These questions and answers are provided for finding quick solutions to topics that might take some time to locate in the help file. See Features for a more detailed description of what's available in Job Designer.

Please contact us at support@acvatec.com if your question is not listed here.

General

What do I need to run Job Designer scheduling software?
Job Designer can be used on the following operating systems: Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003 Server. A minimum of 64 Mb Ram is required. When using the server on a network, more Ram is advised on the server machine, as this will improve overall performance.

Do I need multiple licenses to use Job Designer on a network?
No, a single license is all that is required for both the Professional as well as the Client/Server versions, as long as all copies are used on the same network, accessing the same data.

What is the difference between Job Designer Professional and Client/Server?
Both versions of Job Designer have identical features, and can be used on a network.
The difference with the standard version however is that network performance will
slow down over time as more records are entered. The slow down will depend on your network speed, connected users, the amount of records etc.

This is not the case with Client/Server.

The Client/Server version includes a database server which means that only the records requested by a client will be sent to the client. This minimizes network traffic.

The standard version does not include a database server.

With the standard version, a large part of the database is scanned for the requested records, (over the network) resulting in higher network traffic counts depending on the size of the database and connected users.

To help minimize network traffic when using the Standard version we have optimized the database with indexes, and local lookup tables meaning that the entire database will not be scanned over the network but the overall network traffic will still be higher than with the Client/Server version.

Job Designer displays a message 'Cannot Find server' (Client/Server version only)
Please make sure that the database server included with Job Designer (located in the Job Designer/Server folder) is started, even if using the software on a single machine.

Operational

Can I create jobs that are not based on time quantity, but is charged for at a fixed rate?
Create a task in the rooms data page. Click on the financial tab and click on 'Use fixed rates'. This will force Job Designer to charge the hourly rate specified for the task, ignoring the actual amount of hours actually worked. In other words, if the hourly rate is $20.00 and use fixed rates is checked, then the invoice entry will be $20.00 regardless of hours worked.

Can I link other items (for instance equipment and contacts) to jobs?
Open the job detail page by double-clicking on the job. Click on the 'Add' button for the desired item. A window will appear listing all available items. Double-click on an item in the list on the left hand side of the window to add it to the job. Keep in mind that if it is stock that you're adding, you will be prompted for a quantity as well.

Can I make the items linked to a job not based on time quantity, but on a fixed cost?
Open the required item's data page. Select the financial tab of the item and check the 'Use fixed rates' checkbox. The item will be charged for at a fixed cost regardless of the amount of hours used. The amount charged will be the hourly rate specified for the item.

Can I exclude items linked to jobs from being invoiced? I only want to link contacts(employees) for reporting purposes.
Open the financial tab for the item. Deselect the 'Include on invoice' for hour rate as well as for after hour rate check boxes. If you only want this item to appear on invoices if it was used during after hours, then check the 'Include on invoice' checkbox for after hours.

Can I link non database items to jobs?
Open the Job  detail page and select the various items tab. Click on 'Add'. You will be prompted for quantity, cost and description. Once completed, the item will be included in the finance listing and will be visible when selecting the finance tab of the job detail page.

Can I override item quantities and cost on invoices?
On the finance tab of the job detail page, first select the line item by clicking on it, then select the appropriate override function. Costs, quantities, discounts as well as totals can be overridden. Click on the 'Reset' button to revert to the original value.

Can I generate monthly statements?
Go to Finance |  Invoices/Statements. Select the client for whom the statement is required and select the period. Click on 'Print Statement'. A statement will be generated and saved automatically in the statements folder located in the Job Designer program folder.

Can I make payments and credit notes against invoices?
Go to Finance |  Invoices/Statements. Double-click on the required invoice. The invoice will be displayed. To make a payment, click on the 'Payments' button. The payments window will be displayed. Click on 'Make payment' and enter the paid amount. Fill in the 'Received by' field. The 'Received by' drop-down list will only contain employee names. Employees can be set in the 'Contacts' data page. Next, select the payment method. Create a payment method if necessary by click on the 'Payment methods' button. Finally, enter a reference number if needed.

To create a credit note, select the required invoice and click on the 'Credits' button. Click on 'New Credit note'. The credit note properties window will be displayed. Here the desired quantity or desired cost can be entered. Note that these are not 'credit by:' values but desired values. Once the desired values have been entered, click on 'Accept'. Finally, fill in the issued by field from the list of employees. Employees can be set in the 'Contacts' data page.

Can I assign different or discount pricing structures for different clients?
There are four cost entry fields labeled A,B,C and D available when opening the financial tabs on items' data pages. Fill in a different cost for each of these fields. On the clients financial tab, select which one of these cost codes (A,B,C,D) should be used for the selected client.

Can I create different costs for after hour and weekend time worked?
Select the required items financial tab and enter a normal hours rate as well as an after hours rate. Make sure that the 'Include on invoice' box is checked for both rates. Also make sure that the 'Charge after hour rate for weekends' and 'Charge after hour rate for special days' options are checked on the settings page.

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Can I generate quotes with Job Designer?
See Project Quotes and Job Costing.

Can override discounts?
Yes. This can be done per line item.

Can I exclude discounting for certain items?
Open the items' data page and select the financial tab. Deselect the 'Allow Discount' check box for the selected item. Discount will not be calculated for this item when included on invoices

Can I link fixed rate tasks to jobs?
The stock data page can be used to define stock or fixed rate tasks, as these items would not be charged for by time used, but by quantity used. Create a new stock item and give it a task name, for instance: CD Authoring. Check the 'Ignore' checkbox next to the On Hand field. This will force Job Designer to not count this item like it would a normal stock item. To add this item to a job, open the job detail page and select the 'Stock/Items and Equipment tab'. Click on 'Add' beneath the Stock/Items window and select the newly created CD Authoring item. You will still be prompted for a quantity as you might be required to author 2 or 3 cd's.

Can I use Job Designer to handle multiple companies?
To accomplish this, please take the following steps:

Step1. Create your company and all resources belonging to the company.
Step2. Click on File | Backup all records. You will be prompted for a filename. Enter the company name as a file name. Your company records will now be backed up to disk.
Step 3. Now you have two options. 1)To start with a fresh database,  click on File | Restore all Records and load the file labeled 'New Data' located in the demo data folder. This will give you the opportunity to create a new company and new resources from scratch. 2)The alternative is to merely edit the existing company name from the settings page, and to edit the resources to suit the new company.
Step 4. Backup the new data and save it with the new company name as a filename.

To load a company, simply use the restore all records function and select the required company.

Can I group jobs?
Open the job detail page by double clicking on a job in the scheduler window. Select the Project/Contact tab. Click on the 'Add to Project' button. Click on the 'Add to new project' button. When prompted, enter a name for the project and click on OK. This job will now be linked to the newly created project. To add another job to the same project, follow the same steps as above, but this time select the 'Add to existing project' option. To view all jobs linked to a project, go to Windows | Projects. Select the project from the drop down list. The linked jobs will be listed in the job box located on the bottom left hand side of the window. Double click on any of these job numbers to view the job detail.

Can I hide resources?
The list box located at the bottom left hand corner of the scheduler displays the list of room categories. Click on any of these categories to display or hide them in the scheduler. Rooms are linked to categories in the rooms data page.

Can I password protect my data?
You can create different users with different access privileges. Go to Security | Privileges. The security tree view will now be displayed. Click on 'New User' and nter a name for the user. Click on the + sign next to the newly created user to open the properties for this user. Now open the 'Rights' node and then the 'Windows' node. Enable or disable windows by double clicking on them. The same applies to the 'File' and 'General' nodes. If this username is entered when logging on in future, only the windows enabled here will be available to this user. It is up to the user to create his/her own password. This can be achieved by double clicking on the 'Password' node.

Can I assign different access privileges for different users?
Yes, this is easily done from the security menu.

Can Job Designer be networked?
Yes. Network operation is very straightforward to set up. Please see the section on 'Configuring the network' in the Job Designer help file.

Can I book recurring jobs with Job Designer?
Create a new job by dragging from the start to end times in the scheduler and then right-clicking the mouse button. The new job window will be displayed. Complete the task, client and booked by fields. Click on 'Block Book'. Select the from and to dates for this booking. Select whether to include weekends and special days. Click on create. When adding resources to this booking, 2 options are available. 1) To add the resource to the currently selected job, or 2) the entire block booking. The same applies to all editing operations.

Can I backup my data?
Use the 'Backup data' function to do this. Make sure that the 'Archive functions'feature is enabled in the settings page.

Can I generate reports on time/quantities used on jobs or items to predict future durations?
Job Designer is capable of printing a variety of detailed reports. Please see the reports section in the job Designer help file.

Can I design my own document layouts?
The documents printed by Job Designer are template based. This means that you dit the provided templates to suit your requirements, and Job Designer will simply "fill in" the details. Please see the 'Printing Documents' section in the Job Designer help files.

Can I invoice jobs that have been grouped together?
Jobs can be invoiced per client or per project. Please see the invoicing section on the Job Designer help files.

Can I create more than one task per resource?
Tasks are created in the rooms' data page. Multiple tasks can be created per room. Every task created can also have a unique pricing structure assigned to it. When creating jobs, only tasks created for the specific resource will be available to that resource. Please see the rooms section in the Job Designer help file to find out more about tasks.

Can I see all my jobs in list form?
Go to Windows | List view to see a list of jobs sorted by date and client.

Can I see all my jobs in a monthly calendar form?
Go to Windows | Month View to see your jobs in a month calendar form. Entries can also be filtered by room.

Can I work with more than one tax type?
Job Designer can handle up to three tax types per client/resource. Go to Windows | Settings and select the taxes tab to create more tax types. Select the taxes to be used in the clients data page as well as the items data pages.

Can I add notes to documents once they have been generated?
Since Job Designer generates standard RTF type documents, they are fully editable once generated.

Can I keep track of stock used?
Job Designer automatically keeps track of stock items used. The 'On Hand' field will be updated every time stock is added to a job.

Can I generate invoices for ANY period?
Invoices can be generated for any period depending on the start and end dates selected. The default however, is from the first to the end of a given month.

I cannot move or edit some of the jobs visible on the time line. What am I doing wrong?
Jobs that have been completed can not be moved. To move a completed job, first reset the job by clicking on the reset button in the job details page. The same applies to invoiced jobs.

Find out more about Job Designer Billing and Scheduling Software