Clients & Profits Online User Guide
There are three parts to job traffic: status codes, traffic notes, and milestones.
Status codes classify jobs, such as new, in production, awaiting approval, and ready to bill. Traffic notes describe anything about a job’s progress, such as the results of client meetings. But milestones give you real information.
Milestones represent key events or phases, such as the dates of creative meetings, client approvals, press checks, etc. Each job type can contain up to twelve different milestones (but not all milestones need to be used). They vary by job type, so each type of job (brochure, ads, radio spots, etc.) has its own customized set of milestones. Traffic milestones are optional, but can be very useful when used together with status codes to better track the shop’s production.
Traffic milestones are part of the spec sheet. If a job doesn’t have a spec sheet, it doesn’t track traffic milestones. Also, the spec sheet must have milestone headings; if not, this job can’t track milestones. Jobs with the same job type share the same milestone headings. You can enter the milestone dates, time, and names (whatever will fit in each field), but you can’t change the milestone headings. The headings themselves can only be changed in the spec sheet; changing the headings, however, affect all jobs using that spec sheet.
Since milestones are part of the job type spec sheet, a job can’t track traffic milestones unless it has a job type. Giving a job a job type links it with the spec sheet. Special information from the spec sheet, such as estimate options and milestone headings, are copied from the spec sheet to the job ticket. Once a job is linked to a spec sheet, it can be tracked with traffic milestones.
The initials of the job’s key creative, production, and account people can entered as traffic assignments (i.e., traffic names). Jobs can be selected by traffic names, providing traffic reports by creative director, account supervisor, copywriter, etc.
To update one job’s traffic status
1 Choose View > Job Tickets.
2 Find the job you wish to update.
3 Click the Traffic link.
The job’s traffic window opens, displaying its current production and billing status, status note, start and due dates, traffic notes, and milestones.4 Enter the job’s up-to-date production and billing status, status note, next steps, milestones, and other traffic information.
5 Click Save.
The changes to the job’s traffic status update production reports immediately. Once the changes are saved, anyone looking at this job will see the up-to-date traffic information.
If the job’s status was changed, an e-mail message will be sent immediately, if applicable. The status e-mail will automatically notify selected staff members when a job’s status changes.
To update a job’s traffic status while entering time
1 Open your time card or time sheet.
2 Enter a job number, then click the Traffic link.
The Update Traffic window opens, displaying the job’s traffic and status information (see below).
3 Make your changes, then click Save.
To update traffic status for many jobs
1 Choose View > Traffic.The Find Job Tickets dialog box opens, prompting you to enter selections for finding jobs.
2 Choose a find option from the pop-up menu (e.g., client) then enter a find value (e.g., client number).
Jobs can be selected by client, AE/team, and one of the traffic names (e.g., creative director, account supervisor, etc.). This option lets you find your own jobs (that is, if you’re initials were entered into a job’s assigned to fields), for example, or all of the jobs for one client. To find all jobs, enter the find value as “ALL”.
3 Select a status then enter a range of status codes, then click Find.
Updating traffic for one person’s jobs. The Find Job Tickets dialog lets you list jobs by client, AE/team, or one of the job’s traffic names (e.g., creative director). This option shows only the job assigned to the creative director BEN.
Jobs can be selected by production or billing status, and any range of status codes. This options let you find only open jobs, for instance. The jobs you’ve selected are listed from the file server into the Update Traffic window. Jobs are sorted by job number, but can be arranged by clicking on any column
heading. Jobs are grouped by job type to make it easy to analyze and update traffic information for the same types of jobs (e.g., brochures, interactive, etc.). To see jobs for a different job type, choose another job type from the Job Type pop-up menu.
Update traffic anywhere, anytime. It’s quick and easy to update a job’s status, traffic milestones, status note, etc. The pop-up Traffic window can be opened whenever the job is entered on a time sheet or time card.
4 Click once on a job’s first milestone to select it for updating.
The job’s traffic assignments, milestone headings, and traffic milestones appear in spreadsheet form on the window. Once selected, the job’s traffic milestones and traffic assignments can be edited. Jobs can be selected for updating at random by clicking on the milestone you want to change.
The new traffic information will replace the old in the Job Traffic Milestone window. The next job is selected automatically, and can be updated by entering the new traffic information.
5 Repeat step 4 for every job that needs updating, then click Save.
To customize traffic namesTraffic names are system-wide setting entered in Preferences. Since they are a system preference, all jobs share the same six traffic names. The traffic names are codes that identify the kind of person who is responsible for some part of the job, such as AD (“art director”), CW (“copywriter”), or PM (“production manager”). The system’s traffic names appear every time a job is opened. The traffic assignments are the initials of the staff members themselves, entered for each of the traffic names.
1 Choose Setup > Preferences.
2 Choose Jobs from the pop-up menu.
The job preferences window opens.
3 Enter the traffic names then click Save.
To update the daily job status report
The Daily Job Status report is designed to be printed every morning to summarize the shop’s work in production. The report is printed from the Daily Job Status window after the job status is updated. The production or billing status for many jobs can be easily and quickly updated every day.
1 Choose View > Daily Job Status.
2 Enter the selections to find jobs, then click Find.
Jobs are sorted by client then by job number, making it easy to see the current status of specific jobs (see below). Each job’s production status (or billing status, depending on the option you chose) and status note can be easily updated by entering the new status and note then pressing Tab. The status of many jobs can be entered at the same time.
To print the Daily Job Status Report
1 From the Daily Job Status window click the print button, or choose File > Print Daily Job Status Report.
Closing jobs
Closing a job is not as meaningful (or as permanent) as it sounds. Jobs are closed when they are assumed to be finished and billed. Closing a job isn’t literal, since costs, time, and billings can still be added to it. But what closing does is useful: Closing tries to prevent users from adding purchase orders, costs, and time to jobs that have had a final billing.
Closing a job is not permanent, since a closed job can be easily reopened. But it prevents
two traditional problems: (1) costs some times are posted after the job is billed, and (2) billing these late costs is easy to overlook. Before, an account executive had to closely watch these unbilled costs, then make sure they were billed next time. But it was easy to forget. Clients & Profits prevents this by automatically re-opening jobs when late costs are posted. And, reopened jobs get a special reopened job status. Since all open jobs appear on billing reports, account executives will see both open and reopened jobs -- and their unbilled costs. Closed jobs can be printed on all job reports by including the closed status codes in the print selections.
To close one job
1 From the Job Ticket window, find the job ticket you wish to close.
2 Click the Closed checkbox.
If the job has unbilled costs, you’ll be prompted to write them off first.
If you click Yes, the they will be written off automatically (i.e., their billing status changes to write-off; the G/L is unaffected). If the can’t close jobs with unbilled costs option is checked in job Preferences, the job can’t be closed until all of its unbilled costs are either transferred, written off, or made unbillable by changing their billing status.
If the job has unfinished tasks, it can’t be closed if the can’t close jobs with unfinished tasks option is checked in Preferences.
The job’s production status and billing status changes to the closed status code, usually 999. Once closed, a warning will appear anytime someone tries to add a purchase order, time entry, or cost. The default closed status code is set in Preferences.
To close a job while working anywhereA job ticket can be closed while you’re working anywhere in Clients & Profits from your time card. Jobs can be closed while you’re entering the day’s time. The Update Traffic pop-up window lets you change the job’s production status and billing status, plus update the traffic notes. Changing the job’s production status to your closed status (e.g., 999) checks the job’s Closed box.
1 Choose View > Time Card.
2 Enter the job number, then press tab.
3 Click on the Update Traffic link.
4 From the Traffic pop-up window, change the job’s production status to 999 (or your closed status).
5 Click OK, then continue entering your time.
Any job on the time card can be closed the same way. To close a job without entering hours, simply enter the job number then leave the task and hours empty.
To reopen a closed jobA closed job can be reopened anytime for any reason. Reopening a job changes its status to the default “reopened” status code. Also, any costs that were written off will become unbilled. Only users that have the “close/reopen” job access privilege can reopen closed jobs.
1 From the Job Ticket window, uncheck the Closed checkbox.
One-click closing. To close a job, simply click its Closed checkbox. The job’s status will change to the default closed status.
