No", and "Received For" fields; calculates the outstanding balance for each line item; and automatically enters dollar amounts in the "Amt Received" field. If required, the user can then edit the default data provided by this timesaving feature.

2. The default data for the "Invoice No" field located in the Account "Payment Breakdown" line item has been changed from a null value to "N/A". Recent research has found that because this field is used in joins with other databases, it is beneficial to provide data rather than a null value. This will create a more stable database environment.

3. A bug has been fixed that would surface when the user would attempt to create an Account Receipt Summary Report summarized by project number. Prior to this upgrade the user would not be allowed to enter a specific project number when creating the report.

Billing Invoices
1. A powerful new feature has been added that allows the user to specify a percentage of phase fee (i.e. 20%, 32.25%) rather than a dollar amount when creating billing invoice line items. The program automatically calculates the fee for item/phase based on the percentage rate entered by the user and is based on the following calculation:

"Fee for Item/Phase" = ("% of Phase" x "Proposed Phase Fee Stipulated in Proposal/Contract")

Please note that the user can adjust this amount by entering data into the "% of Phase" field located adjacent to the "Fee for Item/Phase" for each line item created in the Invoice Information view. Also note that a percentage cannot be entered for a phase that does not have a proposed fee stipulated in the Proposal/Contract module.

2. An additional calculated field ("Inv. to Date") has been added to each line item appearing in the Invoice Information view. This field displays the total percentage of phase that has been invoiced to date and is calculated as follows:

"% Inv to Date" = ("Total Fees for Phase Invoiced to Date" / "Proposed Phase Fee Stipulated in Proposal/Contract")

Please note that all invoiced amounts will be included in the calculation for "% Inv to Date" including the "Fee for Item/Phase" entered for the current invoice line item.

3. Additional Auto-Text for the Descriptive Subtext field has been provided when the user enters a percentage rate in the "% of Phase" field. The program will automatically provide "Proposed Fee", "% Invoiced" and "Amount Due" in the descriptive subtext field. The user can edit this default data as required. However, please note that changing data in the Descriptive Subtext will not change data stored in any other data fields.

4. The "Balance Due to Date" column for the "Project Credits (Retainer, Added Receipts, Etc)" row has been revised on the Project Payment Summary view. The summary item now reflects all deductions credited to this column and all deductions are incorporated into the Project Totals. Prior to this upgrade, credits recorded in the Accounting module would appear in the summary, however, they where not deducted from the "Balance Due to Date" and "Project Totals" areas of the report.

5. A minor bug has been fix that would surface when the user would attempt to create auto-text for the "Descriptive Subtext" field for "Reimbursable Expenses". Prior to this upgrade the auto-text would correctly total each reimbursable line item. However, the program would round the dollar amount for a few of the line items to the nearest dollar.

Contact Reference List
1. A "Print Envelope" button has been added to #10 and Monarch envelope views. The user can now print envelopes with contact addressee information directly from the Contact Reference List.

Project Reference List
1. A "Status" column has been added to the Project reference list. This status column delineates the current phase of development or current status for each project listed as defined by the user in the Project Management module (i.e. "3. Construction Documents", "Completed", "On-Hold") . The user can also sort projects listed by "Status" in ascending or descending order.

Correspondence - Internal Office Memos
1. The "New Memos" list will automatically display when the user opens the Internal Memos module if new (unread) memos exist for the logged on user. The "Internal Memos Menu" view will display if no new (unread) memos exist for the user.

2. A minor bug has been fix that would surface when the user would attempt to enter this module. Prior to this upgrade the "Internal Memos Menu" view would sometimes incorrectly display the total number of "New" memos stored in the database as zero, even though there may have been new (unread) memos.

Correspondence - Outbound
1. The "Associated Contacts" view that delineates linked contacts that can be added to the "Copy To" field of a correspondence record has been redesigned. The view is now based on a "Report" view type (rather than the originally designed repeating panel). This redesign will enhance program performance and allow the list of contacts to be sorted alphabetically by contact name.

2. "Project Reference Text" field has been added to the correspondence search criteria screen. This feature will allow the user to find correspondence records based on search criteria entered in the Project Reference Text field.

Proposals/Contracts
1. The user can now enter percentage rates rather than dollar amounts for consultant allowances when preparing a proposal/contract. This powerful new feature allows the user to base the consultant allowance structure on a percentage of each phase fee. This allows the consultant allowance to fluctuate up or down as the phase fee changes throughout the life of the project. The user can enter consultant allowances using the percentage method by entering percentage rates in the appropriate field on the "Consultant Fee Breakdown" view (i.e. 15%, 20.25%, etc.).

2. The "Project Title" field located in the "Building Information" section of the "Project Information" view has been increased to two lines. This enhancement will allow the user to enter a two line title for any project. Please note that only the first line will appear in many forms, lists, reports, etc.

Time Sheet Daily Logs
1. A bug has been fixed that would surface when the user would reenter the Daily Time Sheet module after a daily summary had been created and closed. Prior to this upgrade the employee's title and level would not be properly logged for the time sheet entry. A procedure has been incorporated into ArchAdministrator that will find and fix previously entered (incomplete) time sheet records that may be present in the database. Please contact PS Software Solution's technical support for details on how to initiate the incorporated procedure.

Time Sheet Summaries
1. A project number has been added to the footer of all time sheet summary reports. This will delineate which project is being referenced in the report. This feature will be especially useful when reviewing/printing reports with projects that span multiple pages.

Various Modules
1. Various revisions to remove minor bugs and improve user interface.