General Tips & Tricks: No Fear, No Frustration with Print Controls … · 2018-04-14 · Use-Snipping-Tool-to-capture-screen-shots. B o t h Snippy and the Snipping Tool allow for

October 2010News and Information for Users of Sage Timberline Office Software

Timberline’s Report Designer (RD) module, with its data mining and extraction capabilities, is a user-

friendly and fairly responsive appli-cation that, if not feared, can be of tremendous benefit to your company’s performance analysis.

RD is not near-ly as complex as Crysta l Reports. However, RD can sometimes equally frustrate a report designer, especial-ly when creating what’s expected to be a fairly simple, straightforward report. I had such a mo-ment of exasperation last month while designing an AR Detail report. My objec-tive was to present invoice information and its related cash receipt information side by side on the same row, rather than stacked in a list chronologically as presented in the AR Statement report designs that accompany the AR module. Try as I might, I couldn’t get the results that I knew were correct until I focused on my old friend: Print Controls.

First, let’s get our bearings. Print

General Tips & Tricks:

No Fear, No Frustration withPrint Controls in Report Designer

by: Doug LewandaAerial Lighting & Electric, Inc.

Controls determine how often field data is retrieved from your database and printed on the report (for example, headers and footers once or once per page; transactions more frequently). Print Controls are automatically as-signed to each field as the design is

created, but may be changed. This as-signment is based upon intrinsic logic built into the soft-ware and is driven by the primary re-cord and sort order

used in your report design. To get the full benefit of Print Controls, click on View and have at least the Header, Body, and Print Controls items checked. This will bring color to your screen, defining how frequently the various fields in your report print. To see

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No Fear, No Frustration with Print Controls in Report Designer ........................ 1

Capturing Screen Shots: How Do You Do That? ....................................... 2

Utilizing Historic Tax Credits - A Free Lunch for All ................................. 3

Man Hours, Crew Hours, or Hours: Is There a Difference? Absolutely. . 4

STO 9.7 Upgrade Has TUG Members Talking ......................................... 5

About Easy Installation, Features and Speed ........................................... 5

Think of TUG First on December 2nd for Our Day-long Webinar on Year End ....................................... 7

Summer 2010 Enhancements Simplify your day. every day. ...................... 8

TUG Online Webex Calendar ................ 10

“Timber l ine ’s Repor t Designer (RD) module…is a user-friendly and fairly responsive application…”

October 2010 News and Information for Users of Sage Timberline Office Software

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the TUG PulsePublished by the

Timberline Users Group, Inc.and sent to all members.

Board of DirectorsNatalie Allen, President

Matt Weaver, Vice PresidentJon Banse, SecretaryJulie Brown, Treasurer

Tim CookeSharon HessongBarbara Morse

Mike SuhoveckyLenni Witt

Robin PetersonDenney Benedict

Publications CommitteeBrent CatoJulie Brown

Sharon HessongLiz Perez-Lavin

Val SteffenShanna Torges

Carolyn Boettner, EditorMaureen Connolly,

Consultant

National AdministratorBoettner Business

ProfessionalsP.O. Box 697

Sylvania, OH 43560Phone: 419.885.9004

Fax: 419.885.9007Toll Free: 800.884.4630

Scott Boettner,Marketing Director

800-884-4630

Web Site

I seem to spend much of my time creating training materials and help documents to assist users. One

question I’m always asked is, “How did you get those screen shots into your documents?” So, I thought I’d share my secrets.

I often use screen capture tools that you can use, too. They are Snippy for Windows XP and the Snipping Tool for Windows Vista and Windows 7.

For Windows XP If you’re using

Microsoft® Windows XP, you can download a simple tool called “Snippy” from http://www.bhelpuri.net/Snippy/. Snippy enables you to cap-ture screen shots and paste them into other applica-t ions . Us ing Snippy is easy: just download the executable from the web-site and double click to launch the application.

There’s nothing to install; the ex-ecutable resides in your system tray (bottom right hand corner of Windows XP). It is the icon that looks like a pair of scissors. When you want to capture a screen shot, click on the icon and your mouse turns into the crosshairs symbol. Click (and hold), then drag to capture any part of your screen. When you release the mouse button, you have an image that you can paste into your documents.

There are a few settings you can

Capturing Screen Shots:How Do You Do That?

by: Matt Weaver, MCPMeyer Najem Construction, LLC

adjust, but the defaults should work just fine. You can learn all about Snippy at http://www.bhelpuri.net/Snippy/.

For Windows Vista or Window 7If you’re using Microsoft® Win-

dows Vista or Microsoft® Windows 7, you can use the Snipping Tool to capture screen shots. The Snipping Tool is built into the operating system so there’s nothing to download and to

run. It works about the same as does Snippy. You can find more information on how to use the tool at http://windows.

microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Use-Snipping-Tool-to-capture-screen-shots.

B o t h Snippy and the Snipping Tool allow for s imple and clear screen capture im-ages that you

can use in your documents. I think you’ll be surprised how often you’ll want to use them.

And, always remember…Don’t Forget to BACK UP! Know the Importance of a Disaster

Recovery Plan.


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Utilizing Historic Tax Credits … A Free Lunch for AllBy: James McMahonAronson & Company

Although innumerable economists have warned us that there is no such thing as a free lunch, the

Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program (“the Program”) may, in fact, offer such for some contractors. The Program provides substantial income tax savings incentives for the rehabilitation of certified historic buildings and non-historic buildings built after 1936. The form of these income tax incentives are actual in-come tax credits which are the most effective in the government’s fiscal arsenal for generating economic stimu-lus. Tax credits lower the tax owed to the IRS on a dollar-for-dollar basis in comparison to tax deductions, which merely lower the amount of income subject to taxation.

Administered by a partnership among the Department of the Interior’s National Park Service (NPS), the State Historic Preserva-tion Officer (SHPO) in each state, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Program has been an overwhelming success. Since 1976, federal historic tax incentives have rehabilitated and saved more than 27,000 historic properties, stimulated over $18 billion of private rehabilitation, and rehabilitated over 149,000 housing units. An additional 75,000 housing units have been created, of which 40% are low and moderate income units.

The Program accrues benefits not only to the owners by reducing the financial burden of construction, but to the occupants and surrounding communities as well. These additional benefits include:

• Increasing the value of the reha-bilitated and nearby properties.

• Revitalizing downtown areas and

neighborhoods and increasing the amount of available housing within the community.

• Encouraging protection of land-marks through the promotion, recognition, and designation of historic structures. It is these his-toric places that give cities, towns, and rural places their unique character.

• Returning underutilized structures to the tax rolls.

• Generating jobs.

Current tax incentives for preserva-tion, established by the Tax Reform Act of 1986 (IRC Section 47), include:

• a 20% tax credit available on all qualified expenditures for the certified rehabilitation of certified historic structures, and

• a 10% tax credit available on all qualified expenditures for the rehabilitation of non-historic, non-residential buildings built before 1936.

Qualified rehabilitation expendi-tures include:

1) costs associated with the work un-dertaken on the historic building

2) architectural and engineering fees

3) site survey fees

4) legal expenses

5) development fees

6) other construction-related costs

For both credits, the rehabilita-tion must be substantial and must involve a depreciable building. The IRS defines a depreciable building

as one used in a trade or business or held for the production of income. It may be used for offices, for commer-cial, industrial, or agricultural purposes. Rental housing is deemed depreciable but is only eligible for the 20% tax credit and is not eligible for the 10% tax credit.

The IRS defines substantial rehabil-itation as that, which during 24-month period, rehabilitation expenditures exceeds the greater of $5,000 or the adjusted basis of the building. The adjusted basis is computed as follows:

• the purchase price,

• minus the cost of land,

“ …Innumerable economists have warned us that there is no such thing as a free lunch, the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program (“the Program”) may, in fact, offer such for some contractors.”


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People working with Sage Timber-line Office Estimating often wonder how a man hour is handled com-

pared to a crew hour. And, they often ask, how does a generic hour fit into the picture? The software handles the order units very differently, especially if a crew is assigned.

A man hour is the total number of hours to accomplish a task, regard-less of whether a crew is assigned. A man hour is based entirely on produc-tivity. Take, for ex-ample, the following case in which there is no crew:

Takeoff unit: ...cuydOrder unit: ......man hour (MH)Conversion: ....4 cuyd/MHLabor price: ....$20/MH

Note that the labor cost needs to be the total cost to achieve that pro-ductivity.

If we takeoff 100 cuyd at 4 cuyd/MH, we generate 25 man hours at $20/MH, which equals $500.

We don’t care, from an estimating standpoint, if that’s one person working for 25 hours or 25 people working for 1 hour. The total time doesn’t change. We have 25 total hours to achieve the task.

Now let’s assume there’s a crew of 5 laborers with an order unit of MH.

Takeoff unit: ...cuyd

Order unit: ......man hour (MH)Conversion: ....4 cuyd/MHLabor price: ....$20/MH

A man hour (MH) order unit as-sumes that each person on the crew can achieve the stated productivity and that the average cost per man hour for the crew is $20.

If we takeoff 100 cuyd at 4cuyd/MH, we generate 25 man hours at $20/

MH, which equals $500.Here the costs and man hours are

exactly the same as a generic non-crewed item, but the elapsed time on site would be 5 hours.

Note, by definition a man hour order unit assumes that each person can do the same amount of work per hour (4 cuyd/CH in this example). Depending on the makeup of the crew, this may or may not be valid. For instance, let’s say we add a non-working foreman (being paid $40/hour) to this crew. The pro-ductivity would need to be adjusted so that it reflected the non-working crew member. In this example, if one laborer can do 4 cuyd/MH, the productivity for this six-man crew using MH as an order unit is 3.33 cuyd/MH (5 lab * 4 cuyd/hour/6 people on the crew equals 3.33

cuyd/MH). The MH hourly price would be

$23.33 (5 laborers @ $20 + one fore-man @ $40 divided by 6 people on the crew).

Now let’s look at a crew of 5 labor-ers using an order unit or crew hour. For a crew hour order unit, the productivity reflects the productivity of the entire team working together, and the price reflects the aggregate cost of the crew.

Takeoff unit: ...cuydOrder unit: ......crew hour (CH)Conversion: ....20 cuyd/CHLabor price: ....$100/CH

If we takeoff 100 cuyd at 20 cuyd/CH, we generate 5 CH at $100/CH, which equals $500.

Note that the man hour column on the spreadsheet would still reflect 25 man hours.

Let’s assume, as in the previous example, that we add a non-working foreman. The productivity remains at 20 cuyd/CH because it takes the entire crew to achieve the crew hour produc-tivity. However, the labor price would increase to $140/CH.

The complexity increases when crews are assigned to the items, but the order unit is the generic hour (4 cy/hour). If the “hour” is being treated as a crew hour, the productivity needs to be entered as the entire crew productivity. If the “hour” is being treated as a man


Man Hours, Crew Hours, or Hours:Is There a Difference? Absolutely!

by: Gary SimpsonG L Simpson & Associates

“A man hour is the total number of hours to accooplish a tast, regardless of whether a crew is assigned.”


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STO 9.7 Upgrade Has TUG Members TalkingAbout Easy Installation, Features and Speed

You’ve heard about the requirement to upgrade your STO software. But, what’s that all about? This year Sage will be providing a year-end update for versions 9.6 and

9.7. The update will accommodate a variety of government changes, including form changes. If you’re currently on one of these versions, STO will send you a notification to install a simple update. If you’re currently on version 9.4 or 9.5, then you can upgrade directly to 9.7. In other words, if you haven’t installed yet, you’ll need in pretty short order.

You may find the experiences shared by several TUG members reassuring. From small companies to large, the up-grade to 9.7 has been largely successful and has yielded terrific benefits.

One of the biggest concerns in installing any upgrade is the time and the effort involved in the actual installation process. “I’m not an IT person, but I was able to perform our install,” says Eire Stewart of JP DiNapoli Companies, Inc., a 10-user real estate company. Eire did the in-stallation, she said, “on a Saturday afternoon without any problems.”

Alexis Shelton, Controller and IT Manager of Millennium Build-ing Services, agrees. Millennium recently upgraded from version 9.4 to 9.7, and the whole process took less than five hours. “It really was a great conversion,” Alexis said. “A total of 25 workstations were updated, and, after the conversion, 24 people went right back to work.” Alexis continued, “The biggest changes were for me, the administrator. Coming from 9.4, some of the functionality such as Security Administration moved from GL to the Desktop. Once you’re familiar with the changes, such as the tree format within Desktop, it really does make

everything easier.”Another advantage, according to Alexis, is 9.7’s im-

proved speed. With more than 625,000 work orders in the system, Alexis explains, “Service Management is used to the extreme. With so many work orders, performance improve-ments are really noticeable. When you call up a work order,

the response is instantaneous versus the one- or two-second processing time it took in the past”.

With 65 users, Conewago Enter-prises, Inc.’s upgrade took eight hours, including the data file upgrades. Cone-wage uses all the Timberline modules, including Document Manager. Randee

Young, Timberline Administrator at Conewago, was pleased with the results. “We were seeing application error messages every time we closed a module or a task, and that’s one of the reasons we went to 9.7. Those problems were fixed. I was

also having trouble with Address Book locking up the pervasive engine on my station each time I tried to edit more than one contact or company. But, with the 9.7 that problem was fixed as well.” A number of other small fixes were incorporated into 9.7, including those to the GL/JC Totals by Batch Reconciliation, A/R Cash Projection Report. In addition, General Ledger will no longer allow an account to be created if a prefix and/or base does not exist.

Dale Fite, VP of Finance & Ac-counting for Tyler 2 Construction, Inc., upgraded from 9.6 three months ago and says, “The 9.7 upgrade was a huge benefit to Tyler because of our use of Project Management and Document Management (DM). The new DM routing capabilities allow accounting to pre-set invoice routing and

“You’ve heard about the requirement to upgrade your

STO software… what’s that all about?”


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• plus improvements previously made,

• minus depreciation already taken.

Once the substantial rehabilitation test is met, all qualified expenditures, including those incurred outside of the measuring period, qualify for the credit.

Historic Rehabilitation Tax CreditThe 20% Rehabilitation Tax Credit

applies to any project that undertakes certified rehabilitation of a certified historic structure. A certified historic structure, as defined by the NPS, is:

• A building listed that is listed in-dividually in the National Register of Historic Places.

-OR-• A building that is located in a

registered historic district and certified by the NPS as contribut-ing to the historic significance of that district. Owners of buildings within historic districts must re-quest approval from the National Park Service.

Claiming the Credit and Tax Recapture

The tax credit is claimed on IRS form 3468 which is filed with the in-come tax return in the tax year which the rehabilitated building is placed in service. For phased projects, the tax credit may be claimed before comple-tion of the entire project, provided that the substantial rehabilitation test has been met. If a building remains in service throughout the rehabilitation, then the credit may be claimed when the substantial rehabilitation test has been met. Unused tax credit can be "carried back" one year and "carried forward" 20 years.

RecaptureThe owner must hold the building

for five full years after completing the rehabilitation, or pay back the credit. If the owner disposes of the building within a year after it is placed in service, 100% of the credit is recaptured. For properties held between one and five years, the tax credit recapture amount is reduced by 20% per year.

The government also has the right to inspect a rehabilitated property at any time during the five-year period and may revoke certification if work was not done as described in the Historic Preservation Certification Application, or if unapproved alterations were made for up to five years after certification of the rehabilitation.

10% Rehabilitation TaxCreditThe 10% Tax Credit applies to the

rehabilitation of non-historic buildings built before 1936. If a building is certi-fied as being historic it must “decertify” to become eligible for the 10% tax credit. As with the 20% rehabilitation credit, the 10% credit applies only to projects that are depreciable and the rehabilitation must be substantial. As previously mentioned, the 10% tax credit is not available for rental housing, unlike the 20% tax credit. Three ad-ditional distinctions exist between the 10% and 20% rehabilitation tax credits:

• A building that has been moved is not eligible for the 10% credit but a certified historic structure can still be eligible for the 20% credit.

• Projects undertaken for the 10%

rehabilitation credit are subject to specific physical tests for the retention of external walls and internal structural framework.

• Except for the physical tests men-tioned above, no formal review process exists to become eligible for the 10% credit.

The 10% tax credit is also claimed on IRS form 3468 for the tax year in which the rehabilitated building is placed in service.

A review of the role and function of each of the three participating agencies in the Federal Historic Tax Incentive

program will provide additional under-standing and cement the process from application to filing (Compiled by the Nation Park Service).

State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO)

• Serves as first point of contact for property owners.

• Provides application forms, regu-lations, and other program infor-mation.

• Maintains complete records of the State’s buildings and districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places, as well as State and local districts that may qualify as registered historic districts.

• Assists anyone wishing to list a building or a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

• Provides technical assistance and literature on appropriate rehabili-tation treatments.

• Advises owners on their applica-tions and makes site visits on occasion to assist owners.

• Makes certification recommenda-tions to the NPS.

Utilizing Historic Tax Credits – A Free Lunch for Allo Continued from page 3

“ The owner must hold the building for five full years after completing the rehabilitation, or pay back the credit. If the owner disposes of the building within a year after it is placed in service, 100% of the credit is recaptured.”


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National Park Service (NPS)• Reviews all applications for con-

formance to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilita-tion.

• Issues all certification decisions (approvals or denials) in writing.

• Transmits copies of all decisions to the IRS.

• Develops and publishes program regulations, the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for Rehabilita-tion, the Historic Preservation Cer-tification Application, and informa-tion on rehabilitation treatments.

Internal Revenue Service (IRS)• Publishes regulations governing

which rehabilitation expenses qualify, the time periods for in-curring expenses, the tax conse-quences of certification decisions by NPS, and all other procedural and legal matters concerning both the 20% and the 10% rehabilita-tion tax credits.

• Answers public inquiries concern-ing legal and financial aspects of the Rehabilitation Tax Credit program, and publishes the audit guide, Market Segment Special-ization Program: Rehabilitation Tax Credit, to assist owners.

• Insures that only parties eligible for the rehabilitation tax credits utilize them.

The Federal Historic Preservation Tax Credit Program is quite possibly the most under utilized tax benefit available to the Real Estate Industry. Albeit, the application and ability (more often the desire) to conform to the Standards for Rehabilitation can be a burdensome path to follow and admittedly but the benefits to the owner, occupants, and surrounding community are extraordi-nary.

Save the Date:

Think of TUG First on December 2nd for Our Day-long Webinar on Year End

Want to hone your year-end closing skills? Figure out what to archive now and how? Be confident about where specific information goes? TUG is offering our first ever six-hour Webinar, but in one-hour install-

ments over the course of the day on December 2. Mix and match! Attend only the sessions that apply to you, or have in-

dividual staff members attend those modules that they work with. Kick off the holiday season with TUG’s gift to you!

December 2, 201011 a.m Accounts Payable

12 p.m. Accounts Receivable

1 p.m. Job Cost/Project Management

2 p.m. General Ledger/Cash Management

3 p.m. Property Management

4 p.m. Payroll

(Please note: All times are Eastern Standard Time.)

Webinars on each module will cover:• The essential steps prior to processing any information for the follow-

ing year.

• Preparing files prior to close, including backing up and data checking procedures.

• Printing year-end reports and any government forms such as 1099s and W2s.

• The changes that are made in the system when the year-end process is run. This will include fields populated in the Master file records.

• Archiving and History processes to keep your data files at a manageable size while retaining the ability to retrieve information.

Take advantage of this unique opportunity to groom your year-end skills by attending one, two or all of TUGs First on the 2nd Year-end Webinar event. To participate, e-mail [email protected]. You’ll need to enroll for each module you want to attend.


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IMPROVED INTEGRATION

Improved integration between Project Management and Document Management

Now you can send and archive Project Management Attachments directly to the Document Manage-ment DocuVault. Send Attachments for Project Management such as:

• Change Order Requests

• RFIs

• Submittals

• Meeting Minutes

• Commitments

• Custom Logs

• Drawing Logs

In addition, initi-ate queries from the Attachment window and easily access the original document or retrieve the DocuVault version. Now that’s simplicity.

ePlan IntegratorWe have added

tighter integration be-tween Estimating and

The more efficiently your business management system allows your team to locate and act upon key

information to move your business forward, the faster and easier they can do their jobs day in and day out. That’s why we’ve enhanced Sage Timberline Office to provide everyone on your team with a wide range of simplified tools and easier access to everything so they can get more done in less time, including:

• Greater flexibility with new and enhanced tools that make it even easier to route and manage documents.

• Tighter integration between work processes so it’s easier to share and access important project and company related information as well as jumpstart new and change order estimates.

• Enhanced productivity with re-sized windows that allow you to find, view and, access the infor-mation you need faster than ever.

Now your team can have better access to the tools they need so your company can operate as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. We’ve developed our latest update to Sage Timberline Office to help you take process efficiency to the next level through a wide range of useful enhancements, such as:

OnCenter’s OnScreen Takeoff (OST) so you can automate estimate creation or update process by linking OnScreen Takeoff conditions with Estimating Items and Assemblies. Better integra-tion equals more efficiency.

GREATER USABILITY

Enhanced Document Manage-ment Rules-based RoutingNow it’s easier than ever to install

and configure Document Manage-ment. This latest release allows you to setup advanced criteria such as date, document type, etc., to automatically select a routing list for particular docu-

Summer 2010 Enhancements Simplify your day... every day


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o Continued from page 4

ment types. If the criteria results in one list, the routing is auto-selected. If the criteria results in more than one list, a “filtered” list is then available for selection automating the Rules-based Routing process even further.

Job Cost Import Estimate now supports Change EstimateWithin Job Cost and Import Es-

timate, an “Import as an Approved Estimate Change” check box is now available. As a result, you can now code and track Change Estimates separately from the original estimate, giving you better insight to Change Order profitability.

New UI and Improved UsabilityWe have optimized a number of

window sizes (Accounts Payable/Job Costing/Payroll) for easier data entry, viewing, and usability. You’ll see an immediate and noticeable improve-ment with additional columns and/or visible rows within a number of windows, including:

• Enter, Change, and Pending In-voices

Man Hours, Crew Hours, or Hours:

Is There a Difference? Absolutely!

hour, the productivity is entered as the productivity of each crew member. You can determine how a generic hour is calculated by checking the Default Crew Pricing setting on the Crew Pricing tab of the Database Settings window (Database menu). If Default Crew Pric-ing is set to Average cost per person, a generic hour is treated as a man hour. If it is set to Total cost of crew, a generic hour is treated as a crew hour.

So, when should you use a man hour or a crew hour? This decision is governed mainly by how you’ve his-torically viewed labor. If you think of labor as how much work a crew can accomplish in a given time, a crew hour might be more appropriate. If you think of labor as how much a person can accomplish in an hour, a man hour order unit might be the proper choice. In addition, if you’re using Timberline’s Scheduling Integrator (an application that transfers an estimate from Estimat-ing to Microsoft® Project or Primavera P3 scheduling software) the duration of activities or tasks will be affected by the man hour or crew hour choice.

Got questions? Feel free to e-mail me at [email protected].

• Commitment Item List

• Payment Selection

• Enter Commitments

• Enter Time

• And more

* These enhancements are only visible on displays set at 1024 x 768 and higher and are not available when your display resolution is set at 800 x 600.

Project Management Change Or-der/Change Request Workflow

ImprovementIf you look up or edit existing

Change Orders/Requests more often than you create new records, you can now choose your desired document (Change Order or Change Request) first with the option to “find” or “create” a new record. It’s a simple enhancement that streamlines the process and simplifies your day… every day.


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All training sessions take place at 1:00 EST (unless otherwise stated) and last approximately one hour. To register, email [email protected]. Just let

her know which class(es) you would like to participate in. We’ll get you registered and email a confirmation along with connection information. These classes are free of charge and open to members only - one more benefit of belonging to the Timberline Users Group!

We are adding more sessions every day. Check the Training Calendar at www.TUGweb.com for an updated list. If you have any suggestions on sessions you would like to see, please email [email protected].

TUG ONLINE WEBEXTRAINING & OPEN FORUMS

OCTOBERTues10/05/2010 PJ Drawing Log

This session will review the step-by-step procedures for using the PJ Drawing Log, including entering drawings & sketches, and tracking revisions. After covering the basics, we will move on to tips & tricks and reports and customization suggestions.

Wed 10/06/2010 Beginning Excel 2007 Beginning class on Excel 2007. We’ll go over each menu in Excel 2007. Basic functions like entering data and formatting will be covered.

Fri 10/8/2010 EDUCATION & PUBLICATION MEETING Tues10/12/2010 PJ Custom Logs

This session will begin with reviewing the capabilities of PJ Custom Logs then move on to the how-to of the step-by-step procedures for modifying the PJ Custom Logs provided by Timberline. We will also discuss how to create a new Custom Log from scratch and move on to tips & tricks to discuss effective uses and limitations of Custom Logs.

Wed 10/13/2010 Intermediate Excel 2007 Thurs10/14/2010 REAL ESTATE COMMITTEE & FORUM

2:00-EST Thurs10/14/2010 Cost-based Invoicing

This session will introduce you to the setup screens and front-end decisions that need to be made to capture various transactions (i.e., “time and material”) for billing purposes. An overview of the workflow as well as basic invoice designing will also be covered.

Fri 10/15/2010 AP Passthroughs to Property Management Tues10/19/2010 PJ Submittals

This session will review the step-by-step procedures for using the PJ Submittals, including entering submittals and tracking revisions. After covering the basics, we will move on to tips & tricks such as submittal numbering options and techniques for tracking submittal packages, as well as reports and customization suggestions.

Tues10/19/2010 SERVICE MGMT COMMITTEE & FORUM3:00-EST

Thurs10/21/2010 Bank Account Setup Fri 10/22/2010 Estimating Tips & Tricks

Learn creative ways to get Sage Timberline Office’s Estimating working for you. This session gives real life tips and shortcuts that will truly make a difference in your everyday work.

Mon10/25/2010 IT COMMITTEE & FORUM Tue 10/26/2010 PJ COMMITTEE & FORUM

In this session, we first deal with committee business such as planning the webex calendar and determining who will lead each session as well as proposing articles for the Pulse newsletter and asking for volunteers to write them. Then we move to the Open Forum, where we typically review that month’s webex topics and address any follow up questions, then open it up to any and all questions and discussions related to PJ and Project Management techniques.

Thurs10/27/2010 CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE & FORUM 2:00-EST

Wed 10/27/2010 ESTIMATING COMMITTEE & FORUM 11:00 EST

Fri 10/29/2010 Estimating: PlanSwift

NOVEMBERMon 11/01/2010 Outlook – 2003 Tues11/02/2010 Using Desktop with PJ Thurs 11/04/2010 Construction Webex: Changes in 9.7 from 9.4 & Up Roundtable Fri 11/05/2010 Financial Statements Using Projection Fields Fri 11/05/2010 Advanced Takeoff Mon 11/08/2010 Outlook – 2007 Tues11/09/2010 PJ Job Overview: Reports & Inquiries Wed 11/10/2010 Setting up Agreements for Multiple Locations Thurs11/11/2010 REAL ESTATE COMMITTEE & FORUM

2:00-EST Fri 11/12/2010 EDUCATION & PUBLICATION MEETING Tues11/16/2010 PJ Implementation Strategy Tues11/16/2010 SERVICE MGMT COMMITTEE & FORUM

3:00-EST Thurs11/18/2010 AR Workflow- Billings, Invoices & Quick bill in AR Tues11/23/2010 PJ Custom Logs Wed 11/24/2010 ESTIMATING COMMITTEE & FORUM

11:00 EST Thurs11/24/2010 CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE & FORUM

2:00-EST Mo 11/29/2010 IT COMMITTEE & FORUMTue 11/30/2010 PJ COMMITTEE & FORUM

In this session, we first deal with committee business such as planning the webex calendar and determining who will lead each session as well as proposing articles for the Pulse newsletter and asking for volunteers to write them. Then we move to the Open Forum, where we typically review that month’s webex topics and address any follow up questions, then open it up to any and all questions and discussions related to PJ and Project Management techniques.


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STO 9.7 Upgrade Has TUG Members Talking About Easy Installation, Features and Speedo Continued from page 5

offers a more simplified approval process by users.” As for Project Management (PJ), Fite says, “9.7 has been the most stable PJ platform of all. There has been a noticeable differ-ence from the field and office folks.”

More Upgrade BenefitsA quick list of just some of the other gains with the

upgrade:

• Sage Installation Manager can now be configured to manage the installation process, including notify-ing you when new updates are available, automati-cally installing updates, and updating user work-stations from the server.

• Microsoft® Excel-based reporting with Office Con-nector Starter is now in-corporated into STO. Six pre-formatted templates are included with 9.7. These include a cool, customizable Dash Board, a slick Job List with links built into Google Map and Weather.com for fingertip info, and Account Ledger with Detail, an auditor’s dream report that makes drilling down into detail a breeze.

• With Estimating Quantity Takeoff Integration available in the 9.7 release, estimators can take full advantage of both 2D and 3D Building Information Models (BIM) when creating estimates using Autodesk’s Revit platform for BIM.

• Electronic Payroll Reports and eFiling Capability with Aatrix. Aatrix payroll reports allow users to generate state and federal reports for withholding taxes, unemployment wage reports, and new hire reports using information extracted from Payroll.

What You Need to Think AboutAs with any upgrade, there are some unanticipated

results. Some quick considerations before you install:• 9.7 installs from a DVD rather than the CD in previous

versions. Make sure you have a DVD player on your server.

• Even if installing on a D: drive, the server C: drive will need to have at least 2 gigabyte of space.

• In order to use Office Connector Start-up or any of the templates provided, Excel 2003 or newer is required.

• Some users have experienced a global change in the default fonts of user-created reports. This issue is quickly resolved by going into Report Designer and clicking on Tools, Customize, and changing the default font. As a precaution, you may want to make note of the default font in use in your current version of STO.

• As you commence your install on the server, consider opening Notepad and jotting down the time you start and

any comments as you go along. Take screenshots of any error message or unanticipated prompts and paste them into Notepad. This leaves you a good dialog of your progress and enables you to go back to look at the notes if a problem arises later.

• For more tips and tricks, log onto TUGweb.com and view the postings in the Information Technology section of TUGTalk.

If you haven’t done it yet, there’s no time like the pres-ent to get STO v.9.7 installed. Avoid the year-end rush and take advantage of some terrific new features. Just think, you could be using the Office Connector Start-up template now to prepare your audit working papers. That’s a pretty good payoff!


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the various definitions, look at the bottom of the report design, just below the horizontal scroll bar. All fields with the same print frequency and settings will display in the same color.

To change Print Controls, click on Design, Print Controls (if grayed out, make sure you have first selected a field in your de-sign). The Print Controls window opens, and by no coincidence, the list will include the items in your sort order. (Figure 1) In addition, Print on every page and Print at end of report will also appear (along with optionally useable checkboxes to the right of the list). Se-lect the new frequency you want to use and click OK when done. Keep in mind that you can high-light (via Click and Drag) more than one field (typi-cally located on the same row) and change them at the same time. If you see the choice Mixed print controls highlighted, you’ve selected a block of fields that contain different print controls. “Mixed print controls” is NOT a valid print control selection; it’s for information only. Another FYI: You can alternatively click on the definition bar at the bottom of the screen and the same Print Controls window will open.

On rare occasions, certain fields won’t print on the same row even though they are set that way in your report design. I experienced this with the report design I mentioned above. To

summarize the report’s characteristics, the primary record is AR – Transactions, the custom sort order is Customer-Job-Invoice-Cash Receipt, and summariza-tion is by Transaction Date.

Try as I might, I could not line up cash receipt amounts (date, check #, amount) with their corresponding invoice data (invoice #, draw #, invoice date, total billed, retainage held, retain-age billed, and net AR). I did achieve this less-than-perfect lineup (cash receipts start in a column to the right, one line below its invoice) by using line spacing (“Single” for everything except Custom-ers and Jobs) and Print Controls:

Once per invoice for invoice #, draw

#, invoice date.Once per Transaction Record for

total billed, retainage held, retainage billed, net AR.

Once per Cash Receipt for date, check #, amount. Incidentally, I added Cash Receipt (AR Trans-actions) to the Sort Order after the original design was com-plete.

Some additional observa-tions on using Print Controls:• The Print Controls op-tions will vary not only with the Sage Timberline Office module, but also with the field selected. As an example, a GL Transaction report will feature

controls based on Prefix A-B-C Structures, Batch, Source, and other crite-ria. A PM Lease report would prompt for con-trols by Property, Unit, Lease, and Tenant. In JC, other controls exist for Commitments, Extras, Categories, and other unique fields.

• If after selecting a different frequency for ONE field, and the color (and definition) of the field does not change

control, oftentimes I have had to grab a blank area contiguous to the selected field (usually the area above or below the field). I have no explanation for you regarding this, but it works (Figure 2).

• Print Controls are not consistent with the summary level cho-sen (within Design, Totals). If you change your summary level in any way, go back and review all of your print controls.

No Fear, No Frustration with Print Controls in Report Designero Continued from page 1

Figure 1

Figure 2

General Tips & Tricks: No Fear, No Frustration with Print Controls … · 2018-04-14 · Use-Snipping-Tool-to-capture-screen-shots. B o t h Snippy and the Snipping Tool allow for

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