Version 4.9.4 to 4.9.6 - What's New

Use Synergy on more devices

What's new

1. High resolution support added - updated each of the Synergy screens, lists and forms to display correctly on high resolution devices. e.g. Microsoft Surface Pro, Microsoft Surface Books, other new laptops or monitors with a high resolution or Ultra 4K display. This change can be used on the high resolution devices that are using Windows 10, Windows 8 or Windows 7.

Why use it - Run Synergy on any device that uses Windows 10, 8 or 7. Synergy screens (lists, forms, and pop-ups) are displayed correctly on a normal resolution, or a high resolution monitor or laptop screen.

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Reporting and timesheet entry extras

What's new

1. Synergy MS Excel export for Power BI filters - the date filter for the report also impact the following tables: Forecast, Project status change, and Sub project status change. This helps the Excel export file to be created as quickly as possible.
2. Timesheet totals - the weekly totals are shown when entering timesheets and expenses. View the totals for the line being entered, the week, or the month in the calendar view.

Why use it -Check how many hours you have entered in your timesheet for the weekly line, total week, or month. Run Excel export reports faster by applying date filters to limit how many rows are exported.

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Login screen - news feed panel

What's new

1. News feed - shown on the staff login screen for the Synergy desktop application.
2. Instant news updates - instantly updated news about new releases, enhancement to features, changes to third party add-on connect products, and training webinars. Internet connection required to download the updates for the news feed panel.

Why use it - important information about Synergy and Synergy add-on's can easily be shown to all users of Synergy in your organisation.

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End of Financial Year - New versions supported

What's new

1. MYOB AccountRight Live - support included for the new releases MYOB ARL 2016.2 and 2016.2.1.
2. MYOB Classic V19 - support included for the new patch release MYOB 19.11.3 and EOFY release 19.12.
3. Reckon Accounts - support included for the EOFY release of Reckon Accounts 2016.
4. Xero - support included for the current Xero API interface.

Why use it - install the latest release of Synergy for full support of the EOFY updates in your accounting system.

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Project manager as salesperson

What's new

1. MYOB ARL - Invoice salesperson - the project manager for the Synergy invoice is sent to the MYOB sales record to show in the salesperson field. The salesperson field is populated in MYOB if the Synergy staff record exists in MYOB as an employee record.

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

Why use it - view more of your Synergy data on the MYOB invoice / sales records.

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Enhancements for Bills

What's new

1. Created and updated - in an open bill view, the date and user name for who created the bill, and who last updated the bill, is now shown.
2. Expense type - any existing bills that are fully disbursed where the expense type field was left blank, will have the generic expense type of 'general' applied to the disbursement line as part of the upgrade.
3. Clear disbursements - use the new button to clear the details entered in the disbursements panel from all lines. Available when the lines have not been invoiced and are unlocked.
4. Project invoice number - optional column available in Bills list and the open bill record disbursements panel. See which project invoice number the bill lines are attached to.
5. Invoice type - when the disbursement details have not been entered, you can change the bill invoice type from supplier to sub contractor.

Why use it - more details available to be viewed against each bill in Synergy.

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Linked project documents

What's new

1. Linked project document - when the linked document is updated in the drawing register, a warning is shown in the 'version' column if the new transmittal version has not yet been created.
2. Transmittal drawings - previous transmittal drawings can be included on new transmittals, even if the transmittal version has not yet been created (the drawing row displays a warning).
3. Drawing register audit - when the linked project document is changed this is tracked in the project audit.

Why use it -see which drawing register rows have had the project document link updated, but the transmittal version was not yet created. Continue to send out the existing versions when creating new transmittals.

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Add filters to Synergy OData feeds

What's new

1. Synergy OData filters - add filters to your Synergy OData export settings in Synergy Cloud Services. Filter the data by the date range, project status, or invoice type. Adding filters to limit the data exported will speed up the refresh of your OData dashboard reports created using the business analytics tools like Power BI.

Why use it -filter the data exported by the Synergy OData feed to your third party dashboard BI reporting tool like Power BI or Excel.

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Cash rate type added

What's new

1. Cash expense rate - select a cash rate (markup %) when entering staff cash expenses.
2. Cash rate type - a default cash rate type is added with the upgrade with the same markup % as your supplier (default) rate. Add extra cash rate markups as required in Practice > Rates.
3. Synergy Cloud Services - the cash rate type is available in the cloud app when entering staff cash expenses.

Why use it - create multiple cash rates for use with project staff cash expenses. Use cash rates to control what markup is applied to each type of cash expense entered by your staff.

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Re-design for Supplier / Bills

What's new

1. New style Bill entry screen - the general tab and disbursements tab have been combined together in this new bill entry method.
2. Enter lines and tax codes - create the total value of the bill by entering lines. Each line can have a different tax code, and that tax rule is sent with the bill to your accounting system by Connect (the sub project tax code is no longer used).
3. Due date - add the date that the bill must be paid, where this differs to the bill invoice date. This is sent with the Bill via Connect to your accounting system (MYOB / Xero / Reckon Accounts).
4. Export to Connect - uncheck this option to make the bill 'Synergy only' to on-charge on a project invoice, but never be sent via Connect to your accounting system (MYOB / Xero / Reckon Accounts).
5. Spilt bill lines - spilt part of a line off to create another new line. Spilt units or dollar value from line 1 to create the new line. This is available on lines that are not yet disbursed.
6. Optional columns - right click in the disbursements table to add optional columns. Sub project level columns are available to select, allowing you to view the fee value, fee type, tax code and more.
7. Locked - bills are only exported via Connect once they are fully disbursed and 'locked'. Bill payments can only be entered once a bill is locked. This is a 'final bill' option designed to stop bills being edited once they have been sent via Connect. Bills can be unlocked for edit by a Director access level or higher. All existing fully disbursed bills will be locked by this upgrade.
8. Data migration - the 'total' field from the bill has been removed, and the tax code flag is now on each line. In the upgrade any existing bills that have not been disbursed will have a line automatically created. This line will include the total 'undisbursed costs' value and the tax code allocated to match the tax flag that was on the bill.
9. Bills list - new column due date is always shown with the invoice date. Optional columns added to view the Project #, disbursement lines status, and if the bill has been locked.
10. Global search - use the Synergy global search to lookup a supplier expense (bill) invoice number.

Why use it - easier entry for Supplier / Bills, and more details available to be added against each bill in Synergy. Adding the details in Synergy means fewer adjustments to the bill records in your accounting system when they are created by Connect.

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Skip lines from being sync'd

What's new

1. Supplier / Bills due date - the due date entered on the bill is sync'd to the matching record in Xero.
2. Supplier / Bills tax code - sent from the disbursement line not from the sub project the disbursement is linked to.
3. Warning vs Error - new 'info bubble' warning is shown at the top of the tab when a warning exists on any row in the preview (yellow text warning). This helps you to check all the warnings are cleared (or are OK) before running Connect. This is different to the red text errors that are shown that stop Connect being run.
4. Supplier / Bills matching record change - updated to match on a unique ID (not supplier invoice number), to allow users to save multiple supplier / bills with the same 'supplier invoice number' assigned and still have the records sync'd via Connect.
5. Supplier / Bill edit in preview - new option to edit the Supplier / Bill is available in the Supplier expense payment preview tab. This allows you to easily enter any supplier payments manually from within the connect preview screen, which may be required if you enter duplicate supplier invoice numbers.
6. Supplier / Bills notes - enable the new Connect setting option to send any notes as a $0 line item against the bill.
7. Staff expenses notes - enable the new Connect setting option to send any notes entered against the staff expense as a $0 line item.

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

Why use it - better management for resolving errors before running Connect, and send more detail to Xero for supplier and staff expenses in the sync.

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New versions supported and more...

What's new

1. MYOB AccountRight Live 2016.1.1, 2015.4 and 2015.4.1 Support - connect supports the updated API interface in the 2016.1.1, 2015.4 and 2015.4.1 versions of MYOB AccountRight Live.
2. Supplier / Bills due date - the due date entered on the bill is sync'd to the matching record in MYOB ARL.
3. Supplier / Bills tax code - sent from the disbursement line not from the sub project the disbursement is linked to.
4. Warning vs Error - new 'info bubble' warning is shown at the top of the tab when a warning exists on any row in the preview (yellow text warning). This helps you to check all the warnings are cleared (or are OK) before running Connect. This is different to the red text errors that are shown that stop Connect being run.
   
5. Supplier / Bills matching record change - updated to match on a unique ID (not supplier invoice number), to allow users to save multiple supplier / bills with the same 'supplier invoice number' assigned and still have the records sync'd via Connect.

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

Why use it - support for the latest MYOB ARL versions, and better management for resolving errors before running Connect. Send more detail to MYOB ARL for supplier / bill expenses in the sync.

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Supplier / Bills updates

What's new

1. Supplier / Bills due date - the due date entered on the bill is sync'd to the matching record in MYOB Classic.
2. Supplier / Bills tax code - sent from the disbursement line not from the sub project the disbursement is linked to.

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

Why use it - transfer more data for a Synergy supplier expense / bill to MYOB Classic to better match the data held in Synergy.

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Supplier / Bills updates and tax code mappings

What's new

1. Supplier / Bills tax code - sent from the disbursement line not from the sub project the disbursement is linked to.
2. Supplier / Bills due date - the due date entered on the bill is sync'd to the matching record in Reckon.
3. Setting - new tax code mapping table for invoices and expenses. Update this table before running any syncs for Supplier / Bills after upgrading to this release.
4. Payments import - update to not warn if payments are not being imported on the current sync.

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

Why use it - update the Connect settings to setup the new tax code mappings, and see the new bill information on the matching record in Reckon Accounts.

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<Office> sub projects are set as 'No Billing'

What's new

1. <Office> project transactions - are updated to be written-off as part of the upgrade to this release, as internal time or expenses cannot be on-charged to a client.
2. <Office> transactions - newly entered office transactions will be automatically written off. This applies to staff timesheets, staff expenses, supplier / bills expenses, and office item expenses.

Why use it - better reporting on <Office> transactions as they are automatically written off and the value $ is shown as $0. The cost of the <Office> transaction is retained, but it will no longer show in transactions reports as WIP.

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Phase groupings added to more tabs

What's new

1. Phase grouping rows - added to the budget, forecast, WIP, financial summary, profitability, time and expenses tabs.
2. Phase filters - added to each of the above tabs.
3. Phase row totals - added to each of the above tabs, plus the Sub Project tab for totals on the fee values.
4. Sorting - when you click on a column the rows are sorted in ascending / descending order within their phase group.

Why use it - see the phase groupings on all the main project tabs in Synergy, and view phase level summary totals on each grouping row.

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Budget edit and new columns

What's new

1. Budget edit - changes to project budget lines is supported for the rate, task, and staff fields.
2. Budget edit - supported when the 'show actuals' view is switched on.
3. Profitability tab - the 'profit %' columns have been renamed to 'std gross profit %' and 'act gross profit %'
4. Profitability tab - new columns added for the 'std markup %' and 'actual markup %'
5. Time and expenses tab - the 'invoice markup $' column has been renamed to 'inv writeup $'
6. Time and expenses tab - new columns added for 'invoice writeup ratio', and 'invoice writeup ratio %'
7. Project list - new columns added for 'invoice writeup $', 'invoice writeup ratio', and 'invoice writeup ratio %'.
8. Invoice create - see the sub project residual fee value when selecting sub projects to invoice, or editing the linked transactions.
9. Net residual value - add the optional column to the financial summary tab, WIP tab, profitability tab, or project list. Net residual value is the (fee - invoiced - WIP).

Why use it - more options for editing budgets, reporting project profitability, and for invoicing transactions.

read more about budgets

read more about profitability

read more about time and expenses

Reporting with Excel and OData, plus time and expense entry changes

What's new

1. Excel Export for Microsoft Power BI - use the Excel export in Synergy Cloud Services along with the sample Synergy data file for Microsoft Power BI. View sample dashboards with your companies data using the business analytics tools like Power BI.
2. OData feed setup for reporting - OData for advanced reporting – easily refresh the reporting data using the Synergy OData feed, which is setup using Synergy Cloud Services. Use OData with MS Excel, MS Power BI, Tableau and more third party applications.
3. Cash rates when entering expenses - enter the new 'cash' rate type when entering cash expenses in the app.
4. Start and end times support for timesheet entry - if start and end times are enabled in the desktop application for timesheet entry, then this same functionality can be seen in the cloud when entering timesheets.

Why use it -create dashboard BI reports in Power BI using the Synergy data excel export or OData report options. Enter the cash rates on staff cash expenses.

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Up to 50% faster Excel export and more columns and filters

What's new

1. Faster export to Excel - the process to export reports to excel has been improved to be approximately 50% faster for exporting your Synergy data.
2. Contact expense - new Supplier / Bill features included in reports. Try the bill columns and filters for due date, locked, and export to connect.
3. 'Invoice report' - updated default layout to include the adjusted invoice total.
4. Invoice - new columns for invoice create and update date, and who completed the action.
5. 'Invoice detail report all' - new line level columns for the adjust invoice total (inc and ex tax).
6. 'Transaction WIP report' - new 'Expense #' column to show the invoice number from the disbursed supplier expense (bills).
7. Transaction - status has new filter options for 'not submitted' and 'pending approval'.
8. Transaction - view the primary office for the person that entered the timesheet or cash expense.
9. Transaction and timesheet - see the 'actualised actual cost' as a yearly or monthly value. Available as a column or filter.
10. Project contact - use the new filter group 'project contacts' to find all contacts with a certain project role.
11. Project and Sub Project reports - columns added for 'invoice writeup $', 'invoice writeup ratio', 'invoice writeup ratio %', 'net residual $', 'Std markup%', 'Act markup %', 'Std Gross Profit %', and 'Act Gross Profit %'.

Why use it - update your custom reports to include the new columns or filter options. Better reporting on transactions, invoices and supplier bills.

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More bookmarks added

What's new

1. Invoice documents - add the 'Expense invoice number' and 'Expense type' bookmarks for Supplier / Bills into the fee detail table body. Available for hourly rate and capped rates fee types.
2. Invoice documents - include the bookmarks 'cap used %' and 'cap available %' in the invoice fee detail table, or invoice claim lines table.
3. Contact card ID - include the card ID for a contact along with the address when required. Added to all main document template types.

Why use it -update your invoice templates to display more details about Invoices or Supplier / Bills.

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Added Synergy support for...

What's new

1. Windows 10 - supported for use on a PC workstation or on a low end Synergy server.
2. Office 2016 - supported for use on a PC workstation.
3. SQL Express 2014 - supported for use on a Synergy server.

Why use it - upgrade your PC to the latest version of Windows or Office for use with Synergy, or install the latest SQL Express version on a newly setup Synergy server environment.

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