Versions 4.8.8 and 4.8.9 - What's New

Update all the Synergy staff records on 1 July 2014

What's new

1. Financial controls - update the superannuation levy default value for the system.
2. Bulk Update wizard - choose which staff records to apply the new system default superannuation levy value to in bulk.

Why use it - update all the Synergy staff records in one action to apply the new government superannuation levy rate that takes effect on 1 July 2014.

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New Module - MYOB AccountRight Live Connect

What's new

1. Supported versions - AccountRight Live Basics, Standard and Plus editions with cloud or locally stored company files. Both 2013 and 2014 AccountRight Live versions are supported.
2. Sync Synergy data - Invoices, credit notes, invoice payments, supplier and staff expenses.
3. Sync Preview - Real time data check between Synergy and MYOB. Only send or preview data that does not already exist in MYOB. Edit data in line in the preview window, and skip records from being sent.
4. Sync Report - Track what settings where used to run each sync.

Note: Connect is an add-on module. Contact the Synergy Team to find out more.

Why use it - transfer your Synergy invoice or expense data to MYOB AccountRight Live and avoid having to complete double entry in both systems.

Up-front invoicing using the Pre-Billing feature

What's new

1. Pre-Billing and Revenue Recognition have been merged to become the one function.
2. Transaction Less Invoices - 'pre-bill' transaction placeholders are automatically added to transaction-less invoices. Revenue reports for projects and transactions will be kept inline, as the transactions invoiced value for a project will now always equal the invoiced value.
3. Pre-Billing Button - Added to the Project Invoices tab and Invoice Maintenance List.
4. Pre-Billing Wizard - New style applied to make it easier to attach transactions to an invoice to remove the pre-billing placeholder. Grouping in the wizard shown for phases and sub projects.
5. Lock transactions - Select transactions attached to an invoice to be locked, to stop their value being adjusted by the auto-allocate transaction value feature.
6. Reports filter - Transaction type 'pre-bill' available for filter against in reports.

Why use it - invoice the client up-front for project work, and use pre-billing to attach the transactions to the invoice at later point to avoid write-off's, report revenue and costs from transaction reports even when its revenue only.

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Group Sub Projects together for Invoicing

What's new

1. Easier to enable Phases - project phases can be more easily switched on/off during the cycle of a project, even when invoices already exist.
2. Multiple Fee Types & Statuses - In a phase group the sub projects can have multiple fee types applied and varied statuses chosen.
3. Phases Sorting Wizard - Re-order phases and sub projects using drag and drop.
4. Phase Grouping - shown in the work breakdown tab and the pre-billing wizard.
5. Invoice Template - Extra section in the fee detail table to setup the bookmark shown for a 'mixed phase' where sub projects with multiple fee types are included in the one phase group.

Why use it - group sub projects together into Phases for easier display on Invoices & Fee Proposal documents.

read about Project Phases

read about Invoice - Fee Detail Table

Easier to update Status & Sort Orders

What's new

1. Status changes - Project and Sub Project statuses are now updated using the same wizard. Choose to select the project status, or one or many sub projects to update to the new status.
2. Sub Project Sorting - re-order the sub projects using the drag and drop sorting window.

Why use it - quickly update the sub projects order using drag and drop, or update the status for a project and all linked sub projects in one action.

read about Project Status

read about the Sub Project Sorting

Define different overheads for a team or an office

What's new

1. Staff Remuneration - define an overhead % for each staff member. Mark up/down the overhead % to update the overhead cost for the staff member.
2. Staff History - changes to staff overheads are tracked on the staff history tab. Undo the changes if this field was updated by mistake.

Why use it - update all the staff that work for a selected office to have an overhead mark-down (i.e. 80% is a 20% mark-down). The staff are working in an office that is cheaper to run than the head office.

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Monitor the revenue trends

What's new

1. $ value view - view the total fee values proposed, won or lost for each month.
2. Filters - exclude selected cost centres or disciplines from the results.
3. Date range - run the report for multiple years to monitor the revenue trends.

Why use it - monitor the monthly values of the projects won or lost by each of your teams.

read more

Changes in the Work Breakdown tab

*Synergy Enterprise Feature* 

What's new

1. Phases - expand and collapse the sub projects shown using the phase grouping rows.
2. Phases & Sub Project Sorting - use the new button to add phases or change the sub project sort order.
3. Refresh Budget - update the budget after adding project/sub project level specific rates.
4. % complete - enter a percent complete for each task in the project plan. The % can be entered in the grid and a bar line is shown in orange to help you track the overall progress at a glance.

Why use it - use phases when creating your project plan, make sure your budget values reflect the agreed invoice values, and mark off the progress of each task using % complete.

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Changes within the Drawing Register and Transmittals module

What's new

1. Drawing register note - update the note in the drawing register when entering the progress %, to indicate to the internal team the latest updates on the drawing progress.
2. Drawing register filters - active and inactive filters included. Active drawing rows filter applied by default.
3. Duplicate drawing - new button to copy a drawing row and keep the link file to the existing file in the project.
4. Drawing prefix - The description for the drawing prefix is now shown in the drop down list.
5. Broken drawing links - list filter added for 'broken links' into the link project documents and create transmittal versions functions.
6. Transmittal file size - the transmittal drawings tab shows the file size of the drawing version, and the general tab shows the file size of the zip package file.
7. Transmittal package file names - create a customised drawing file name format to be shown in the transmittal zip package file. Select which bookmarks to use within System Settings.

Why use it - easily add existing project files to the drawing register and keep working in Synergy on other tasks while the transmittal approval process is being finalised.

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Import Supplier Expense Payments

What's new

1. Xero Connect wizard - enable the setting to import supplier expense payments from Xero to Synergy.
2. Xero Connect preview - view the payments that will be imported on the new Supplier Expense Payments tab.
3. Supplier Expenses - the 'paid' flag and the payment note and date are imported from Xero for fully paid supplier expenses. Partial supplier expense payments are not imported.

Note: Connect is an add-on module. Contact the Synergy Team to find out more.

Why use it - supplier expenses in Synergy are marked as paid automatically by Xero Connect. No more need for double entry of payments in both systems.

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Weekly time and expense entry

What's new

1. Weekly time & expense entry - enter timesheets and expenses using the new weekly view. Use the calendar to check how many hours have been entered for each day of the month.
2. Reporting - Print your time or expense reports from the cloud app, or switch view the My Timesheets plugins view to quickly check what projects you worked on this/last month.
3. Dashboard - updated set of plugin's available for my project, recently used projects, scheduled projects, my timesheets, and broadcast messages.
4. Email login - register for Synergy Cloud Services using your business email address instead of using a social account.
5. Accounts - New style applied to the accounts area making it even easier to pay your Synergy invoice by credit card in our online portal.
6. Cloud App - Is available to both Foundation and Enterprise clients (Note: a one-time setup fee applies).

Why use it - enter time & expenses from a PC, tablet,or mobile device. Also pay your Synergy invoices online using a credit card.

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