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Spectrum CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW BY SHELDON NEEDLE

SPECTRUM CONSTRUCTION SOFTWARE REVIEW • CTSGUIDES.COM • PAGE 2

Overview

Dexter Chaney’s Spectrum® Construction

Management Software, Version 14, is a fully

integrated Window-based program that can

exchange data with other programs. Spectrum

allows companies the flexibility to use one

module, all the modules or any combination. It is a

straightforward system that manages a complex

mass of data. Menus can be accessed with a click

of the mouse or by numeric entry. The same is true

of the data entry screens.

Dexter Chaney claims to be the only true SaaS

vendor in the mid-market. That means their system

runs entirely over a web browser without any

hosting computer system or special hardware

necessary.

It includes 28 fully integrated modules including

all job accounting, financial accounting, cash

management, inventory management and

purchasing, project/document management,

resource scheduling, service dispatch, service

contracts, work orders and time and materials

billing. :

User Experience

There are a number of ease-of-use features. Input

screens guide you from field to field for data entry

and warn you when erroneous data is entered.

Each program screen comes with a Help menu bar

that gives the Help contents, Help about the

screen, or Help about a specific field.

Spectrum's Query and Dashboards are a collection

of graphic displays and database queries that

provide real-time access to key performance

indicators (KPI's) for your company. Specific

dashboards are included for executive, operations

and service personnel.

Report writing can be done to screen, to printer or

to files. Spectrum has an archiving system to

“print” reports, and maintain them in files. That

way, the user can just go to the archive and pull up

the necessary report. Spectrum users can utilize

pre-programmed views or create their own views

in the database. Information never becomes out of

balance because each view is calculated on

demand by the database using up-to-the-minute

information.

Value

Spectrum’s core modules — Accounts Payable;

Accounts Receivable; Cash Management; General

Ledger; Job Cost; and Payroll — are combined

together and priced at $2,800 per concurrent user

(plus an equal amount for implementation and

training). Other modules can be added with costs

ranging from between $100 and $500 each per

concurrent user. Additional concurrent users can

also be purchased separately.

With its strong service capabilities, the product is

a good option for service-oriented specialty

contractors, particularly electrical, mechanical and

HVAC.

Pros

• Super-select reporting feature

• Look-only feature for security

• Strong accounting controls

• User-defined fields

• Remote linking and connections

• Fully browser based

Cons

• Mouse dependency can be cumbersome;

keyboard shortcuts are available

http://www.ctsguides.com/


• The biggest hurdle is setup; however, this

is greatly aided with setup checklists and a

conversion and support team.

• No standard financial statements

• Does not handle recurring wire transfers

Ease of Deployment & Training

The Spectrum system is sold and supported

directly by Dexter + Chaney. Training is available

on-site or by telephone. The average start-up

training time is between 40 and 80 hours. Annual

support and maintenance is 20% of the sale price

and includes “800” telephone support, product

upgrades and maintenance releases, Web support

access and year end information.

Each Spectrum system comes with written

documentation and an easy to follow award

winning online Help system. Online Help uses

standard window features and includes an issues

section, which contains answers to frequently

asked questions. A comprehensive user support

site, Spectrum Online, includes a Knowledge

Base, containing answers to questions. The site

also features in-depth training videos and other

training materials accessible only to users.

Spectrum also has the ability to import data during

the conversion process. The Electronic Data

Conversion Utility (EDC) assists clients in

converting their current accounting software files

to Spectrum files. EDC is intended to save time

during conversion by focusing on the areas that are

typically labor-intensive and involve repetitive

data entry.

Further Reading

Executive Summary

Spectrum Construction Management Software,

Version 14, is a fully integrated browser-based

program that can exchange data with other

programs. Spectrum allows companies the

flexibility to use one module, all the modules or

any combination. It is a straightforward system

that manages a complex mass of data

Dexter Chaney claims to be the only true SaaS

vendor in the mid-market. That means their system

runs entirely over a web browser without any

hosting computer system or special hardware

necessary.

Dexter + Chaney introduced Spectrum®

Construction Management Software in 1985. The

system evolved from DOS to Windows to SQL

using Pro-IV, a fourth-generation programming

language designed by McDonnell-Douglas. The

database engine behind Spectrum is Microsoft

SQL Server. The Windows version of the software

was officially released in October 1996. Spectrum

is now used by over 1000 customers

(approximately 20% general contractors, 40%

highway/heavy contractors and 40% electrical and

specialty contractors) in the construction industry

in over 48 states (25% of the customers are in the

Pacific Northwest).

Spectrum is an excellent construction management

system that can track a contractor’s complex data

in a simple, user-friendly way. With its strong

service capabilities, the product is good for

service-oriented specialty contractors, particularly

electrical, mechanical and HVAC. The biggest

hurdle is setup; however, this is greatly aided with

setup checklists and a conversion and support

team.

Spectrum consists of 28 fully integrated modules.

The modules that are installed display on the main

screen once you log in. With security you can

show only the modules and functions within the

module authorized for each user or user group.

There is an indicator to show the user which

module and section they are currently using.



The modules are:

• Accounts Payable

• Accounts Receivable

• Human Resources

• Cash Management

• Confidential Payroll

• Document Imaging

• Enterprise Management/Cost Centers

• Equipment Control

• Equipment Tracking

• Project Setup (linking to Timberline,

HCSS, Hard Dollar and other estimating

systems)

• Fixed Assets

• General Ledger

• Info-Link

• Inventory Control

• Job Cost

• Materials Management

• Order Processing

• Payroll

• Spectrum Mobile

• Preventive Maintenance

• Project Management

• Purchase Order

• Query & Dashboards

• Resource Scheduling

• Sales Analysis

• Service Contracts

• Time + Material

• Work Order

Spectrum’s core modules

Accounts Payable; Accounts Receivable; Cash

Management; General Ledger; Job Cost; and

Payroll — are combined together and priced at

$2,800 per concurrent user (plus an equal amount

for implementation and training). . Other modules

can be added with costs ranging from between

$100 and $500 each per concurrent user.

Additional concurrent users can also be purchased

separately.

Based on Microsoft SQL Server, Spectrum

complies with all major database standards,

including ODBC, OLE DB, JDBC, and .NET.

This makes it easy to exchange data between

different applications and integrate Spectrum into

other software applications. Users can easily

transfer data to and from other accounting

software.

Spectrum data can easily be viewed from

applications such as Microsoft Excel, Word, and

Access and from Crystal Reports.

Spectrum Document Imaging

You to scan documents and automatically attach

them in over 250 locations within Spectrum. AP

invoices, work orders, change orders, payroll time

cards, cash receipts, purchasing receipts, and

document tracking items such as lien releases and

insurance certificates are just some of the

documents that can be attached to Spectrum

transactions. Spectrum will, in addition store any

electronic file with document imaging, including

PDF’s, Word and Excel files. The electronic filing

component extends imaging to work with

Spectrum’s Job, Employee, Customer, and Vendor

master files. Furthermore, there is a

comprehensive, user-defined filing structure—

including cabinets, drawers, and files—for the

storage of other office documents. Spectrum’s

Document Imaging also includes Text Search for

scanned documents. Spectrum creates an index of

every word on every document you’ve scanned or

attached so you can search based on the content of

the scanned documents. For example you could

use this feature to find all the invoices that had a

specific item.

Documents are easy to share because they can be

viewed on the screen and then e-mailed or faxed

(without printing) to anyone who needs a copy.

With Spectrum Document Imaging, you can scan,

file, view, and annotate a variety of documents,

whether or not they’re related to Spectrum’s Job



Cost or accounting functions, to create a virtual

filing cabinet. In addition Spectrum will enable

you to archive key reports, so you won’t have to

print and save them anymore.

Documents can be scanned from centralized high

throughput batch scanners and then the images can

be attached during transaction entry, or they can

be scanned right at the desk-top by the data entry

person. For remote Spectrum users, the new Cache

option allows copies of images to be stored

locally. This speeds both the scanning and

retrieval of documents.

Spectrum Project Management

This application bridges the gap between

accounting staff and project managers (PMs) by

providing a standardized process for managing

workflow. Project Management tracks all items

that must be fulfilled under a contract, plus

anything else that must be tracked during the job.

Designed to coordinate details throughout an

organization, Project Management places vital

information and documentation at the users’

fingertips instantly.

Full integration with Spectrum’s Job Cost,

Document Imaging, Accounts Payable, Accounts

Receivable, and Payroll modules makes Project

Management both powerful and efficient. Single

data entry, along with information sharing,

streamlines project setup and maintenance.

Elements such as Requests for Information (RFIs),

Submittals, Change Requests, and Daily Logs are

visible to all authorized users. And, full integration

ensures that reports are more accurate and

meaningful since they are based on a common

database of shared information.

Spectrum’s Correspondence Log allows users to

drag and drop files and Outlook email directly into

Spectrum. The email and all of the attachments are

saved to the Spectrum Server. The entire chain of

communication can be saved and associated with

Spectrum Project Management Documents such as

RFI’s and Change Requests.

At any given moment, you know the status of each

and every RFI, Submittal, Change Request and

Change Order. Spectrum tracks all of these project

components—from initiation to final resolution—

by date and detail in an organized, uniform, easy-

to-access system.

Change Orders, when handled efficiently,

become profit generators within a project.

Spectrum’s integration and detail tracking

automates and expedites the Change Order

process, managing both cost and revenue. From

proposed and approved Change Requests to

executed Change Orders, Project Management

helps you invoice promptly and accurately for

changes on a job.

Document Imaging technology—another

integrated component of Spectrum—adds a unique

dimension to Project Management not readily

found in other packages. With Document Imaging,

every job-related document, photo, spreadsheet,

etc. can be electronically filed within the project

for easy access by everyone in the organization.

For example, if an RFI was generated by a

handwritten note and a photo, these documents

would be stored electronically as permanent

elements of that RFI. A simple mouse click would

allow you to view these documents on screen.

They can even be printed, faxed, or e-mailed

directly from within Spectrum’s Project

Management software.

Human Resources

Spectrum Human Resources software automates

the process of employee and safety management.

From recruitment to retirement, Spectrum provides

a comprehensive and flexible human resources

(HR) solution designed for contractors.



Human Resources offers true flexibility so

contactors can tailor employee and safety record

keeping to fit their unique needs and remain in

compliance. You can track employment history,

status changes such as pay rates or tax changes,

401K administration and eligibility, health benefit

eligibility, and much more.

Human Resources is an excellent tool to manage

safety issues. With Human Resources, you can

track licensing, training, drug testing, accidents,

incidents, and more using a single database for

instant retrieval and usage of your data. OSHA

reporting and EEOC compliance are easily

managed with this software.

User-defined functions include the following:

• Data Fields

• Events such as accidents or drug tests

• Forms such as employment applications,

accident reports, OSHA reports, and

salary reviews

• Software Triggers automate alerts,

notifications, and other processes

In combination, these features allow contractors to

create customized date-by-date documentation on

their employees in a single, easy-to-access

database.

Human Resources is fully integrated with

Spectrum’s Document Imaging capability. Using

Document Imaging, HR-related documents,

including worker’s compensation reports,

photographs, annual reviews and more, are stored

electronically in Spectrum and are automatically

indexed for instant retrieval and usage.

With Spectrum Project Setup, estimates can be

imported from industry-standard estimating

programs, or customer developed spreadsheets,

and set up as projects within the Job Cost module.

Project Setup provides a fully automated method

of transferring estimates to Job Cost, where job

detail is automatically created. The job is set up in

Job Cost, subcontracts are set up in Accounts

Payable, and the contract is set up in Accounts

Receivable. Spectrum also links to outside pricing

services, like Trade Service Corporation’s TRA-

SER® Pro, for automated price and product

information updates.

Spectrum Mobile allows project managers and

other field personnel to enter labor, equipment,

and production data at the job site and synchronize

that data with the main office system. Payroll,

equipment costing and unit job costs can be run

without any additional data entry. A daily

productivity report, Job-based security and the

ability to add information “on the fly” are also

features of this payroll application.

Spectrum Mobile

The Spectrum system is sold and supported

directly by Dexter + Chaney. Training is available

on-site or by telephone. The average start-up

training time is between 40 and 80 hours. Annual

support and maintenance is 20% of the sale price

and includes “800” telephone support, product

upgrades and maintenance releases, Web support

access and year end information.

Reports within Spectrum are written using Crystal

Reports. These reports may be modified using



Crystal Reports Professional. Additionally, users

can create their own reports with Crystal Reports

Professional and attach them anywhere within

Spectrum. Spectrum’s online Help documentation

has been expanded to include selected Crystal-

Link sample reports.







Spectrum's new Query Builder enables users to

set-up recurring database queries that can be

automatically delivered as desired to user e-mail

inbox.

Cost Centers are used by companies with multiple

locations and lines of businesses or divisions to

better isolate the operations of each location and

division. Cost Centers provide the security,

selection and validation features currently

available when using multiple Spectrum

companies, while providing the added flexibility

of being able to share data and report across the

cost centers.

System Features

Pros

• Super-select reporting feature

• Look-only feature for security

• Strong accounting controls

• User-defined fields

• Remote linking and connections

Cons

• Mouse dependency can be cumbersome;

keyboard shortcuts are available

Spectrum Construction Management Software,

Version 14, is a fully integrated Window-based

program that can exchange data with other

programs. New features in Version 14 include

Dashboards and significantly enhanced Service

and Work Order modules. Spectrum allows

companies the flexibility to use one module, all

the modules or any combination. It is a

straightforward system that manages a complex

mass of data. Menus can be accessed with a click

of the mouse or by numeric entry. The same is true

of the data entry screens.

There are a number of ease-of-use features. Input

screens guide you from field to field for data entry

and warn you when erroneous data is entered.

Each program screen comes with a Help menu bar

that gives the Help contents, Help about the

screen, or Help about a specific field.

Spectrum is designed for single entry of data that

flows intact to any of the modules. The posting

period is determined by the transaction date.

Within each module, you establish the date range

for the period being worked on. At data entry the

system verifies that the transaction date is within

these processing dates. Posting to a prior or future

period is possible as long as the date is within the

range of period dates established. Security

regulates who may change the processing date.

The program has a special feature called Super

Select. This feature allows you to limit the criteria

for a report by selecting a range of data and

matching to specific characters. For example, to

reconcile a cash account you could select all

checks written before a certain date or find an

exact dollar amount for a specific check. All

master files have unlimited user-defined fields.

You can also specify a validation list for each of

the user-defined fields. Spectrum’s Mega-Search

capability also searches the first two user-defined

fields when doing a look-up such as a vendor, job

or inventory item.



Report writing and queries

This can be done to screen, to printer or to files.

Spectrum has an archiving system to “print”

reports, and maintain them in files. That way, the

user can just go to the archive and pull up the

necessary report. One advantage of this is that you

can print only the pages needed, greatly reducing

the amount of paper used and stored. The report

can even be e-mailed to a user in rich text format,

allowing viewing the report in a program such as

Microsoft Word.

SQL makes it easy for Spectrum users to generate

reports by creating intelligent “views” of their

data. For example, a view in Job Cost shows date-

sensitive WTD, MTD, YTD and JTD information.

To the user, the data looks like a normal table.

Behind the scenes, the database is automatically

calculating the values based on the user-specified

date.

Spectrum users can utilize pre-programmed views

or create their own views in the database.

Information never becomes out of balance because

each view is calculated on demand by the database

using up-to-the-minute information.

Report filters allow users to customize report

views., and each customized view can be saved for

future reporting. A user sets up their preferences

regarding job numbers, divisions, sort sequence

and more. Spectrum then provides the user with

the data they want, the way they want it.

The system has nine levels of security. The

Spectrum system administrator defines the

security levels by company, by module and by

function. The security level is set on a module-by-

module and user by-user basis. One nice feature is

the ability to have a “look-only” control level, so

that users can look at something but not be able to

edit it. You can define a menu by user and only list

the items you want that user to see on the menu.

With SQL, Spectrum data is extremely secure

because users don’t access physical data files.

Password management includes the option to use

strong passwords, the ability to prompt users to

regularly change their passwords and tracking of

unsuccessful logins to alert for “hacking.”

Spectrum also tracks a user’s path through the

system: from login until they exit. The ability to

set up security profiles streamlines security

management.

Strong user help and training facility

Each Spectrum system comes with written

documentation and an easy to follow award-

winning online Help system. Online Help uses

standard window features and includes an issues

section, which contains answers to frequently

asked questions. A comprehensive users’ support

site, Spectrum Online, includes a Knowledge

Base, containing answers to support-related

questions. The site also features in-depth training

videos and other training materials accessible only

to users. Spectrum also has the ability to import

data during the conversion process. The Electronic

Data Conversion Utility (EDC) assists clients in

converting their current accounting software files

to Spectrum files. EDC is intended to save time

during conversion by focusing on the areas that are

typically labor-intensive and involve repetitive

data entry.

Spectrum Tasks is an exciting tool that integrates

Spectrum with Microsoft Outlook and allows users

to create roadmaps for the step-by-step execution

of specific processes. Each step in a process links

directly to the corresponding screen in Spectrum.

A user can ‘step’ through each item until the

process is complete.

Spectrum Tasks is ideal for walking users through

procedures such as month-end closing or the

creation of regular Job Cost projections. The

integration with Microsoft Outlook makes it easy



to schedule automatic reminders. Plus, users can

actually execute the task directly from the

reminder.

Job Cost

Pros

• Flexibility in job cost structure

• On-screen inquiry of job status

• Ease in adjusting job cost entries

Cons

• Drill down features only in inquiry mode,

except for Job Cost History Reporting.

(Note: with Document Imaging, you can

drill down to the source document in

selected reports.)

Integration between Job Cost and the other

Spectrum modules is strong. Vendor and

subcontractor invoices are posted to the Job Cost

module from Accounts Payable. Job billings and

change orders are posted from Accounts

Receivable. Employee hours, gross pay and labor

burden (actual and/or estimated) are posted to the

phases within the Job Cost module from the

information entered in the time card input screen

within Payroll. The Inventory Control module can

transfer actual cost with a markup or standard cost

to the job. Inventory Control can also update the

job’s committed cost from inventory requisitions.

Purchase order information updates Job Cost with

committed costs. Certain information such as job

address, foreman information and cost codes can

be transferred from the Work Order module.

Job file

Jobs are identified by ten-character alphanumeric

fields, and can be sorted by different selections,

such as job number, job description, customer,

division, master file, etc, and by combinations of

these. Included in the job file is a field for division

code. This can be used for combining jobs for

reporting as well as tying the division code to the

General Ledger department. In addition, a master

job can be established which would consolidate

sub-jobs on the Contract Status report.

Spectrum Job Cost subdivides jobs into phases and

cost types. Phases can be coded with as many as

12 characters and two levels of summarization.

The phases have two groups, either major or

minor, which determine how information is

subtotaled on reports. The phase “mask” is set at

the company level, but can be modified by job.

You can define over 40 cost types.

A master phase file can be established for ease in

setting up jobs. For each phase, you can define a

description and a default workers’ comp code. The

copy phase feature can copy the phase setup from

an existing job to a new job. The quick job set-up

option enables users to establish template jobs and

identify information you want to copy from the job

master file as well as from the phase file.

Spectrum provides the contractor with the

flexibility of setting up a job in the Job Cost

module, or importing it from outside estimating

systems, such as Accubid, Bid-Pro, Construction

Link, Con-Est, HCSS, Hard Dollar, MC2,

McCormick, Niche, ProContractorMX (formerly

Quest), Excel spreadsheets and Sage

(Timberline). For multiple company situations,

Spectrum provides the ability to copy the standard

phase file across companies.

Job cost transactions

Typically, transactions will be recorded in the

source module, but a number of different

transactions can be entered directly into the Job

Cost module. Different entry screens are available

within Job Cost for job cost adjustments, Accounts

Payable transactions, equipment transactions,

inventory transactions and Payroll transactions.

All transactions are posted to the General Ledger



in either detail or in summary. Only one

transaction is required in making adjustments for

transactions mistakenly posted to the wrong job

or to the wrong phase within a job.

Projected costs to complete can be entered through

the projected cost entry screen. Users can project

at the cost type level using cost, hours, and

quantities and the rates of $/hour, $/unit, and

Units/Hour.

Labor burden can be added to the job as actual

cost or a percentage. The program also allows

actual payroll plus a percentage of the burden.

Indirect costs are allocated based on a percentage

or a rate per labor hour, or even just on a category

of labor.

Change orders can be done with a pop-up window.

Maintenance to this window is done through

change order entry fields. While the system uses

the Accounts Payable menu for sub-contractor

control, sub-contractor change orders are

processed from within the same window as the

Change Requests.

Billing is done through Accounts Receivable and

is posted to Job Cost. Projects can be billed

complete or billed on a draw-by-draw basis.

Spectrum offers a variety of draw formats within

Accounts Receivable. Billing can also be done

through the Time + Material module for that type

of contract. The Job Cost module tracks billing

information in its reports.

The overhead allocation system can calculate and

post overhead expenses to jobs in a wide variety of

ways. These are user-defined and very flexible.

They may calculate on a percentage of cost or a

per hour basis. They may be applied to any range

of phases and/or cost types. Any number of

overhead allocations may be applied to any job.

Sales and Use tax can be computed at the job level

and will enable the system to automatically accrue

use tax as a cost.

Inquiries and reports

Spectrum’s Job Analysis Inquiry provides one

location for the project manager to get a complete

view of the job. This screen is tabbed for:

Financials Contract Status Job Costs

Correspondence Log Materials Subcontracts Work

Orders Job Notes WIP Schedule User – Defined

fields

The user can choose from over 60 job cost data

points to display on the job cost tabs. There are

three Job Cost Tabs so multiple views of the data

can be had with just a mouse click.

Spectrum offers 12 different on-screen job

inquiries broken into two main categories:

projected and non-projected costs. Inquiries are



available for both projected and non-projected

costs with the following information: job cost

analysis, summary totals for each phase of the job,

billing item analysis, productivity inquiry, job unit

cost inquiry and job overview inquiry. In addition,

a job cost history and subcontract inquiry by job is

available. Several different date sensitive work in

process reports are also available.

Spectrum offers the following standard Reports:

• Job Cost Analysis

• Job Cost Summary Analysis

• Job Cost History

• Job Profitability

• Contract Status

• Job Billing History

• Job Productivity

• Job Summary Cost

• Job Comparison

• Labor Analysis

• Payroll Hours Analysis

• Job Unit Cost

• Job Overview

• Billing Item Analysis

A number of period-end reports are available to

assist in reconciliation, including a job cost type

summary report, a job cost trial balance and a

committed trial balance (printing all open purchase

order entries by phase).

The main limitation in this module is when a

problem is spotted on a report, you must then go to

the inquiry mode, rediscover the problem, and

then do the drill downs to find the original source.

However, by first running an inquiry when

examining a job, you are able to get to the source

of the problem without ever having to print a

report.

Accounts Payable

Pros

• Invoices can be distributed to multiple

companies or cost centers in the same

batch

• Provides subcontractor document tracking

• Electronic AP invoice approval processing

• Ability to record payments made with

credit cards against the vendor and not the

credit card company.

• Ability to make electronic payments.

Electronic AP Invoice Approval

The Accounts Payable invoice approval process

replaces an inefficient, manual process by

allowing you to electronically route invoices. The

reviewing sequence is user-defined and remarks or

changes to the coding are made entirely on screen.

The final reviewer in the sequence authorizes the

invoice for payment. Using Document Imaging to

scan invoices into Spectrum enhances the approval

process by allowing each reviewer to look at the

actual invoice before approving.

Once an invoice is entered into Spectrum it can be

routed to a user-defined sequence of reviewers.

Each reviewer is notified by e-mail when they

have invoices to approve. They can add remarks

and make changes to the coding entirely on screen.

With Document Imaging you can attach the

invoice document to the transaction. Spectrum will



track routing history and unapproved invoices can

be shown on the cash requirements report.

Spectrum will enable you to pay vendors with

credit cards, and then record the payment to the

vendor instead of the credit card company. Credit

card statements are then reconciled in the Cash

Management module.

For those vendors who will take credit cards

Spectrum can pay them electronically.

Spectrum provides the ability to set up user-

defined document tracking and warning messages.

A virtually unlimited number of documents can be

tracked by vendor and/or subcontract, such as lien

releases, insurance certificates, and OSHA

compliance records. You can also specify the

action you want the system to take in relation to a

document and the circumstances that trigger that

action. Triggers include expiration dates and

whether or not a document has been completed.

Action options include printing as exceptions on

the Document Tracking Report, putting all new

invoices on hold, pop-up warnings, and printing

the lien release during an AP check run. Document

tracking items may have more than one action

associated with them.

This module is titled Accounts

Payable/Subcontract Management,. The invoice

processing screen is used to convert purchase

orders to vendor invoices, enter non-purchase

order invoices, or update subcontract status. The

payment process can be done either manually or

by criteria selection. This module also offers

standard vendor reports along with subcontract

status reports.

Vendor file

The vendor file includes the all the basic

information: vendor code, name, address contacts,

and default general ledger account number. It also

has fields for federal credit programs, 1099

information, payment terms, and vendor balances

plus it keeps month-to-date and year-to-date totals

for invoices, payments and discounts. The

subcontractors are also entered through Accounts

Payable file maintenance.

The subcontractor management system tracks

original subcontract information, change orders

and contract revisions. A subcontractor can have

defaults set for jobs, phases, and cost types. It also

tracks insurance requirements.

In addition to the vendor master file, there are a

number of other unique maintenance files. Use tax

maintenance can be set up to track and report on

use taxes. Document tracking maintenance enables

tracking the status of vendor/subcontract

documents.

Subcontract change orders can be tracked as

executed or proposed and can be entered against a

subcontract or to the job as a means of revising the

estimate.

In addition, a vendor trial balance report can be

run to check the total balance for each vendor

against the total transactions for that vendor.

Invoice entry

Vendor invoices are entered in batches. Once a

batch has been posted, changes can only be made

through additional transactions. If a purchase order

was created in the Purchase Order module, an

invoice is automatically created when the purchase

order is entered as received. Vendor sales tax,

discounts and retention information will carry over

automatically from the vendor file. It, however,

may be overwritten.

Cash disbursements

This module controls fund disbursement and

reconciliation. A strength of the system, when

writing manual checks, is that it checks to see if a



check has already been processed within the

vendor history or the reconciliation file. If several

invoices are to be paid, they are selected within the

payment selection screen. The pay-through date is

entered and it will only select items due on or

before this date. Next, the user is prompted to

enter the payment function, whether or not to pay

retention, place an invoice on hold or release a

hold and pay based on the availability of cash.

This selection can be done for all vendors, specific

types of vendors, all invoices for specific vendors

and all invoices for specific jobs or specific

invoices.

Inquires and reports

A number of on-screen vendor and subcontractor

queries are available, including a subcontractor

query by vendor and/or job and a detail query in

which you can view open items, change orders,

history, remarks, phase details or document

tracking. A change order query by job and by

subcontract is also available.

Vendor Detail Inquiry

The following reports are standard within the

system:

• Aged Payables

• G/L Distribution

• Use Tax

• Cash Requirements

• Check Register History

• DBE J/C History

• Vendor 1099

• Document Tracking

• Subcontract Detail Payments

• Subcontract Analysis

• Subcontract Status

General Ledger

Pros

• There are no limits to the number of years

of budget and actual activity maintained

• Flexible financial report writer

• Strong integration with modules and job

cost

• Cost center structure allows balance sheet

reporting within each cost center.

Cons

• No standard financial statements

The financial backbone of Spectrum Construction

Management Software is the General Ledger

module. All of the company’s financial modules

are posted to the General Ledger module, and the

system offers excellent flexibility for defining

financial reports.

Chart of accounts

A 12-character account number is available. The

size of the account number as well as the number

of characters for the department number is

completely user defined. The account’s master file

includes the account code, description, financial

report abbreviation, account type, whether or not

to post account payable transaction in detail, direct

cost (used to help keep Job Cost and General

Ledger in balance) and cost type (to which the

direct cost relates).



Spectrum offers the ability to have virtually

unlimited companies and divisions. The multiple

entities can be consolidated as long as the

companies have the same year-end. The General

Ledger module is the only module you need to set

up for the consolidated company.

Budgets can be set up for every General Ledger

account, on a month-by-month basis. Budgets can

be imported from a spreadsheet or entered directly.

Spectrum allows unlimited years of information to

be kept by the system.

Month-end procedures are run from the respective

modules. The procedure is the same for each

module. The steps are: perform all necessary

updates, reconcile subledgers to general ledger,

print and retain the pertinent reports, clear month-

to-date figures if necessary in payroll and adjust

the processing dates to reflect the new period.

Each module comes with its respective checklist.

At the end of a period, all cost and billings must be

posted, estimates should be updated and the

Contract Status Report needs to run to update the

financial job cost accounts, Cost in excess of

Billings (asset), Billings in Excess of Cost

(liability) and Net Over/Under Billings. Once

these procedures are done, you can run the

financial reports.

Inquiries and Reports

There are a number of standard inquiries and

reports available in General Ledger. The monthly

activity balance inquiry displays fiscal period

totals for a selected General Ledger account while

the General Ledger account inquiry/detail

itemization is used to view item-by-item

transaction records for specific General Ledger

accounts within a specified fiscal period. Standard

reports include a monthly activity balance file

report, trial balance, transaction journal and

journal history report.

Spectrum does not include any standard financial

statements with the software. Income statements,

balance sheets and other financial reports must be

formatted using the financial report writer

included with the General Ledger module. The

financial report writer is based on step-by-step

procedures where you define the fields (header,

row and column information) that you want to see

on the report.

Cash Management

Pros

• Handles multiple bank accounts and a

wide variety of banks

• Provides automated reconciliation of bank

statements

• Provides for reconciliation of credit cards

The Cash Management module is an efficient

method of tracking and maintaining cash assets.

All cash-related transactions during routine daily

processing will automatically post to the General

Ledger. Cash Management is able to handle

multiple bank accounts for both Accounts Payable,

and Payroll payment processing, and automatically

record deposits entered in Accounts Receivable.

Adjustments to the cash accounts can easily be

entered here, and posted to the General Ledger.

This module also offers the ability to do wire

transfers, and transfers among third parties, or

company bank accounts, including items such as

payroll tax deposits, and other direct payments. At

period-end, Cash Management provides a fast,

efficient process to reconcile each bank statement

to the General Ledger cash account balances.

By evaluating historical data relating to when

checks are written and when they clear the

account, users can determine the date they actually

need to fund these accounts, thereby keeping their

money in the interest earning accounts until it is

needed.



Credit Card Reconciliation Screen

Payroll

Pros

• Direct deposit transmission and reports

• Flexible voluntary deduction and union

set-up

• Payroll entry via Spectrum Mobile

• Confidential Payroll (separate module)

• Integrates with Human Resources

(separate module) Limits can be

established for the deduction as a whole as

well as for each employee. )

Spectrum has two payroll modules, Payroll and

Confidential Payroll. The Payroll module is used

for general payroll and it is used to enter time from

time cards, print payroll checks, filing payroll tax

returns and applying payroll to jobs and work

orders. The Confidential Payroll module is used

with the Payroll module. It provides added

security to keep track of confidential employees’

payroll. The posting in the Payroll module is done

in detail and it is done in summary when using the

Confidential Payroll module.

Employee master file

The employee master file contains all the basic

information as well as emergency contacts,

workers’ compensation class, department, union

codes, sex, race, automatic deposit information,

vacation accrual information, and 19 other

information fields.

The system calculates benefits and deductions

based on the information entered into the

employee’s file. Spectrum provides great

flexibility in defining pay types, benefits and

deductions. In addition to 10 system-defined pay

types, four user-defined pay types can be entered.

User-defined formulas can be developed for

computation of voluntary deductions. Voluntary

deductions can be set up to automatically create an

Accounts Payable Invoice for payment of the

deduction.

Time card entry

Pre-time card entry can be used to enter detailed

time cards outside of the predefined payroll cycle.

This provides the ability to process multiple

payrolls in the same week. In addition Job Cost

reports can be run using pre-time card data so

users can have “up to the minute” reporting.

Spectrum Mobile allows project managers and

other field personnel to conveniently record labor,

equipment, and production data to a remote

computer or a Smart phone and transmit the data

to the main office.

Time cards can be entered by employee, by the job

or by quantities. Entering payroll by employee is

used when the employee is not associated with a

specific job. Time card entry by job allows time to

be entered for multiple employees on the same

job. A nice feature is the “certified?” field. When a

job is certified the system ensures a date is entered

for the work so certified payroll reports can be

automatically generated. The final method of

payroll entry is time card entry by quantity. This

method is not used for calculating payroll but is

used to update production quantities for the job

cost information. Equipment usage can also be

entered during payroll entry.



With Spectrum you can identify default General

Ledger codes for posting pay types, taxes and

fringes by department.

Payroll posting updates Payroll/Job Cost, which

updates the employees’ records, job cost,

equipment cost, and the General Ledger. Job Cost

is updated with gross pay, actual labor and an

overhead burden (if selected). Equipment cost can

be updated with hours of equipment usage or both

equipment and operator hours.


Three different inquiry screens are available in

Payroll. Employee remarks and alpha search

provides access to remarks tied to the employee

record. Employee inquiry gives basic employee

information as well as quarter-to-date and year-to-

date earnings and taxes. Earnings history inquiry

displays all earnings, taxes and deductions for

selected employees on a check-by-check basis.

The Payroll module has all the necessary federal

and state reports. It also produces workers’

compensation reports, certified payroll and union

reports. The following human resource reports are

available: employee history reports, new

hire/termination reports and a birthday list.

Accounts Receivable

Pros

• Integration of billing units with

subcontract

• Reverse draw request

Cons

• No separate retainage adjustment by line

item on the standard invoice but has this

ability in the AIA forms

Spectrum’s Accounts Receivable module

streamlines the billing function of a company. It

provides the users with an integrated system of

handling industry-standard billing and collection

functions. The Accounts Receivable module

interfaces with the Job Cost module, Work Order,

Service Contract, Materials Management, Time +

Material, Order Processing and the General

Ledger modules.

A number of system-wide master files are available in Accounts Receivable:

• sales tax code maintenance

• terms code maintenance (all terms are

user-defined)

• contract file maintenance (maintaining

detail information about the contract with

the client)

• transaction code maintenance (transaction

codes are used to associate general ledger

accounts with the type of transaction)

• salesman code maintenance

• item description

• unit of measure

• fixed billing item maintenance

• unit billing item maintenance

Accounts Receivable contains procedures for

change order processing. Proposed or executed

customer change orders can be entered with

corresponding cost and revenue detail. Cost and

revenue detail updates Job Cost.

Customer master file

The customer file contains code, name, address,

phone numbers and contacts. This screen also

contains retention percentage, customer terms,

credit limits, and whether or not to send monthly

statements. A spot check on credit can be done

here with the last date invoiced and the last date

paid. When invoices are created, the retention is

calculated based on the information set up in the

master file. This is also true for sales tax and

discounts.



Draw Request Entry

Billing and cash receipts

The system prepares AIA forms, equivalent

billings, subcontractor draws for payment, and

standard invoices. The user cannot modify invoice

formats. A unique feature in Spectrum is the

ability to reverse a draw request. This feature is

beneficial when the owner or general contractor

changes the original draw. A reverse draw request

will automatically reverse the draw and generate

a credit memo for the original invoice without

having to enter line item detail.

Cash receipts processing is straightforward. The

appropriate financial information is entered and it

is applied against a job, phase or cost, and a

deposit slip is prepared.


In addition to producing invoices, Accounts

Receivable provides a number of standard reports.

Activity reports include a sales edit listing, sales

journal, recurring invoice/credit memo reports,

cash receipts edit listing, journal and deposit slips

and a finance charge edit list.

Five inquiries and nine reports are available on

demand. Inquiries include a customer inquiry

(select to view open items, history, change orders,

remarks or analysis - aging, average days to pay

and MTD and YTD totals), contract detail inquiry,

contract inquiry by customer, invoice inquiry and

display total A/R.

An aged receivables report can be obtained by

customer or by job in summary or detail. Aging

periods are defined in the system. Other receivable

reports include customer sales report, contract

detail and summary reports, sales and cash receipts

distribution reports, accounts receivable sales

register and a sales tax report.

Resource Scheduling

This new module manages the assignment of

employees and equipment resources across jobs.

After new assignments have been created using

the Resource Schedule Board, the assignments are

then automatically e-mailed to the employee. This

powerful new module can also coordinate

equipment moves well in advance, enabling you to

effectively and accurately plan, and manage your

scheduling efficiently.



Query & Dashboards







Example of dashboards include: Working Capital,

Job Cash Flow, Committed Cost, Backlog, Profit

Variance, Work Order Activity and Work Order

Gross Margin.

Working Capital Dashboard

Queries are easy to write. Step by step menus help

the user to select tables, fields, and filters.

Calculations can be created and reports can be

formatted. The true power of the query system is

the fact that the results from the query can be

automatically emailed to whomever you choose.

With this feature you can configure Spectrum to

automatically notify you whenever something is

about to go wrong. For example you could run a

query to show you when your labor percent

complete was more than your production

quantities percent complete.

Security for this module will make sure that no

one has access to any data unless you give it to

them.

Enterprise Management/Cost Centers

Cost Centers are for the larger company, or those

who want to become one. Cost centers provide

reporting and security flexibility not obtainable

with traditional general ledger structures, yet Cost

Centers simplifies the general ledger. Company

substructures like divisions, locations, lines of

business, or a combination of them, can be

represented in the 10 character cost center field.

As new divisions are added the GL structure

remains the same, a new cost center is simply

added.

Reports, even balance sheets, can be run at cost

center level, or groups of cost centers. So it would

be possible to report one line of business at all of

the locations, or all of the lines at one location.

Cost Centers also bring enhanced security to

Spectrum. Access to Spectrum can be limited to

individual cost centers. So an employee in Seattle

wouldn’t have any access to data relating to the

Houston operation.

Time + Material Billing

Pros

• Supports multiple billing formats

• Provides flexibility when adding markups

and fees

• Automatically shows all unbilled costs

from prior periods

Cons

• Does not automatically provide the T+M

billing on the AIA form (though billing

can be organized by phase or partial phase

codes)



The Time + Material module provides contractors

with an easy method of calculating and preparing

time and material invoices and billing details for

ongoing jobs. Contractors who bill on a time and

material or cost-plus basis will find that this

module provides a simple and efficient way of

tracking and billing these jobs. Bills are produced

as soon as the costs have been committed,

eliminating the need to wait for all the invoices to

arrive and for payroll to be processed.

Time + Material allows for user-defined markups

for each cost type or job total. Contractor fees can

be added automatically or entered after the billing

has been created. Multiple billing formats are

available for each job and all line items can be

modified, even after the bill has been created.

When the bill is printed, amounts are

automatically transferred to Accounts Receivable,

without duplicating entries, and an invoice is

created. The system tracks billings so that only

new items are billed; and previously billed items

are not mistakenly re-billed. New items entered to

a previously billed period are not lost, but are

billed through a currently open billing period.

Equipment Costing

Pros

• Fixed Assets module tracks book and tax

depreciation

• Equipment tracking can use scanner to

import information

• Preventive maintenance includes a work

order system

• Small tool tracking program

Cons

• User must maintain tax tables in Fixed

Assets

• Spectrum has four modules that are related

to equipment costing: Fixed Assets,

Equipment Control, Equipment Tracking,

and Preventive Maintenance.

Fixed Assets

The Fixed Assets module maintains a systematic

charge of the assets over their useful life. It is

designed to track assets and calculate depreciation

amounts for financial reporting purposes. Monthly

depreciation amounts are automatically posted to

the correct General Ledger Asset Account and to

the Equipment Control module if desired.

Fixed Assets determines a date for replacement,

which maximizes the investment; cost savings are

then easily captured. Salvage amounts are

calculated, even for fully depreciated assets.

This module has excellent reports and you can

define various types of depreciation information.

You can use book method, federal tax method, or

state tax method and select which depreciation

method is posted to the General Ledger. It tracks

other vital information about your assets as well.

Looking up descriptions, serial numbers, dates

capitalized, and even the asset’s location is simple.

The month-end processing is an excellent feature

of this program. It is simple to use, providing

Fixed Assets are set up properly.

Equipment Control

Equipment Control enables equipment to be

charged to jobs and provides profit reporting for

each piece of equipment. It tracks all costs

associated with individual pieces of equipment,

including depreciation, maintenance, and fuel. All

revenue generated through the use or rental of

each piece of equipment is readily recorded and

allocated.

Usage on jobs can be assigned by standard hourly

billing rates for each equipment code. Special rates

for specific jobs can be assigned quickly, as

needed. Rental revenue can be tracked separately



for each equipment code and for hourly, daily,

weekly, or monthly rental rate schedules.

Hours of use, whether on jobs or as a rental, are

tracked so that the required preventive

maintenance for each piece of equipment can be

performed on a timely basis. Integration with the

Preventive Maintenance module provides

complete maintenance scheduling and repair

history. Integration with the Equipment Tracking

module provides automated entry of equipment

charges.

The Equipment Control module comes with a

number of useful reports that track cost revenue

and maintenance. The reports include fuel and oil

reports, equipment cost reports, equipment

revenue reports and efficiency reports.

On screen inquiries provide extensive equipment

information. Both year-to-date and life-to-date

costs and revenue from usage for a specific piece

of equipment can be viewed, as well as a record of

all of the costs incurred for a piece of equipment.

Information on which employees worked on

repairs, what parts might have been purchased

through Accounts Payable, and any Equipment

Control transaction entries can be evaluated. You

can also view all the equipment, or one type of

equipment, that is currently at a specific job-site.

Equipment control will track up to 4 separate

measures on each piece of equipment. Parent –

Child relationships can be built so that when the

parent is coded to the job all of the costs from the

children flow to the job as well. Revenue from the

job to the equipment also flows back to the

children.

User defined statistical information can be tracked

and reported. In addition components such as

power heads and engines can be tracked separately

from the equipment so that you can keep details

about those components as they move from piece

to piece.

Compliance, warranty, and tire information can

also be tracked. Integration with Document

Imaging allows you to scan documents related to

specific pieces of equipment into Spectrum and

attach those documents to the equipment file.

Equipment Tracking

Equipment Tracking is designed to track and

charge your company equipment, tools, and

inventory to jobs. A single, easy-to-use screen

allows shop personnel to track all movements of

your equipment such as issues and returns.

Equipment Tracking provides a quick and easy

way to charge standby equipment time to jobs.

Equipment can be checked out to jobs with a bar

code scanner. Automatic, recurring billings are

created by Equipment Tracking as long as the

equipment is assigned to a specific job. Charges

cease when the equipment is returned. The

demobilization report provides a listing of

equipment to be returned from any job.

Equipment Tracking allows you to charge

materials to a job because it creates the job

requisition for items in inventory. Any unused

materials can easily be returned to inventory using

the same transaction method.

Preventive Maintenance

Preventive Maintenance works with Equipment

Control to schedule maintenance for each piece of

equipment as well as the parts and materials

required for the job. The scheduled maintenance

tasks set up for each piece of equipment can be

flagged by mileage, hours of usage, number of

days, or a combination of criteria such as 3000

miles or six months, whichever occurs first. You

can also enter specific materials or tools that will

be needed to do the job properly.

Equipment Repair work orders can also be created

to track all time and materials associated with



equipment repairs. Integration with the Purchase

Order and Inventory modules makes it easy to

charge parts to the work order

Inventory Control

Pros

• Multiple warehouse capability

• Multiple pricing methods

• Integrates with equipment, Purchase

Order, and Job Cost

Cons

• Can only have one location within each

warehouse for an inventory item

The Inventory Control module accounts for the

items carried in inventory throughout the

company. The cost and tracking of these items

flows through the system with the following

modules: Work Order, Job Cost, Purchase Order,

Order Processing, Materials Management,

Equipment Control, Equipment Tracking, Time +

Material and General Ledger. The Inventory

Control module is set up to include the default

General Ledger accounts (sales, cost of sales,

inventory and discounts). The module updates

commitments to Job Cost, keeps standard cost

current and has inter-company transfer capability.

Inventory accounts for its transactions by either

requisitions or sales. Inventory is requisitioned to

the jobs or other part of the company through the

job requisition screen. It includes the job ID, a

field for specific instructions and the parts code,

description and description. Reports include usage

tracking, history, reorder points and physical

inventory control. Sales of inventory are processed

through the Work Order and Order Processing

modules, which in turn integrate with Accounts

Receivable.

Inventory Control supports the use of multiple

warehouses and an unlimited number of inventory

items. The user-defined alphanumeric item code

can be up to 15 characters in field length, and

multi-level pricing is also supported. In addition,

quantity breaks, customer special pricing, and

promotional discounts can easily be built into the

pricing structure. Spectrum is integrated with

TRA-SER® Pro from Trade Service Corporation to

allow you to bring items directly into Spectrum.

The Quick-Link button automatically launches the

TRA-SER® program where retrieval of items and

exporting to Spectrum is initiated. This can be

done on an item-by-item basis or as a range of

items simultaneously imported. Items can be

brought into the Inventory Item File Maintenance

screen or directly into a number of entry screens

throughout Spectrum. Imported items can be

brought into Spectrum as either ‘stock items’ and

automatically set up in the inventory file, or as

‘non-stock’ items for one time use.

Purchase Order

Pros

• Proposed purchase order

• Integration with TRA-SER® Pro for item

database and pricing updates

• Transmits PO’s by fax or e-mail

• PO Link (separate module) allows users to

import purchase orders into Spectrum

Purchase Order automatically sends an invoice to

Accounts Payable when the purchase order is

entered as received. Purchase Order also updates

the committed cost fields in Job Cost. The

Purchase Order module maintains a common

database with inventory and items can be pulled

from the database when purchase orders are

prepared. If the estimating package prepares the

purchase order, Spectrum will import the purchase

order.



Data Entry

The user can enter the proposed purchase order,

compare different quotes, choose the best quote,

confirm the purchase order, and receive the

inventory. You can also do the receiving in the

Accounts Payable module, as a one step process

when the invoice is being entered. Remarks

entered in the purchase order are transferred to the

Accounts Payable invoice remarks. The user has

the choice of using lump sum or unit prices in

creating the purchase order. Each purchase order is

distributed to the General Ledger and Job Cost by

line item, allowing for specific coding.

Purchase Order integrates with TRA-SER® Pro by

Trade Service corporation for easy access and

retrieval of items during Purchase Order Entry.

Items can either be brought in as ‘stock items’ and

automatically set up in the inventory file, or as

‘non-stock’ items for one-time use.


The system offers a choice of ten different inquiry

screens. These screens allow the user to sort how

to view the purchase order, by Vendor, Job, Item

Code, or by Work Order. There are several

analysis and history screens also available.

Spectrum offers many different reports also,

including purchase order status by vendor, job,

item or purchase order. The user may also produce

receiving reports, history or analysis reports.

Materials Management

Pros

• Interfaces with scale software packages

• Reads weigh tickets automatically

• Freight and miscellaneous costs tracked

separately

• Hauler rates can be set up

Cons

• User-defined import must be defined for

scale import

This is a complete materials management system,

allowing for streamlining the entire process of

material sales and job costing, saving time and

ensuring accuracy by directly importing weigh

tickets. It pays haulers and calculates truck cycle

times. It also allows for standard and custom

mixes per batch. Materials Management integrates

with Inventory Control and Job Cost for

processing materials requisitioned to jobs. It

integrates with Order Processing and Accounts

Receivable for customer sales. In addition, it

works with Accounts Payable for the creation of

invoices for haulers.

Materials Management can work with a variety of

scale packages. It is extremely flexible, utilizing a

completely user-defined import format that

processes imports from different scale packages

quickly and easily. The system integrates with

Inventory Control and Job Cost for processing

materials requisitioned to jobs. It also integrates to

Order Processing and Accounts Receivable for

customer sales, and even works with Accounts

Payable for the creation of invoices for haulers.

Multiple items per ticket are accepted and import

errors are shown in the Error Display screen.

On screen inquiries enable you to look up

information on scale tickets, plant/pit production,

and truck cycles. Reports can be generated for

these topics as well. The Sales Journal provides a

detailed report of delivery information for the

selected period(s) and is a useful audit trail tool. It

includes totals by job, customer, or both, with the

total quantities for the selected period(s). Many

contractors maintain special rates for various

regions surrounding each plant/pit. The Area Code

Report serves as a management tool showing total

quantity delivered or sold by region. Since the

contractor may have multiple salespeople



servicing these regions, the report also includes

information regarding salesperson performance.


There are a number of standard reports available,

which can be run for varying levels of detail or

specific information.

The inquiry screens are:

• Scale Ticket

• Plant/Pit Production

• Truck Cycle

• The reports are:

• Scale Ticket Report

• Plant/Pit Production Report

• Plant/Pit Profitability Report

• Truck Cycle Report

• Scale Ticket Journal

• Freight Cost Journal

• Outside Material Purchase Journal

Order Processing Pros

• Generates sales orders, picking sheets,

packing lists, shipping labels, invoices,

and credit memos as needed

• Automatically commits items for sale

when orders are placed and updates

inventory and creates invoices for items

shipped

• Updating Order Processing quotes to

become confirmed orders is easy

• Special pricing may be set up by

customer, inventory category, item, or

price level

Cons

• Shipments are integrated to the Materials

Management module, but sales orders are

not

The Order Processing module proves a complete

operation for order entry, picking, confirmation,

and invoicing of customer sales for both future and

over-the-counter sales. The highly flexible order

entry process easily handles stock and non-stock

items, partial shipments and back orders, special

orders, drop shipments, discounts, and credit

memos.

After an order is entered, a sales order and picking

sheet can be generated, along with a packing list

and shipping labels. When shipments are made,

confirmed orders automatically create invoices.

Once the order is confirmed and the invoice is

printed, Accounts Receivable is automatically

updated.

Order Processing is integrated with the Inventory

Control module to provide complete information

about the availability of items for sale, with on-

line tracking of committed orders and backorders.

Integration with the Sales Analysis module

provides flexible reporting of all sales activities.

The Materials Management module also integrates

with Order Processing. Tickets from Materials

Management for customer sales can be sent to

Order Processing, where an invoice is created that

includes summarized information about the ticket.

Summary options include the choice of having up

to 8 tickets per line item or a separate ticket on

each line.

Sales Analysis

Pros

• Offers flexibility in reporting

• Security protects access to sensitive

information related to company sales

Cons

• Only tracks sales from order processing

and Materials Management systems.



Sales Analysis is a powerful tool for tracking and

analyzing company sales data. It gives you access

to all of the information needed to effectively

monitor the company’s sales efforts. Sales

Analysis works in conjunction with Order

Processing. Every line item in each invoice/credit

memo is also recorded in Sales Analysis,

providing a detailed analysis of all sales related

issues. Sales Analysis automatically provides

valuable information that was previously

expensive and time consuming to pull together.

Customers, customer type, items carried, units

sold, category volumes, dollar amounts, costs of

goods sold, gross margins including percentages,

salespeople, commissions and much more, are

tracked. The user decides which types of

information to include in reports and how detailed

the presentation should be.

Work Order

Pros

• Easy to read visual dispatch board with

“drag and drop” capability

• Flexible Billing Rates

• Actual costs for real service profitability

reporting

• Ability to create multiple bills for each

work order

• Automatic pricing for non-stock materials

• Fully integrated with Purchase Order

Module

• Service request screen allows generating a

new work order from a phone call or email

in less than a minute

Work Order Dispatch, is used to assign technicians

to work orders and to view the work orders

scheduled on any given day. The Dispatch Board

provides dispatching capability organized by

technician. The Dispatch Schedule shows work

orders scheduled over time. Both screens take

advantage of 140-column wide screen technology

and it is easy to shift between the two screens as

needed. Within Spectrum, e-mail communication

and the ability to dispatch a technician via pager is

also available.

Dispatch Board

The Work Order module is designed to track a

service call from its inception to its completion.

The screens move from maintenance related items

necessary to set up the service site, to handling the

technicians who are assigned to the work order, to

setting the billing rates.

Data Entry

The data entry screen allows you to create the

work order, assign the technician to the work order

and print the work order. After the technician has

finished the work, the inventory items needed are

entered and the invoice is created and transferred

to Accounts Receivable. The dispatch board

allows for an easily viewed display tracking each

technician and work order. The work orders are

color coded for priority. The hours each technician

is scheduled to work to complete the assigned

work orders and total work orders assigned are

displayed next to each technician’s name at the top of

the columns.

Spectrum uses direct costing in work orders. Labor

hours for each work order can be entered into the



work order, or during payroll entry. Materials can

also be entered directly into the work order or they

can be entered from AP. In addition items on a

purchase order can be billed in the work order, even if

the items haven’t yet been received into AP. This

means that Spectrum will calculate true profitability

for your service department.

Each work order can have multiple billings, and the

system will produce an over-under billing report for

work orders.

Inquires and Reports

Various reports and inquiries are available to either

view on screen or to print out. Inquires include being

able to select by technician, status/date, job site,

customer, and by zip code. This allows for the user to

be able to find the information that they are looking

for by several different methods.

There are six reports: Profitability, Work Order,

History, Cost History, Billing History, and

Equipment History. The profitability report can be

formatted to use actual or standard costs. The

Equipment History report will display all of the

service costs associated with customer’s equipment.

Spectrum can track these costs down to the

component level.

Service Contracts

Pros

• Automatically creates work orders for

scheduled service visits

• Provides flexibility in contract setup and

billing

Service Contracts provides a high level of control

over all aspects of service contract management,

including billing, advanced scheduling, profitability

analysis, and warranty tracking. Service Contracts

promotes greater control over service contract

revenues and costs. The profitability of contracts can

be evaluated through reports and various inquiry

screens. Contracts can be revised as needed at

renewal to ensure profitability.

Service Contracts can generate the initial contract

proposal and the executed proposal, or contract.

Billing is performed automatically as agreed upon in

the contract. The contract renewal/expiration report

ensures that customers are retained; and contracts

coming up for renewal are listed before they actually

expire.

Integration with the Work Order module allows you

to create work orders from Service Contracts. These

work orders are flagged as maintenance work orders;

the detail created in the work order notes is extensive.

The maintenance work order that is printed gives the

worker all the information that is required to work on

the equipment.

Spectrum Mobile

Spectrum Mobile is an easy to use method for project

managers or supervisors to enter labor, equipment

and production data into hand held, laptop, or desktop

computers right in the field. That data will then

automatically upload to Spectrum whenever a

connection is present. Spectrum Mobile can be

configured so that each field personnel sees only the

jobs, employees, and equipment they are associated

with.

Project Management

Pros

• Integration eliminates double data entry and

provides up-to-the-minute job information

• Correspondence log keeps job specific

communication in one place.

• Integrates with Microsoft Outlook for task

scheduling and management

• Tracks all the documents, questions and

answers required to manage a project

• Provides ability to create Change Requests

from RFI’s and Custom Issues



Spectrum Project Management software offers an

organized method for tracking the many details

inherent in construction project management.

Spectrum tracks all items that must be fulfilled under

a contract, plus anything else that must be tracked

during the project. Project Management will pull

information from Job Cost and can update Job Cost

with job setup data. Project Management is also

integrated with Accounts Receivable via the change

order management system.

Project management covers RFI tracking, submittals,

transmittals, daily project logs, speed memos,

correspondence log, project directories, employee

hire data, executive summary and reports. Multiple

projects can be accessed from a remote location or at

the main office; user-defined menus enable project

managers to focus on just the information necessary

to run a project; and a sophisticated job-based

security feature allows project managers to see only

their particular jobs.

The Change Request system allows you to estimate

and/or quote the cost of each change and submit

documentation to the owner/architect for approval.

Subcontract quotes, cost estimates, and other pricing

for multiple subcontractors can be tracked on the

same Change Request.

Project Management also tracks custom issues—such

as revisions to drawings, architects’ supplemental

instructions, or proposal requests. Contract

Administration is where changes to the contract are

recorded. Each item is approved and signed by the

owner.

The Correspondence Log enables project managers to

bring all of their communications into Spectrum, thus

increasing efficiency and security. The log has drag

and drop integration with Microsoft Outlook, so

emails can easily be associated with a project. Any

email attachments will also be saved in spectrum.

Each correspondence can also be associated with

project management documents such as RFI’s or

Change Requests.

The Inbox feature allows the project team members

(owners, architects, and the company project team) to

log on to Spectrum and have an inbox display the

items the team members need to address for that

specific project. The company project team can then

collaborate with the other members of the team

without having to fax or e-mail all of the documents.

The operators may view, print, or open scanned

Document Imaging files; or reply with notes to RFIs,

submittals, transmittals, memos, custom issues, or

change requests that have been sent to them from this

screen. Inbox defaults can be specified in the Project

File Maintenance screen.

User-defined terminology can be set up either

company-wide or project-by-project to refer to RFI’s

and other documents. This allows titles of reports and

other communication to conform to your preferred

terminology.

Spectrum Tasks is an exciting new tool in Project

Management that allows users to create roadmaps for

the step-by-step execution of specific processes. Each

step in a process links directly to the corresponding

screen in Spectrum. A user can ‘step’ through each

item until the process is complete.

Spectrum Tasks is ideal for walking users through

procedures such as the creation of regular Job Cost

projections. Spectrum Tasks integrates with

Microsoft Outlook for scheduling automatic

reminders. Users can actually execute the task

directly from the reminder – a real time-saver!


About Sheldon Needle

A former CFO, consultant and software designer, Sheldon Needle has authored or

co-authored more than 20 books on software selection and has contributed articles

to major publications, including the Journal of Accountancy and Nation’s

Business. CTSGuides.com has the distinction of being the very first company to

do hands-on, independent evaluations of software for the middle market.

Sheldon speaks with business owners and managers every day about software

selection and makes personalized recommendations based on their needs and budget. He is widely known

and respected throughout the business software community for his independence, integrity and expertise.

As part of registering for our free software selection kit, you receive a 15-minute consult with Sheldon.

Sheldon understands financial and business issues and speaks your language.

He knows the leading software companies—how they compare, their strengths and weaknesses, where

they fit into the market and which ones would be suitable for your business.