1.1. Introduction.

Resource Manager^TM version 1.0 was released in 1988 and was initially developed in conjunction with the now-defunct Woodspring District Council to record details of Employees' time worked. Other local authorities began using the system in the next year or two, and each one has contributed suggestions and advice over the years. The system is, or has been, used in every type of local authority department.

It has sometimes been tempting to develop versions of the system specific to user-type; a solicitor's version or a housing version, etc. Wolff Systems have resisted this as the long-term support, maintenance and upgrade implications are in neither the user's nor the supplier's interest. This does mean, though, that there are far more facilities and set-up options in the system than would be needed by one user, and this probably contributes to an apparent complexity.

Resource Manager^TM was developed in the days before Windows was popular. In those dark days an operating system called MS-DOS was generally used on PCs. Resource Manager^TM is still an MS-DOS system - it can run on a PC without MS-Windows. At various times over the years, Windows versions have been suggested, planned and development has even been started. Unfortunately, the speed at which the DOS version has been modified and enhanced, almost always in response to users' requests, has meant that the Windows version has always been left behind.

Current plans are for an Intranet browser version.

1.2. Hardware requirements.

Resource Manager^TM should be installed onto a standard PC computer; being a DOS-based system it will run on just about anything from a 486 up.

You should have at least 3 Mbytes of free space on your hard disk. You will need more as you start to use the system. From version 3.6 onwards the system runs in protected memory only.

1.3. The software.

The system consists of programs, which are compiled and linked supplied into one executable file, RESMAN.EXE, and a number of files containing settings and passwords, etc. The programs are capable of generating empty data files. Data is stored in a number of DBF (database) and NTX (index) files. Other types of files store text (DBT and TXT), memory variables (MEM) and system run-time variables (DAT).

1.4. Installing Resource Manager^TM.

Resource Manager^TM should be installed in a folder (sub-directory) of your PC's hard disk called \RESMAN. You must create this directory before installing the system. To make a directory called RESMAN, use Windows Explorer, or open up a DOS window in your Windows system. At the DOS C:\ prompt type:

C:\>MD\RESMAN <Enter>

You do not have to type in capitals. The <Enter> key is sometimes called Return or Carriage Return or is marked with a 90 degree arrow.

Then go into the RESMAN directory by typing:

C:\>CD\RESMAN <Enter>

Resource Manager^TM is supplied in a number of formats, sometimes in compressed file form. Separate installation instructions are supplied with each copy and you should follow these and the on-screen prompts. When installation is complete, remove the disk(s) and store in a safe place away from the computer. Upgrades are now supplied via the Wolff Systems web site at www.wolffsys.co.uk.

During installation, the system will ask you for a directory name for your data. Very early single-user versions held programs and data together in the same directory. However, from version 3.4B, it is preferable to store data separately, as with previous multi-user versions. There are two advantages to setting up your system like this. Firstly, it makes backup more straightforward because you can simply copy all the files in the data directory, and, secondly, you can, with one copy of the system, maintain several, separate, databases.

Unless you have a multi-copy licence, you are only authorised to install the system onto one computer at a time. If you need to move the system to another computer you should do a complete backup of the system, restore it onto the new computer and then delete it from the old one. You should, as a matter of course, make regular backups of the system to secure your data. This should be carried out after every session, at least. You only need to copy the data (see below) - the programs will not change. If your computer ever becomes damaged and you are unable to access your system you should first of all reinstall the system, using whatever medium was supplied to you, onto another computer, and then restore the data from your latest backup.

The above are the only circumstances under which you should legitimately be re-installing the system.

For more information about directories, backups, restoring and other DOS commands, please see the DOS and MS-Windows manuals which should have been supplied with your computer.

1.5. Running The System.

To run Resource Manager^TM, you should first go to the directory containing the system (usually C:\RESMAN) and then type:

C:\RESMAN>RM <Enter>

This calls a DOS batch file (RM.BAT) which, in turn, calls RESMAN.EXE. You can automate access to Resource Manager^TM by placing an icon on your MS-Windows desktop. A suitable icon file, WOLFF.ICO, can be found in the \RESMAN (program) folder. See appendix A for help with running the system under MS-Windows 95 and 98.

The purpose of calling the system with RM.BAT, rather than simply calling the main program file, RESMAN.EXE, is that RM.BAT (a simple DOS batch file) can be modified to suit the user’s computer and personal preferences.

At its simplest, RM.BAT contains a line calling RESMAN.EXE. However, a number of parameters can accompany the RESMAN line to personalise your version, as follows:

RESMAN abc identification password

There must be no spaces between a, b and c, but there must be a space between c and identification and password

a: The first character can be a 1 (on) or 0 (off). If 1, boxes in the system will appear to "explode" before displaying (actually much faster in version 3.7. and hardly distinguishable from non-exploding).

b: The second character can be 1 (audible bleeps on warnings, messages, etc.) or 0 (no bleeps).

c: The third character controls the mouse. Again, 1 for on and 0 (zero) for off. If you do not have a mouse driver loaded with your computer (Resource Manager^TM pre-dates the wide availability of such things!) then this setting will make no difference. Use this setting if you have a mouse currently active when you call Resource Manager^TM but do not want the system to recognise it (you may have become more familiar with older versions of the system which did not support mouse operation).

password and identification: If you do not want to input an identification and password each time you use the system, you can input them automatically from within the RM.BAT file. The ID code and password must be valid (i.e. set up in the System Details menu). This facility must be used with care and only if you are sure access to the system does not need to be protected. Also, it is feasible if you wish to access only one database.

The system will attempt to validate the default ID and password and, if not recognised, it will simply revert to normal input. If, however, the ID is accepted but the password passed is not recognised, the user will be returned to the operating system.

If passing a user ID and password in this way you must also use the first (boxes, bleeps and mouse) parameter, even if set to 111, as above. If you examine (in, say, NotePad) the file RM.BAT you will see more details of how to amend it.

Two final, but very important, things you must do before running the system: firstly, ensure that you have a CONFIG.SYS file in the root directory and that it contains the lines:

FILES=99 (or more)

BUFFERS=15

If you do not have such a file you may get a system "Open" error (sometime error ref 20). This is almost always caused by an incorrectly set CONFIG.SYS file.

If the BUFFERS setting is too high, you may encounter an "insufficient memory" message (or problems opening files, as above) when running the system.

Different computers are configured differently, and it may be that yours has some memory-resident programs which are automatically loaded when the computer is switched on. If such programs, or other global settings, restrict the free memory of your computer, Resource Manager^TM may not load, or, if it does load, you may encounter problems while running. Before checking to see whether you can remove any memory-resident programs, try including the following line in the RM.BAT file):

SET CLIPPER=E0;R10;V6

This will allocate the memory of your computer more suitably for running Resource Manager^TM. NB: Versions 3.6 and later are able to run in Expanded memory. If this is the case, add the instruction:

SET PIPEHANDLE=0

See your DOS instruction manual for more details of batch files, directories, Backup, Restore, etc. These commands are outside the scope of Resource Manager^TM and we can accept no responsibility if your system has been set up incorrectly or if regular backups have not been taken. We will, though, be happy to discuss any set up or installation problems with you. If you have a network system, see section 6, Multi-user systems, as well.

1.6. Backing up the system

Where Resource Manager^TM is used via a network, you should rely on the automatic network backup facilities. You should liaise with your IT department to ensure that this will be adequate.

With single-user systems it is possible to quit the system via an automatic backup. This option appears when you Quit from the main menu.

Version 4.1e (January 2002) hugely simplifies this process. If you have an earlier version you may prefer to download this version or later.

In version 4.1e and later, a batch file called RMBACK.BAT is placed in the data directory (eg \RESDAT02) that you want to backup. The file contains a line similar to the one below:

@echo off
c:\progra~1\access~1\backup\msbackup.exe rmback.set

This runs the backup utility which is located on the user's PC. Obviously, the user must discover what method of backing up data is available on the PC, and make the necessary file selections, etc. Generally, all files in the particular data directory are backed up, although to save space you can omit index files (*.NTX) which can be regenerated after restoring backed up data. Note that short-form file names must be used, eg progra~1 rather than Program Files.

Versions earlier than 4.1e can be set up as follows:

The details here are for Windows 9x. Contact us for details specific to earlier or later operating systems.

• Find our where your Windows backup program is located. This will usually be MSBACKUP.EXE, and can be run by clicking on the Start button, then selecting Programs, then Accessories. Backup will be either in this menu, or, if not, click on System Tools, and Backup should be there. If you can't find backup on your computer how do you usually take backups? You do take backups, don't you? If it's really not there, you should install it from your original Windows installation disk. (Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs.) When you track down Backup, right click on the icon, then select Properties. A box called Backup Properties will appear; open the Shortcut tab, and note the contents of the Target field.
• Using a text editor, like MS-NotePad, open the file RM.BAT, found in your \RESMAN directory.
• You now have to type the location of your backup system in this file. There may already be a ("rem"ed) line there which you can modify (and remove the characters "rem"). The format of the line is:

  SET ResmanBU=d:\folders\MSBACKUP.EXE

  where d represents the drive (probably C) and folders the path to the file MSBACKUP.EXE. A typical path would be "C:\Program Files\Accessories\BACKUP\MSBACKUP.EXE", but wait, it's not as simple as that! Resource Manager^TM is a DOS system and cannot understand Windows file names. You must shorten folder names to eight characters. So the above path would read:

  C:\PROGRA~1\ACCESS~1\BACKUP\MSBACKUP.EXE

  Either MS-BACKUP (DOS version 6, Windows 95, or later) or BACKUP (earlier versions of DOS). When backing up in this way, Resource Manager^TM passes information to DOS or Windows about which Resource Manager^TM data to backup, depending on which database the user is quitting from. This is not fool-proof as only the database last accessed will be saved.

  Resource Manager^TM can detect the version of DOS that you are using and call either BACKUP or MS-BACKUP accordingly.

It is not essential to backup *.NTX (index) files. If, however, you do not and you restore a backup, you must, on re-entering Resource Manager^TM, go straight to the utilities menu and run "reorganise files". This will re-create your indexes.

2. Setting up the system.

Resource Manager^TM was designed to be easy-to-use, flexible and suitable for a wide range of users. It is also a system which can be used in a very simple way initially, but, as your needs develop, it has the capacity to meet more sophisticated and complex requirements.

This part of the manual is intended to help those people who want to start to use the system quickly, or who want to assess the system before starting to use it in a live environment, or have not had any training.

You are strongly advised to invest in a short training session. Existing users will testify that an initial in-depth discussion on how the system can best be set up for their own specific requirements can save days or weeks of trial-and-error. See our web site for a brief overview and introduction to the system. Go to www.wolffsys.co.uk, click on RESOURCE MANAGER at the top of the screen, then Introduction.

2.1. What Does The System Do?

Resource Manger records information about the work that is carried out in your section. By taking information from timesheets filled out by your staff, it can monitor the progress of work, see whether it is achieved on time, report on how much that work has Cost, how much it should be charged out at, what proportion of time people are spending on unprofitable activities, etc. It can also keep track of holidays, flexi-time, overtime, sickness, and it can help you to plan the best way of allocating your staff to the available work.

It can also produce documentation for charging other departments for the work you have done for them, including charging for additional expenses unrelated to time worked by your staff (the purchase of equipment, or legal disbursements, for instance).

The system's database consists of the following major areas, and it is important that you are clear about what is meant by each of these areas:

EMPLOYEES: The most obvious - the individuals who work in your section or department. Each employee has up to three charge rates (the amount per hour which work carried out by the person will be charged out at) and up to three cost rates (the amount the Employee is costing the organisation); Charge and cost rates may be the same in your organisation if you charge "at cost", but the facility is there to start to create a "profit", if the policy of establishing individual profit centres is pursued at some time in the future. It is also possible to maintain details of Holidays, Flexi-Time, Sick leave, Time in Lieu of Overtime, etc.

ACTIVITIES: Types of work; skills; talents. Examples would be Letter-Writing, Programming, Interviewing, Designing, Travelling. It is, in short, any of the things that you are able to do, and which you could still do, in another similar organisation. (If you do not want to record different activities or if everyone in your area is carrying out the same activity, in which case it would be rather pointless to record it, the system does not require you to, unlike PROJECTS, without which the system cannot operate). Like many areas of the system, it is possible to utilise activity for other purposes. You may wish to record work by geographical location, for instance; you can use activity codes to do this. Normally, there are two "levels" of activity code. See the Activity Code section of the manual for more details

PROJECTS: Jobs, Matters, Cases. Specifics. The Building of a Leisure Centre at Castle Point. The Creation of a Computerised Payroll System. The Purchase of a Plot of Land at Smith's Meadow. And there will be less specific "projects" like General Administration, Departmental Meetings, etc. If you are, say, a legal department you may want to consider whether you wish to create one PROJECT called "House Conveyancing" or create a separate PROJECT (or "matter") for each individual property. The former will be simpler (and be an ongoing type of project), the latter will give better control and information, but will require slightly more complex maintenance, longer reports, the input of project completion dates, etc.

Projects will normally have a number of Employees working on them, each probably (but not necessarily) carrying out different Activities. The Computer Payroll System, (a PROJECT) for instance, will no doubt occupy the time of a number of employees. There will be people who are computer programmers and whose main activity will be Programming. Systems Analysts will spend most of their time Analysing the requirements of the user. Some Systems Analysts may be able to do some Programming or write Documentation as well, and will record this distinction on their timesheets. A number of activities can be carried out on any one PROJECT. One activity can be applied to a number of separate PROJECTS.

TIMESHEETS: The input of timesheets to the system ties together the database by recording the fact that certain EMPLOYEES have carried out certain activities on certain PROJECTS for a certain duration of time.

See the Glossary section of this Manual for descriptions of other elements of the system.

2.2. Your section or department.

Resource Manager^TM is intended to be used at charging unit level. By this we mean that two sections who could, in theory, charge each other for work should not be sharing the same database. Each charging unit should have its own copy of the system, or, if usage is fairly low, and two units can physically share a computer, you could set up two distinct databases within one copy of the system. If your section is a very large one, you may prefer to break it down into a few smaller sub-sections and allocate a system to each. Alternatively, you could use a networked version of the system so that you can input and interrogate the common database via three or four screens.

Before even installing the system you should think about the way in which your section operates, and what kind of information you need. Do you do much work for other departments or is it mostly internal? Do you carry out predominantly maintenance-type work (i.e. are you contracted on an on-going basis to provide support as and when required to other departments) or do you work on jobs which have a clearly definable start and end, like the building of a leisure centre? Or you may be a legal department engaged, among other things, in the sale of council houses. If so, you may wish to regard each house sale as a separate, identifiable project (with a clear start and end), or you may wish to set up one project to cover all house sales (which would be on-going). Obviously, the level of detail and analysis you require from the system is dependent on the amount input, and there is always a trade-off between the two. If you are a Computer Section, do you want to know the amount of time spent programming a system as distinct from the time spent in the initial feasibility study or systems analysis. If you do, you will need to consider all the Activities (distinct types of work) which are undertaken in your department and ensure that employees code their timesheets accordingly.

So, you have to make some decisions. At the very simplest level you could use the system to record employees holidays, sickness, overtime and flexi-time, and just set up one "productive" project to cover all other work. You don't even have to set up any activities. From there you may decide to create a separate project for each of your " client" departments, so that you can see what the work you do for each of those departments is actually costing you. As a next stage you could either start to break the work up into clearly-definable projects or you could use the TASK facility to define tasks (sub-projects) within each major ( client-related) project. Tasks give you the ability to record a brief description and anticipated duration, and then to monitor progress of that task via the timesheet entries.

Another way of simplifying the system, if you are using it to log chargeable values, is to charge by activity, rather than maintain charge rates for each employee. This would mean that, say, the activity called "Programming" is always charged at £20.00 per hour, regardless of who is carrying out the work.

If your organisation uses flexi-time, but you already have a system which monitors the Actual hours worked, you will only need to set Resource Manager^TM to receive the TOTAL hours worked each week by employees; you will not need to input the arrival and departure times individually. To do this, set the system (the System Details menu in Utilities) to flexi-time but WITHOUT timetable entry.

You can also save time when entering timesheets by setting the system to skip automatically over many of the fields. If all you are doing is entering a project code and a number of hours worked, you can "turn off" all the other fields (activity, task, charge and cost rates and charge method) by, again, modifying the timesheet entry options in the System Details menu.

2.3. Setting up tables and operating options.

When you have decided on the level of information which you want to record you must next set up various tables and options in the System Details section of the Utilities menu. Only the system administrator can access this section and, if you are using a network version of the system (more than one operator accessing the data simultaneously), you will only be allowed into this area when all other users are "logged off". You should do this before you start to input details about employees or projects. For more information about the system details section, read section 3.4.1.

Next, decide on the various activities, if any, which are appropriate for your section. You can always add more later, but it is worth considering before you input PROJECT details, which you should do next. Lastly, input all the EMPLOYEES who will be supplying timesheets to the system. If you are starting the system during, rather than at the start of, the Financial/Holiday year, you will need to input details about the amount of overtime, holidays, etc. accruing to each employee. You will also have decided on employees’ charge rates (or are you going to charge by activity type, rather than have separate charge rates for each individual employee?). You should set up at least one cost rate for each employee, as one of the most useful features of the system is that it can tell you how much projects are actually costing you, as compared with what you can charge. Whether you need all three cost rates depends on whether you pay overtime and double time or whether you can calculate a single, approximate, cost rate per employee which takes into account occasional overtime working. As with most other areas of the system, the accuracy and complexity of detail is up to you. One overall cost rate may be all you need. Similarly, you may only ever charge time to other departments at one rate per employee, in which case you only need to input one charge rate per employee. Or, as mentioned in the previous section, you may prefer to charge by activity and have no charge rates for individual employees at all.

You could charge at one set hourly rate per project by setting up a default chargeable activity per project. This wouldn't give you any meaningful activity analysis, but you may not want it.

Of course, you will be adding new projects, employees and, probably, activities as required, but these should, ideally, fall into your original scheme of how the system will work. If you subsequently decide that you would like more detail, or that the data should have been structured differently, plan the change carefully. If it helps, jot your ideas down on paper and send them to your supplier, who may be able to point out any potential problems in advance or suggest a slightly different approach. Or he may be able to put you in touch with another user who has already been through the same situation. If you do want to modify the way you use the system, try to do it in a well-organised and well-documented way. Plan to change at the start of your financial year, for instance, and, if the change is major, create new projects for on-going work, rather than keep the old details, which may have been charged or costed in a different way.

Wolff Systems, via your support centre if any, are happy to help and are always pleased to discuss your ideas. We would, though, emphasise the value of at least some preliminary training.

3. Using the system.

Resource Manager^TM does not work in quite the same way as MS-Windows systems. The mouse, in particular, will seem unfamiliar at first.

You must always press the <Enter> (or left mouse button) key at the end of a data field. The system will, where possible, check your input and, if it detects that you may have made a mistake, advise you with an error or warning message. Where you are simply answering a prompt with a single-character reply (pressing Y for yes, for example) you do not normally need to press <Enter> afterwards.

Also, the <Esc> or Escape key is useful. It will move the system back to a previous position. (The right mouse button usually works as an Escape key press.) For instance, if you are halfway through an entry screen you can press <Esc> to go back to a previous field. Often, too, you can exit from an option (a report, for instance) by pressing <Esc>. The rule is: if there is no prompt at the bottom of the screen with an option of Quit, use <Esc> to return to the previous field or screen. You also use <Esc> to return to the system from the Help screens, calculator, note-pad and calendar.

NB: If you have changed an item of data and you press <Esc> immediately, instead of the <Enter> key, the change will not be saved. Also, if you leave an entry screen by going back up the screen (using the <Esc> key), any changes which you made will not be saved; to save changes you must exit from the bottom of the screen by pressing the <Enter> key.

3.1. Main Menu.

The Main Menu is your start point for all the operations you will carry out in Resource Manager^TM. When starting the system, a licence screen will first appear; check that the department or section displayed is your own (if not, contact your supplier or Wolff Systems) press any key to continue, and you will normally be taken to ID and Password Entry (see section 3.1.2).

The system may not allow you to proceed for one of the reasons listed in section 3.1.3. Start-up Errors and Messages.

If, the last time the system was used, it was not closed down properly (i.e. you did not select Quit from the main menu, due to a hardware or software problem, or you just switched the computer off, or the power went off for some other reason) the system may think that you are still logged on (multi-user systems only). An error message will appear, therefore, if either you try to log on with the same identification (you can't be in two places at once) or if, by logging on, you exceed the number of permitted users. See your System Administrator or call us to "reset" the system. Also, if you last left the system incorrectly, it will advise you that your data may be corrupted (single-user systems). If you were engaged in an actual operation (updating timesheets or projects, for example) you should restore from your latest backup to be absolutely sure of data integrity. If, however, you were simply at a menu, and not updating your data (the information held in the system) it is probably not necessary to restore. Taking backups is essential in any computer system, and should be carried out after each session. See the Installation Section in this manual, or your DOS (operating system) manual.

Also between the input of your ID and password, and the display of the Main Menu the system will check your database and advise about such things as missing files and overdue action reminders. Also, "tips" about aspects of the system will appear if this is the first time today that you have logged onto the system. Tips can be turned off, but it can be useful to read them regularly as it keeps you in touch with areas of the system which you may not currently use but may be useful at some time in the future.

If you are now at the Main Menu you will see a list of options as follows:

MAINTENANCE

INVOICING

REPORTS

UTILITIES

QUIT THE SYSTEM

You will also note, at the bottom of the screen, that you can, at any time, press the Function key 1 (F1) to view brief notes relevant to the current field, menu or prompt and F2 for the Note Pad. Function key 3 is used in the system at certain points to display lists from which you can make selections, but only when prompted. Function key 4 is used to display a calendar and Function key 5 displays a calculator. Go to the end of this section for details of the calendar and the calculator. Although Function key 8 is not labelled on the screen, you can use it to toggle off/on the audible "bleeps" which indicate errors, ends of reports, messages, etc. A small box containing the words "BLEEPS ON" or "BLEEPS OFF" will appear briefly at the top of the screen. Also, on single-user systems only, a F3:ACCESS appears at the bottom of the Main Menu screen. Press F3 to "lock" the system, if you are going to be away from it for a short time, or if another user wishes to log on to the system with a different identification and password. The system can then only be re-accessed by inputting valid codes, or you can exit the system by pressing the <Escape> key. This feature is not available on multi-user systems, where you should Quit the system and re-access later in the normal way.

See below for a description of each of the menu options.

If you are not using a mouse pointing device you will see that the first item, MAINTENANCE, has a "light bar" across it. You can move this bar to the option you wish to select by pressing the arrow head keys, found on the right of your keyboard. Pressing the down arrow twice will move the bar to the REPORTS option, for example. When the bar is over the option you require, press the <Enter> key to confirm your selection. If you have a mouse device, simply "point" at the required option and press the left button. Alternatively, you can press just the first letter of any option to go straight to it. Try pressing the letter Q to quit the system. If, on other menus, there are two options with the same initial letter, pressing the letter will always go to the first option in the list no matter where the bar or mouse pointer is currently positioned; to go to the second you must use the arrow keys or the mouse

On-screen help is accessible by pressing the F1 (Function 1) key. Help is specific to the field or other part of the system currently in use.

The system note pad enables you to make notes about your Resource Manager^TM and the way in which it is used in your own department or section. Some people use it to record certain codes or a backup history or other general notes. To access it, press the F2 key. There may be some detailed instructions already on the Note Pad. You can over-write these with your own notes. You can print the Note Pad via the Other Reports - Browse a Text File menu.

If you are using the system for the first time:

The system will detect that certain components of your database are missing, and go automatically to the appropriate section of the Utilities menu to create them. (See section 3.1.3.3.) Before you begin the day-to-day running of Resource Manager^TM you must access the System Details menu (called from the Utilities menu) to set up the system to suit your organisation - you must have a System Administrator (or System Controller) password to do this. Do not start to enter such things as project or employee details until you have gone to the System Details menu.

See section 2 of the manual for help with setting up the system initially and how to get the most from the system.

3.1.1. Main Menu Options.

MAINTENANCE - takes you to another menu from which you can update information about Projects, Employees, Activity Codes, Timesheets and Materials/Expenses.

INVOICING - The creation and monitoring of "invoices" (charging documents). You must have the Resource Manager^TM invoicing module installed on your computer for this option to work.

REPORTS - Selecting Reports will take you to a number of Reports Menus, from which you will be able to choose a variety of printed (or screen displayed) reports. NB: your password/user level combination may not allow you access to some, or all, of the reports.

UTILITIES - A number of options to enable you to do such things as set the system up, switch from flexi-time to standard time, create your own client department table, material cost headings and various other "house-keeping" type operations.

You have to set up a number of tables and other parameters in the "system details" option, found in the utilities menu, before you can begin setting up projects and employee details, etc.

NB: if you are using a network version of the system you can go into the Utilities section only when no-one else is logged onto your database.

QUIT THE SYSTEM - Select QUIT to leave the system. A further menu gives the opportunity to select No - do not leave system or Yes - leave system now and, if a single-user version:

MS-BACKUP then leave system (MS-DOS version 6 or greater)

Press Y to quit or N to continue in the system, or any of the backup/restore options, if available. When you quit the system you are "logged off" as a current user, even if you are not using a networked version of the system. A reminder about regular backups is usually displayed as you return to the operating system or your proprietary menu system or MS-Windows.

To make security copies of your data you must have DOS batch files called RMBACKUP.BAT (and, if using earlier than MS-DOS version 6, RMRESTOR.BAT) in the \RESMAN directory. See the Installation section (1.3.) for more details of these files.

BACKUP and RESTORE options are not available on multi-user versions of the system.

The backup and restore options are entirely DOS routines and merely called when exiting from Resource Manager^TM. For them to work you must have set paths to the directory which contains BACKUP.COM and RESTORE.COM (if using a DOS version less than 6.0) or MSBACKUP.EXE, often found either in the root directory or, preferably, in a separate \DOS directory. Resource Manager^TM will detect which version of MS-DOS is being used and adjust the menu options and the RM*.BAT files mentioned above accordingly.

More details about all the main menu options are to be found later in the manual..

THE "POP UP" CALENDAR:

At most stages of the system you can press the F4 key to display a calendar. Unless the cursor is currently on a date field (in which case the calendar defaults to that date, if any), the current month is displayed with today's date highlighted. If the date highlighted is NOT today, your computer's system date is wrongly set which could adversely affect other parts of the system. You should exit from Resource Manager^TM and re-set the date in DOS. You should always glance at the opening licence screen of the system to see that the date displayed in the bottom left corner is today. See your DOS manual or computer personnel for details of how to change the system date.

To see the previous month press the <Page Up> key; to see the next month press the <Page Down> key. You can also move by one day by pressing the left or right arrow keys and by one week by pressing the up or down arrow keys. To see the date in, say, seven weeks time, press the down arrow key seven times. If using a mouse device simply "point" at the required date or click on the up/down bar on the right hand side of the display. If the mouse device is active you can still use the arrow and page up/down keyboard keys if you prefer. Changing the highlighted date in the calendar does not affect the system date.

THE "POP UP" CALCULATOR

At most stages of the system you can press the F5 key to display a calculator. Use the number keys, either at the top of the keyboard or on the number keypad to the right of the keyboard, to enter numbers and use the plus (+), minus (-), multiply (*), divide (/) keys in the usual way. Note that the + - * / keys pressed refer to the NEXT number entered. The equals (=) key or the <Enter> key gives an answer. Alternatively, use the mouse to select either numbers or operators. The calculator works to two rounded decimal places only. The percent (%) key relates to the LAST figure input, so if you input

12345

<*>

15

<%>

the answer will be 15% of 12345, i.e. 1851.75.

12345 <+> 15 <%> will ADD 12345 and 15% of 12345.

To clear the current figure, press <C>.

To work in hours and minutes, press <T> (or select with the mouse) for time. Now, anything you enter will be treated as hours and minutes. At any point you can convert the current total to decimal by selecting <D> for decimal. A total of 38.45 (thirty-eight hours and forty-five minutes) would then be displayed as 38.75 (thirty-eight and three-quarters). Conversely, you could use the calculator to add up totals on a timesheet completed in decimal, and then convert the total to hours and minutes. The best way to become familiar with the calculator is to use it - you won't affect the rest of the system in any way.

Please note that, for technical reasons, there are a few areas of the system where it is not possible to display the calendar or calculator.

3.1.2. Identification and Password Entry.

Each user has an identification (ID), which would normally be his or her name or initials, and a Password. There can be identical passwords, but each ID must be unique.

To leave the system without entering identification and password, press the Escape <Esc> key while the cursor is in the USER ID or PASSWORD box.

Initially, the system comes to you with the following ID and password already set up:

ID: WOLFF Password: SYSTEMS

It is advisable for the System Administrator to create new IDs and passwords, one for each regular user, and then to delete the above codes. Consult the System Administrator if you do not have your own ID and password.

If you have a networked (multi-user) version of the system and the maximum number of licensed users are already logged on, you will not be allowed to enter your ID, but will be given an ERROR NET3 message, and returned to the operating system. Contact other users of the system or your System Controller. (Multi-user systems have a controller in overall control, with a system administrator in charge of each database. Single-user systems have an administrator only.)

Enter your ID (it does not matter whether your keyboard is set to capitals or lower-case) followed by the <Enter> key. If your ID is not recognised, an error message will be displayed. If you have a multi-user version, the system will check to ensure that "you" are not already logged on at another terminal. It is not possible to use the same ID concurrently at more than one terminal. Then enter your password. The password will not display on the screen for security reasons, but you can see how many characters you have typed.

Press <Enter> again and the system will either display the Main Menu or it will tell you that it does not recognise your identification/password combination. If the latter, press any key once and try again; you may simply have mis-typed. Otherwise, check with your administrator/supervisor to confirm your codes.

If you are the system administrator or controller, go to System Details in the Utilities menu to modify passwords.

3.1.3. Start-up errors and messages.

Multi-user versions and (from version 3.4B onwards) some single-user versions have data located separately from the system programs. It is possible to have many databases, all addressed by the same programs. A location for the relevant database is stored with each user ID/password record. If no location is stored against a particular ID/password, it is assumed that data is stored with the program files, usually in a directory called \RESMAN.

Therefore, when you have input your identification and password the system will be able to look for your data. At this point you may be given one or more of the following messages:

3.1.3.1 Cannot log onto your database.

The system cannot find the directory path stored with the ID/password you input, or it CAN find the path but certain files (particularly CONTROL.MEM) cannot be found in the directory. This is most likely to happen Consult your support centre.

3.1.3.2. There is very little room left on your hard disk drive.

Two levels of message are given: 1.5 megabytes only remaining on your drive, when it is suggested that you urgently consider reviewing your computer and removing other applications, or archive Resource Manager^TM data, and; 0.5 megabytes when you should not proceed with the session. Resource Manager^TM creates temporary files which can be larger than 0.5 of a megabyte, and lead to the system "crashing".

3.1.3.3. Your database needs reformatting following a version upgrade.

When you first use Resource Manager^TM after a version upgrade, the system may need to re-format the database to add new, or enlarged, fields. Press any key and the system will automatically go to the "Reorganise Files" option in the Utilities menu, which you should run before proceeding with the session. Reformatting files will never remove fields from existing data, only add new fields so that new features can be run.

3.1.3.4 Your index (*.NTX) files are missing.

It is not necessary to back up index files, as the system can regenerate them. If you have restored from a backup, or transferred Resource Manager^TM from another computer, you may not have the index files present. Press any key and, as above, the system will take you to the "Reorganise Files" option in the Utilities menu, which you should run before proceeding with the session.

3.1.3.5. Overdue project action.

If there are currently any overdue reminders (select <R>eminder when in the projects screen), the system will issue a warning. Go to the Project Action report (selected from the Project Reports menu) to list overdue reminders, and to clear them from future reports.

3.1.3.6. If yours is a multi-user (networked) version

your organisation will be licensed for a maximum number of users. If there are already the maximum number of users logged onto the system, you will not be allowed to enter until one of the current users logs off. [Error code NET3]. It could be that someone has left the system by an incorrect route, e.g. by just turning the computer off instead of quitting from the main menu. If this is the case the system will think that they are still active. The System Controller must first ensure that everybody is logged off the system, then re-set by pressing Control-Home whilst at the opening (licence) screen;

if the System Administrator is making changes in the Utilities section or the Invoicing section is being used to generate invoices you will not be allowed to enter until after the process has completed;

if your ID has already been used at another terminal, and not logged off, you will not be allowed to enter the system. See your System Administrator.

3.2. Maintenance Menu.

Use this menu in the same way as all others - move the "light bar" up and down and press <Enter> to select, press the first letter to go straight to the selection you want or click the mouse (if available) on the option required.

The areas covered in this menu are:

PROJECTS: Create, amend or view projects (the individual jobs, matters or cases that work is carried out on, like Writing A Computerised Payroll System, or Designing A New Leisure Centre, or General Filing, or Sale of 23 Station Road, etc.)

ACTIVITIES: Create, amend or view activities (the different things you can do within a project like Programming, Design, Training, Documentation, Waiting in Court, etc.)

EMPLOYEES: Create, amend or view details about employees (the people who will work on projects)

TIMESHEETS: Input timesheet details (i.e. the Actual hours and minutes worked by employees on specific projects)

EXPENSES: The input of additional expenses, disbursements or materials relating to a specific project. You may, for instance, wish to record the purchase of certain equipment necessary to complete a project, or record travelling expenses, etc., which are not directly related to time

QUIT TO MAIN MENU: Select this option to return to the Main Menu

3.2.1. Project Details.

This screen is where you enter details about projects - the separate identifiable "jobs" that people work on. Projects can be such things as General Filing, Building New Sports Centre, Creating Community Charge Computer System, Carrying Out Audit On Planning Department, Sale of 34 Station Road, General House Sales, etc. How you define your projects is up to you - you may wish to record information in very general terms for the first year of using this system, becoming more sophisticated later. Or you can use the task facility to define "sub-projects" which link to main projects (see below). It is worth talking to your supplier or current users of the system and about the best way to structure your system.

NB: If there is a file of uncommitted invoices present (for those using the invoicing module) you will only be allowed to view the projects and not create or amend, as this could affect the data on which the invoices were generated. To amend projects you must either Scrap or Commit Invoices (in the Invoicing Menu).

Select from the menu at the bottom of the screen, either by using the cursor keys or mouse device, or by pressing the first letter of any option -

ADD to add a new project.

MODIFY to modify information held about the project currently displayed.

DELETE to delete an existing project (NB: you cannot delete a Fixed Project - ANULEAVE, STATHOLS, SICLEAVE and TMINLIEU - or projects which have already had time or materials accrued to them). Projects can only be deleted here if no time or materials has been recorded against the project. To delete completed projects you must use the Utilities menu and select Project Deletions.

FORWARD to go to the next project on file (projects can be displayed in order of Project Code, Group, Catalogue or Description; see ORDER below).

BACKWARD to go back one project.

GOTO to go to a specific project. Select this option and either enter the required project code or press the <F3> function key to see a list of all projects. You can scroll up and down the list of projects and press <Enter> to select the one you want. The system will return you to the project screen; press <Enter> again to display the project details. NB: If the Order (see below) is set to Group, Category or Description, GOTO will take you to the relevant field, and will attempt to find the first incidence of the code which you type in. If, for instance, you are in Project Description order, you can enter just "D" in the description field to find the first project with a description starting with "D", or enter "DATA" to find the first project with a description starting with "DATA". Or press F3 instead of <Enter> for a list starting at the letter(s) typed.

START to go to the start of the projects file (the first project, depending on the current Order).

END to go to the end of the file (the last project, depending on the current Order).

HISTORY to list all hours worked (by week by employee in reverse date order).

INVOICES to list all invoices generated by work carried out on this project. The most recent invoices are displayed first.

eXPENSES to list all materials/expenses relating to this project, in date order (it is spelt Xpenses so that you can press X to go directly to the option; pressing E would take you to END).

CLIENT(S) to input the client Departments and their General Ledger code(s). See section 3.2.1.1.

NOTES to turn the bottom half of the screen into a text entry block. You can make any notes here about this particular project. Use the screen like a word-processor - it works the same as the Note Pad facility (press F2). You are not limited to the size of the screen; your text will scroll up as you reach the bottom.

PLANNING to access the Project Planning screen. See section 3.2.1.2.

REMINDER to display action reminders relating to this project, input via timesheets. See section 3.2.4.2.

TASKS enables you to define specific tasks within each Project. See section 3.2.1.3.

ORDER to switch the order of display from normal Project Code order to Project Group order, then (if you select <O>rder again) to Project Category order, then Project Description order. Select <O>rder again to return to Code sequence. Note the tag in the upper right corner of the screen. See also GOTO above.

QUIT to leave the Projects screen and return to the Maintenance menu.

The fields to be completed on the project screen are as follows:

PROJECT CODE: An eight-character code for the project. This can be any combination of letters and/or numbers; it makes sense to have a descriptive code, if possible (GENADMIN for general administration, for instance) or you may wish to code the projects in some other way (start all Development projects with "D-" for example, or use you existing file references - it's up to you).

DESCRIPTION: A brief description of the project.

PROJECT GROUP: A two-character alpha-numeric (letters or numbers) code which can be used to group together different projects for reporting purposes. How you use this code is up to you. If you don’t want to use it, just <Enter> to continue to the next field.

PROJECT CATEGORY: An eight-character field to be used for general reference and/or to group together (in conjunction with the group code) for reporting purposes.. There is no defined use for this field - it may be useful if you wish to store a brief reference or code which does not fit elsewhere. Otherwise, just <Enter> to continue to the next field.

PROJECT LEADER: The person in your department who is mainly responsible for the project. This person does not necessarily have to do any work on the project, but they do have overall control or are the main point of contact concerning the project.

ACTIVITY: It is possible to create a default level-one activity code for each project. This will then appear automatically when entering timesheets. This only applies if you have a rather unusual set up or if you have a project which always has work carried out on it of the same activity. A Project "PHOTOCOPYING" may be defaulted to the Activity "PHOTOCOPYING", for example. Normally you would leave this field blank. Type in the desired activity code, if any, or press F3 to select from a list.

CLEAR DOWN: If this project has a clear start and end (the building of a leisure centre or the installation of a computer system, for example) you will wish to maintain the various "Actual" totals throughout the life of the project. However, most local authority projects are of an annual maintenance type which need to be cleared down at the end of each financial year. The Fixed projects (ANULEAVE, STATHOLS, SICLEAVE, TIMILIEU) for example, must be zeroed at the end of each year. If you want the system to zeroise all accrued totals automatically at the end of each year, type "Y" (yes) in this field, otherwise enter "N" or leave blank. If you want to clear down different projects at different times, you can enter letters other than "Y". You could wish to clear down certain projects on 31st December and others on 31 March, each year. In this case, enter, say, "D" for the December projects and "M" for the March ones. Then, when you go to the Utilities menu and select Annual Clear Down (see section 3.4.2.) you will be asked to input a code relating to the projects you wish to zeroise, e.g. "Y". These codes are not validated within the system (e.g. not selected from a table); you must keep a note of the end-of-year date for each code (if more than one).

CHARGE METHOD: This field indicates how the work is to be charged. This is primarily applicable if you have the Invoicing Module linked to the system, but you can otherwise use the field as a reference. When you get to this field, an information window will appear automatically.

The charge method codes are as follows:

0 BY TIME (INVOICED): Time is charged in the normal way, i.e. the employee’s hourly charge rate multiplied by the time spent working on the project (unless the Activity worked has an hourly charge value associated with it, in which case it will over-ride the employee's rate - see the Activities section). This code was described in previous versions as Chargeable (External)

1 BY TIME (NOT INVOICED): charge is calculated as per above but, if the Invoicing Module is installed and used, no charging documentation will be generated. The "charge" totals will, however, be accrued to the project and display on the project screen. If you don't have the Invoicing module (or don't use it), codes 0 and 1 are effectively the same. This code was described in previous versions as Chargeable (Internal).

2 NO CHARGE: There is normally no charge for work on this project.

3 FIXED FEE: Fixed fee (one or more pre-agreed lump sums) charge(s) will be made to the client Department(s). If the Invoicing Module is installed you can access a table of amounts and dates when charges are to be made. Instead of charging when a specific date is reached, it is possible to charge when a Task has been completed.

4 REGULAR BILLING: A set amount is to be billed at regular intervals. With the Invoicing Module installed you are able to set up the frequency, amount and start and stop dates.

CHARGE/COST RATE: The Default employee charge and cost rates for this project. This consists of two fields, separated by a "/". The first is the default charge rate for this Project, the second is the default cost rate for the Project. When you get to the first field, an information window will appear automatically. Rate 0 means that the project is not chargeable; rates 1 to 3 means that a charge will be made according to the equivalent charge rates 1 to 3 of the employee carrying out the work; rate F means that, as a default, a pre-defined standard fee will be applied to any work carried out on this project, regardless of how long it took. The second ( cost rate) field works in the same way, 0 meaning that work on this project will not be costed (if you have calculated cost rates on productive work only), and 1, 2 and 3 relating to the equivalent Employee cost rates. These are DEFAULTS for the project, it is possible to over-ride them when inputting timesheets (you may want to charge some work at a higher rate because the employee was working in overtime, for instance). If charge method (above) is not 0 or 1 (i.e. chargeable by time) you will not be asked to enter a value to the Charge field.

PLAN (Y/G/N): Type a "Y" here if you intend to plan who will be working on this project, and when they will be carrying out the work. If the project is PLANned you must enter a planning schedule (see the notes on Planning, above); if not PLANned, you can enter total project estimates for HOURS, CHARGE and COST directly to bottom of this screen (see below). Enter a "G" (for Global) to input total hours per employee for this project. A "G" does not require you to enter dates when the work will be carried out, but enables the entry of total estimated hours for each employee working on the project. This is usually hours per financial year if an on-going project.

CREDIT GL CODE: This is the General Ledger (or Nominal) code to which funds will be CREDITED on charging. For projects with a charge method of 0 this code is used only if the employee carrying out the work does not have an associated Section GL credit code. If there is no GL Code held on the project nor on the employee's section, no GL Code will be used for charging purposes, invoices will be produced by client (rather than by GL Code within client).

LAST WORKED: This field displays the date on which work was last carried out on this project. It cannot be updated at this screen - it takes the date automatically from timesheet entries.

% COMPlete: If you use the Task Code field on the Timesheets entry screen to input an estimated percentage completed figure for the whole project (not per individual employee), the latest estimate entered will appear here. Otherwise, nothing (not even the heading) will appear.

START DATE: The date when work on this project started, or is due to start. Timesheets cannot be entered for work which takes place prior to this date.

COMPLETION ESTimate: The estimated date when the work will be completed.

ACTual completion: The Actual date on which work was completed. Projects cannot be deleted globally (in the Utilities section) until they have a completion date. In previous versions you could not enter timesheets later than this date, although it is now possible to do so.

ESTIMATED PROJECT HOURS: The estimated total hours of work which will be needed on this project. Cannot be input directly if the PLAN field (above) is set to "Y" or "G".

ESTIMATED PROJECT CHARGE: The estimated total charge made to the client department. If the charge method is 4, and you have the Invoicing Module, this figure will have come from information you added in the fixed fee table. Cannot be input directly if the PLAN field (above) is set to "Y" or "G".

ESTIMATED PROJECT COST: The estimated total Cost of the project (based on the number of hours worked multiplied by the cost rate of the employees carrying out the work). Cannot be input directly if the PLAN field (above) is set to "Y" or "G".

ESTIMATED MATERIALS CHARGE: The estimated total chargeable to the client for Materials and Expenses.

ESTIMATED MATERIALS COST: The estimated total Cost of Materials and Expenses.

If you have the invoicing module installed....

You will see two more fields to the right of the COSTS/CHARGES box:

AMOUNT INVOICED: This field will be automatically updated from the Invoicing Module and shows the amount invoiced to the client department(s) for this project. This figure shows Committed Invoices only (see the Invoicing menu).

AMOUNT RECEIVED: This field will be automatically updated from the Invoicing Module and shows the amount received from the client department for work etc. carried out on this project, so long as you use the Payments Received function (in the Invoicing menu).

3.2.1.1. Project Client Details

When <A>dding a new project the system will automatically take you to the client input table if the project charge method is other than 2 (non-chargeable). If viewing an existing project, select <C>lient from the menu at the bottom of the project screen to display the table. It is here where you record the client department(s) to be charged for work carried out on this project. There is no practical limit to the number of departments you can charge (although they must have been already set up in the System Details menu. Select <A>dd to add a new client; input the client department code or press F3 for a list of departments. Select (or input) the department code and input that department’s chargeable General Ledger (Nominal) code for this work. This code will appear on charging documentation (invoicing) generated by the system.

You can let the system calculate the split of charges (four clients will mean each is charged 25%) if the line is designated as <A>utomatic, or you can over-ride with a <F>ixed percentage input, if you have one client who will always contribute, say, 50% regardless of how many other clients there are.

If you have the invoicing module, the system will not produce charging documentation if you have not defined the client(s) to charge. Similarly, reports by client will not include projects which do not have client details. You may wish to create a client called, say, "INTERNAL", so that reports by client can be produced even for non-chargeable projects. You could stop the client "INTERNAL" being charged by setting a suitable charge method/ charge rate combination.

The proportional split, if more than one charge code is involved, is indicated on a percentage basis.

3.2.1.2. Project Planning Details.

The Planning option is only accessible if the project you are currently in has the PLAN (Y/G/N) field set to "Y" or "G". The Planning option is a means by which you can specify in detail the work to be carried out on a project, and then monitor the actual work to see if it is progressing according to plan. It is simple to input but, by collating and sorting information, you can produce some valuable and powerful reports. You can, for instance, list all projected work by client department, to help in negotiating service level agreements, or list projected work by EMPLOYEE, for reference in management/employee discussions, and by PROJECT, to see how (or if) work is progressing. The planning option is not intended to be used as a full "PERT" or Critical Path type of system, which can actually re-schedule work as circumstances change. But it will show you if you have over-scheduled employees' time and whether overtime will be required or how much work you are actually doing for a particular department. Like most aspects of the system it can be used very simply as a general aid, or you can plan every minute of work in considerable detail. If you set the project PLAN field to "G" (for global) the planning screen will not ask you for dates. In this case, simply input one total figure for each unique employee/activity combination. This, in combination with the COMPLETE %AGE field (see section 3.2.4.2. Timesheet Line Entry) can give valuable information about whether a project is likely to be completed on time and whether it will meet Charge/ Cost estimates (see also section 3.3.1.13. Project Profitability Report).

The Planning option displays a scrolling window with the following field headings:

DATE: (If project PLAN field is set to "Y".) The week-commencing date of the projected work; this must be a Monday and can either be typed directly or selected from the pop-up calendar

When ADDING to a project's plan you may input a RANGE of weeks; the DATE field will first display FROM above it, and, when you have input a date, it will default to the following Sunday's date and display UNTIL above the date. If you are inputting information for one week only, simply press <Enter> to accept the UNTIL date. However, if you know that an employee will be spending, say, four hours every week on this project for the next six months, type in the date in six months time. The system will then add a record for every week between the FROM and UNTIL dates.

EMPLOYEE: The Employee's reference number; if necessary, select from a list of employees, called by pressing F3;

ACTIVITY: The Part One Activity code of the type of work to be carried out; if necessary, select from a list of activity codes, called by pressing F3;

HOURS: The hours that the employee will spend on the project/activity during the week;

CHARGE: Although individual charges do not appear on screen, the system will use these planning records to calculate the estimated overall charge for the project. The default project charge rate is used. E.g. If the project charge rate is 1, the employee’s charge rate 1 is multiplied by the number of hours. It may be that the project does not generate a charge related to hours worked ( charge rate 0, or method 2, 3 or 4) or that the activity you have chosen has it's own charge, in which case the number of hours will be multiplied by the activity charge and not the employee’s charge rate.

If the project charge rate is "F" (for Standard Fee) the system will display the standard fee table (set up in the "system details" section of the utilities menu) for you to select which type of standard fee work this planned option is to be charged at. Select the standard fee option and input the quantity which this unit of work represents. The charge calculated will then be based on the standard fee and not a charge rate pertaining to the employee. Remember, though, that the Cost of the work (based on the employee's appropriate cost rate (see below) will still be based on the employee’s cost rate (set up by the system administrator in the employee section of the maintenance menu).

CsC or COST CODE: the system will store the Cost of this work (as well as the charge, above) although the Actual Cost does not appear on screen. The Cost codedefault to 1 (which is the standard). If you know that this work should be costed at rate 2 or 3, overwrite it.

Select <A>dd to add new planning records,<M> to modify existing records or <D> to delete existing records or press <Esc> to return to the project strip menu.

3.2.1.3. Project Task Details.

Selecting the tasks option from the bottom of the project screen enables you to define specific tasks within each project. This is not the same as planning (section 3.2.1.2) which uses activity codes, employees and dates to control the work in a project. A task relates only to one specific project and can be viewed as a sub-project. Tasks are usually the stages of a project, rather than the work of individual employees. You must devise a numbering system for tasks; earlier versions of the system allocated task codes automatically but this tended to restrict the usefulness of the facility for users with an existing coding format. Type in a description of the task and the estimated number of hours it will take to complete. For previously-created tasks, the screen will display the number of hours worked on it so far and whether it is completed. The system takes this information from timesheet entries. If you want to "export" data from this system to a critical path or P.E.R.T. type of system, you can use the task facility to validate the timesheet entry of task codes, even though you will not be using this system for the progressing of the project. Note, also, that the utilities section of the system will allow your systems administrator to select whether task codes are unique to specific projects or throughout the system, and whether the entry of task codes via timesheets should be validated or not. Talk to your IT section or supplier about how to set up tasks if you have any specific problems or queries.

In certain circumstances you may wish to link a default activity combination (part 1 and 2) to each task. If so, enter it under the ACTY column. Then, when entering timesheets, the activity will be automatically retrieved when you input the task code. Normally, though, simply enter blanks in the ACTY field.

3.2.2. Activity Codes.

Activity Codes describe the type of work you do. If, for instance, you are a computer programmer, most of the work you do will be writing computer programs, even though you may be involved with several different projects. On Monday you could be programming a new Payroll system, on Tuesday you may be programming a Car Park Fines system, and so on, but your activity will be "Programming". If you are also required to write some operating notes for the Car Park system, the project will remain the same, but you would record it under a different activity: "Documentation", for instance.

In this way, management can see not only the total amount of work carried out on a particular project, but ALL of a particular TYPE of work, across all projects.

There are normally two levels of activity, One and Two; see the tag at the top right of the screen to see which you are looking at. Level two can be used as a sub-category for level one. (See, also, the Change format option below.) If, continuing the above example, management wished to know what programming languages were being used, level two could hold the various languages: COBOL, BASIC, FORTRAN, C++, etc. To switch from level one to level two, select the level two option at the bottom of the screen.

Activities are referenced by a two-digit code, consisting of letters and/or numbers. The codes can be devised by the system administrator in conjunction with your management. You supplier can provide help and training with coding structures.

There is an activity of "00", in level one and level two. This must be used as a default if no other codes are present. It is impossible to delete these default fixed codes.

There is a CHARGE field at the end of the level one activity screen (but not level two). If a value of other than zero is input here, time spent on this activity will be charged at this rate per hour for all employees, rather than at the charge rate of the employee carrying out the work. In this way a legal section can charge a client one rate for, say, Waiting Time (time spent waiting in court), regardless of which employee was actually involved; the activity code CHARGE value, if other than zero, always over-rides individual employee charge rates.

If you have the invoicing module of Resource Manager^TM you cannot amend the charge rate if there is a temporary file of uncommitted invoices in the current database directory.

Use the normal Add Modify Delete Forward Backward Goto Start End options to move through the file of Activities.

Change format enables you to change your system from two, two-digit, activity levels to one, four-digit, activity. This requires some planning and consideration and is best decided when configuring your system initially, as Resource Manager^TM will not let you change if you currently have level two activities in your database.

Goto: To go to a specific activity you can either type in the activity code or press the <F3> function key. Pressing this key will display a list of all activity codes; move up and down the list and press <Enter> to select any one. This will place the code in the code box - press <Enter> again to accept it and bring up the description.

3.2.3. Employee Details.

This screen is where you store details about the employees who work in your department or section and whose timesheets are to be entered to the system. The system needs to know certain details about all the employees, so that it can control not only the costing and charging of projects but also employees' holidays, overtime, flexi-time, sickness, etc., if required

Use the arrow keys, mouse or press the first letter of any option to move through the file in the usual way:

Forward, Backward, Goto, Start, End.

Note that the goto option invites the input of the employee reference code (pay number). Either enter a valid number or press <Enter> (or left mouse button) to go to the employee's surname field. Enter the employee's last name (or just the first few letters - the system will search for the nearest match)

Also in the Goto option, you can press the <F3> function key for a list of employees; move up and down the list and press <Enter> (or left mouse button, then click on <OK>) to select the employee record you want.

Other options found at the bottom of the screen are:

ADD: which enables you to create new employee records. You can type in new details, in the usual way, or you can copy all details except reference, surname and initials from another employee. To do this, select ADD and then press F3 to select from existing employees. Don’t forget that charge and cost rates are copied as well, so you should check the Charge/Cost box to make sure that all details are correct for the new employee. Values such as current flexi, sick leave taken, etc., are replaced with zero. To copy Planning records from another employee you must go to the Utilities menu, and select Copy Planning Records.

MODIFY: which enables you to alter or change existing records.

DELETE: which enables you to delete existing records, but only if no time has yet been recorded against this employee. To delete employees who have left the organisation (i.e. they have a date in the DATE OF LEAVING field) you must go to the Utilities Menu and select Employee Deletions.

HISTORY: which gives you a view of all the work carried out by this employee (in reverse date order).

PLANNING: which displays planning records set up in the projects screen for this employee.

COSTS/CHARGES: which allows the SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR ONLY to input costs and charges for the employee, as well as certain set-up data (used particularly when the system is started during the year and current holiday, overtime values, etc. have to be input).

QUIT: which takes you back to the Maintenance Menu.

The fields to be completed on this screen are as follows:

EMPLOYEE REF (called PAY NUMBER on earlier versions): The reference or payroll number for the employee. You could use the first seven letters of the employee's last name, but bear in mind that, if you are using the system throughout your organisation, any cross-charging (either via the mainframe ASCII file link or the Invoicing Module) will require a unique code; better to use the pay number or pay code.

SURNAME: The employee's last (or family) name.

INITIALS: The employee's initial(s).

SECTION: As you go to this field a SECTION TABLE (created by the System Administrator in the Utilities section) will appear. Just select the section that the employee works in with the mouse or by pressing the Up or Down arrow keys, and press <Enter>. If you are modifying the record, the system will default to the employee's current section, so you only need to press <Enter> to move to the next field. All the sections available may not appear in the box (you are not limited to ten) so you may have to use the Up and Down arrow keys or <PgUp> <PgDn> to "scroll" the box.

PER WEEK: The number of days and hours that the employee normally works. A full-time employee would probably work five days a week, totalling, say, 37 hours. If you use flexi-time you must still input the employee's contracted average hours per week.

If you input timesheets for a period greater than a week, e.g. you input total values for four weeks, you should enter the total normal working days and hours in that period (20 days, 144 hours, for instance). You can then enter timesheets for the first week in each period and flexi and/or overtime values will still calculate correctly. It is not, however, possible, currently, for the user to change the field headings from WEEK to some other description.

OVERTIME INDICATOR: Enter T if this employee's overtime is normally to be taken as Time in Lieu, or P if overtime is normally paid.(Either option can be overwritten when entering timesheets.)

TIME: OVER indicates the amount of overtime which has been accrued for which time in lieu will not be given; LIEU shows the amount of time in lieu currently accrued. When time is input to the time in lieu project (TMINLIEU) this figure is reduced, similar to flexi-time. Neither of these fields are amendable here (but can be changed by the System Administrator when setting up the system).

FLEXI TIME: This shows the amount of flexi time accrued. This field is not amendable, but, like over time and time in lieu, is updated via input of timesheets (or by the System Administrator in the Costs/Charges section - see 3.2.3.1, below).

DATE OF LEAVING: The date the employee left the organisation (if any).

HOLIDAY DETAILS:

YEARLY START DATE: Although in most organisations all staff share the same Holiday Year Start date, it is possible, with this system, to cater for the few organisations which have a different date for each employee, usually based on birthdays or start dates. Just enter the day and month.

ENTITLEMENT DAYS: The employee's holiday entitlement in days is entered here. To input the employee's holiday entitlement in hours, enter zero here and you will be able to enter hours in the following field.

ENTITLEMENT HOURS: The equivalent of the above value is displayed automatically in hours here, unless you entered zero in the above field, in which case you can enter the actual hours here. You may get an odd-looking amount here; if so, it is probably because the default timetable for your authority (set up by the System Administrator in the Utilities section) has one short working day per week, usually Friday. The system divides the total hours in the week by the total work days in the week (usually, say, 37/5) and the answer (7 hours 24 minutes in this example) is multiplied by the employees entitlement days to give hours and minutes. If you enter zero in the DAYS field (above) and enter hours and minutes in this field, the system converts the hours and minutes back into days (rounding to two decimal places).

HOURS REMAINING: This field is updated automatically as timesheets are entered and shows how much holiday is remaining, in hours and minutes. There is a facility in Costs/Charges for the System Administrator to input hours remaining for new employees or when setting up the system for the first time.

NB: Modifying ENTITLEMENT DAYS (or HOURS) will not automatically change the HOURS REMAINING figure. HOURS REMAINING must be changed by the SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR in the Costs/charges box (below).

3.2.3.1. Employee costs, charges and set-up details.

This option, called from the employee maintenance screen, allows the input of employee information which is either of a sensitive nature, like the employee’s charge and cost rates, or which, theoretically, needs to be input only once (holiday remaining, for instance) when installing the system.

If you use the invoicing module of Resource Manager^TM you cannot modify data in this screen if a temporary file of uncommitted invoices exists (a warning message will appear).

The following fields may be modified:

CHARGE RATES 1, 2 AND 3: The employee's hourly charge rates. You do not have to complete all rates but the facility is there if you need to set up alternative rates for employees (to cater for overtime rates, for instance). When this employee carries out any chargeable work, it can be charged at any of these rates, or at no charge, or at a standard fee. See timesheet entry for more details.

COST RATES 1,2,3: The hourly Cost of the employee. This may be the actual pay rate or you may wish to add in any other overheads. Normally, COST RATE 1 will reflect basic pay and COST RATES 2 and 3 will relate to overtime and, if required, double time.

ANNUAL COST: This figure will normally be the employee's annual salary. It is only needed if you wish to calculate the above charge and cost rates automatically by using the Budget Information option found in the System Details menu (called from the Utilities menu). If you leave this field blank for any (or all) employees, running the Budget Information option will have no effect on the Charge and cost rates. For more details of how this works, see section 3.4.1.19.

RATE CHANGE DATE: If you wish to back-date changes to the employee’s costs and/or charges, enter the date when the new charges came into effect (usually the start of the financial year). If you then run the "Back-date employee rate changes" option in Process Cost/Charge Changes (see section 3.4.1.13.) called from the System Details menu the system will re-calculate the Costs and charges, so far, of all projects which the employee(s) have worked on since the Rate Change Date (except charges which have already been invoiced).

OVERTIME: Normally, overtime due will be written to the employees’ records automatically when timesheets are entered. However, when the system is being set up for the first time, you should input each employee’s current overtime hours here. This relates to overtime which will not be "repaid" via time taken in lieu.

TIME IN LIEU: The same as above, but for time in lieu of overtime. This is the currently-accrued figure and will be reduced as the employee books time to the time in lieu (TMINLIEU) project.

FLEXI TIME: The same as above, but for flexi time accrued. This field will permit entry, whether or not the system is set to flexi-time.

HOLIDAY REMAINING: The same as above, but for the amount of holiday time (in days) remaining for this employee.

PRODUCTIVITY TARGET: This is the percentage of an employee's work (measured in time, not charge verses cost) which should be chargeable to clients. The comparison is made against standard working hours and does not include overtime worked. If you prefer to enter this in hours rather than a percentage, enter zero in the percentage field, then the total number of hours. The hours will be converted back to a percentage (rounded to a whole number) for storage in the database. This percentage is then recalculated into hours. Because of the rounding of the percentage, the hours then shown may not be exactly what you input.

3.2.4. Timesheets.

This section is where timesheets are entered to the system. Timesheets are the "hub" of the system, as it is the timesheet which carries information relating to employees, projects, activities and tasks as well as generating Costs and charges.

Timesheets "tie" the whole system together.

NB: If there are currently any uncommitted invoices in the system, you will not be able to modify any timesheet line entries until the uncommitted invoices have been either Scrapped or Committed (see the Invoice Menu). If uncommitted invoices exist, a reminder is given as you enter this option.

Timesheets are stored in Resource Manager^TM by week. Each timesheet is "labelled" with the employee’s reference and the week-commencing date (the Monday) of the week to which it relates. You can input timesheets on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, but the system will still store them by week.

It is possible to access and amend (if not already invoiced) old timesheets directly at any time. You are not limited to the "current" batch of timesheets.

When you select timesheets from the maintenance menu, you will first be asked to input the week-commencing date of the timesheet(s) that you want to input or examine. The system will default to the date of the Monday of last week initially, although you may, of course, overwrite this, either by over-typing or by pressing F4 and selecting from the pop-up calendar by using the arrow and/or PageUp PageDown keys to locate the date you want. Although it is possible to input timesheets on a daily basis, the system will only accept a Monday at this point.

3.2.4.1. Timesheet Headers.

If timesheets have already been entered for the particular week you input, the system will take you to the "header" record of the first employee to have had a timesheet entry. You can then go Forward, Backward, Start, End, Goto, etc. in the usual way until you find the employee you are looking for.

If no entries have been made yet in the week that you have entered, a blank timesheet header will be displayed.

To enter a timesheet for each employee, you must first Add the employee’s timesheet header.

Use the options shown across the bottom of the screen:

ADD: Firstly you must add an employee header: select Add from the options at the bottom of the screen, and enter the employee reference (from the hand-written timesheet) of the first employee. Press F3 to select from a list of employees. If you type the employee reference, the system will check to see that it is valid - if not on file, a message will appear telling you to try again. Don’t forget that you can leave screen entry by pressing the <Esc> key. If you have entered a valid code, the employee's details will display. You can also enter a blank field in the Employee Ref, and the system will take you to the employee surname field. Enter the surname, or the first few letters of it, and the system will attempt to find the employee for you.

If your system is set to FLEXI time you can elect either to (a) enter the hours actually worked in the HOURS WORKED field, or (b) let the system add up your timesheet entries for you (set these up in the flexi/standard and timesheet entry options in the System Details menu). When you Add a new timesheet header the system will either assume the employee's standard hours will be worked and display that in the HOURS WORKED field, if (a) above, or immediately deduct the employee’s standard hours from the current flexi, if (b) above. This is best explained by trying out each of the options, and watching how the system works.

T/SHEET: Selecting the T/sheet option will allow you to enter timesheets for this particular employee. See section 3.2.4.2.

DELETE: Select this option to delete the timesheet header. You can delete a header only if there are no timesheet lines associated with it (see section 3.2.4.2).

FORWARD, BACKWARD, GOTO, START, END

Use these options in the normal way to move through the file of timesheet headers.

TIMETABLE: If your system is set to use Flexi Time WITH timetable input (the system administrator can do this in the System Details section) the TIMETABLE option will appear at the bottom of the screen; if your system is set to Standard Time, or to Flexi Time WITHOUT Timetable Input, the option will not appear. IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU DO NOT USE TIMETABLE INPUT AS THIS WILL BE REMOVED IN FUTURE VERSIONS. When selected, the standard working hours will be displayed. Enter the Actual working hours of the employee for the particular week by using the arrow keys to select each day and the <Enter> key to move across the times. As you modify the times, you will see the total hours at the bottom right of the screen change to the total working hours for the week. Use the <Esc> key to move from right to left across the screen and to exit from the timetable screen and return to the employee header. This facility is only to help you to add up the total working hours of the employee; it is simpler to avoid use of the timetable screen and input total hours worked into the WORKED field in the timesheet header (which you have access to by selecting "Flexi Time - No Timetable Input" in the Utilities/System Details Menu "Flexi/Standard Time" option.

PRINT: will allow you to print a listing of timesheets already entered for the currently-displayed employee. A date range may be selected, which defaults to the currently-displayed week.

QUIT: to return to the Maintenance Menu. Under certain circumstances Resource Manager^TM will attempt to check for timesheet lines which, apart from the actual time duration, are identical. If found these items will be added together to save disk space. This will not happen if your system is set to REAL TIME entry, or if the feature is turned off in TIMESHEET ENTRY OPTIONS, called from the System Details menu, see section 3.4.1.9.)

3.2.4.2. Timesheet Line Entry.

When you select T/sheet from the timesheet header screen, a box is overlaid on the right of the screen. This box represents one line of a timesheet.

Use the options at the bottom of the screen to move through your entries so far this week for this particular employee (if any). To add more timesheet lines press Add; to modify previous entries, select Modify. You can delete any individual entry by selecting Delete. The system will not allow you to modify or delete entries which have either already been invoiced (if you have the invoicing module) or which have been "locked" using the "Lock Timesheets" option in the System Details menu.

As most entries to this screen will be Adding new timesheet lines (rather than modifications) it is possible to "fine tune" entry to this screen by switching off access to certain fields, and, when <A>dding new timesheets, by setting the system to "loop" rather than having to press <A> each time you wish to add a new line. To do this, the system administrator must go to the System Details section of the Utilities menu and select Timesheet Entry Options ( section 3.4.1.9). Then, when Adding a new timesheet, the cursor will not go to fields which have been "turned off". However, modification of an entry (or using the Escape key to move back up the screen) will permit access to all fields.

If your timesheets are completed on an actual time basis (e.g. you enter: 09.00am to 10.15am, etc.) this screen should be set to Real Time ON (see bottom of screen). This will give an extra field, START TIME at the top of the screen and the HOURS field, at the bottom will be replaced by END TIME. A Day of Week box will also appear at the top. The system will default, when adding timesheet records, to the current day of the week; override by pressing <Esc> when at the START TIME field. If you enter total times for the duration spent on each project the screen should be set to Real Time OFF. You can default the system to start with Real Time set either ON or OFF by going to the Timesheet Entry Option facility in the System Details menu. It is possible to enter timesheets in both ways within one system database, although it would not make sense to mix the method for one employee in the same week. The first time you select Real Time ON you may be asked to re-format your data file. If so, follow the on-screen instructions.

Use List to list on-screen all the entries made so far this week for this employee. Press <Esc> to leave the list.

The data held is as follows:

START TIME: (If screen set to Real Time ON.) Press F3 for the current system time. The field will default to previous record's END TIME value, if not the first ADDed record for the day. Press <Esc> to change the day of week, or to exit.

PROJECT: Enter the code for the project worked on; if the system does not recognise the code it will display a message and ask whether you wish to create a new project now. If you answer <Y>es you will be taken to the project entry screen where you should create the new project as normal. If the project code is recognised the project description is shown underneath the code.

There are many ways to access a project, even if you don’t know the project code. Use the F3 key to display a project list as follows:

If you have already input an ACTual Completion date for this project, the system will ask whether you wish to re-open the project. If you answer Yes, you may continue with timesheet entry; if No you are returned to project code input. If you say Yes you can change the project ACTual Completion date, or leave it as it is - the system lets you enter time even after the project has been nominally completed.

CLIENT: Normally you should leave this field blank, in which case the default client or clients (if any) that have been set up to be charged for work carried out on this particular project will be charged (if you have the invoicing module). However, if you wish to charge just one of several clients set up against this project, you should press F3 for a list of available clients and select just one. Or, if you know it, you may type the client's code directly into the field. You may charge only clients already linked to this project.

ACTIVITY: Enter the code for the activity that the employee was engaged in. If you have set up a default level one activity code for this project it will display here automatically, with the level two code (the third and fourth characters) displaying as 00. Otherwise, if you do not use activity codes, press <Enter> and the entry will Default to 0000 automatically. Similarly, if you only use level one codes, the system will default 00 to level two automatically. Don't forget that you can "turn off" Activity Code entry altogether (when Adding, not Modifying) by going to the Timesheet Entry Options section of the System Details menu (System Administrator only). To select from a list of level one activity codes, press F3; to select from a list of level two activity codes, hold down the shift key and press F3.

If you have set your system up with four-character level one codes only (via the activity screen in the maintenance menu) the four-characters which appear here will relate to the level one code only - pressing shift-F3 will have no effect.

If you have set up your level one activity code as a CHARGEABLE activity, the charge set up there (in the level one activity screen) will be multiplied by the number of hours worked here - as long as the charge code is set to 1,2 or 3. If the Charge Code is zero, no charge will be generated for this work, regardless of whether you have a value set up in the activity. It is worth experimenting with the system to see how chargeable activities work - you can always delete or modify your entries subsequently, or set up a separate database for testing purposes (see Create New Database in the Utilities menu).

When you have entered, or accepted default, valid activity code(s) their descriptions will display on screen.

TASK CODE: (See also COMPLETE %AGE, below). Entry to this field, like the activity field, can be "turned off" by the System Administrator in the System Details section of the Utilities menu.

Tasks are specific jobs which have to be completed within a project. They are not types of work (activities), like computer programming or plumbing. They are better described as "stages" of work or "sub-projects", and are set up in the project maintenance screen. In the building of a leisure centre, for example, one stage or task may be to construct squash courts. This could involve plastering, carpentry, painting and electrical work, all of which would more properly be defined as activities which could be carried out on a number of other projects. Another use of tasks is where you have a general type of project, like, for example, house conveyancing, but where you wish to record each "repetition" of work; in this case one task would be the address of an individual property.

If you have specified a number of tasks on your various projects you will want to keep track of how much time you have been spending on each, how close you are to your original estimate, and which tasks are finished. To enable you to do this you must input the relevant task that the employee has been working on. Normally, the system will check that the task is valid for this project.

A few users, when setting up tasks in the projects screen, may have linked default activities to their tasks. If so, the entry of a task code in the timesheet screen will write the relevant activity code(s) to the timesheet. If you use the system in this way, you should "turn off" direct entry to the activity code field by going to the System Details menu (called from the Utilities menu) and selecting Timesheet Entry Options.

Also, the task code can be used for another purpose - to link with an external project control package. By entering and storing task codes with timesheets, Resource Manager^TM can generate a computer file which can be exported to another system. Setting this up is a fairly technical operation and is very dependent on the other system being set up appropriately and is beyond the scope of this text. If you are linking with an external system, though, and don't want to input all the tasks to Resource Manager^TM and the external system, it is possible to "turn off" the validation of task codes by using the System Details option in the Utilities menu (System Administrator only). Talk to your IT section or supplier if you are thinking of doing this.

COMPLETE %AGE: This also relates to the task code field. It is possible, by going to the System Details Menu, called from the Utilities Menu, to use this field as an indication of the "completedness" of the project, by selecting COMPLETE in the Task Code Validation option. The entry of, say, 50 in this field will indicate either that it is estimated that the project is half completed, or that this employee’s involvement is half completed, depending on how you have set up the system. This is usually a guess unless yours is the type of department/section which is able to monitor these things accurately. If this figure relates to the whole project (not just the current employee) the latest figure input is displayed on the main projects screen, and a history of the percentages entered can be seen by selecting the History option when in the main projects screen. The on-screen field headings are changed automatically when using the task field in this way. The Project Profitability report (section 3.3.1.13.), is particularly useful if you store Complete %age in this way.

CHARGE METHOD: The default charge method, as stored on the project record. This can be over-written if, for example, you wanted to issue a one-off invoice (code 0) for something on a project that is usually on a regular billing basis (code 4).

CHARGE RATE: The system will default to the charge code for this particular project. This denotes which of the employees' normal three charge rates will be used, or whether rate 0 (non- chargeable) is used, or whether the work is done to a standard Fee (10p per photo-copy or £300.00 per house sale, for instance). You can over-rule the default code, selecting, say, zero (non-chargeable) instead of 1 (chargeable) if you know that the work was the subject of some re-negotiation.

If you select F (for standard fee) a window will appear for you to select the type of work done. Select the correct type of work, using the cursor keys or mouse device. The system will then ask you for the quantity of units of work done. If the employee has made three photo-copies, for instance, enter 3. If the employee has been working for a few hours on, say, a house sale, but the job has not yet been completed, enter a zero (0). Do not enter a quantity until at least one unit of work has been fully completed.

COST RATE: Each Employee can have up to three cost rates (which are different to charge rates). When adding a new timesheet line, the cost rate will default to the cost rate for the project being worked on. Normally, this would be 1. Some projects (relating to non-productive work) may, in some organisations, be regarded as zero cost, the Cost being added to the Cost of productive work. If so, you should enter 0 (for no cost), or have zero in the cost field on the project, so that the timesheet input defaults to zero.

If the work was carried out in overtime you should change the cost rate to 2 or 3, for overtime or double time. This does not mean that the work will necessarily be charged at a higher rate (see above).

HOURS: Enter the hours and minutes spent on this particular item of work, or,

END TIME: Press F3 for the system time, or type in time, if the system is set to Real Time ON.

3.2.4.3. Timesheet Totals.

NB: Resource Manager^TM will not take you into the following header fields if you are only viewing timesheets (either because of your access level or because of uncommitted invoices, as above).

When you leave line-by-line timesheet entry, you are prompted to enter figures into fields on the employee’s timesheet Header, as follows:

If your system is set to flexi-time without timetable entry:

You will need to tell the system how many hours the employee actually worked this week according to his/her flexi-time log. The system can then check to see whether all of that time actually worked has been accounted for by the entry of timesheets (see section 3.3.3.2., Missing/incomplete timesheet report).

WORKED: If you work a flexi-time system, you can either allow the system to add all the timesheet hours you have entered and check the total with the employee's manual log for his/her attendance record, or you can input the attendance figure and request the system to report on employees whose figure does not agree with the timesheets input.

See Timesheet Entry Options in the System Details menu, section 3.4.1.9.

OVERTIME: It is possible to denote time as Overtime even if you are working Flexi-Time. It may have been agreed that, say, a Saturday morning worked should be treated as Overtime, at agreed overtime rates. If this is the case, enter the time here.

If your system is set to Flexi-Time WITH Timetable entry, both of the above fields will be updated indirectly by the entry of a Timetable for each Employee. Select the Timetable option at the base of the screen.

If your system is set to flexi-time (with or without timetable entry) or to standard time:

You can also enter time to the SPECIAL CASE box on the header record. This represents the amount of overtime which should be transferred from the employee's usual default of PAID to IN LIEU, or vice versa. This field is usually left as zero and entry when leaving the timesheet lines box may be "switched off" in Timesheet Entry Options in the System Details menu. The field can also be accessed directly from the menu at the base of the screen.

3.2.5. Input/View Expenses.

NB: If you have the Invoicing module, you cannot enter or modify data if a temporary file of uncommitted invoices exists (a warning message will appear).

Sometimes additional Costs are incurred, not directly related to an employee’s time. Such things as petrol expenses, equipment purchased specifically for a project, training, postage etc. can all contribute to the total Costs, and, therefore, charges of the project. Expenses, or disbursements, are not linked to any employee - even though certain things are incurred by an individual, hotel accommodation for instance - they are entered and stored directly to the project. If you really need to record the fact that a particular expense related to a specific employee you can either set the employee up as an expense heading (in the System Details section of Utilities - see your system administrator) or just add a name or pay number to the expense description.

It should be emphasised that this screen is for data entry, although you can, of course, just view existing records; the main projects screen (in the Maintenance menu) would normally be used for viewing expenses, as you can also see totals and other details.

When you enter the screen you see brief details of the first project; move through the file in the normal way: Forward, Backward, Goto, Start, End. Quit to return to the menu.

Also, you can press the <F3> function key while in the Goto option to see a list of Projects and their descriptions; move the "light bar" to the project you want and press <Enter> to select. To see all project codes beginning with, say, "F1", type "F1" in the project code box, then press F3.

The other option you can select is List, which takes you to a scrolling list of previously-entered materials/expenses for the current project, if any. You can move up and down the list by using the arrow keys and/or the PgUp PgDn keys, or the mouse.

To add new records, select Add and complete the following fields:

DATE: The date of the expense; this cannot be later than the current system date (i.e. today).

MATERIAL TYPE: The heading of the type of material or expense. This is selected from a table which the system administrator has set up in the System Details section of Utilities. Move the "light bar" to the material heading you require and press <Enter>, or select with the mouse. The heading will then be copied to the material record.

DESCRIPTION: Add your own description of the expense or material.

CLIENT: (CLI) on the column heading. Do not enter anything in this column if you wish to charge the default client or clients held against this particular project. If you have several clients set up against this project you can select just one of them to charge for this item by entering their three digit code in this field. The default charge code, if any, as set up in the Project screen, will be used in generating charging documentation. Alternatively, input any valid client code, and the system will prompt for a charge code to be used for this one-off expense. Press F3 for a list from which to select.

QUANTITY: If applicable, enter the unit quantity of the item. Some items, "TRAVELLING EXPENSES" for instance, may not require a quantity; just enter zero, the Cost and charge will still be stored.

CHARGE: If your system administrator has created default unit cost and unit charge prices (in the Materials Table section of the System Details menu, called from the Utilities menu) the charge (and Cost) will be calculated by the system (by multiplying the unit amount by the quantity you have input). If you have not entered a quantity, or if you wish to over-ride the computer, simply over-type the charge with the new amount.

COST: Enter the expense/material Cost, or accept the calculated value, as above.

If not yet invoiced, you can modify any record by moving the "light bar" to any existing expense line and selecting Modify from the options at the bottom of the screen.

If not invoiced, any expense can be deleted by moving the "light bar" to the relevant record and selecting <Delete> from the options at the bottom of the screen. The system will ask you to confirm before deleting the record.

3.3. Reports.

The Main Reports Menu allows you to select from different general areas of your data: projects, activities, employees and planning. Many reports contain data relating to two or more of these categories. Select one option in the usual way or Quit to go back to the Main Menu. Your password/user level combination may not allow you access to some, or all, reports.

In addition you may access the Report Generator, if installed (see section 3.3.7.), to create your own report layouts.

If you have a DOS batch file called RMEXRUN.BAT in the default directory, Resource Manager^TM will run that, rather than going to the Report Generator (whether or not you have it installed). In this way you can access your own report generator directly from Resource Manager^TM. The batch file RMEXRUN.BAT should contain the run command for your report generator. As Resource Manager^TM remains in RAM while you are running your external report generator, you may have "insufficient memory" problems, depending on the size of the report generator software, although this is less likely with Resource Manager^TM version 3.6 and later, as it runs in protected memory (see section 1.1).

Re-direct printer output to a spool file.

Unlike earlier versions of Resource Manager^TM, each report is generated as a "spool" file, then displayed on screen or sent to printer. It is also possible to store the file permanently on disk. This is useful if you want to:

a) refer to the report at some time in the future but do not want to store it on paper;

b) copy the report to another computer for printing (linked to a high quality printer);

c) print your report later when your network printer is available;

d) incorporate the report into a word-processor.

After each report has been generated and either displayed or printed, answer Yes to the question Save Print File. Resource Manager^TM allocates its own file name to the report, but it is a good idea to change this to something more memorable.

Once saved you can, of course, regenerate the same report at any time. If, however, projects have been deleted, timesheets changed, etc. it will not be exactly the same as the previous one.

To view the saved report, either use your own external text editor/word-processor or go to the Other Reports menu and select Browse a Text File. Any suitable ASCII or Text file can be viewed. Type in the report name or use the DOS wildcard convention to select from a directory display. E.g. type *.TXT to display all files ending with the TXT suffix.

Printer control codes and page size:

Another change to the system is that instead of the simple "Press any key to continue" prior to printing a report you now have the option of specifying the page length, margin, top line and Epson-style font control codes. Normally just press Accept. If, however, you want to print on shorter paper, or print in condensed type, etc., make the necessary changes. The system will store the change for future reports.

The PRINTER CONTROL CODES enable you to send codes to your printer which affect the type size and style. These are sometimes called "Escape" commands because they usually begin with the ASCII code for Escape, which is 27. Epson, and Epson-compatible printers, for instance, will print in 10-pitch (10 per inch) characters if 27 is typed into the first code position and 80 in the second position, or in 12-pitch (slightly smaller) if 27 and 77 are used, or 27 and 03 for 15-pitch. Usually only two or three codes are needed and you must <Enter> through the rest of the fields. You must refer to your printer manual for the equivalent codes for your printer(s).

It's a good idea to switch your printer off and on, or reset, after changing the printer control codes.

NETWORK USERS: Be careful using this option unless everyone accessing your data is using the same printer, or identical printers. Instead, you should set your printer externally, either by mechanically setting it (dip switches or display panel menus) or by software as directed in your printer manual. This is because any codes selected by you will affect any other user's output (within your database).

3.3.1. Project-Related Reports Menu.

Use this menu to select project-related reports. Many reports also contain information about employees, activities, etc. but are included here because they predominantly relate to projects.

3.3.1.1. Project Details Report.

This report shows all the details of each project, that is, what appears on the Project Maintenance screen, plus extra details selectable at the time of producing the report.

Basic details about the project (short description, charge codes, project leader, Actual and estimate values, etc.) will always print. In addition, the system will ask:

Print Additional Description

Press "Y" if you want to print any additional word-processed text that you have typed in at the bottom of the project screen.

Include time-related details?

Press "Y" if you want to list all the work that has been logged to each project (via timesheets). If you answer <Y>es, you will be asked:

Sub-total by employee?

If you answer <Y>es, the work carried out on each project will be sub-totalled by employee reference.

Show costs against employees?

If you answer <Y>es to this question an extra column will appear on the report showing the Cost of each timesheet entry.

Include material-related details?

Answer <Y>es to this question to print any additional materials, expenses, disbursements that relate to each project.

Accept or modify the Project/Group/Category filter

If you have asked for time-related details you can input a date range for the report to cover.

3.3.1.2. Client/Project Analysis Report.

First, select the projects that you wish to report on. Next, choose whether you want the report in client or Project order.

Input the date range that you want the report to cover. The start date should be a Monday and the end date a Sunday - if not, the system will bleep and default to the nearest correct date.

If asterisks (******) appear where you were expecting to see a project code, this is because the original project has been deleted (in the Utilities section). The record of the work is still held, though, until the employee who did it is deleted or the timesheets for the period are deleted.

3.3.1.3. Project/Employee or Activity Analysis.

First complete the standard project selection box (enter blanks for all projects)

Then enter the Start and End dates (or select from the pop-up calendar, press F4) for the period you wish to report on. Start dates must be Mondays and end dates Sundays. The system will bleep and default to the nearest correct dates if you get it wrong. You can select totals by Activity (level 1 only) or by Employee. You can also include an allocation of fixed charges across employees who have worked on the project but for whom a time-related charge has not been generated, either by hours worked or by the Cost of the hours worked.

3.3.1.4. Project Listing.

This is a simple line-by-line list of all existing projects on file. Select your Project/Code/Category combination, then say whether you want the report to be sorted by project code, description, group or category.

3.3.1.5. Projects Not Worked On Over A Given Period.

The report asks for a date range and then displays all projects which were not worked on during that period. Normally you would have an end date of today or later, so that you can chase Projects which have not been worked on since the start date. If you input an end date earlier than today, it is possible that work has been carried out between that date and today.

3.3.1.6. Completed Project Analysis

A simple list of all projects which have been completed. You can either list all completed projects or list those which were completed between two dates.

Select whether you want to send the report to screen or to printer.

3.3.1.7. Material/Project Analysis Report

Select a material heading. The system asks for a date range and then displays all the projects that have this expense heading recorded against them during the period.

3.3.1.8. Project/Material Over Given Dates.

Define project(s) to report on. The report then lists all materials used, by project.

3.3.1.9. Project/Standard Fee Over Given Dates.

If you have a standard fee table which you use for charging standard items of work, such as photocopying or house sale, you can use this report to see how much of each type of work has been carried out, by project, over a date range.

3.3.1.10. Task Code Listing.

This report gives you a list of all Task Codes allocated, by task code reference. Also shown is the description, the project code that each task code has been allocated to and Actual and estimated hours. The last column shows whether the particular task has been completed or not, with a Y/N marker.

3.3.1.11. Project/Task Code Analysis.

This report shows, by project code, the tasks allocated to each project and the current estimated and Actual hours, and whether each task has been completed or not. This report is very useful for analysing the progress of each project.

3.3.1.12. Project Action Report.

This report prints data from the reminder actions input via the timesheet screen. One reminder can be input per employee/project combination. The system allows you to print either in employee sequence or in project sequence. if you select employee, the system asks whether to print a separate page for each employee, which is useful for distribution. lastly, input a date up to which you want to print reminders.

If action reminders appear on this report, you will be asked, once the report has finished, whether you wish to delete the reminders which appeared on the report from the system. Normally (because it is assumed that action will be taken on the report) you should answer "yes" because you don't want the same item to be reported again.

3.3.1.13. Project Profitability Report

This report is used to monitor progress of projects and see whether they, and the work being carried out on them are likely to be profitable. For meaningful information to appear on this report you must:

a) have input to the planning option of the projects screen. This can be either with dates, or, if you have typed "G", for Global, (instead of "Y") in the PLAN? (Y/G/N) field in the body of the project entry screen, you can simply input totals per employee for the project. (NB - if you use "G" the reports contained in the Planning Reports menu will not work, these only work with dates);

b) have input an assessment, via the timesheet entry screen, of the state of the progress of the project. Depending on how you have defined the system in the tasks section of the System Details menu, this can either be an assessment of the project overall, or of the individual employee doing the work.

As well as the above, the information output depends on the charge method of each project. If in any doubt, please contact your support centre to discuss your particular requirements.

The system will ask for a start date. Actual hours worked on the project will be totalled from this date, as will dated planning data (undated - "G", above - will be included regardless). Next, you are asked whether you want to report on All employees, a Section or an Individual. Remember that, if more than one employee usually works on each project, selecting a single employee may be misleading, as other employees' work should also be considered when assessing the progress of a project. This also applies if you select a specific section, if projects are sometimes worked on by employees from more than one section.

Select any criteria for the projects (individual, group, category as usual). As well as displaying information by project there is a final option to display by employee.

3.3.1.14. Amount Invoiced by Project

If you have the Invoicing module, this report will show you the amount invoiced, by project, over a time period. Select either one project, a group and/or a category of projects, then the date range. Remember that the date range refers to the date of the invoices, not the date when the work was carried out, or other charge incurred.

3.3.1.15. Projects Due For Completion.

If you have "finite" projects (i.e. ones which will eventually end, rather than being on-going year after year) you can input a Completion date in the projects screen. This report should be run on a regular basis to report on projects which will soon become due for Completion.

First select the project(s) you wish to report on, then input a date up to which you wish to report.

3.3.1.16. Project Estimate Exceeded.

This report lists projects whose estimates (as seen on the project maintenance screen) have been exceeded. For a degree of advance warning, input an adjustment range of less than 100%. Projects will then appear on this report when they are, say, 75% complete. Conversely, a percentage of more than 100 will report on only the most overdue projects.

3.3.1.17. Project/Employee/Activity1/2

This report breaks down work over a specified period by activity 2 within activity 1 within employee within project. Projects can be displayed in project code, project group or project category sequence, and the report can be limited by project or employee, eg only employees in one section or with a particular job title, or only projects of a particular category, etc. Hours worked, charges and (optionally) Costs are shown.

3.3.1.18. Project/Fixed Charge

When a fixed amount is charged for a project, this report will show you how employees’ time has contributed to the charge. If, say, four employees have worked for five hours each on a project for which a fixed charge of £1,000.00 has been made, the report would show that each employee has "earned" £250.00. Alternatively, if the four employees have different cost rates, the report can reflect this. If, say employee A has a cost rate of £10.00 per hour, employee B £15.00, C £20.00 and D £25.00, the report will show that employee A has "earned" £143.00, B has earned £214.00, C £286.00 and D £357.00. The value of As time (£10.00 per hour) is worth only half of Cs (£20.00 per hour).

Note that items of work with a generated charge (where the employee’s charge rate has been used) will not be included in the fixed price calculation and will not appear on this report.

3.3.2. Activity-Related Reports Menu.

Select the reports you want by moving the "light bar" and pressing <Enter>, or by pressing the first letter of the option, or by using the mouse device, if available.

3.3.2.1. Activity by Employee (part one).

Firstly, enter the level one activity code (it must be on file), then select either all employees or one section within your department or an individual employee, then one job title or all job types.

Next, input the date range that the report is to cover. Then the system will ask whether to include an "incidents" column on the report. This will show, against each line of the report, the number of separate timesheet entries for this particular activity/employee combination which went to make up the hours and charge shown. This column will be inaccurate if you have run Compress Timesheet Entries, in the Utilities menu. Wait for the system to process your report.

3.3.2.2. Activity by Project (part one).

Firstly, input the level one activity code you want to report on, then select all or specific projects. Then input the start and end dates of the period to be covered. Next, the system will ask whether you wish to include an "incidents" column on your report, showing the number of individual timesheet entries which went to make up the hours and charge shown on each line of the report. This column will be inaccurate if you have run Compress Timesheet Entries, in the Utilities menu. Wait for your report to be processed.

3.3.2.3. Activity by Employee (level two).

Input the level two activity code; the system will check that it exists. Then select whether you want to report on all employees or a section within your department.

Next input the date range. The system will ask whether you wish to include an "incidents" column in the report showing the number of individual timesheet entries which went to make up the hours and charges shown. This column will be inaccurate if you have run Compress Timesheet Entries, in the Utilities menu. Wait for the system to process the report.

3.3.2.4. Activity by Project (level two).

First, input the level two activity code that you want to report on; the system will check whether it is a valid code. Next, say whether you want to report on all or specific projects.

Then define the start and end dates of the period you want to report on. The system will ask whether you wish to show an "incidents" column displaying the number of individual timesheet entries which went to make up the hours and charges shown on each line of the report. This column will be inaccurate if you have run Compress Timesheet Entries, in the Utilities menu. Wait for the system to process the report.

3.3.2.5. Activity Code Listing.

This is a simple summary of the activity codes which you have set up. Select level one or level two.

3.3.2.6. Activity/Client Analysis

These two reports (part one and part two activities) show hours and charges accrued, over a date range, against projects, sorted within clients and within activities.

First select the report you want from the menu (part one or part two activities) then input a date range. Next, define the project(s) you want to report on, select either a specific activity or accept all activities, and then select a specific client or accept all clients. You may press F3 to select from lists of activities or clients.

The system needs to create a temporary file, so may take some time processing, depending on the size of the date range you have selected.

NB. This report is not derived from the Invoicing data, which is "frozen" when invoices are committed, but directly from timesheet records and current project and client data. This means that the present group and category codes, and client details, pertaining to a project will be used in grouping and sorting the data and not the details which may have applied when the work was actually carried out or invoiced.

3.3.2.7. Project/Activity2/Activity1 report.

This report prints by project, but displays information by part one activity codes, within part two activity codes. The report can be used as a list of activity part one totals (within projects) but split by broad activity part two bands. For example, the part two activity code can be used as, for example, an indication of general project stages, and then this report used to show details of a project by stage.

Select from the various options shown on screen. Because this report can be used for charging purposes, the user has the option to overwrite the report title, and to inhibit display of the activity codes and/or Costs. This report is not accessible by a user with an access code of 2 or lower.

3.3.3. Employee-Related Reports Menu.

Use this menu in the same way as all others - move the "light bar" to the report you want or press the first letter of an option, or simply click on the desired option with the mouse device, if present.

3.3.3.1. Employee/Project Analysis.

First define projects, by individual, group and/or category. Then decide whether you want to report on all employees, a section within your department, or an individual employee.

The system will ask you to enter a period of time for it to report on. The start date must be a Monday and the end date should be a Sunday; if the days you enter are other days of the week, the system will replace them with the nearest correct date. You can also include an allocation of fixed charges across employees who have worked on the project, either by hours worked or by the Cost of the time worked.

The system then processes the report and gives the option to send the print to screen or printer in the usual way.

3.3.3.2. Missing/Incomplete Timesheet Report.

Use this report to highlight any missing or incomplete timesheets for any week. The system adds up all the timesheet entries for each employee and compares the total with either the standard hours for that employee (if the system is set to Standard time) or the hours worked in the week (if the system is set to Flexi-time).

The system will ask whether you require a combined report (missing and incomplete) or just missing timesheets.

3.3.3.3. Time Analysis Report

Either report on all timesheet entries to-date or select a time period (see below).

Then select all employees (in pay number sequence), a section within your department, or an individual employee.

Please note that the headings vary depending on whether you select to-date or a specific time period. To-date reports on the current position as held on the employees' main record. A time period could include the end of a financial year so cannot report on, say flexi-time as at the end of that period. Experiment and compare the two.

3.3.3.4. Timetable Listing.

This report shows all time-tables (arrival and departure times, not timesheets) over a specified period of time for a single employee. Only produce this report if your system is set to flexi-time with timetable entry - not advised.

3.3.3.5. Employee Listing.

This is a simple summary report of all employees in employee reference sequence. It shows the employee name and section, and, optionally, the additional notes that can be added in the employee cost/charges screen; normally address, telephone number, date-of-birth, etc.

3.3.3.6. Employee Productivity Report.

Each employee can have a productivity target. This represents the proportion of his or her time which is spent on chargeable, or productive, work. The report shows the available hours during the specified period, hours actually worked and the number of hours which were non-productive, i.e. a charge was not generated. Target and actual percentages of profitable hours are shown and then the target and actual profit. For space reasons, all figures on this report are rounded to the nearest whole number.

The productivity target is input at the employee costs/charges screen, called from the employee screen in the maintenance menu, and is only accessible by the System Administrator.

The report can be by section and/or job title or for all employees and covers a definable time period.

3.3.3.7. Employee/Standard Fee Over Given Dates.

If you have a standard fee table which you use to charge standard items of work, such as photocopying or sending a fax, this report will give you a breakdown by employee of the amount of chargeable work of this type carried out during a defined period. You can select all employees, a section and/or by job title.

3.3.3.8 Flexi-time Reports.

3.3.3.8.1. Current flexi-time accrued.

This report will show you the current flexi-time figure for each employee. If you want to show exceptions you can restrict the report to show just those employees with a high and/or low flexi-time. This report can be useful before carrying out a flexi-time clear down (see flexi/standard time in the system details menu).

3.3.3.8.2. Flexi-time NOT carried forward.

If your employees are limited to the amount of flexi-time which may be carried forward from one period to the next, this report will show how much time has been "lost", i.e. how much time has been worked by employees for which they will not be paid and not receive time off in future. Resource Manager^TM has cost rate(s) for each employee, and uses these to assess the cost of each project, on the assumption that employees are paid for all the hours they work. This report will show management how much time each employee worked "for free", and the figures should be considered when deciding future cost rates. Note that the cost figures are based on the employees' cost rates at the time the hours were cleared down.

3.3.3.9. Projects Worked On (by Employee)

This report gives you a summary (by employee section and/or job type) of all the projects worked on over a period. The total hours worked and Cost and charge of each project over the defined period can also be shown.

You may print the report by employee(s) or the report can be produced as a summary for each section. Employees who did not have timesheets entered during the defined period are not shown.

NB: If produced by employee, the employee's section shown is for information only and is his/her CURRENT section, not necessarily the section the employee worked in when the work was carried out. Conversely, if produced by section summary, the work relates to the section that employees worked in at the time of carrying out the work, not necessarily their current section.

So, if an employee's timesheet was entered when the employee was not designated to a section, the work will be included in the By Employee report, but will not be included in the By Section report. The grand totals shown would then differ.

3.3.3.10 Charge/Cost Analysis

This report is a simple summary of values or hours, per employee, broken down into the three charge and three cost rates. If, for example, your cost rates two and three represent overtime and double time, you can use this report to see how much overtime cost your section in any selected period. Employees with no cost or charge values during the period are not shown.

The system will ask whether you wish to report on all employees, or a section and/or job title, and then prompt you for a date range and whether you wish to see the report in monetary values or in hours. The report will show the value or number of hours worked under charge or cost rates 1, 2 or 3. Work recorded with 0 charge and 0 cost rates is not shown.

NB: Because of space constraints, values displayed are rounded to the nearest whole number. The totals shown are calculated from the non-rounded figures and may not, therefore, appear to add up exactly correctly.

3.3.3.11. Employee/Activity Analysis

This report shows hours and Costs for part two activity within part one activity within project within employee. If you select a date range of greater than one week, the figures shown are the total for the period. As well as the date range, you can select project group, catalogue or individual, and employee section or individual, as well as all employees. If you request a date range of some time ago, and select a single section, the report shows employees who were in that section when the work was done, not necessarily those who are in the section now.

This report creates temporary files; there will be a short delay while this is done.

3.3.3.12. Section/Client/Project report.

This report lists work carried out within the section of the employee who carried out the work. The section is the one which the employee was in at the time of carrying out the work. The report is further broken down by clients and then projects.

One or all sections and one or all clients may be selected, as well as specific projects and a date range. This report creates temporary files; there will be a short delay while this is done.

3.3.3.13. Employee Work Plan

This report shows, by employee, the time spent in hours and minutes then as a percentage of total time, on, firstly, non-productive projects then productive projects. If shown on screen, only hours and minutes and total percentages are shown. If printing, the report shows the percentages broken down by calendar month. It is important to remember the following:

a) if printing to an eighty-column printer it cannot print more than two months unless it is set to print in "condensed" mode. See your printer manual to see how to do this directly, or you may prefer to send control codes via the Printer Controls panel which appears at the start of every report. Codes 27 and 15 are used for condensed print on many printers.

b) because of "rounding" to two decimal places it may seem that some columns do not add up correctly;

c) Resource Manager^TM timesheet information is stored by week, under the date of the Monday in the week. Therefore, where a Monday is the last day in a calendar month, all data for that week will still be included in that month, even though most of the week is actually in the next month. Some "months" shown in this report, therefore, will contain five weeks' data, the others four, but rarely will it be the exact calendar month.

Select either all employees or one section and/or job title only, and then the date range. Remember that you cannot report on more than twelve calendar months (or parts of months).

3.3.4. Timesheet Listing.

This report is used mainly for data entry checking and gives a list of all timesheet lines, by week within employee, over a specified date range.

This report can also be printed while at the timesheet header screen, 3.2.4.1, but only for the currently-displayed employee.

3.3.4. Planning-Related Reports Menu.

Use the Menu in the usual way, or press Q to Quit and return to the Reports Main Menu.

3.3.4.1. Staff Workload By Week.

If you are using the Planning facility to build up a picture of when and by whom the work on each project is to be carried out, you will want to see the workload for each employee so that you can discuss it with your staff and highlight and correct any overloads.

If you are able to be very precise in your planning you should use this report to examine workload, by employee, on a weekly basis. If you are working to a more generalised plan, use the Staff Workload by Month report, which will give workload per pseudo calendar month.

You can select all employees or specific section and/or job title, and a date range..

3.3.4.2. Staff Workload By Month.

This report is very similar to the Staff Workload By Week but is where you are interested in a general idea of staff workload, rather than a precise weekly report. This report groups all planning forecasts together by calendar month.

NB: As far as this report is concerned, the system is not sophisticated in its handling of the end of the month. The system will include all work planned during the week commencing, say, 31 August, in August. This report is intended only as a rough guide to workload - if you want a precise breakdown you should use the Weekly equivalent.

3.3.4.3. Client Workload By Week.

This report shows all items entered via the Planning option of the projects screen, by client department. This report would be used in discussions with client departments. It's value is limited unless you have entered a plan for every (or most) projects. See the section on project planning for more details.

3.3.4.4. Client Workload By Month.

The same as Client Workload by Week, but totalled by calendar month. See the NB comments in 3.3.4.2 above.

3.3.4.5. Actual Comparison By Week.

This report compares the workload you predicted via the planning option in projects with the actual workload, as entered via timesheets. A percentage value is shown to indicate whether you were over or under (or exactly on target) in your prediction.

3.3.4.6. Actual Comparison By Month.

This report is the same as the Actual Comparison By Week, but totals everything by calendar month. See the NB comments in 3.3.4.2 above.

3.3.5. Other Reports Menu.

Use the menu in the usual way, or press Q to Quit and return to the reports main menu.

3.3.5.1. User Manual.

The user manual is now supplied only via the internet or your local intranet. Either view and print it directly from our website or download the HTML files which make it up, and copy them to your PC or server.

3.3.5.2. Print Note Pad.

The contents of the Note Pad can be printed at any time to a pre-defined format. It is not possible to amend the format of the print.

3.3.5.3. User Log-On History.

This report shows who has been using the Resource Manager^TM system. If you are the sole user of the system, or if everybody who uses the system uses the same identification and password, it is unlikely that this report will be of any great interest to you. However, if you have many different people with access to the system, or if you are using a network version of the system (with several people "logging on" from different terminals), this report can be useful to see who has been using the system and who is currently using it. The most recent user(s) - including yourself - appear at the top of the list.

You can set the number of records to store by going to the Utilities menu and selecting "System User History". You can set any value between 50 and 9999. If you don’t want to use this report, make sure that the figure is low, i.e. 50.

3.3.5.4. Browse/Edit a Text File

This is not a report; it is the ability to view text or ASCII files. These can be spooled reports which you have created using the Save File option which appears after creating all reports. The system will default to your data directory; type the file name that you wish to view or use the DOS wild character conventions (e.g. type *.PRN to see all files ending with PRN) to select from a list of files.

Because this facility does not need to load the whole file into memory before viewing, it can be useful for displaying very large files which would not fit into a conventional word processor.

3.3.6. Special Reports Menu.

If you have asked us for reports to be written specially for your own organisation, they will be included in this menu, or we may have included some reports here which were originally created for someone else.

There are no individual user manual entries for these reports.

If there are report options shown here, by all means experiment with them. If you have any requirements for additional reports, please contact us; we may have a suitable report already written or we can quote you for creating one specially.

In addition, we can supply a Report Generator (see below), specifically created to work with Resource Manager^TM, with which you can design your own reports.

3.3.7. The Report Generator

The Resource Manager^TM Report Generator is a quick but powerful way to create your own reports based on information held in the Resource Manager^TM database. From Version 3.1 of Resource Manager^TM, the Report Generator is supplied as part of the standard system. If you purchased an earlier version of Resource Manager^TM (even though it has subsequently been upgraded) you will not have the Report Generator unless it was purchased as an extra module. If you don’t have it, please contact your support centre or supplier for details and prices.

The Report Generator structure may seem a little difficult to understand at first. This is almost certainly because, unlike most systems, you do not enter it at the "top" level.

The Report Generator is structured like this:

What may seem confusing is that when you first enter the system you are at the Select Existing Report position (the Available Reports list). The reason for this is that, after a while, you will have built up a library of your own reports and, most of the time, you will be using the system to print from existing report formats, not to create new ones. The system is designed so that you can enter the system, select the report you want, and then go straight to the Print option. To get to the other options (create new reports or quit) you must <Esc> from the Available Reports Menu to go "back up" to the Main Menu.

To access the Report Generator, select Report Generator from the Main Reports Menu.

To access an alternative report generator, or any other external system, you can create a DOS batch file named RMEXRUN.BAT with a call to the other system. As Resource Manager^TM remains in RAM while you are in the external system it is possible that there will be insufficient memory to hold both systems. If this is the case it may not be possible to run one system from within the other. If necessary, consult your support centre or your DOS manual for help with batch files.

3.3.7.1. Using The Report Generator

The best way to understand the Report Generator is to use it. For this reason the instructions on how to use the system take the form of a short training course during which you will create a sample report and use all the facilities of the system.

We are going to create a report which lists all completed projects and displays the actual and estimated charges for the project. If you don’t have any projects with a completed date, go into the Resource Manager^TM system now and input completed dates to a few projects (the more the better, but don't forget to change them back later). We will also be listing projects by Group Code, so, if your projects do not have group codes, input some to a few of the same projects.

Rather than test the Report Generator on your live data, you may create a copy of your existing database for testing purposes only. See section 3.4.16, Create New Database.

3.3.7.1.1. Start the Report Generator by selecting Report Generator at the Main Reports Menu. The following steps refer to what should appear on screen.

3.3.7.1.2. Available Reports. There will be no available reports when you enter the system for the very first time. Later, though, you will select from the reports that you have created. Press <Esc> for the Main Menu.

3.3.7.1.3. Main Menu. This is where you create new reports, or you can go back to print/modify existing reports. You can also quit from the Report Generator from here. (This is the only point from which you can quit).

Select option "Create". Enter a name for the report you are about to create. Call it TEST. (You don't need to type in capitals - the system will automatically display in upper case.) The system checks whether the report exists and, if not, creates a new one. We now see a box listing all the available data files, or groupings of information. Move the bar down to the words PROJECT DETAILS and press <Enter>.

3.3.7.1.4. Report Menu. You now have a menu which is headed TEST. It contains options relating to the report called TEST.

Select the first option "Print", and press <Enter>. An error message will appear because you cannot print a report which has not yet been specified - press any key to return to the menu.

3.3.7.1.5. Select "Title". Type the report title. Call it TEST REPORT FOR TRAINING PURPOSES. Press <Enter> to return to the Report Menu.

Select "Column".

3.3.7.1.6. Column Menu. This is where we will specify the main content of the report. We can Add, Modify or Delete columns, we can tell the report to select only records which fall within a defined Range and we can specify columns which are the result of calculations of other fields (called Compute columns). First of all, though, look at the bottom of the screen. The white status bar tells you the name of the report (TEST) and the data file, or area, used (PROJECT DETAILS) for the report we are working on. The F7 and F8 keys are used to scroll the report layout horizontally - we will see this working later.

3.3.7.1.7. Select "Add". We now have a scrolling box listing all the available fields, or elements of data, in the PROJECT DETAILS data area. The FIELD NAME is the internal code used within the Resource Manager^TM system; you can ignore this column when creating reports, it's only useful if your report is giving unexpected results and you need to re-examine the way in which you created it. The FIELD DESCRIPTION is more useful.

You can also see what TYPE of field it is: C denotes a character field, N a numeric, D a date and T a time-related field (hours and minutes). The LENGTH denotes the total width of the field (including a decimal point) and DEC denotes the number of decimal places in numeric fields.

We want to show our report by Group, so we'll move the bar down to the PROJECT GROUP CODE field, and press <Enter>. Now we are asked for a heading for the column; type GROUP and press <Enter>. See how the layout of the report starts to build up on the screen. Next, select PROJECT CODE (the first item on the list). Give it a heading of PROJECT. As this is not the first column, you are asked where you wish to display the column. You could put it at column 1, but we want to display the GROUP first, so we'll accept the default column 2. Next use the Page Down key and move the bar to ACTUAL COMPLETION DATE, and select. Type the heading COMPLETED and insert at column 3. Then page down to ESTIMATED TOTAL CHARGE, select, and insert, with heading ESTIMATED, at column 4, then find ACTUAL CHARGE ON PROJECT and insert with heading ACTUAL, at column 5.

For our final column, we want to show the amount by which the ACTUAL charges differ from the ESTIMATED charges. Press <Esc> to return to the Column menu. Select "Compute".

The field selection table is the same as before but this time we are limited to numeric (N) and time (T) fields only. Select the field, ACTUAL CHARGE ON PROJECT. Next we see a box headed OPERATORS with the various arithmetic symbols displayed; select "- Minus". Now we have the option to subtract the value of another field or of a constant value which we can input here. Select "Field" (you are going to subtract the value of a field rather than a constant figure - see below) and then select ESTIMATED TOTAL CHARGE from the table. Select "= Finish" at the OPERATORS table. Accept the default column width of 7.2 (7 places of integer and 2 decimal places. Give the column a heading of ACT-EST and insert at column 6. The option of inputting a value rather than just performing calculations on two or more fields, means that you can perform all kinds of calculations with the Compute type of column, much as you would with a spreadsheet system. If, for instance you wanted to show the ACTUAL charge as a percentage of the ESTIMATE, you would first select the ESTIMATE field, then "Divide By", then the ACTUAL field, then "Multiply By", then a Value of 100. This corresponds to the formula:

(ESTIMATE / ACTUAL) * 100

(The symbol * represents multiply and / represents divide.)

The Report Generator makes a formula which is displayed on screen. To review the formula, select Modify from the Column menu. Where field a is to be divided by field b, the formula is DIV(a,b); where time fields are involved, the system converts hours and minutes to decimal before carrying out any calculations - time field a is displayed as TODEC(a).

You now have a report which could be printed. However, it would include ALL projects, not just those which were completed. Also, it will show any projects which did not have an estimate, and you may not want to print these. In addition you will probably want to see totals by Group and a grand total. We'll "tailor" the report now to include all those things.

3.3.7.1.8. From the Column menu, select "Modify". We'll specify the sub-totalling here. Enter column number 1 (GROUP). You could amend the heading here, but press <Enter> to leave it as GROUP. At Sub Total, type Y. This tells the system that you want to produce sub totals for each Group. Press <Enter> then "Modify" again and enter column 4. At Total type Y. Note that you can print a sub-total whenever a character column (like Group) changes, and that numeric columns (like Estimate) will be the columns actually added up. So we now have a report which will print a sub-total of the Estimate column every time the Group changes, and a grand total of the Estimate column at the end of the report. If you had not entered Y for sub-totals at the Group column, the Estimate column would total only at the very end of the report. We also need totals on the Actual column and the Act-Est column, so select "Modify" again, column 5, Total "Y", "Modify", column 6, Total "Y".

3.3.7.1.9. Select "Range". We want to make sure that the report only prints projects which have been completed. To do this, enter column number 3 (COMPLETED). Press Y to modify the range. In this case we want to report on ANY project that has a date in the Completed field. At other times you may just want to report on a range within one month or one year. For this report, though, enter 01/01/80 at Range From, and 31/12/10 at Range To. This will include everything with a date in the Completed field.

If you want to limit your report to only those projects which had been given a Charge Estimate, you should select "Range" again, enter column 4 and input a Range From 0.01 To 999999.99. This will report on anything with a value of 1 penny or more.

3.3.7.1.10. The report is now almost ready to print. Before we leave this screen, though, we'll demonstrate how we create reports wider than the screen. The TEST report is just under 70 columns wide. Usually printers can print on paper which can take 130 characters or more and often the printer can be set to print in condensed characters which gives an available width of well over 200 characters. You should consult your printer manual..

Select "Add" from the Column Menu. Select PROJECT DESCRIPTION from the field selection table. Input the heading DESCRIPTION. Insert at Column Number 3. Press <Esc> to return to the Column Menu. Only part of the report layout will appear on the screen because it is now wider than the screen. Press F7 (function key 7) to move to the left of the report and F8 to move back to the right. In this way you can see the whole layout of the report.

3.3.7.1.11. Select "Delete". Delete the column we've just added -column number 3 - DESCRIPTION. Select "Quit" to return to the TEST Report Menu.

3.3.7.1.12. Indexing. We want our TEST report to print in order of the project Group, so that we can sub-total by group. However, the projects are held on the data file in the order in which they were created, not by group. To produce the report in any particular sequence we must create an index.

At the TEST Report Menu, select "Index". The system will ask if you require a new index; reply Y. You can then select the field(s) you want to index on. We know that the most important requirement is that we produce the report by GROUP, so select the PROJECT GROUP CODE field. The report would be easier to read if the Projects for each Group were sorted in Project Code sequence, so next select PROJECT CODE. You can see the index "key" description building up at the bottom of the screen. You can index on any fields - you could have the report in ascending order of project value, for instance. We would not recommend more than four index "keys" though. Press <Escape> to return to the TEST report menu.

Now the report really is ready to print!

3.3.7.1.13. Select "Print". As your Data is constantly being updated, and new records added, the index has to be re-created each time the report is printed. Wait while this is done.

You can print either a Detail report, which prints, in this case, every qualifying project (completed ones with an estimated charge of more than zero), or a Summary report which prints just the sub-totals, i.e. one line per group. Summary reports are useful when you just want some management information without having to wade through pages of detail. In this case, though, we will select Detail, so that we print everything.

3.3.7.1.14. Accept or modify printer details in the usual way. While the report is being prepared you can halt it at any time by pressing any key. A message "Abort Print?" appears. Press Y to end or N to continue (or use cursor keys or mouse).

3.3.7.1.15. Display to Screen or Printer. As with other Resource Manager^TM reports, you can save the actual print file and display or print it later using the Browse a Text File facility in the Other Reports menu (see section 3.3.5.4.)

Earlier versions of the system included a separate "spooler" utility within the Report Generator. As all reports are now spooled to disk before printing or displaying, the Report Generator uses the same system as the rest of The Resource Manager^TM.

3.3.7.1.16. Return to the TEST menu and select Print again, this time select the Summary option to see the how it differs from the Detail option. Then return to the Available Reports Menu and select an other report to work on, or press <Esc> to return to the Report Generator Main menu.

3.3.7.1.17. Press "Q - Quit" to leave the report generator.

3.3.7.1.18. You have now created a report and used most of the facilities of the Report Generator. In fact, it takes longer to explain the Report Generator than it does to use it - once you are familiar with the system you should be able to create reports in minutes or seconds. Don't worry about experimenting with the system, you can't damage your Resource Manager^TM data. If you do have problems, though, please contact your support centre or supplier.

3.4. Utilities Menu.

This part of the system is only accessible by users designated as System Administrator or System Controller via their User ID and Password combination.

NB: IF YOU ARE USING THE NETWORK VERSION only one user is allowed to enter this section at a time.

The Utilities menu is used in the same way as all others - move the "light bar" to the selection you require and press <Enter> or press the first letter of the option or click with the mouse device if installed.

Utilities are the "house-keeping" of the Resource Manager^TM system. You use this area to set up the system to reflect the way in which you operate, to define, for example, whether your organisation runs Flexi-Time, or to specify default working hours.

You can also "tidy" up the system by reorganising data files and by deleting old data.

3.4.1. System Details Menu.

NB - if you are using a networked version of the system only one person at a time is allowed into this section.

This menu is mainly to do with defining the system for the needs of your own area (section or department). If you have several discrete databases set up in your copy of Resource Manager^TM, changes made here will affect only the currently opened database (the current database is displayed at the bottom of the Utilities menu). For instance, the client table will not be shared by other data.

Use the menu in the same way as all others- move the "light bar" to the option you require and press <Enter>, press the first letter of the option or use the Mouse device if installed

3.4.1.1. Client Table.

Use this facility to set up the names of your usual client departments. The table is not limited, use the arrow keys, <PgUp> <PgDn> keys (or scroll bar if a mouse device is installed) to view all the entries if there are more than nine.

You can <A>dd, <D>elete or <M>odify department names.

Modifying a client allows you to change the description field NOT the code. You can only change a code by deleting the entry and then re-creating it. However, the system will not allow you to delete a client which has already been used on a project. You must change all timesheet entries to another client code before the system will allow you to delete the original client code.

3.4.1.2. Standard Timetable.

This timetable represents the normal hours of working in your organisation. When you create an employee record, it will initially have this timetable attached to it, although you can then change individual employees.

Using the arrow keys, move the cursor up and down the days of the week, then press <Enter> to move across the time fields. The total week's hours will add up as you make entries. Press <Esc> to move to the left and to exit the table. Normally, the total hours figure (bottom right) is the only one which matters because you will not be inputting employees’ day-to-day arrival and departure times into the system.

3.4.1.3. Standard Fee Table.

This table is where you define Standard Fee descriptions and the actual amount of the Standard Fee.

A Standard Fee is used where the amount you charge your client is based on a standard "unit" of work rather than the duration of the work. You may, for instance, wish to have photocopying as a project, but charge your client 10p per copy, regardless of time taken. Set up this table with PHOTOCOPY as the description and a CHARGE amount of 0.10. When timesheets are entered (in the Maintenance section of the Main Menu) an item of work can be charged at this rate, rather than at the employee's charge rate multiplied by the time taken.

You can modify the CHARGE and TARGET of a Standard Fee item, but not the DESCRIPTION. The system will not allow you to delete an item if it has already been used on a Project. The TARGET column is not normally used.

There is more information about Standard Fees in the help for timesheets and projects, found in the maintenance section of the main menu.

3.4.1.4. Materials Table.

Use this table to define Cost headings of materials and expenses. These are anything which contributes to the overall Cost of a project, but which is not related to employees' time. If you generate invoices with your Resource Manager^TM system, enter a ledger code in the CREDIT GL Code column. This cost centre will then receive funds for the material supplied (if left blank, funds will go to the project credit GL Code, if any). The table is not limited, use the arrow keys or <PgDn> <PgUp> if there are more than nine entries.

You can <A>dd, <M>odify or <D>elete in the usual way.

Modifying allows you to change the CREDIT GL Code, COST and CHARGE fields. You cannot delete an entry if it has already been used.

3.4.1.5. Section Table.

Each employee can be assigned to a sub-section or group of employees. If you don’t wish to group employees together, just leave this table blank.

Each section can have a corresponding GENERAL LEDGER CREDIT CODE, although, again, this is not essential. When an employee is assigned to a section, the General Ledger Code is also assigned to him or her. This code can be used in Invoicing and in the mainframe ASCII cross-charging file. Where the charge method is 0, the system will use this code as the GL Credit (i.e. the code relating to the section or department providing the work). If there is no Credit GL Code here (it's left blank), the system will use the Project Credit GL Code for recharging purposes, in a similar way to the Materials Table, above.

You can Add new sections, Modify section names or GL Codes (but not the section code, itself) and Delete sections, if the section has not already been used.

Subsequently modifying the GL Code in this table will NOT change the details on already-created timesheet or invoice records.

3.4.1.6. Job Titles.

To analyse work by job title you may create a table of employee job types. Then define a job title for each employee in the employee maintenance screen. Reports can then be produced by job type.

When a timesheet record is created, the employee’s job code is not stored with it, on file. Reports, therefore, are based on employees’ current job title, even though it may have changed since the actual work was carries out.

3.4.1.7. Key References Table.

Use this table to create any number of reference categories (not the references themselves) for projects. For instance, a solicitor may want to keep a note of PURCHASERS, SELLERS, WITNESSES, etc. A housing department may want a quick reference to the tenant of a property, or the key-holder to various premises. Then you can access this information at the project screen and the timesheet screen.

3.4.1.8. Flexi or Standard Time Selection.

Select Standard or Flexi time setting. When flexi-time is selected, you are able to enter individual employees' Actual working hours (either by inputting arrival and departure times or a weekly total) when inputting timesheets. If standard time is selected, the system will assume that the employee worked his or her standard hours.

Also, if an employee's normal, contracted, hours are, say, 37 hours per week and he actually works 40 hours in a week, the system will automatically allocate the extra hours to overtime, if the system is set to standard time, and to flexi time if the system is set to flexi (although the later can be over-ridden).

If you select flexi, you will be asked:

Timetable Entry?

Answer <Y>es if you want to input the Actual hours of working (that is, the arrival and departure times each day) for each employee every week. Answer <N>o if you are logging arrival and departure times in an external system and just want to input the total hours for each employee each week. If in doubt, contact us. If you possibly can, you should avoid using timetable entry, because it is planned that this will work rather differently in future versions.

If you would like the system to re-set current flexi-time, press the letter 'R' at the initial text screen and follow the on-screen instructions. The system will re-set each employee’s current flexi-time to zero, or to minimum values set by you. You can only do this if the system is currently set to flexi time.

3.4.1.9. Timesheet Entry Options.

When entering timesheets, there are certain items of data which (depending on how you use your system) not everybody needs to input. Rather than having to press <Enter> against each item you can "turn off" entry to certain fields ( client, Activity, Task Codr, Charge Rate, Cost Rate and Charge Method) by entering N where not required.

If you say Yes to TASK CODE, you will then be asked whether you want to VALIDATE TASK. Answer Yes if you wish the task codes, when input to a timesheet, to be validated against the task codes set up against the project, and to be able to input when the task is completed.

The task code can be used either to set up tasks (sub-projects) within Resource Manager^TM or to link Resource Manager^TM with an external critical path system. If you are using the task code simply to link with an external system, you may not want to have to set up all the codes against each project within this system. If you answer No to VALIDATE TASK, therefore, the system will not attempt to check the codes that you input via timesheets. However, even if you are only using task codes to link to an external system, you are still strongly advised to input the codes against each project so that they can be validated at timesheet input; this could save a lot of trouble later, if they are not recognised by the other system.

The option "LOOP 'TIL <Esc>" enables you, when adding timesheet lines, to go directly from the Hours (or END TIME if in real time entry) field to the entry of the next item without having to press <A>dd again.

The option "ENTER FLEXI HRS" gives you the ability (if the system is set to flexi-time) either to see a running total of hours input, and accept that the employee's timesheet represents the total of hours worked, or to input a total hours worked figure from another external source. If you choose the later you should run Missing/Incomplete Timesheets (Employee Reports Menu) to see whether employees have accounted, in their submitted timesheets, for all of the time entered in their flexi log.

The option "DEFAULT R/TIME" allows you to set the system to start TIMESHEET ENTRY in Real Time entry or total time entry. See the timesheet entry screen and manual section for more details of how this works. Remember this is only a default, you can over-ride in the timesheet entry screen. We suggest that you set LOOP 'TIL <Esc> to<Y>es if entering timesheets in real time. If changing DEFAULT R/TIME to <Y>es for the first time, you may be asked to wait while the system modifies its database structure.

SPECIAL CASE, if set to <Y>, takes you to that field each time you leave timesheet line input. If set to <N> you can still modify this field by selecting the option when at the timesheet header screen.

AUTO COMPRESS, if set to <Y>, will check each time you quit timesheet input, to see whether disk space can be saved by combining any identical entries. This will not work if you are entering time in "real" time (see DEFAULT R/TIME above).

NB: It is still possible to over-ride some decisions made here at the time of timesheet input; see how in the timesheet entry section.

3.4.1.10. Task Code Validation.

In the previous section you can define whether the Task code is validated or not; here you say how it should be validated (or whether this field is used for another purpose altogether, see below).

Usually it is only necessary to have task codes unique to individual projects. however, if you are using task codes derived from some external system - either manual critical-flow charts or a similar computerised system like Project Manager Workbench (tm) or SuperProject (tm) - you will probably need to ensure that each Task Code is unique throughout the system. If the latter is the case, select "System" from the options. The system will then prevent you from using a task code twice, even on different projects.

A third option, "Complete", offers a completely different use of the task field, when entering timesheets. It allows you to enter an estimated percentage of work completed on this project. Within this "Complete" setting you may decide whether the percentage figure that you input relates to the project overall or to a specific employee’s involvement in it. If you select the former (total project) the figure will appear on the main project screen. This is not possible if you select individual employee, but it is used in the Project Profitability and Employee Profitability reports.

3.4.1.11. Password Control.

This option can be accessed only by the system controller (networks) or administrator (single-user systems).

The Access field was formerly the System Administrator field and contained either Y or N for yes or no. This can still work in the same way: Y will denote user of Systems Administrator level and N will apply to everyone else.

However, current versions of the system allow single-user (as well as multi-user) versions of Resource Manager^TM to set up several separate data directories. This means that, with a single copy of the system, you can create an unlimited number of data sets. If you wish to do this you must include a data path with each password, so that the system knows which directory to address for your data. If you have a multi-user version, you must denote one user (and password) as the System Controller, who is able to access passwords. This person is designated with a C in the Access field. If you wish to create separate data directories, return to the Utilities menu, and select Create New Database.

In addition, you may restrict your users' access to reports in the following way:

Access level C users may access all areas of the system.

Access level 1 (or Y if password set up in early versions) users can access all areas if a single-user version or all areas except password control (System Details menu) if a multi-user version.

Access level 2 users may not enter:

the Utilities menus;

reports which include charge/cost data which can be identified to specific employees;

the employee Charge/Cost screen.

Note, though, that level 2 users can enter the Report Generator, if installed, and print all existing reports, but cannot create reports.

Access level 3 users may not enter:

any reports;

the Utilities menus;

the employee Charge/Cost screen.

Access level V users can view all screens (except those only accessible by System Administrators/Controllers) and print all reports, but cannot change the data. This level is useful for managerial interrogation of the system where updating should only be carried out by other designated staff.

Access level E users, on first entering entering their ID and password, when accessing the system, are taken directly to the Timesheet Entry screen, where they are able to access and input their own timesheets. They are not allowed access to any other area, nor are they able to access other employee's timesheets. The employee's reference code, as used in the system, must be entered in the Employee field.

You can move through the list in the usual way (Forward, Backward, Start, End, Goto, etc.) and Add, Delete or Modify passwords.

It is not possible to have two identical User IDs, although two different users can have the same password.

The system will not allow you to delete your password.

If you are not particularly worried about security, and if all your users are accessing the same data, you could simply allow everyone to use the same ID and password, keeping WOLFF and SYSTEMS, for instance. Otherwise, though, you should try to keep a list of valid users (away from the computer, of course) and change the identifiers and passwords regularly. If you do not wish to use passwords at all, you can set up your system to bypass Access Control. This is only possible if you have only one database. See section 1.4. Initiating the System for details of how to turn off Access Control.

3.4.1.12. Global Employee Charge/Cost Rate Changes.

To increase the Cost and/or charge rate(s) of all your staff by the same percentage amount.

The system will first ask you whether you wish to update all employees or just one section, then ask for a date to which the rate change should be back-dated. You then input a percentage increase (or decrease) for any or all of the three cost rates and/or any or all of the three charge rates.

If you want to change rates individually, you must go to the Employee input screen from the Maintenance menu, and then (if you are a System Administrator) select <Costs/Charges>.

Remember that increasing a charge or cost rate by 10% and then reducing them by 10% will not bring you back to the original figures.

NB: This facility simply changes all the employees' cost rates and their cost start date; to back-date the cost change and amend Actual Costs on Projects you must run the next option - Process Cost Changes.

3.4.1.13. Process Charge/Cost Changes.

3.4.1.13.1. Back-date employee rate changes.

Sometimes, employees are awarded back-dated pay rises, or you may wish to change charge rates retrospectively. This Utility allows you to re-calculate the Costs and charges of all projects.

This option only processes; you must first of all put new Cost and/or charge values against each employee and the date that the new rate(s)came into force, either by going to individual Employee screens or by globally changing rates (see previous option). This utility will only process employees whose rates have changed - you will not end up with incorrect project totals if you accidentally run this facility without changing any employee rates.

3.4.1.13.2. Re-calculate Costs for a period.

If an employee works for more than his/her standard hours, and is not paid for the extra time, his/her hourly cost rate is effectively reduced. Running this option will first total the hours for each employee, check whether this exceeds the employee's standard hours and, if so, recalculate the Costs of each project that the employee worked on during the period. Select all employees or a section or an individual. The system will compare Actual hours with each employee’s standard hours for the selected period plus a number of hours input by you. Remember that this utility applies the formula to whatever Cost is currently held against each timesheet item. If, therefore, you run it twice you will reduce Costs twice, which is probably not what you want. To return Costs to their original values, run the previous option - back-date employee rate changes.

3.4.1.13.3. Back-date employee(s)’ section.

Work is only allocated to an employee's section after the employee is allocated to a section; it is not normally back-dated. If you want work to be designated to a section retrospectively (because you forgot to input sections at the start of the year or did not input an employee’s change of section at the right time) you can back-date an employee's section by using the "COST DATE CHANGE" field in the employee Cost/Charge screen to indicate the date from which the section should apply. Follow further instructions on screen. The date(s) entered in the employee records will NOT be removed after processing.

3.4.1.14. Set size of user history trail.

You can print at any time (Other Reports menu) a history of the most recent users of your Resource Manager^TM system. This is particularly useful if you have a network version of the system. The system will remember the user identifications and date and time of logging on and off for a specified number of users. If you are the single user of the system, you will rarely, if ever, need to use this facility, so the minimum (50) should be input. If you have a multi-user network with many different identifications and passwords, it should be set to rather more, 250 perhaps.

Simply input a number (or accept the current value) and press <Enter>.

3.4.1.15. Lock Timesheet Modification.

Use this option to prohibit modification or deletion of timesheets up to a defined date. The system will ask you for a date, defaulting to the current "lock" date. Any user accessing the timesheet entry screen will not be allowed to make changes to any timesheet dated on or before this date, although timesheet entries can be viewed. "Locks" can be removed (only by the System Administrator) simply by entering an earlier date. Remember that you cannot change any timesheet line already invoiced, regardless of the Lock date.

3.4.1.16. Invoices Start Date.

If you started to use the Invoicing Module some time after you began using the rest of the system, your first invoicing run would normally create invoices for all timesheets and materials/expenses in the system. Set the invoices start date to avoid producing invoices for work carried out prior to that date. This is usually the beginning of the current financial year.

Remember:

a) once set you cannot amend the date to an earlier date (although you may change it to a later date)

b) this date affects timesheet and expenses/materials entries only; it will not affect Fixed Price or Regular Billing charges. You must amend these manually (although it is unlikely that you will have created any if you have not been using the invoicing module)

c) if, in the future, you input back-dated timesheets or materials, i.e., dated prior to this date, they will be invoiced. So make sure that you have your system up-to-date before entering a date here.

3.4.1.17. Invoice Format.

Use this list to select the format of the invoice print (both committed and uncommitted invoices). If you do not have the Invoicing module, you will not be allowed into this option.

To select (or to return to the System Details menu) press <Enter> at the required option - not <Esc>, which will revert to the Standard Format option.

If there is no suitable invoice layout already available, please contact your support centre or Wolff Systems to discuss your specific requirements.

Once selected, all future invoices printed will be in the selected format. You may change invoice format at any time. If you do so, you do not have to regenerate invoices; you will not lose any invoices - the basic data remains the same; you only change the way in which it is displayed.

3.4.1.18. Invoice/Department Details.

a) Input a four-character code for use in system-generated "exported" files. See section 3.4.2 for more details of how to incorporate this.

b) If you wish to call your invoices by another term ("Charging Details", say) you can amend the top line of the invoice (the date will always print on the right-hand side). You may also put some additional descriptive text on the second line of the invoice, or leave blank if not required. Lastly, input a thirty-character description of your department or section to appear on invoice headings. If you leave this field blank, the system will use the Department code that you input when you first installed Resource Manager^TM (which appears on the licence screen when you first start the system).

3.4.1.19. Budget Information (including employee rates calculation).

By using a combination of information held about each employee and information input via this screen it is possible for the system to calculate charge and cost rates for each employee. You may find that you wish to calculate these rates outside the system and input them for each employee via the Employee Maintenance (Costs and Charges option) screen, in which case you will not need to use this option.

The Trading Account module needs certain information input here, and it may be that you need to input data but do not wish to re-calculate employees' rates. If so, input the relevant information but exit the utility when asked whether to continue with calculations.

To calculate cost and/or charge rates you should first ensure that all employees (or those whose rates you wish to calculate automatically) have (in the Employee Maintenance screen) values against Days Per Week, Hours Per Week and (in the Costs/charges section) Annual Cost (Salary) and Productivity Target. If no value is held against any but the last of these the system will not recalculate rates for this employee and will leave the rates unchanged. If the Productivity Target is zero, the system will assume that none of this employee's time is normally chargeable, and will calculate cost rates only, setting all the charge rates to zero. If Productivity Target percentages for any employee are very low it could result in a charge rate of greater than £1000.00 per hour. It is not possible, due to the pre-defined format of the data file, to store rates of greater than £999.99, and, in these circumstances an error message will appear, inviting you either to skip processing for that particular employee or to write values of £999.99 where calculated values are greater than this. Whatever you choose to do will not prevent you recalculating rates for this employee at a later time.

The Rates are calculated as follows -

Charge Rates: Each employee's Days Per Week figure is multiplied by 52 to give an annual figure. Bank holiday's, the employee's holiday entitlement, and a sickness estimate are deducted from this to give an estimate of actual days worked per year. Each employee’s Productivity Target is used to arrive at the estimated productive hours worked per year, e.g. if the employee's Productivity Target is 70, then seventy percent of the employee's actual working days per year are regarded as productive.

Next, each employee's annual cost (salary) is converted into a percentage of the department's annual salary budget. This percentage is then applied to the department's total on-cost, or overhead, figure to calculate the proportion of the on-cost figure for which the employee is responsible. This figure is then added to the employee’s salary. This total is then divided by the employee’s annual productive hours (see above) to give the employee's standard hourly charge rate.

Cost Rates: The employees' hours per week are multiplied by 52 and the total is divided into each employee's annual cost to arrive at a standard hourly cost rate.

These standard charge and cost rates are then multiplied by the percentages input via this screen to give the three charge and three cost rates. The first charge/ cost rates are usually 100% and the second and third (which may represent overtime and double time) usually 150% and 200%, but you may override any of these. Zero percentages will result in zero rates. If you wish to leave certain rates unaltered, put an "N" in the Update? column next to the particular rate.

See also section 3.2.3.1. Additional Employee Details.

3.4.1.20. Hide Obsolete Records.

You may wish to keep projects on file, for reference, even though they have been completed. Similarly, you may have employees on file who have actually left your organisation, but who worked on still-current projects. Use this option to "hide" these records when using the F3 facility to list projects and employees. Don't forget that you can go directly to all projects starting with, say, "CA" by typing "CA" in the go-to field, then pressing F3 before you press <Enter>.

3.4.2. Extract Files.

Resource Manager^TM can generate text (or "ASCII") files which can then be used with other computer systems.

The system has the ability to extract files from the timesheet and invoicing areas of the database. See sections 3.4.2.1. and 3.4.2.2. for details of how to modify these.

You may, however, have very specific requirements for extracts of Resource Manager^TM’s Database. You may wish to transfer data to other systems such as spreadsheets, word-processors, graphics programs or critical-path project-management systems. Or you may want to transfer information to your mainframe in a form other than the standard Timesheet and Invoices (above).We can usually create these routines quickly and at low Cost and link them to one of the user-defined menu options. Linking to external "critical path" systems is complicated by the fact that the external system often needs to be set up in a very specific way.

When generating from timesheets you will be asked whether you require your ASCII file in Delimited or Non-delimited format. When generating from uncommitted invoices, options A and B are always non-delimited and options C and D are always delimited.

When the ASCII file has been created you will be asked whether you wish to copy it to a floppy diskette. If you do, input the drive letter (usually A) and insert a non-copy-protected diskette with sufficient space. If there is not sufficient space on the diskette an error message will appear and you will be able to insert another diskette (or abort).

The format of the generated file is as follows:

DELIMITED. Leading and trailing spaces in all fields are truncated. Fields are separated by commas. Character fields are bounded by double-quotation marks (").

NON-DELIMITED. All fields are of fixed length, character fields being padded with trailing blanks and numeric fields being padded with leading blanks. Fields are not delimited.

The following rules apply to all text files generated by the Resource Manager^TM system, whether delimited or not:

* Records are separated by a carriage return/line feed pair.

* Date fields are written in the format YYYYMMDD (for your sorting purposes), and not as they appear in the system

* The end-of-file is marked with Control-Z (1A hex).

Don't forget that you can create Report (.PRN) files, either directly from the standard reports or by defining your own report formats using our report generator. It may well be that these, spooled, files are more appropriate for exporting to your word-processor for incorporation into documents, as they will be properly spaced out with titles and column headings etc. Contact your support centre if you need more details of how to do this using the DOS operating system.

3.4.2.1. Timesheet Data Extraction.

Resource Manager^TM is able to generate a file (in ASCII format) of the timesheets entered during any time period. Other standard parameters can be input to specify project/employee combinations. The file generated is based on the fields contained in a "template" file called TSHEET.EXT, which should be contained in your program directory. This is a standard xBase-type *.DBF file, and can be amended, if you have dBase (TM) or an equivalent, to refine the fields copied to the ASCII file. If the field COM_DATE is included, the ASCII file will contain records for every week of timesheet entries; if it is not included, hours, Costs and/or charges will be added together to give one record for all identical entries during the selected period. Your support centre may need to liaise with Wolff Systems or your supplier to discuss the ASCII file format and other details.

You will be asked whether you require a variable-length delimited field file or a fixed-length non-delimited file. This depends on the system into which you are transferring the file. See section 3.4.2. for an explanation of the different output formats or ask your support centre or Wolff Systems if you need help.

The file will be created and named according to the start date of the data extracted, but may be over-written. Try to give a meaningful description to the name. ASCII files can be displayed by going to the Other Reports menu and selecting Browse a Text File. Otherwise you can use the TYPE command in MS-DOS, the EDIT utility in later versions of MS-DOS, or any text or word-processor.

3.4.2.2. Invoices ASCII File Extraction.

Resource Manager^TM is able to generate a file (in ASCII format) of the currently uncommitted invoices in the system, or of committed invoices (by invoice number range). The file created can then be used by your central accounting system to effect inter-departmental charging.

Your support centre may need to liaise with Wolff Systems to discuss the ASCII file format and other details.

The data extracted is based on dBase-compatible files (see section 3.4.2.). If a field called deptRef is included in the format-definition file, the department code input in the System Details menu (see section 3.4.1.18) will be included in the output file.

Options A and B generate DELIMITED files and options C and D create NON-DELIMITED files (see section 3.4.2. for definitions).

3.4.3. Reorganise Files.

This utility performs three functions:

1. All data files will be "packed", i.e. the space occupied by deleted records (if any) will be re-used.

2. Index files will be re-generated. Sometimes data can become corrupted due to faulty hardware, power supply surges, etc. (this is why you should always make a backup). It may be, though, that only the index files are corrupted, in which case this option should be run to re-build them. If you normally don't backup index (*.NTX) files, and have to restore your data, the system will detect that the index files are missing and automatically re-create them when you run the system.

3. If your system has been upgraded to a new version and the structure of your database has changed, the system will detect this and change the format as well as packing and reindexing.

You can run REORGANISE FILES at any time. It is wise to incorporate it into a monthly procedure (do it AFTER taking your backup. It will keep your files tidy and certainly won't do any harm.

Unless you are running for the first time since an upgrade, there is no need to reformat your data files, unless specifically requested to do so by your support centre. You should, therefore, answer <N>o to the question, Reformat Data files to latest version?.

Similarly, normally answer <N>o to the question about recalculating employees’ planning percentages unless advised otherwise (press F1 in the system for more details).

It will take some minutes, depending on how much data you have on your system. If any of your data (.DBF) files are missing, this routine will re-create them, but this does not re-create the data, just the empty file(s), so you must restore from your backup.

3.4.4. Compress Timesheet Entries.

Most users of the system have timesheets which are filled in every day and then added up at the end of the week, so that the operator only has to input one hourly total for each unique week/employee/project/activity/task combination.

Sometimes, though, timesheets are entered on a daily basis, so that, at the end of a week, there could be a number of entries, identical in every respect other than hours and minutes worked.

Whilst the system is quite able to cope with this, you may wish to "compress" the file (sum the hours on all identical entries within a week and store the total as one entry) for two reasons:

Firstly, it will save space on your computer and, secondly, it will make screen-display lists of Employee-related or Project-related hours more compact and easier to read.

The system compresses on a weekly basis. You will be asked to input the week you wish to compress. It is not worth running this utility if duplication of data is infrequent.

You should take a backup prior to running this utility. If the computer "crashes" during processing (e.g. the power goes off) you must restore from the backup.

3.4.5. Transfer/Copy Employee Work Plan

If an employee is replaced by another, or if you wish to transfer some work from one employee to another, or if you want two employees to have identical, or near-identical work plans, you can copy or transfer work between employees using this utility.

NB: Copying duplicates one employee's plan onto another employee; Transferring removes the plan from one employee and writes it to another.

3.4.6. Annual Project Clear Down.

Projects fall into two broad types:

a) those which have a clearly-defined start and end, like the creation of a computer system or the building of a leisure centre, and

b) those which go on "forever" like General Administration, or Sickness or Maintenance. This latter type should be designated with a Clear Down Code in the Project Maintenance screen. Then, at the end of each financial year you can automatically re-set the Actual Values to zero for all projects so coded, by running this utility.

Unlike earlier versions of Resource Manager^TM, you do not have to wait until all timesheets for last year have been input, and then run this option before inputting any of this year's timesheets. Instead, you can get on with the input of this year’s timesheets, even though you have not received all of last year's yet. When you are sure that all of last year’s timesheets have been input, print any end-of-year reports that you want to store and then run this option. The system will ask you for the Clear Down code for the projects you wish to clear down, and for the year-end date. Usually, this will be Y for Yes. It will then "zeroise" all actual totals on projects designated with that code. It will then add values back to the actual total fields for all timesheets entered since the year-end date.

If you use the Planning facility in the system and you want to copy last year’s plan into the coming year, answer Yes to the question about planning records. Remember, though, that last year’s planning records will remain in the system until you either delete them one by one in the Project/Planning screen, or use the Project Planning Deletions option to remove all Planning records prior to a certain date. Also, all Planning records will be copied, regardless of employee or activity, so you should use this facility with care and check the results afterwards.

If you use the Task facility you must decide whether you want to re-set all the Actual Task hours in these cleared-down projects to zero and designate all Tasks as Not completed.

Most people will not have more than one Clear Down code (because any "on-going" projects will all need to be cleared down at the same time, say 31st March, and have similar uses of the Task and Planning facilities). In this case the use of "Y" (for Yes) is probably most suitable.

However, if you have different "combinations" of projects, e.g. some which, although to be cleared down should not duplicate last year's Plan, and some which should; and some projects which need the Tasks re-set (administration type projects) and others which do not (where, for example, you have used Tasks to record "unrepeatable" events, like the sale of a specific property), you can group these different types together using different clear-down codes, and then run the process answering the questions for each specific group.

Running this option will also re-set fixed project values (such as sickness, overtime) against employee records.

Before running this option it is advisable to take a full backup of the system and to store it permanently as your "End Of 199-" backup. The system asks whether you have made a backup before it allows you to proceed.

3.4.7. Holiday Year Re-Set Screen.

Use this utility to re-set the employees' holiday entitlement.

If your organisation allows employees to have different holiday year start dates (based, for instance, on individual birthdays or joining dates) you must run this utility every week. However, in most cases, you will have one global date (perhaps 1st April) in which case you only need to run this program once, on or near that date.

The system will ask for a date. If all your employees have the same holiday year start date, you will need to run this utility only once a year and you should input the week-commencing date of the week in which that date falls. For example, if 1st April is on a Thursday, input 29 March (the previous Monday). Users who have different holiday start dates for all their employees, must run this utility once each week (after timesheet input) to be sure of re-setting every employee at the correct time.

Next, the system asks whether you wish to carry forward any holiday remaining unused from the previous holiday year. Select Yes or No, or press the <Escape> key to abort. If you incorrectly select Yes, you can correct by re-running the utility, this time selecting No. If most employees cannot bring unused holiday forward from the previous year, but one or two have been allowed to do so, you should run the routine selecting No, and then go into the Costs/charges section on the Employee screen and amend the Holiday Outstanding field (in days) accordingly.

The system then asks whether you wish to zeroise flexi time and overtime in lieu. Answer yes or no. Remember than you can zeroise flexi-time (or carry forward up to a limit) on a more regular basis (monthly or weekly) by going to the Flexi Time option in the System Details menu, called from the Utilities menu (see the end of section 3.4.1.8).

Lastly, you can change the holiday year start date for all the employees whose holiday has been reset, so that it is correct for next year. This should not usually be necessary.

It is wise to take a backup prior to running this utility!

3.4.8. Project Deletions.

This utility allows you to delete old projects. The system asks you to enter a date. The computer will then display, one at a time, all project codes and completed date for projects which were completed prior to that date. The system asks:

Delete?

Answer <Y>es or <N>o.

When a project is deleted, it will not be possible to access it again via the Project Maintenance screen.

Please note, though, that it is still possible to list work carried out by an employee, even if that work related to a deleted project. The project code, though, will have been replaced by asterisks (********) so it will be impossible to trace the actual project code.

Also, all records of materials charged to that project will be deleted.

It is best to delete completed projects once a year, first taking a backup of the previous year's records. Deletions more frequently could result in the inaccuracy of some reports.

3.4.9. Task Deletions.

This utility will delete all completed tasks. Because a completion date is not stored with each task, it is not possible to delete within a date range.

Remember, also, that tasks are automatically deleted when a project is deleted.

3.4.10. Project Planning Deletions.

This utility allows you to delete all planning records which related to dates prior to an input date. So you can use this facility to remove, say, last year’s planning records. Remember that the deletion of a project will automatically delete associated planning records.

3.4.11. Employee Deletions.

Use this utility to delete employees who have left your organisation. When an employee leaves (or is no longer to be on the system) a date should be entered in the LEFT field of the corresponding employee maintenance screen. The system asks for a date. All employees who left the organisation prior to that date will be displayed on screen, one at a time, and the system asks:

Delete?

Answer yes or no.

Once deleted, it is not possible to access employee records via the Employee Maintenance screen. However, the record of actual work carried out is retained IF the project which the work related to has not been deleted. This will enable you to view ALL the work relating to a project, even if the employee who carried out the work has been deleted. The employee Pay Number is replaced by asterisks (********) on screen and printer listings.

It is not normally advisable to delete employees globally more than once a year.

You should always take a backup of the system prior to making deletions.

3.4.12. Timesheet/Material Deletions.

This utility will enable you to delete timesheet and material entries which were entered before a certain date, definable by you.

This will remove all timesheet and material entries, regardless of whether or not the relevant project and/or employee has been deleted or invoiced.

You are not given the option to delete only specific qualifying records, as you are with employees and projects, so be sure before proceeding.

NB: Always take a backup of the data prior to running this utility - you can then store the disks in a safe place for future reference.

The deletion of timesheets and material expense records will not change the totals held against projects or employees. Nor, of course, will it delete the projects or employees themselves.

Rather than simply delete timesheets, it is usually better to use the Archiving (section 3.4.15.) and/or the Create New Database (section 3.4.16.) options.

3.4.13. Invoice Deletions.

If you have the Invoicing Module you will, eventually, build up a large number of invoices on your computer system which will have to be stored to a backup disk.

If you record Payments Received (see the Invoicing main menu) you may want to retain all Unpaid invoices while deleting all other invoices prior to a particular date; the system will allow you to do this.

First, the system asks:

Include unpaid invoices?

Answer Yes if you want to delete invoices regardless of whether they have been paid or not.

Then you are asked for a range of invoice numbers. Input the From and To fields. The system will then delete all invoices falling into the range. This will not, of course. affect the Amount Invoiced and Amount Received figures on the Projects screen.

3.4.14. Delete ALL User Data

Use this utility if you wish to remove all data and create a new "clean" database. This is useful if you have been training with the system using dummy data, or have decided to completely re-structure the way you hold your data, or have transferred the system from one department or section to another. Remember, though, that you are not allowed to make more copies of the system than you have purchased; this would infringe copyright laws, and render any support agreement void.

General set-up details (such as Flexi or Standard Time, Task Validation, Timesheet Entry Options, etc.) will remain unchanged, as will any reports you have created using the Report Generator, if installed.

Obviously, this utility should only be run in exceptional circumstances - be absolutely sure before you begin! It’s safer simply to create a new, empty database, as in section 3.4.16.

3.4.15. Archive and Recall old data.

3.4.15.1. When to archive Resource Manager^TM data.

NB: Before archiving, consider storing previous years’ data in separate sub-directories, as described in section 3.4.16, below. This will give instantaneous access (whereas archived data has to be recalled before viewing) but each year is only accessible individually (whereas recalling adds archived data back into the current live database). If in any doubt, ask your support centre.

There are two main reasons for archiving some of your Resource Manager^TM data records:

a) to make more room in your computer, and;

b) to speed up operation of Resource Manager^TM, particularly in the processing of some reports.

If neither of the above reasons are giving any cause for concern, there is no reason to archive data, you can rely on your normal regular backup for the recovery of your data if any corruption or other data loss should occur. Archiving is not an alternative method of backup - you must continue to backup your work on a regular basis. If in any doubt, discuss this with your support centre.

Archiving is the removal of certain data records from your live system in a way which gives you the opportunity of recalling the data at a later time. This could be because you have completed the input of timesheets for a financial year and generated all the reports that you need for that period and you have printed invoices relating to work carried out in the period, and it is now unlikely that you will require to access that data again. Archiving timesheets and invoices for the last year will reduce the space occupied by Resource Manager^TM and enable the system to run more efficiently. If, later, you need to, say, reprint some reports you are able to recall the data and integrate it into the live system. Similarly, if you have a very large number of individual timesheet entries, you may find that certain areas of the system begin to run rather slowly, as you progress through the financial year. This can be overcome by archiving timesheet data every, say, three months, after producing related reports and generating invoices. For end-of-year reports you can then recall all the data at the end of the year.

This utility is not advised unless you have worked out a reliable system (as you should have done with your backup routine) of file naming and recording. Resource Manager^TM does not, itself, record what you have archived, or where you have stored the archived data. It will not, for example, prevent you from recalling the same data more than once. This must be recorded, manually, by the designated Resource Manager^TM System Administrator.

You can archive various types of data:

1. Timesheet headers.

2. Timesheet lines.

Although archived to separate files, timesheet headers and timesheet lines should always be archived at the same time and for the same period. Archiving timesheets will speed up the system most effectively and will save space on your computer. If you use the invoicing module, Resource Manager^TM will not allow you to archive timesheets for a period which still has uninvoiced entries; you must invoice all work before you can archive.

3. Invoices.

If you generate invoices, the data file and related indexes generated can be quite large. Once invoices have been printed, therefore, they can be archived. This will save space but will not make much difference to the speed of the system. Never archive ALL invoices, keep your most recent on the live system. You can choose whether to archive all invoices (generated prior to a date) or just those which have been paid.

4. Completed Projects.

Archive all projects completed prior to a date. This will not save much space, unless you tend to have thousands of projects, nor will it improve processing speed, so it's only worth doing for very old projects, to tidy up the system.

5. Employees who have left.

These are not likely to be many unless you have a very high staff turnover, or have been using the system for a number of years, so, like projects, there will be no speed or space benefits to archiving employees, other than to tidy up the system.

Remember that, even if an employee has left, you may want to retain details as they may have been working on still-current projects, and, similarly, you may wish to view an employee's work history, even though that may include work on now-completed projects.

3.4.15.2. To archive Resource Manager^TM data.

Select "Archive data" from the Utilities menu.

Select "Archive".

Select the type of data you wish to archive. Remember, if you archive timesheet headers you should also archive timesheet lines for the same period, and vice versa.

Input the date prior to which you wish to archive data. This is the creation date of timesheet and invoice data, and the Completion date of projects or leaving date of employees.

Input a file name. Remember to design a naming system that conveys some information about what is being stored; invoices created prior to April 1996 could be called INV0496.ARC, for example. Giving all archive files a unique suffix (e.g. ARC) helps when copying or locating files. To see a directory of current files, type asterisks as per DOS "wildcards". For example, to see all existing archive files in sub-directory \RESARCH on drive C:, type C:\RESARCH\*.ARC. If the file name you decide on already exists, the system will prevent you from overwriting it. If you want to archive data direct to a floppy disk, type A: (or B:) then the file name.

Resource Manager^TM will then find qualifying records for the archive and tell you how large the archive file will be. If this looks OK, continue with the archive. If there is not enough room on the target disk, abort the archive and try again, with an older date, and archive several smaller time periods to floppy disks, always starting with the oldest data.

3.4.15.3. To recall Resource Manager^TM data.

Select "Archive Data" from the Utilities menu.

Select "Recall".

Input the name of the archive file to be recalled. Always restore the most recent (newest) data first. To see what files are available, use the DOS wildcard conventions, e.g. A:\*.ARC to see files ending in ARC in the root directory of the disk in drive A. You can use the arrow keys to locate the file you want and then press <Enter> to select, or simply type the name of the file.

Resource Manager^TM will then attempt to analyse the file to see what type of data is stored. If it is a valid file, you can view, in abbreviated form, the data contained in it, to make sure that it is the data that you expected. If OK, continue to recall the data.

Always keep records of what has been archived and restored, and when you did it. Resource Manager^TM will not prevent you from recalling the same data more than once, so accurate records are essential.

3.4.16. Create New Database

Resource Manager^TM can have programs and data stored in separate directories. This makes your files more manageable ands less complicated. It also means that you can set up a number of separate distinct databases, either for the various areas of your department, or for testing purposes, or to store previous year's data. The advantage of this is that the same software (the programs) is addressing all the databases, and old versions do not need to be stored to run old data. New versions of the system will automatically update the format of previous years' data.

The system will not function correctly if data is stored with the programs and further data directories are created. Therefore, if you attempt to create a new database and your current data is stored with the programs (usually all in a directory called \RESMAN), Resource Manager^TM will first split your data and programs into separate directories. You can then create as many extra data directories as you wish. You may either create a new, empty, database (for a new section, test data, etc.) or you may copy your current data to a new database. This later option is usual where you wish to clear down timesheets from the system for the coming year but keep last year’s data readily-accessible. If you do this, it is a good idea to name your directories, say, RESMAN97, RESMAN98, etc., so that it is obvious which year you are looking at (the database accessed appears at the top of the Main Menu screen). You must create one or more id/password combination to access each database (see Password Control in the System Details menu). Remember that any number of users may have the same password, but no two identifications may be the same. To ensure that previous years’ data is viewed only, and not amended, give these id/password combination the Access Code of <V>iew.

As System Administrator/Controller you must keep up-to-date records of the directories you have created, their passwords and identity codes and what they actually hold. Some people use the Notepad (F2) facility for this. To remove a directory, you must use DOS (or similar tools) and remove the corresponding password/id.

If you think you may want to re-combine old data with current data, you must use the Archive/Recall option (also in the Utilities Menu, section 3.4.15).

3.5. Invoicing Menu.

This section enables you to create "invoices" (or, more correctly, charging documentation) for work and expenses, and for any Fixed Price or Regular Billing projects. Invoices are sorted by client department. Alternatively, you may generate a computer data file containing cross-charging information which is fed into your mainframe computer (see section 3.4.2.2).

The Invoicing Menu works in exactly the same way as other menus. Move the "light bar" to the option you want and press <Enter>. Alternatively, just press the first letter of the required option or use the Mouse device, if installed.

Users with a system which was upgraded from a version earlier than 3.1 may not have the Invoicing part of the system installed. Please contact your support centre if you would like details of the Invoicing module.

3.5.1. Creation of Invoices

IF YOU ARE CREATING INVOICES FOR THE FIRST TIME:

If you have been using the system for some months, or years, but are about to generate invoices for the first time the system will generate invoices for all work that has ever been carried out on the system, up to an end-date input by you. To avoid this, you should exit this option and go to the Utilities Menu and select System Details Menu. From there, select invoice start date, and input the earliest date from which you want to generate invoices. Don't forget that invoices will only be generated from work carried out (i.e. timesheet entries) which was defined as charge method 0.

Select this (Create Invoices) option to generate new invoices. If there are currently uncommitted invoices in the system, a warning will be given inviting you either to commit existing invoices before creating new ones or to scrap existing invoices and re-generate them now from the source data (timesheet entries, etc.) It may be that you forgot to commit invoices after last month's invoice run, in which case you should return to the menu and select Commit Invoices, before returning to this option.

The system will ask you for a period-end date. Either accept today's date or type an earlier date if you want to raise invoices up to a specific date (the end of last month, for instance). Then select either all project groups or input a single project or group/ category code combination. The system will display the options you have selected and then search for items chargeable which meet that criteria and which have not already been invoiced.

The system will store these items in order of date within project code within debit general ledger code within client department code (not client department name), ready for printing.

3.5.2. Print Uncommitted Invoices.

You may print invoices as many times as you like for checking purposes. Once you are happy with them, though, you must select the Commit Invoices option so that values are written back to the project files and the invoices are not re-generated on the next Create Invoices run.

Don't forget that you can change the format of the print in the Utilities/System Details menu; select Invoice Format. If your organisation does not have it's own format it may be that an existing one is suitable for you. If not, please contact us to discuss the creation of your own invoice layout.

If printing to paper, check that your printer is correctly set and press any key to continue printing, or the <Esc> key to abort.

3.5.3. Print Summary of Uncommitted Invoices.

a) This is a simple report showing the total charge amount for each client department, plus a grand total. These figures relate to uncommitted invoices. Once you have run Commit Invoices, this report is unobtainable until the next invoice creation run.

b) Alternatively, the summary is printable by debit GL, cost centre, code within client department.

3.5.4. Scrap Uncommitted Invoices

When you have created invoices (section 3.5.1) they are held in a temporary (uncommitted) file. They will remain there until you decide either that they are to be sent to your clients or that they should be scrapped and re-generated. While temporary or uncommitted invoices exist you are prevented from modifying data which could change the calculation of invoices (e.g. timesheets, project and employee details).

Run this option to scrap this temporary file. You are then able to make any modifications to invoice-related data and re-generate at a later date.

3.5.5. Invoicing Module - Commit Invoices.

Once you are happy with your printed invoices you must Commit them. This will do five things:

1. It will write invoiced values to the relevant projects

2. It will clear down the Uncommitted Invoices file

3. It will prevent the invoiced items being re-generated next time

4. It will allow you to access committed invoices to record Payment Received.

5. It will prevent you from modifying or deleting the originating timesheet, expenses or fixed price details.

If you are sure that your invoices are valid press any key to continue, or <Esc> to abort.

3.5.6. Print Committed Invoices.

This option is used when you want a copy of previously-printed invoices. You can select a range of invoice numbers to print. The print layout is the same as for the Uncommitted Invoices print.

The format of the print can be selected from those available in the Invoice Format option in the System Details Menu, called from the Utilities Menu. See also the comments in the Print Uncommitted Invoices section, above.

3.5.7. Summary of committed invoices.

a) This report shows a single-line summary, by invoice number of committed invoices. Select the invoice number range. The invoice number, client department and total charge are shown.

b) The report can also be prepared by GL Code, sometimes called Cost Centre, within client.

3.5.8. Payments Received.

If you wish, you can record payments received against invoices.

On entering the screen you are asked for an invoice reference; input the computer-generated invoice reference found at the top of the invoice. You do not need to input leading zeros. If the invoice is present, the computer will find it and display it on screen.

Move up and down the invoice with the up and down arrow keys or the PageUp and PageDn keys. To mark an unpaid item as paid, or a paid item as unpaid, press <P>. If paid, a "Y" is shown in the rightmost column. To mark an entire invoice as paid, press <I>; all lines will be set to "Y" (paid) however previously set.

If all but one item on a large invoice are paid you can, of course, set the entire invoice as fully paid (option <I>) and then re-set the single unpaid line, using <P>.

Press <Esc> to enter a new invoice number or to return to the Invoicing Menu.

3.5.9. Print work NOT invoiced.

This report is used to identify items of work which have not been invoiced, but which should have been.

You should input an end date equal to the date of the last Create Invoices run, then examine the report for any chargeable items of work which have not been invoiced.

Work will not be invoiced if:

(a) it was input later than the last Create Invoices run, but related to a week-commencing date earlier than the run date;

(b) it was for a genuinely non-chargeable project (annual leave, internal administration, etc.);

(c) the timesheet entry, or default project details, were incorrect. This would normally be because a charge method or charge code have been wrongly input to the timesheet.

(d) no charge rates have been set up against the employee carrying out the work.

3.5.10. Trading account menu.

The trading account will give a breakdown of Costs and charges, per section. The costs are calculated from information contained in the Employee records and in the Budget Information section of the System Details menu. Income is then displayed, per client department, and a total of charges for the section is displayed. Trading account reports are automatically stored so that the position at any time during the financial year can be recalled later.

3.5.10.1. Generate new file.

Over a defined date range, select a section or generate report for all sections, then specify either costs or income or, usually, both. After confirming the parameters, the system will generate a data file and a report file, then ask for an eight-character name for the files. Try to make this memorable in some way, say by incorporating the end-date, e.g. TECH0995 for the technical section up to September 1996.

3.5.10.2. View existing file(s).

You can, if you wish, build up a store of reports for comparison purposes. First select the report you want (this is where meaningful naming, as above, is important). The report is held in two formats, as a spooled report file, which can be displayed on screen or printed, and as an editable ASCII file, which can be used in other applications such as a spreadsheet system. Follow the on-screen instructions.

4. USING THE NOTE PAD.

The Note Pad feature enables you to type in any general notes that you want to record about Resource Manager^TM. The screen is accessible at almost any time from within the system, apart from when you are displaying a Help comment (F1), the calendar (F4) or the calculator (F5). There are usually some operational help notes already stored in the Note Pad when it is first supplied to you, although you may delete or overwrite them.

It is possible to print the contents of the Note Pad by going to the Other Reports menu.

The Note Pad is simple to use. After pressing the Function Key 2 (F2), just start typing - words will automatically "wrap around" onto the next line. Press the <Insert> key to insert characters in existing text, <Delete> to remove the character at the cursor position, the backspace key to remove the character to the left of the cursor position. When you have finished you can either press F2 again, which will save any changes you have made, or the <Esc>, Escape key, which will set the text back as it was when you started using the Note Pad (or click on the F2 or Esc characters at the base of the box).

Also note the following commands:

Control-Y Delete current line

Control-T Delete current word

<Home> key Go to start of current line

<End> key Go to end of current line

Up arrow Move up one line

Down arrow Move down one line

Left arrow Move one character to left

Right arrow Move one character to right

Ctrl-l arrow Move one word to left

Ctrl-r arrow Move one word to right

<PgUp> key Page up (or click on top arrow)

<PgDn> key Page down (or click on lower arrow)

Ctrl-End Moves to bottom of screen Ctrl-Home Moves to top of screen

Ctrl-<PgUp> Moves to top of document

Ctrl-<PgDn> Moves to end of document

The Note Pad is not a sophisticated word processor; it is solely for general notes about Resource Manager^TM, primarily for screen display. It is often used to record greater details of each database, when you have set up several separate databases, and the dates on which new versions were loaded.

The Note Pad may be something that you never use, or that you use occasionally to record temporary reminders or notes, or you could use it to set up lists of codes which do not have a table facility in the system - Project Group Codes, for instance. Or you may be, for example, looking at the work that a particular employee has done but not recognise a particular Project Code; you can then jot the code down in the Note Pad, go to the Projects screen and re-call the Code from the Note Pad. How, and whether, you use it is entirely up to you.

Please note that any user of the system can access (and amend) the contents of the Note Pad, not just the System Administrator, so you may not want to leave any confidential information there.

5. WHAT TO DO AT YEAR END.

There are a number of operations that the System Administrator should carry out at the end of the financial year.

5.1. Reports.

Firstly, you should print all the reports that you would normally take at the end of a financial period. You may also wish to produce reports for the whole of the previous year.

5.2. Backup.

Make a backup of the entire \RESMAN directory (including program files, etc.) and label the disks as relating to the whole year, e.g. 1996-7. Store these disks away from the system and do not incorporate them into your normal cycle of backup disks. If you ever need to refer to this data, it is a relatively simple matter to restore the whole system in a temporary directory and NOT in your current \RESMAN directory. Normally, you would access previous years’ data by using the Archive/Recall or Create New Database utilities. See Resource Manager and year-end archiving, on our main website for more details.

5.3. Deletions.

Once you have archived, backed up or copied your data to another directory (see above) you will probably want to delete corresponding data from your current "live" directory. You do not have to delete old data just because it's the end of the year; you may want to keep it on your computer so that it can be viewed, as at present, or you can delete it at any time of the year. However, deleting data, particularly that relating to timesheets, will probably speed up certain functions of your system (e.g. report processing). It does not matter what sequence you delete data in, but it will be quickest if you proceed as follows:

5.3.1. Timesheets.

Delete all timesheets created before a certain date. Select the Delete Timesheets option in the Utilities Menu.

5.3.2. Projects.

Delete all completed projects.

Projects must have a Completed date (see the project maintenance screen) for the system to allow them to be deleted.

5.3.3. Employees.

Delete all employees who have left. Employees must have a Left date (see the employee maintenance screen) for the system to allow them to be deleted.

5.3.4. Tasks.

Delete all completed tasks.

5.3.5. Planning records.

Delete all project planning records dated prior to a date input by you (probably the previous year-end date).

5.3.6. Delete Invoices.

Delete all invoices prior to an invoice number input by you.

5.4. Annual Project Clear down.

You can zeroise all the ACTUAL totals held against certain "on-going" projects. Earlier versions of the system had an ANNUAL (Y/N) field on the Projects screen, where you designated projects as requiring an annual clear down, or not. This field name is now CLEAR-DOWN (version 3.1. and later) and allows you to input any single-character code against a project (including, of course, "Y" or "N" as before) and cleardown just the projects with that code. If you needed to clear down some projects at the end of December, say, and some at the end of March, you could designate them as "D" and "M", respectively. You then input the code, in the Utilities "Annual Project Cleardown" option, that you wish to cleardown.

5.5. Holiday Year Reset.

If all the employees on your system have the same holiday year (say, 1 April to 31 March) you only need to run this option once a year, after inputting the timesheets for the last week of last year. If, however, each employee has a different year start date, you should be running this option every week.

5.6. Reorganise Files.

Once the above have been completed, run Reorganise Files which will "pack" data into the space previously occupied by deleted records, and it will re-create your index files. Go to the Utilities Menu and select "Reorganise Files".

For more details of the above options, see their separate manual entries.

6. Multi-user (networked) versions.

Resource Manager^TM will run on most popular Local Area Networks.

As is usual with multi-user systems, some degradation of speed will probably be detected.

There are two ways of running Resource Manager^TM via a network. You may simply run a single-user version but access it via a network link. This is really the same as having a stand-alone version but with your data and programs located away from your terminal. This should work perfectly well, but, unless it is essential that you are able to access your data from a number of different locations, it is far simpler to load the system locally on a stand-alone unit.

Alternatively, however, you may want two or more people to access the system simultaneously, either accessing the same data or with separate databases, and for this you will need a multi-user version of the system, running on a network. The following notes refer to multi-user versions of Resource Manager^TM:

6.1. The software will permit a number of people to access the system simultaneously. The maximum users at any one time depends on your licence and is shown at the top of the Main Menu screen next to the word "Network".

6.2. It is not possible for your System Administrator to access the Utilities or Invoice Creation/Commit functions while another user is logged onto the system, nor will other users be allowed into the system while the above areas are in use. This is because of the "global" nature of these facilities. Also, with a multi-user system, the System Administrator cannot amend passwords. This must be carried out by the System Controller. The System Controller is designated with a "C" in the Administrator field of the password control screen.

6.3. Each simultaneous user must have a separate ID/password combination. It is not possible for the same user to be logged on at more than one terminal.

It is possible, if a user does not exit Resource Manager^TM correctly (due to power failure, accidental re-boot, etc.), for the system to assume that the user is still logged on. To clear the system of all users, first ensure that no-one is logged onto The Resource Manager^TM, then call the system. Version 4.1 and later: enter the word RESET in the user ID box. Press <C> to continue. Earlier versions: at the very first screen (the Licence Details screen with the blinking "Press any key" message at the bottom) press the Control (Ctrl) key and the Home key at the same time. (This only works if the system is running with the Mouse capability switched off.) The screen will clear and text is displayed. Press <C> to continue. The system is now re-set as having no users logged on. Enter the system again in the normal way.

6.4. Whilst the main use of a multi-user system is to enable a number of people to have access to the same data, it may be that you want to set up a number of discrete areas and enable only certain operators access to them. To do this, the System Controller must give each user a separate directory on the file-server. The directory drive and name must be input against each user's password details in the Password Control screen (see section 3.4.1.11). If this field is left blank the system will assume that the data to be used for this user is in the main default directory (where the *.EXE files are found and where the system was called from). Setting up the system with all data files and program (system) files in one directory is not advisable, even if yours is a single-user, stand-alone version (see section 3.4.16).

If a drive and directory is stored against the user, this directory will be accessed when the user inputs his/her ID and password on entering the system. If the directory does not exist you will be given an error message. If the data is located on the same drive as the programs, you do not need to specify a drive letter before the directory path.

6.6. The advantages of splitting the data between users is that each user can only access his or her data, thus improving security, and also speed of access and processing will be improved. The disadvantage is that it is not possible for anyone, even the System Controller, to view the information in the system globally. However, Wolff Systems can supply a batch process utility which will combine all the data in a temporary directory for the production of global reports. This is only possible if the same codes (projects, employees, etc.) have not been used in different directories. Please contact your support centre for further details. For more help with splitting data from programs, see section 3.4.16.

7. On-line support

If you have a question about Resource Manager^TM, which cannot be answered by either your IT department, this manual or other information found on our website, send a message to support@wolffsys.co.uk or go to our support page at www.wolffsys.co.uk. We will try to respond within 24 hours. The above applies only to users with a current support agreement. If you don't have a current support agreement, email us for details and prices.