HOME ICON:

The Home Screen is displayed with the MAIN TABS ( White lettering and Blue background) arranged across the top of the screen, followed by the person/company logged in, messages, download que and LogOut button . When selecting a tab (single mouse click), action boxes, menus, pull down menus, and/or text boxes will appear.

Messages: Located by user’s name in the upper right hand corner. This link will show
all of the messages to be reviewed from office staff and contractors. This is
similar to a closed email system.

Download Queue: Located next to messages. Shows the files available to download.
Examples would be photos from work orders(WOs) and larger
reports. (0/1) The one (1) in this case indicates there is a .zip file,
which is downloading to the system. When there are numbers
displayed on each side in the active queue log (1/1), the number on
the left indicates how many .zip files are ready to be sent to your
clients and how many .zip files are actually downloading and not
yet complete.

PPW opens on the HOME page, highlighting the HOME ICON and displaying eight (8) Action Keys (light blue background)  which provide the user with options to impact single or multiple work orders.

The Header Line begins with  Show _____ entries (black background), thus allowing the selected number of work orders to display at one time thereby speeding up processing. It also indicates what type of FILTERS are being applied. (To remove a FILTER, move the cursor to the one to be remove and click on the red “X”) When there are over 50 WOs in the system, the WOs will be automatically divided into pages, depending on the display size chosen (i.e.  50 selected, 250 WOs  in the system action buttons on the bottom will display, indicating 5 pages). These pages can be easily navigated using the Navigation Buttons on the bottom of the page.

Search Within – This is a wild card search of active WOs for matching information.

e.g.. If the word “spring” is typed in the search box, the search engine would pull up all matches for “s” regardless of the field in which it occurs. It would identify an “s” in all fields and would delimit the matches as the rest of the word is entered ending with matches in all columns containing the word “spring.”

The next line (light blue background) are the column headings for the displayed WOs. These headings may be changed with the Columns Action Key.

Below the Column Headings is a display of all active and inactive work orders, color coded for easy  status identification and controlled by FILTER selection.

              Color               Category

                                      Lt Green        – Assigned

                                      Bright Green – Unassigned

                                      Grey              – Unread

                                      White             – In Field

                                      Blue               – Invoiced

                                      Black             – Closed

                                      Yellow            – Follow Up

                                      Pink               – Unread/Late

Action Keys

Actions :

The main Administrative Control. Easily control the status of single or
multiple WOs by simply checking the box(s) next to the WO and
selecting the appropriate action from the Pull Down Menu. The Pull
Down Menu will not appear unless at least one WO is selected.

#### THE FOLLOWING ACTION KEYS FUNCTIONS ASSUMES ####
#### THE SELECTION OF AT LEAST ONE WORK ORDER ####

HOME – Actions tab – Status Change functions:

Status Change: These functions will allow a status change on a single or
on multiple selected WOs.

Acknowledge – Contractor’s response to” Send to Field” WOs.
WO is displayed as” Unread” until the contractor
acknowledges receipt of the WO. It will then change to “In
Field.”

Mark Complete – Administrative/Office function. WO status is
changed from the current status to Closed. If the WO needs
to be re-activated, open the WO, open the Invoice Screen
and remove the Completion Date. The WO is also closed by
checking the Invoice Complete box on the Invoice page.

Assign Contractor – Administrative/Office function allows
assignment of WOs to a specific contractor. If “Ready for
Field” is not checked, the WO will appear as “Assigned” and
allows the office to edit the WO. However, the Contractor will
not be able to view the WO until it is released by using Send
To Field. This will change the Status to “Unread.”
Un-assign Previous will allow a change in contractors in
one step. This action removes the WO from one contractor and
assigns it to the one selected. PPW will email the removed Contractor informing them that the WO has
been cancelled and email the selected contractor that the
WO has been assigned to them.

Send to Field – If the “Ready for Field” function is not selected
when the WO is assigned, this will allow the WO to be viewed
by the Contractor.

Un-Assign Contractor – This action is used to un-assign a
Contractor. PPW will automatically email to contractor that the
WO has been cancelled.

HOME – Actions tab – Modify Order functions:
Modify Order: This portion of the Actions Keys is for Administrators only
and allowing modifications to be made to WOs.
Assign Admin – Assign the WO to office staff or a specific
administrator for processing or adjustments. This does not
generate an email to the selected administrator.

Set Work Type – A pull down menu appears whereby the Admin
can select from a list of work types to assign to one or
multiple work orders. This feature allows a consistent
grouping when identifying WO types. Many clients
may refer to the same activity by several different names,
thus Set Work Types allows the Admin to standardize their
WO assignments.

Change Due Date – A simple way to move the contractor’s due
date forward to help prevent contractors from submitting late
orders. The original client’s due date may be hidden from the
contractor under Groups.

Add Job Note – Access to this section is controlled by the
administrator.This may be a Property (Transfers to other
WOs for the assigned property. e.g. Location clarification,
dogs, etc.) or a Work Order specific note (ie. Call when you
arrive at property). Once a note is added it will be displayed
when the WO is opened by the contractor. The notes may
also be viewed by placing the cursor over the mail icon on the
Home Page. A number inside the mail icon also indicates
how many notes are attached. If it is a contractor adding a
note, they will not have authority to modify permissions.

Add Work Detail – Create a name, type in a line item detail and
select GO, and the information will be added as a line item to
the WO. The detail added may be selected and appended
with the use of the Append box.

Set Category – This is an open application for the Admin to add
grouping to WOs based on criteria other than what is provided
for by PPW

Recalculate PCRs – When PCR forms are updated the system
does not automatically go back and update the old PCR
forms that have been used in the field or attached to existing
WOs. In order to update PCR forms that have been
assigned, the WOs have to be selected and then the
Recalculate PCRs option used.

Delete Work Order – Remove a WO from the system. A warning
will be displayed: “Are you sure you wish to delete Work
Order/s?” Click “OK” to delete or “Cancel” to return.
The default for this function is “Off” but can be activated in the
Admin section under Groups.

HOME – Actions tab – Export/Print functions:

Export/Print: Allows for easy printing and exporting of WOs by creating a
PDF file which you can print or save.

Print Client Invoice – The use of this key will save client invoices of
all selected to an easily printable .pdf file.

Export to Excel – In order to export a file to an Excel spreadsheet
select the WOs to be exported. Select Comments to
stay with the WO and click GO.

Download Photos – This is another way to download photos
including date stamping and photo description overlays if
selected. The photos will be saved to a .pdf file.

HOME – Actions tab – Misc functions:

Route – The use of the route feature allows the routing of multiple
WOs for the contractor. Directions and a map may be saved in a
pdf for printing at a later time. The directions are shortest and most
efficient routing to the selected properties.

HOME ICON:

Action Keys

Filter tab:

The filters are displayed in the header and the Admin can select the status
indicators they wish to apply. WOs are displayed based on which status
the user selects. Filters may be removed by moving the cursor to the field
to be removed and clicking on the “X”, which appears. A one time search
may be conducted by entering the delimiter selections and left clicking
Run. The WOs matching the filters will be displayed, but the settings will
not be saved.

If the filter is one which is complex and will be used many times, it can
be named and Saved and then Loaded to access the filter numerous
times. There Default selection which will display all statuses with the
exception of Closed and Assigned.

HOME ICON:

Action Keys

Advanced Filter tab:

Advanced Filter tab Allows Admin to build their filter based on individual
preferences and the selected information from the WO. The Filter is
utilized similarly to the Filter tab with the exception of naming the filter and
selecting the line items to include in the filter. Instead of Default click the
Reset button, which returns the filter to blanks.

HOME ICON:

Action Keys

Zip Code Lookup:

Zip Code Lookup Allows the search for assigned contractors by Zip Code or by
State. If No Coverage is checked, the display will show which counties in
the State do not have contractors assigned. The information is pulled
from the Auto Assign by Zip Code function in the Admin section.

HOME ICON:

Action Keys

Columns:

Columns: Select the information to be displayed in the queue. Click on the
columns tab and select which information to show in the queue. Simply click
on the title drag and drop into the active column. To adjust the order
which it appears in the queue, again drag and drop. Icons may be added
to the Home page by locating the Icon identifier on the inactive screen, drag
and drop into the active column and the Job Notes, Map, and History Icons
will be displayed.

Check box to Add line Numbers

Check box to show Abbreviate Status

HOME ICON:

Action Keys

Grouping, Normal & Grouped:

Grouping: Allows Admin to group work orders for easier review. Click on the
Grouping icon. This will populate with a list of the active columns on the
home screen. Select the columns to be grouped. Drag and drop them in
the order to be grouped and then left click and Save.

Normal: Allows the Home Screen to be displayed in the default mode of showing
all selected WOs.

Grouped: This displays the Home Screen by Groupings, which the user has
selected. The groupings may be collapsed or expanded by in its entirety or
collapsed and expanded by subgroup.

MSI Preservation orders will import with the following rules.

Any work order with a hyphen in the loan number field will discard the loan number because these orders have been shown to have duplicate loan numbers across many orders.

Any orders imported with Group Orange as the client contact info will have the Customer set to Wells Fargo.

PPW only imports Proposal Requests, Contract Orders and Bids from VMS. The order has to be in the status of Accepted, Late or Pending Corrections. Any order that does not meet this criteria will not be imported.

New work orders are created in the “New Work Order” tab. Clicking on the “New Work Order” tab will show the new work order data entry form. You can also hover over the tab to access the work order import sections.

NEW WORK ORDERS

There are three ways to import new Work Orders into PPW: Manually,
Import Work Orders by accessing the Client’s website, and Import
Queue which utilizes the Auto Import feature.

Manually:

Manually: With the cursor placed over the New Work Order tab PPW will open a box highlighting the three option for entering new work orders. Clicking on New Work Order will open the screen for manually inputting a Work Order. The display is comprised of text boxes, some with pull down menus and some with a Push Pin Icon. The Push Pin Icon will rotate and turn green if the information in the box is “Pinned.” If the WO is saved with information in a text box and a “Pinned” Push Pin Icon, the information will be saved and will auto-populate when the New Work Order tab is accessed. The Admin can set up a no-charge access account for a client. This type of activity is discussed in the Admin section and normally applies to clients who have consistent low volume work to be performed.

The Manual entry of WOs also allows for the creation of recurring WOs. In order to create a recurring WO, left click on recurring in the left hand portion of the WO and several options will appear. There will be options to enter the number of days, weeks or months for the WO to recur, an option for the number of times per month, and an ending date. Clicking on the End Date creates a calendar display for selection of the ending date.

Work Order Details provides the options of None, Use Auto Work Detail (will be covered in the Admin Section), or Use Previous Order. If WO details were created in a previous WO the Admin could access those. Contractor Assignment provides the options of None, Use Admin Rules (which ever contractor is assigned to the zip code), or Use Previous Order.

Comments again can be “Pinned” and will recur.

Be sure to Save this type of WO to enable the assignments to recur.

Import Work Orders:

Importing work orders is the preferred method for creating new orders in PPW. Work orders are imported using two different methods.

• File based imports. These generally use PDF files but other file types, such as Excel and Word are also used for some imports.
• Username and password authentication. These imports require the client companies user credentials to pull work orders directly from their website or online software application.

It is necessary to access the Admin tab in order to setup the Auto-Import function.

Import Queue:

Import Queue: Left click on Import Queue and any WOs that are ready for importing will be listed. Select Process Import any imports which are ready will be listed. The first time importing from a client will require the setting of Work Types. The Client’s identification of the work type will be displayed next to the selection box, choose from the pull down menu to identify assign a Work Type Label. After the first time it is assigned, the system will auto assign the Work Type. If the Admin wants to change the designation simply change it the next time it is imported.

Contractors and Admins may also be assigned on import. If auto-assign is used the system will make a recommendation but it can be overridden. If assigning previous contractors is active PPW will use this option to assign contractors before the zip code assignments. Select Import and the WOs will be added to the job queue. If Admin or Contractors are not assigned when importing, the WO Status will be Unassigned.

National Field Network (NFN) work orders are imported using the PDF received from the client.

The “Dept” and “Last Grass Cut” fields will import into the comments section.

When importing NFN work orders you can choose to import the “P&P Allowable Balance” information into the Job Notes area. You can also choose to import the entire PDF work. If you do not select this option the work order instructions will be cut off when the line that reads “IF RESULTS ARE NOT RECEIVED WITHIN…” or “Please follow NFN photo policy” is reached. If you select the option to import the entire work order text then this line and all lines below it will be imported until the PCR or other forms are reached in the PDF.

VIEW WORK ORDER:

To access a WO, simply click on the appropriate data line on the HomePage.

The WO will be automatically displayed under the View Work Order tab. Directly below will be a header with five(5) tabs used to enter various types of information into the WO: Job Notes, PCR Form, Bid/Completion Info, Photo/Documents (0/0), Invoice There are also five(5) self explanatory Action Buttons: Print, Map, Edit, Duplicate, Delete. and below the action buttons the current Status, ID Number, Address, and Due Date of the WOs. It is useful to understand the information presented in the Work Order Info display and work backwards into the control Action Buttons and 5 Function Tabs.

Work Order Info:

The Work Order Info address section includes location of the property and other pertinent identification information. If there is a Clock Icon next to a data block, it indicates that the information displayed has been modified. Clicking on the icon will display under the Actions Block in the right hand corner: old value, name of person who modified the data block and the date/ time it was modified.

Work Order Item Details:

The description of the work to be performed at the property will be displayed in this section. The information is automatically populated when the WO is imported from the client. This section can be modified with customized Auto Work Details, which will be covered in the Admin section. To edit this information, simply click on the information to be modified, and the edit screen will be displayed.

Pricing Information: When work is imported, some clients include pricing information in the detail section. There are three options: 1. Do nothing and allow the contractor to see the prices, 2. Highlight the section by simply clicking and dragging the cursor to cover the area to be emphasized 3. Automatically remove the pricing. If a client displays the pricing in a separate field, to the left of the detail, the contractor will not be able to see this because of the Contractor ID Default which automatically deletes the pricing. However, if the user chooses to allow the Contractors to see this information, permission can be given in the Group Section to allow access. Pricing can also be changed by clicking on the Detail section and accessing the Edit screen to simply remove pricing, or change pricing and put client pricing in the top data block where the contractor will not see it.

Access History:

Access History is located on the right hand side of the screen. This is a complete chronological listing of access to the work order. All activity associated with the WO will be displayed (e.g. importing, viewing, saving) along with the date and time and the individual who accessed the WO. If the WO is accessed over 18 times, the entries will be hidden and an identification line will appear displaying the number of hidden entries associated with the WO.

Actions Block:

Located at the top right corner is the Actions Block, which gives Admin the ability to freeze the property. There are times when a contractor will go to a property and find that they cannot access it because it was sold, in bankruptcy, etc. and they can’t go back. Even though the information is sent to the client they may issue another WO for the same or similar services. Upon importation of the WO it would be highlighted in red and identified as “Property Frozen.” In the event that there was a duplicate, the user has the opportunity to contact the client to find out if something has changed allowing access to the property.

Office Locked:

If there are multiple processors in the operation, each processor may individually lock a WO. This insures that only that specific processor can edit it until it is unlocked. The Admin may override the lock, but other processors cannot make any changes. This will allow a processor time to make changes, updates, etc without anyone else making changes to the WO. The WOs may be viewed by others, but not edited.

Category:

Category is an open field. Categories may be added by the Admin to group, sort, or manipulate WOs for those situations which are not normally covered by PPW.

Estimated Completion Date:

Estimated Completion Date is a communications link with the contractors. It displays the date of when the WO is expected to be completed. By default it cannot be pushed past the client completion date; however, there is an option in the Admin section which will allow the ECD to be pushed past the due date.

Ready for Office:

When the contractor checks the Ready for Office box, the WO will be submitted for processing. If there is information missing which is required, a red box will appear above the RfO line identifying what is missing from the WO. The contractor can then go back into the WO and complete the missing areas. The WO cannot be submitted for processing with required information missing.

VIEW WORK ORDER: Additional Action Buttons: Located on the third line:

Print: Selecting Print saves the WO to the desktop in a .pdf format for printing at a later time.

Map: The Map function locates the property on a map of the U.S.

Edit:  The Edit function allows modification to the Header information of the WO. It also allows the user the ability to mark information by

checking the Missing info box and entering what is missing or what needs to be changed. This will change the Status to Follow Up and

send an email to the contractor. There is also an area for additional Comments to be sent through an email when the editing is finished

and the Save function is activated.

Duplicate:  Selecting Duplicate creates a new WO for the property being serviced.

Delete:  Removes the WO from the system. When clicking Delete the system will generate a warning message in a bolded box: “This will delete the report and all of the information that is associated with it. Do you wish to remove this record?” The user can then select “OK” or “Cancel.”

VIEW WORK ORDER – Job Notes Tab:

+NEW NOTE: Shown above

The first of the five(5) function tabs is the Job Notes (0/0), which are the notes visible on the Home Screen page. The number of WO notes and Property notes is displayed next to the Job Notes inside the parentheses. When the cursor is placed over Job Notes(0/0), The WO notes and Property Notes associated with this WO will be displayed. This is the major communications Tab. When selected, the system will display “+ NEW NOTE (pop-out window).” Placing the cursor over “+NEW NOTE” will underline “+NEW NOTE” and when left clicked, the pop-out window will appear. (pop-out window) works in a similar fashion producing a Job Notes display.

+ NEW NOTE (pop-out window): Shown below

There are three applications for Job Notes which are Property Notes, Work Order Notes, and Reminders.

Property Notes stay with the property and repopulate every time a new WO is received for that property such as an address corrections, directions, or warnings. Any information which the contractor may need each time they visit the property. Anytime a Property Note is needed, simply type the note into the message box, add files, adjust permissions and save.

The note will automatically attach to any new WOs for that property and be displayed in the Property Note section and on the Home Page.

Work Order Notes are specific to the WO.This is a communication tool between the Admin and contractor. To send a note to someone in the system, simply insert their name. If Admin wants to message a client, enter their email, write the note, attach any files necessary, choose permissions, and save. PPW will automatically send the message. When the client responds, it will post in the WO Note and also be sent to the sender’s email in the process providing a record of reference to the communication. This will save the contractor time by eliminating the need to continuously check the system. Likewise, it will save Admin time by attaching to the WO and not having to look through emails to find the message and response.

Work Order notes may also be viewed by placing the cursor over the WO Note Icon on the Home Screen.

Reminder Date: The last feature in Work Order Notes provides Admin with a convenient method of sending out WO reminders. The Admin will insert the date and time to be transmitted, enter the note, and when the date and time arrive PPW will automatically send the note to the addressee.

VIEW WORK ORDER – PCR Form:

The Property Condition Report is basically a questionnaire which can be created in the system. There are several standard PCR forms available from which to choose. Questions can also be added to the standard PCR forms. Adding to or creating a PCR form provides the Admin the ability to make rules such as: which WOs they apply to, or which clients, etc.. If the Admin makes this a required form, the contractor will not be able to submit their work until they have filled out the required PCR Form. To access the form simply left click on the appropriate form, if the contractor has a smartphone or tablet, they can fill out the form at the property. If the contractor is going to be in an area without known internet access at the worksite, they can print a pdf version and take it with them.

Once the form is completed online, the contractor saves it. If required questions are not answered, an error message will be displayed and the missing questions will be highlighted in red. If the client requires the exact copy of the form to be submitted, there are two options at the bottom of the page to create either a pdf or jpeg file.

Note: Development of the PCR Form and questions are covered in the Admin Section.

VIEW WORK ORDER – Bid / Completion Info:

The Bid/Completion tab displays everything the contractor bid and/or completed at the property. The user determines the line items to be displayed. The pricing may vary by client, loan type, state, etc.. and will be automatically adjusted based on the form selected. There are two columns, one displaying the contractor price the other displaying the client pricing. The contractor will not see the client pricing, and if the client has access, they will not see the contractor pricing. The far right columns are for the completion notes, which designates which work was completed at the property.

Show Past Bids:

A unique feature with PPW is the ability to show past bids. Left click on the Past Bids descriptor, and all of the past bids, at the property will be displayed. This enables the user to easily reference bids prior bid items and pricing quotes for the property. Any line item displayed can be copied to the active WO bid section by clicking on the Copy Bid button or copied to the completion section by selecting Copy Comp. In both instances the line item being copied will also populate the pricing columns on the bid or completion pages. Once the completion notes are entered: Save, Cancel, Print, Contractor Copy or Client Copy as required.

VIEW WORK ORDER – Photos / Documents (0/0):

Inside Photos / Documents (0/0) you will find eight(8) action buttons: Upload Photos, Upload Documents, Show Duplicates, Show All, Download Photos, Download PDF, Date Stamp, Flag. The function of each will be explained below:

Photo Note: If the camera can be adjusted, set it to VGA or the lowest possible resolution, which will speed up processing. If a photo resizing program is used, be sure the “EXIF” information is included. If your contractors are in remote areas with limited broadband access, they may want to resize pics before uploading. An excellent “free” resizer program is PIXResizer from Bluefivepair.com. Regardless of the photo settings, PPW will resize the photos, up to 5 megapixels, to fit your clients requirements.

Photos / Documents (0/0) PPW displays the number of photos associated with the WO and also the number of documents in this display. (Number of Photos/Number of Documents)

Upload Photos Left click on the Upload Photos button and either Drag and Drop photos from the desktop or Add Files then Start Upload, either feature works well. On some older browsers, the drag and drop function may not work.

Upload Documents: Documents of any type can be uploaded into PPW. Images that are uploaded into the documents area will not be resized. This works well for attaching scanned documents to work orders. Left click on the Upload Documents button and either Drag and Drop the document from the desktop or Add Files then Start Upload, either feature works well.

Show Duplicates (0): Duplicate photos are displayed on the Upload Photos page next to Duplicate(0) (Show All) and may also be displayed using the Show Duplicates (0) action button. If duplicate photos are uploaded, they are immediately identified by the system and isolated for review. The display will show the previous photo and the duplicate side by side and include the date and location of each photo. This provides a measure of integrity for the Admin when submitting photos to clients as well as eliminating the ability of contractors to falsify photos.

Show All: displays all photos associated with the WO.

Download Photos: provides the user with three options in which to download the photos:

All – Downloads all photos associated with the WO to a .zip file. The process will have priority preventing other actions from being performed at the work station.

All (Queue) – downloads all photos associated with the WO to a .zip file queue, which is displayed in red at the upper right hand corner of the page next to the (0/1) Log Out button. The one (1) in this case indicates there is a .zip file which is downloading to the system. then there are numbers displayed on each side in the active queue log (1/1), the number on the left indicates how many .zip files are ready to be sent to clients and how many .zip files are actually downloading and not complete.

Note: All photo files of more than 100 pics are required to be put in the queue.

Selected – download all photos selected from the WO to a .zip file.

Download PDF: – Downloading to a PDF file is simple using PPW. Left click on the Download PDF action button and select 2 X 2 (2 across and 2 down), 3 X 3, or 4 X 4.

Photos (00) (Show All) – Below the Document display is the photo display section. The actual count of uploaded photos will be displayed in the parentheses (00) and by left clicking on the (Show All) tag, all photos will be displayed.

Datestamp: To date stamp photos, left click the Datestamp action button, enter the date and download the file. The date stamp will automatically assign as it downloads the photos. The metadata will also be changed when photos are downloaded.

Print Time – To show Print Times on photos, check the Print Time box. If the Print Times box is not checked, only the Date will be placed on the photo.

Modify Time – Enables the Print Times on the photos to be advanced or reversed.

Reorder: PPW gives the user the ability to Reorder selected photos. Highlight the photos to be reordered and click on each photo in the order to be displayed.

Next, select the Reorder button and the photos will display in the selected order.

Flag Photos: Located in the upper right corner of the page is a Red Flag and the Flag Photos button. The contractors can either voluntarily or be required to identify all of their photos. They simply highlight the photo or groups of photos corresponding to the tag under a specific category ie. Drained Pool, would have three action buttons “Before”, “During”, and “After” and the contractor would group the photos of the activity into the three categories. The category for pics are taken from the Bid / Completion Form. When an item is listed in the Bid or Completion columns on the right side of the form a Flag Photo identifier is generated with the line item identifier above the action button. A Bid entry generates one(1) action button, and a Completion entry generates a Before, During, and After photo action button.

It is advised that the contractor always identify the photos at the job site to readily discover any missing required photos. If the photos are required, they will not be able to submit the WO without the accompanying Bid or Completion photos. The required photos are listed below the Flag Photos action buttons. The photos are then grouped according to the flag selection in the display section. Photos may be viewed using the Photos (00) (Show All) tag or by line item. Each flagged set of photos is also automatically counted, and the corresponding number of photos is displayed next to the tag.

Text Box – In order to add text to the photo, move the cursor over the photo and Get and Zoom will appear on the photo. Left click on Zoom and a “caption” box will open at the bottom of the photo for any text the user wants to add. The Get option will allow the user to download that specific photo.

Invoice Page: There are two separate areas on the invoice page. The first is the Contractor’s Invoice to the Admin. The second is the Admin’s invoice to the client. Saving the Bid/Completion page will auto populate the Contractor’s and the Client’s invoice pages.

Contractor’s Invoice Page – This page will populate with the User’s set pricing once the Bid/Completion is saved. If the Contractor’s price has to be adjusted, simply adjust the price and type in the reason for the adjustment thereby informing the Contractor when they view their invoices. If needed, it is possible to add lines by simply clicking the add line + tag. An area is also provided for any additional comments or follow up. After making the adjustments, addition or deletions make sure to Save the information.

The contractors discount percentage can be set in two places in the Admin section. The first is in the user’s individual account. The second is in the Client Company record. The order that these are processed is important. If a Client Company contractor discount is set that will be used. If one is not set or it is set to zero then the discount percentage for the user account will be used.

Client’s Invoice Page – This page will populate with the Client’s set pricing when the Bid/Completion page is saved. In a similar fashion to the Contractor’s page, to add lines, simply click on the Add Line + tab, check the Flat Fee box if it applies. When the invoice matches what is on the Client’s system, place a check in the box for Invoice Complete, record the date sent to the client and fill in the Complete Date if appropriate. When the Complete Date is entered and saved, it will close the invoice. Important! Completing the Invoice does NOT mean you have been paid. Some Clients will provide an Invoice Number, and it would be entered in the appropriate box, others do not. PPW automatically generates an invoice number and is located at the top of the WO next to PPW# or on the Invoice page next to Invoice #.

** Important! Completing the Invoice does NOT mean you have been paid. Some Clients will provide an Invoice Number, and it would be entered in the appropriate box, others do not. PPW automatically generates an invoice number and is located at the top of the WO next to PPW# or on the Invoice page next to Invoice #.

SEARCH:

The Search tab allows for a detailed search of all of the WOs.  This is similar to the Home Screen search, but a more open format. The search format can be broad or as specific as one WO and selecting Search will display the information requested.

Charge Backs
Charge Back reports must be run separately form the Accounts Payable and Receivable report.

Entering a Charge Back
Charge Backs are designed to work after you have already paid the contractor. If you have not paid the contractor use the invoice adjustment feature.

Payment Date: This is a reference date. Enter the pay date you will be deducting the money.
Amount: Enter a positive amount for the charge back.
Charge Back: Check this box.
Check: Normally left blank:
Comments: Describe the reason for the chargeback.
Save Payment: Click this to save the chargeback.

Running Charge Back Reports
1. Check Group By Contractor.
2: Check Show contractor Totals.
3: Check Show Charge Backs Only.
4: Enter the date(s) you want to run for charge backs. This date reflects when you entered the charge back not the pay date.
5: If you want to run a report on charge backs that have not been deducted, Select “No” in the Charge Backs Processed drop down. If you want to review previous Charge Backs Select “Yes”.
6: Run Report
7: Select Contractor Payment to process the Charge Back. Enter a “Pay Date” and select the Charge Backs you want to process. Save Payment.

Reports:

The Reports tab offers an assortment of reports to choose from.

Invoice – Accounts Payable and Receivable

This report is one of the most often accessed reports in PPW. It is convenient to run this report by date ranges of the following items: Invoice Date, Sent to Client, Ready for Office, Complete Date, Create Date or by Invoice Number. Move the cursor to one of the text boxes next to the area to be accessed access and left click on the text box and a calendar will appear. Search for the appropriate date, left click on the date, and it will be transferred to the search box. To search a specific range of dates, enter the beginning and ending date.

The data base can also be searched by Client Companies, Customers (the Client Companies Customers), Contractors, Assigned Admin (who was the processor of the WO), Category (if used), and/or State. If the report is run without selecting a specific Client Co, etc. the default is for all of the clients to be included in the report.  The Admin can highlight one or more clients by pressing CTRL and selecting the clients to be included in the report.

Invoice Created, and Invoice Marked Complete both default to “YES”.

Client Totals – To run a Client Report, check the box.

Client Paid: select “Yes, No, Full and Partially, Partially Only”. If Full and Partially and Show Contractor Totals are selected, discrepancies between client payments they will be highlighted in red.

Hide $0 Invoice Amounts – Check for “Yes” to hide zero dollar invoices.

Client Paid Date – PPW can search a range of dates or enter the date to begin with and all payments from that date to present will be selected.

Client Paid Check# – If client checks or remittance numbers are entered when received they may be searched and pulled up with this report. When entering remittances, the check numbers are used. Contractor payments may be processed through this section but it is suggested that a separate report be run utilizing date range and selecting Contractor Paid “No.”

Show Adjusted Grand Total – Check for Yes.

Show Write Off Payments Only – Check for Yes. If the client underpays the invoice and Admin chooses to write it off on the invoice. This function will displayed the information.

Show Chargebacks – Check for Yes.

Client Invoice # – Insert the number to be printed.

Contractor Totals – Check for Yes. This box must be checked for the All Contractor Accounts Payable reports.

Contractor Paid – Select Yes or No.

Contractor Paid Date – For producing reports showing payments to contractors by date, either a date range or just a start date should be entered. All payments from the date entered will be included.

Contractor Paid Check # Most users do not include check numbers by client because the report would have to be run one at a time instead of a pay date range.

### See separate section for CHARGEBACK PROCESSING *** ###

Group By :

Report information may be grouped by:

• None
• Client Company
• Assigned Admin
• Contractor
• Sub-Contractor Company *

*  Sub-Contractor Company – If the Admin’s contractors have sub-contractors working for them PPW has the ability to treat them as a separate company. The only consideration is to make sure the Admin is properly setup to track user fees. To properly address that situation, different delegations and permissions can be established.

Extra Columns:

Reports can be completely customized by checking the following:

• Category
• Date Complete
• Client Invoice #
• Client WO #
• Sent to Client
• Followup
• Ready for Office

Run Report: When the Admin has finished selecting criteria for the report, left click on the Run Report button, and the report will populate on the screen.

Client Payments: There are two ways to enter client payments Invoice – Import Client Payments which imports and distributes client payments automatically and through Invoice – Accounts Payable and Receivable. When the client pays by physical check the latter method is used.

Invoice – Accounts Payable and Receivable. Most checks or remittances will cover a specific period of time. Processing payments by date ranges is the most efficient method of processing client payments.

1. Invoice Date – enter the oldest date being remunerated, the termination date may or maynot be used. If it is not utilized all outstanding invoices from the client will be displayed.
2. Select Client Company and Run Report
3. Select Client Payments
4. A dialog box will appear
5. Enter the Paid Date and Check #
6. Check the box next to the Invoices being paid. A dialog box will open. If the payment amount differs from the invoice, change the amount and enter the reason for the discrepancy.
7. Left click Save Client Payment.
8. Select Client Paid “Full and Partial.”
9. Double check that the information entered is correct.

Invoice – Import Client Payment:

This report is normally run before generating the Invoice-Accounts Payable and Receivable report. Left clicking on the report displays a list of clients, which PPW is set up to auto- import. The way Admin auto-imports depends on the Client’s preferences. To import Altisource and Safeguard payments, copy and paste the remittance email into the Check Data dialog box, which will display after left clicking on the client. Select the Client Company by scrolling and highlighting the appropriate client, and then left click on Process or Cancel. Other clients may have you import an Excel or PDF file. If those are the requirements the user will be asked to Select File in place of the Check Data dialog box. In order to process payments from clients who are not listed but transmit the information electronically: Open an Excel Spreadsheet, label column A “WO” for work order, Column B “Paid” and Column C “paid”, Copy and Paste the information file from the client and then save the file. To import: Select NFR from the client list, choose the file, enter the Check # and Check Date, Client Company and the Process. This will import the data into the system, and it will not have to be completed manually.

Invoice – Incomplete:

This report may also be run selecting Date, Date Range, Invoice Numbers, Client Company, and Contractor. Leaving a field blank will generate a complete report of all clients and contractors. Running the report provides a list of Invoices, which may have been overlooked and not marked complete.

Income Summary by City:

Enter your Client Paid Date or range, select Contractors and the report will list all of the amounts paid to contractors and list them by city and state.

Filter Worktype:

The Filter Worktype report is a management tool to help the Admin understand the concentration and intricacies impacting their business. This can be run by Receive Date, Ready for Office Date, Work Type, Client Company, and/or Customer. This report is one way for management to keep the pulse on their business.

Contractor Report Card:

To run the Contractor Report Card Select a Ready for Office Date or date range, Client Company, Contractor, and Work Type or leave it blank for an overall report. When Run Report is selected, it will display selected contractors and their On Time submissions versus their Late submissions. The number of days late or early will also be incorporated into the report. This report may also be exported to Excel.

*** CHARGEBACK PROCESSING

Invoice – Accounts Payable and Receivable

Chargebacks: Processing chargebacks is one of the more confusing aspects of property preservation business. Chargebacks arise when the contractor has already been paid; but the client has reduced the payment amount because of some change or error on the invoice. With PPW begin by selecting the WO involved in the chargeback and left clicking on the Invoice key. Locate the Contractor Payment section and enter the Payment Date . Most users enter the date the payment will be withheld. Enter the Amount of the chargeback, check the Chargeback box, leave the Check # box blank and add the Comment of why the amount is being charged back, e.g., photos do not support the invoice amount. When Save Payment, is left clicked the system will save the date the chargeback was applied and the Payment Date entered at the beginning of the process will only be used for reference. The amount of the chargeback and the reason for it can be seen in the Contractor Payment window. If the contractor was not yet paid, simply adjust the payment amount in the Invoice Line Item section, and explain why the amount has been reduced.

Chargeback Reports: In order to display the chargeback report, access the Invoice – Accounts Payable and Receivable display and check Contractor Totals, Group By Contractor, Show Chargebacks Only, Deduct Chargebacks, enter the date the chargeback was entered not the reference date, Chargebacks Processed select “No”, select Run Report. All chargebacks entered from that date forward or in the date range provided will be displayed. In order to process the chargeback, select Contractor Payments, check the chargeback to be deducted, enter the Date, select Save Contractor Payments, and the chargeback will be processed and deducted from the contractors balance.

In order to review the chargebacks, the user can run the report again and this time select Chargebacks Processed select “Yes”, and select Run Report.

#### CHARGEBACKS DO NOT SHOW UP ON THE Invoice – Accounts Payable and Receivable REPORT ####

Forms & Docs:

The Forms & Docs tab is a shared file cabinet, which will allow the Admin to store files and documents for reference. Access to these files and documents can be controlled by giving permission to specific groups.

Creating a file or folder is easy. Start by left clicking on  the Forms & Docs tab and move your cursor over the + File or + Folder. The indicator will automatically underline. Left click on the appropriate File or Folder, and  and the Admin will have access to the appropriate screen.

To create a Folder, select +Folder, enter the Folder Name select Parent Folder and choose  if this is a parent folder or a subordinate folder. Select the Permissions to determine who has access to the folder and Save. The folder name will be visible depending on whether or not it is the parent folder.

To create a File, select +File and a pop up window of the desktop will displayed. Select Choose File and the Desktop will be displayed, select the file to be saved,  enter a description of the file, select Parent Folder and choose the folder for the file.  Select the Permissions to determine who has access to the file. Determine whether or not to send a notification email to the selected groups, and Save. The file will be available for viewing by selecting the parent folder and then the  file. Any type of file format: video, pdf, Excel, Word, etc.

This section is commonly used for training, client spec sheets, forms, items that Admin and contractors need to access regularly.

PPW Forms allow you to create forms with customized fields and logic.

How to Videos

Watch videos to learn the new PPW Forms

Add/Edit PPW Form Questions

Preview Form

PPW Forms can be previewed as you are working on them. This will allow you to test the logic, order, display and over all end user experience of the form without having to publish the changes.

Versioning

PPW Forms have versioning built in. When you make changes to a form in any way, the “Publish Form” will appear in the menu bar. Until a form is published the new changes will not be live. Older version of PPW Forms added to orders will remain in their original state and requirements. New questions and rules will not affect prior forms.

Question Fields

Click on the “Add Question” button in the menu to show the new question form.

Question Type

Checkboxes – Allows the user to select multiple answers or options.
Comment Box – Large area for the user to enter text.
Dropdown Menu – Has multiple options but only allows the user to select a single value. Will show the same as radio boxes on the mobile app but will be a dropdown on the website.
Radio Boxes – Multiple options but only allows the user to select a single value. Will show the same as drop down menu on the mobile app but will be radio boxes on the website.
Text Box – Single line for input of text, numbers or any other data.
Title – Show a title and additional instructions on the mobile app. Can be used to separate sections of question or insert messages into the mobile app’s list of questions.
Date – Date selector input box.
Numeric – Number only input box.
Photo – Photos only question type. Does not require user to answer anything but photos can be taken.

Question – The question text.

Question Desc/Help – Additional text to assist or explain the question to the end user.

Question ID – Field name that is used with the PPW Web Services API. This field can only contain letters, numbers and underscores. Will be automatically set by default based on the question text. Can be changed as required.

Insert After – Where the question will be positioned in the list. Select an existing question or choose At the beginning or At the end.

Default Show – Will determine if the question should always be shown by default. If this is not enabled, the question will only show if a rule from another question enables it.

Default Required – If set the question will have to be answered if shown. If this is not enabled, then the question will only be required if a field rule is specified for it.

Show Previous Value – Will show the end user the answer from the last time the form was filled out for the same property.

Copy Previous Value – Allow the user to copy or use the previous forms answer.

Active – Enables the question for the form. Disabled questions will not be on published versions of the form.

Answer Options

Checkboxes, dropdown and radio question types will have Answer Options.

PPW Form Rules

PPW Forms can have 3 different rules. Field rules, action rules and photo rules.

Field Rules

Field rules control how the question should be answered. Rules have an operator and a value. Examples could be requiring a value be greater than 0 and less than 20. Or requiring at least 3 of 10 check boxes are marked. Rules can be added in combination as needed.

Action Rules

Action rules allow you to show or hide other questions based on the answer of the current question. Multiple rules can be added and multiple actions can be added to a single rule. For example, if the question “Is the property occupied” is answered “Yes” then you can show a series of questions asking how it was determined.

Photo Rules

Photo rules allow you to require a minimum and maximum number of photos based on how the question was answered. There is a default setting for photos and then any number of rules can be added. The rules or rules that match will set the photo requirements for the question. If the minimum number of photos is set to 0, then photos will not be required to make the question valid. If the maximum number of photos is set to 0, then the user will not be able to take photos for the question. The PPW mobile app will check the number of photos taken and not allow a user to take more photos than the maximum allowed based on the rules.

Put this portion of the code in the <head> section of the website

<script type=”text/javascript” src=”http://www.propertypreswizard.com/templates/remote_login.js”></script>

Put this where you’d like the login box

<script type=”text/javascript”>
ppwLoginForm();
</script>

You can pass 2 variables to the ppwLoginForm() function, background color and text color. As hex values for example, you can also leave them blank and go with the defaults.

ppwLoginForm(‘#ffffff’, #000000′);

Sub-Contracting Companies allows you to group user accounts by the company they work for. This allows a company with several users to assign orders to their own contractors without having full access to all of the work orders in PPW.

If you have a question about Property Pres Wizard or are expriencing a difficulty please fill in the form below. Start with a short desciption of the question or issue followed by a detailed explanation. The more information you can provide us the better we will be able to assist you. For example, if you can’t access an order, or some information on an order detail page is not showing correctly please provide us with the PPW# or the Work Order # of the specific order so we can investigate the issue and reply with a quick response.

If the problem is specific to an import of data into PPW or exporting data out, such as an excel spreadhseet or Adobe PDF file, please attach the file along with the support request.

GLOSSARY:

Admin – This term is used to identify the Manager/Owner/CFO and may also be used to identify anyone who has Administrative authority.

Bid – The amount work a contractor is identifying that needs to be completed at the property.  This may include an actual dollar amount of what they will charge to complete the specified work.

Chargeback – The process of recovering monies already distributed to a contractor because the client has reduced the amount of remuneration.

Client Company – Individuals or companies who supply the Work Orders, i.e. Core Logic, Safeguard, etc.

Client Company Customers – These are the originators of the Work Orders i.e. Bank of America.

Contractor – Any individual servicing the accounts by completing the Work Orders.

Line Item – A single item in a Work Order, i.e. pump pool.

Permissions – The Admin function of controlling who will have access to certain information.

PPW – PropertyPresWizard

WO – Work Order

Work Type – Work Type is a consistent name utilized by the Admin to identify WOs from clients.  The Admin may group Cut Lawn, Cut Grass, Mow Yard all into a Work Type of Grass Cut, or Recurrent Grass Cut for ease of processing.

Write Off – The Admin may not be paid for a WO of which the contractor was already paid and instead of a Chargeback to the contractor will absorb it as a Write Off or loss.

Frequently asked questions for office/admin staff.

Pruvan Integration Reference

Pruvan to PPW integration has many options and levels of communication. This document will attempt to cover all of the options available.

Linking your Pruvan Account to PPW

1. In Pruvan, setup a “Client Project Import” using the PPW (Enhanced) option. This will allow you to enter your PPW username and password. It will also give you a “Push apiKey”. This key can be copy and pasted into PPW during the next steps.
2. In PPW click on your name in the upper right. There are two options on this screen for Pruvan. Enter your Pruvan username and if you would like enter your Pruvan Push apiKey. The Push apiKey will allow PPW to automatically alert Pruvan that new orders are available and re-sync the accounts. This is not required. If this option is not used then the normal sync time frame will be used.
3. Wait for Pruvan to synchronize with PPW or force a sync by clicking on “Full Refresh” in Pruvan under the PPW import option.

PPW PCR to Pruvan Survey Synchronization

PPW PCR forms can be synchronized with Pruvan Surveys. This requires a simple setup on PPW and Pruvan.

1. In PPW go to Admin->PCR Forms. Then click on the “Pruvan JSON” button to the right of the PCR form you want to use in Pruvan. This will open a new window that will contain the text version of the PCR form. Copy this text into your clipboard, just like you were going to do a copy/paste function.
2. In Pruvan, click on the “Survey Management” tab. Then click on the “New Survey Template” button”
3. On the new template form page, click on “Import JSON” in the upper right. A pop up window will appear. Paste the text you previously copied into the clipboard. Click the “Done” button at the bottom of the pop up window.
4. You should see questions appear in the left column of the screen. These are the PPW PCR questions. You can not change the question ID’s or any answer options. Doing so may break the data synchronization between PPW and Pruvan. You can modify Photo Requirements and Answer Triggers.
5. Click on the “Save” button to save the Survey in Pruvan. Pruvan will give this Survey a version number. This number must be entered into PPW. As you revise Pruvan Surveys this number will increase. Remember to update PPW with the latest version you have published in Pruvan.
6. In PPW go to Admin->PCR Forms. Click the PCR form name you want to sync with Pruvan. Enter the version number in the field “Pruvan Survey Ver. #”. Click “Save”.

PPW uses the Quickbooks Web Connector (QBWC) to allow PPW to send data to Quickbooks. PPW only supports the desktop version of Quickbooks, not the Quickbooks Online version. The reason for this is because we utilize the QBWC to synchronize data and this product is not available with the Quickbooks Online version.

Setting up the Quickbooks sync takes many steps. This document will attempt to explain each requirement and how to setup PPW and QB.

Important Information

Work orders that have multiple contractors assigned to them will not sync to QB correctly. PPW can only have one contractor invoice per work order, and only one contractor invoice can be synced with QB. If you assign multiple contractors to a work order we can not guarantee which vendor it will be assigned to. if you are assigning multiple contractors to a single work order and you want to track contractor invoice in quickbooks, you must create separate work orders for each contractor that will be assigned to an order. The side effect of this is when importing client company payments the payments will not applied properly because we link the payments based on the work order number and the new orders created for the multiple contractors will not have the same work order number. We also don’t specifically know how to break down the payments, especially if they underpaid.

These items specifically need to be understood by anyone using the PPW to Quickbooks sync.

Enabling Quickbooks Integration

1. When logged into PPW, go to the following link https://www.propertypreswizard.com/control.php/admin/quickbooks_setup/
2. Check the “Enable Integration” box.
3. Enter a QBWC Password. This password must be at least 10 characters in length.
4. No other fields need to be entered at this time.
5. Click on the “Save” button. You will receive a green “Settings Saved” message if it worked properly. If you receive an error, correct the issue and click “Save” again until it works successfully.
6. This will enable a new option under the menu Admin->General called “Quickbooks Integration”. This section will allow you to setup many of the sync options.

Setup Quickbooks Web Connector

New versions of Quickbooks normally have the Web Connector pre-installed. You will find it in the start menu under the Quickbooks menu, or on the Windows 8 home screen. If it’s not available, the web connector can be downloaded from the following link http://marketplace.intuit.com/webconnector/

In PPW go to Admin->General->Quickbooks Integration.

1. Click on the “Download QWC” button. Save the QWC file in a location you can find again.
2. Make sure Quickbooks is open and the proper company file is open. You must be logged in as a user with Admin rights in Quickbooks.
3. Open the Quickbooks Web Connector application on the computer. Click on the “Add Application” button and open the QWC file you just downloaded.
4. A window will appear verifying the SSL certificate with PPW. Click on the “OK” button.
5. The next window will ask how you want the QBWC to function. There are 4 options available, the descriptions are below.
   a. No. – This option will disable the sync on the Quickbooks side.
   b. Yes, Prompt each time. – This will ask you if you want to sync PPW to QB every time a sync starts.
   c. Yes, whenever this Quickbooks company file is open. – This will sync data only when Quickbooks is open. (This is the most common setting)
   d. Yes, always; allow access even if Quickbooks is not running. – Allows data to sync as long as the QBWC is running. (This is used when a dedicated server is used for QB)
6. Click on the “Continue…” button.
7. Click on the “Done” button.

You should see the PPW entry in QBWC. There are a few more steps to finalize the QBWC setup.

1. Enter your QBWC password in the password field. Hit enter when complete and the QBWC will prompt you to save the password. Hit yes.
2. Uncheck the box that for “Auto-Run”. We can enable this later when the setup is complete.
3. Check the box to the left of the PPW entry.
4. To check the password is correct, click on the “Update Selected” box. This will initiate a sync from PPW to QB and will verify the password is correct.
   If the password is correct you will see a message under the stats column in green that says “No data exchange required”.
   If the password was entered incorrectly you will see a message in red that says “Invalid password for username: PPWXXXXXXXXX”. Please re-enter the password and try again.

PPW and the QBWC are now able to authenticate and pass information back and forth. We will now need to sync all of the Accounts, Items, Vendors and Customers from QB to PPW.

Initial Sync of Data from Quickbooks into PPW

When syncing data between PPW and QB we have to associate the user in PPW to a Vendor in QB in order to send the contractors invoice from PPW into QB. You have to manually create the Vendors in Quickbooks first. To synchronize the list of Vendors from QB to PPW go to Admin->General->Quickbooks Integration, click on the “Sync Vendors” button. Go to the QBWC, select the PPW connection and then click on the “Update Selected” button. Any Vendors not in PPW will be created and any Vendors that have been modified will be updated. You will need to re-sync vendors every time you add or modify a vendor in QB that you need to sync with PPW. Once the Vendors have been synced, go to Admin->Users and setup the vendor for each required user. The Vendor option is available under the Misc. Settings area when editing a user.

To sync Client invoices form PPW to QB we need to associate the Client in PPW with a customer in QB. All of the Customers must be created manually in QB. To synchronize the list of Customers from QB to PPW go to Admin->General->Quickbooks Integration, click on the “Sync Customers” button. Go to the QBWC, select the PPW connection and then click on the “Update Selected” button. Any Customers not in PPW will be created and any Customers that have been modified will be updated. You will need to re-sync customers every time you add or modify a customer in QB that you need to sync with PPW. Once the Customers have been synced, go to Admin->General->Client Companies and setup the customer for each required client company.

Vendor bills in QB need an account associated with them. To synchronize the list of Accounts from QB to PPW go to Admin->General->Quickbooks Integration, click on the “Sync Accounts” button. Go to the QBWC, select the PPW connection and then click on the “Update Selected” button. Any Accounts not in PPW will be created and any Accounts that have been modified will be updated. You only need to re-sync accounts if you need to change the name of the account in QB or you need to change the account that PPW associates bills with. This is rarely ever modified after it is setup. Once the Accounts have been synced, go to Admin->General->Quickbooks Integration and select the “Default Bill Account” from the drop down menu. The account must be an Expense account in QB.

Client invoices need an item associated with each line in QB. To sync the items from QB to PPW go to Admin->General->Quickbooks Integration, click on the “Sync Items” button. Go to the QBWC, select the PPW connection and then click on the “Update Selected” button. Any Items not in PPW will be created and any Items that have been modified will be updated. You only need to re-sync items if you need to change the name of the item in QB or you need to change the account that PPW associates invoices with. This is rarely ever modified after it is setup. We normally suggest creating an item called “Service”, “Field Service” or a similar generic name to associate the invoice lines with. To set the invoice item to use go to Admin->General->Quickbooks Integration and set the “Default Invoice Line Item” and the “Default Invoice Discount Item”. This will set the QB item that each invoice line will be associated with. The discount item will reflect the client discount % from PPW. You can associate this with a different item for reporting purposes if needed.

Invoice items can also be associated on an item by item basis in PPW, but you always need to have the default line items set because the other, or manually added lines on the invoices will use this default option. You can have some items manually assigned and then use the default for the others. This is a personal preference and depends on how much time you want to spend setting up PPW and QB and also how you would like to report on invoices in QB. To setup more specific litem associations Go to Admin->General->Bic/Comp & Invoice Items. This will allow you to set an item or account in QB for each item in PPW.

Understanding the Quickbooks Web Connector

The Quickbooks Web Connector (QBWC) is a stand alone application that runs in the background on windows computers. In order for PPW to send to data to QB this program needs to be running. This program does not need to be running all the time, but it normally is. If you would like more control of when data is sent from PPW to QB you can manually open and close the QBWC and also manually start the sync. The QBWC is normally setup to Auto-Run every 10 minutes. This means that every 10 minutes the QBWC will connect to PPW and see if there is any data waiting to be synchronized. If there is it will send the data, if not it will disconnect and try again at the specified time window. If you don’t want to wait for the next Auto-Run time window you can select the PPW option in the QBWC and click the “Update Selected” box. This will force a sync.

Under normal scenarios the Auto-Run option is used for syncing invoices during normal daily operations and the manual or forced sync is used when creating new vendors and customers or when syncing invoices on an individual basis and you can’t wait for the Auto-Run to complete your in a timely manner.

When data is sent from PPW to QB it is first added to a queue. Items are kept in the queue until the QBWC is run. Some people sync items real time, every 10 minutes or some only sync a couple days a week. If you have a small volume of invoices it might be ok to sync once or twice a week. With a high volume of invoices it would make sense to sync through out the day or once a day at the very least. The speed of the QBWC is dependent on many factors. The speed of the computer QB is running on and the size of the QB database are the two biggest factors. It can take 1-3 seconds per invoice to sync. If you have thousands of invoices a week it could take 30-60 minutes to sync all of them. Keep this in mind for your invoice and payroll schedules.

Syncing Invoices from PPW to QB

There are two ways to send invoices from PPW to QB. You can send each invoice individually by going to the Invoices page of each work order clicking the “Send to Quickbooks” button for either the Contractor or Client invoice. You need send them each separately. Clicking on one button does not send both. This lets you better control what gets sent to QB. When an invoice is in the queue to be sent to QB you will see a message that says “Sent to Quickbooks”. This means it’s waiting to be process by the QBWC. Once an invoice has been created in QB and we receive a valid response the message will now say “Synced w/Quickbooks”. If you need to re-send an invoice to QB there is a “Re-Send to Quickbooks” button. This could potentially create duplicate invoices in QB and should be used with caution. If you had to delete an invoice from QB this can be used to re-create it. Resending invoices can only be done one-by-one.

The faster way to end invoices to QB is using the “Invoice – Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable” report. Run a report with the proper filters. Below the filter options and above the column headings will be a “Quickbooks Sync” button. Clicking this will show a form with two options. One to sync all Client invoices and another for all Contractor invoices. Clicking either of these will auto select the invoices for Client or Contractors in the report that have not been synced with QB. You can also scroll through the report and manually check the boxes of the invoices you would like to sync. If an invoice line has a QB icon instead of a checkbox, that means it has already been synced with QB. When you are done click the “Sync to Quickbooks” button and they will be added to the QBWC queue.

Sending invoices to QB is a one-way sync. If an invoice is modified in PPW or QB after it has been synced, it will not be updated in the other. You will either have to manually update both invoices or delete the invoice from PPW and re-sync the invoice with the changes.

Syncing Client Payments

You can only sync payments entered into PPW with QB if the invoice it is associated with has also been sent to QB. Syncing Client Company payments is done using the report called “Export Payments to Quickbooks”. This report will group each payment by check number. Payments are sent to QB in batches and the total amount sent for the check number and the totals of the checks will match. This means if you have a check for $1,000 that pays off 10 invoices with a $100 payment for each, but one of the invoices was not synced with QB, when PPW sends the payment info to QB it will send it as $900 and completely skip the one payment. This is because we have to assign a payment with an invoice because of the way the QBWC functions.

If a payment is for more than an invoice was the QBWC will not save the payment. PPW will log the error and you will be able to see the error at the top of the report. We will show the error and link to the work order that is causing the error. You will have to adjust the invoice in QB to reflect the payment amount.

Quickbooks Error Reports

Under the Reports tab is a report called “Quickbooks Invoice Sync Errors”. This report will show you the last errors from the QBWC. PPW will try to create an understandable error message and also create a link to the specific work order that caused the error. This allows you to know that an invoice did not sync and then to troubleshoot why. The most common reasons for an invoice receiving an error is that the Customer or Vendor name has been changed in QB and it hasn’t been updated in PPW yet. You can reset the Client and Contractor invoice sync errors from this page. Resetting the errors will put the invoice back into the QBWC queue and it will be sent during the next sync.

Quickbooks Sync FAQ/Troubleshooting

1. The QBWC is not running.
   A. Check in the system tray to make sure the QBWC is running. If it has crashed or has been accidentally closed go to the Start menu Quickbooks folder and click on the Web Connector to open it. When minimizing the QBWC click on the minimize button, not the “X” or close button.
2. Why is the “Send to Quickbooks” option missing on an invoice.
   A. The QB button will be missing from an invoice if you have not associated the User(contractor) or Client with the Vendor or Customer in QB.
3. I can’t find the Vendor in the drop down under the users page.
   A. Make sure the Vendor has been created in QB and then re-sync the Vendors with PPW. (Instructions above)
4. I can’t find the customer in the drop down under Client Company.
   A. Make sure the Customer is entered into QB and re-sync the Customers with PPW. (Instructions above)