December 04, 2007 - Creative Manager Pro Releases Version 8.5 with Flash features, Improvements for Financial Reporting, and updates for Mac OS X Leopard, Details
Creative Manager Pro, Ad Agency Software and Project Management Groupware for Creative and Design firms, has released version 8.5 with Flash features, Improvements for Financial Reporting, and updates for Mac OS X Leopard.
December 04, 2007
Creative Manager, Inc., (http://www.Creative-Manager.com) , provider of Creative Manager Pro software, has released version 8.5 of its flagship product, featuring conversions of key features to Flash, Improvements for Financial Reporting, and updates for Mac OS X Leopard.
The last update of Creative Manager Pro optimized the Ad Agency software to best work with Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. As the lightest computers running the Mac OS, the iPhone and iPod Touch are the perfect tools for the Ad Agency manager who needs to check on the work of the team.
By using the integrated Safari browser of the iPhone and iPod Touch, clients of Creative Manager Pro can easily review the status of projects and contact clients on the go. Designers and other staff can also enter timesheets anywhere they can get use the iPhone and iPod Touch.
"We're on top of technology, never behind it" boasted Ron Ause about the last update, Creative Manager's director of marketing. "And we make it work for our clients - not the other way around. We Listen! When our clients say that they need something, we're there!"
This month's update gives clients of Creative Manager Pro increases in speed and usability. By converting features from html to Adobe's Flash, the system is more intuitive, more responsive and easier to use than any other system of its kind.
As always with Creative Manager Inc.'s products, no installation or conversion are necessary, and all updates are at no cost to users of Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro. All client logins and vendor logins are always free.
"Technology, implemented right can help you grow your firm by leaps and bounds," said Ause. "It's important to make sure that the people who've designed your software understand your business. Do you want geeks telling you how to run your business? Or consultants with years of industry experience?"
Creative Manager Pro continues to invest, adding new features that work with Apple's latest Mac OS X Leopard Unix-based Operating System and Microsoft Windows.
All updates are deployed using Creative Manager's own Auto-Updater, which allows them to deploy updates to all hosted sites, and to clients' servers at any time. Says Ause, "We can deploy a change to the program in hours - even minutes! Our competitors take months or years to get to their list. 'We're Always Listening!'"
Details of the latest update are listed below. Added Support for Company, Office and Department tracking in the ledger
- Added optional showing / requirement of Company, Office, Department, Tasks, Items on all financial transactions
- Support for Company level separation of financial transactions at the company level for Balance sheet entries.
You can run a trial balance and balance sheet at the company level.
- P&L tracking at the company, office and department level.
- Projects are linked into specific companies and offices. Transactions created and linked to these projects must
follow the same office and company.
Enhanced the Budget entry screen to allow for budgets by Company, Office, Department, Client and Class.
- Now works in Flash
- Allows views at any level and combination.
- Summarize up to any level and drilldown for details
- You can now print the budget for your current view.
Enhanced the Expense Report Entry screen
- Now works in Flash
- New option to allow auto conversion to vendor invoice on approval.
- Vendor ID now on the header. Date range has been taken off and is now maintained by the transactions entered.
- Modified the billing rules for expense reports and conversion process to vendor invoices.
- - If an expense report has not been converted to a vendor invoice, you can still bill it.
- - After it has been converted to a vendor invoice, it does not show up on the project budget screen and cannot be billed.
- - When converted, an exact duplicate of the expense report is created as a vendor invoice. From that point forward, the vendor invoice is used and billed. (Process is similar to POÕs)
Updated and Standardized Several Financial reports
- All the financial reports have been updated.
- P&L now runs in Flash as an on-screen report and can be directly printed.
- - We have added a 12 month view of the financial report.
- There is now different reports for the corporate P&L vs a client or project profitability report.
- Client and Project Profitability reports are customizable and have several different printing options. They are also on screen reports
- - There is a multi view (one row per) and a detailed view that is more like a P&L.
- Added an option to flag clients as "Overhead Clients". These are used for clients who are set up for tracking internal projects. These do not show up on the profitability reports and all costs on these projects are considered overhead expenses.
- Added a Monthly cost and the ability to re-calculate labor costs based on the monthly salary. This allows people get their standard costs for a month closer to the actual payroll costs. It calculates the average hourly costs based on the total cost for the month and total hours worked for a person. If the monthly cost is set to 0, that person
not adjusted.
- The new reports support the ability to add calculated columns.
Simplified WIP Posting
- The rule for posting wip have changed as follows:
- - If it is billed or marked as billed, then it does not post into wip.
- - If it has not been posted in, then it does not post out.
- - Vendor Invoices are no longer repointed to the the WIP accounts. They will retain their normal expense account. When posted, they will be repointed to the appropriate account based on item type.
- - Expense reports do not post into wip.
- - There are new accounts for tracking Misc Costs and Expense Reports. These go into a new set of GL Accounts to make it easier to track production expenses.
- The project WIP analysis report has been moved and changed. It is now a ledger based report and has support drilldowns on transactions by project. This report is driven off the asset accounts in the preferences screen.
Other Things
- New Split Billing feature added to allow split billing of client invoices
- Invoices can now pull transactions from multiple project onto one invoice line
- Prebilled orders can be accrued to detailed expense accounts based on the item.
- Items have two options in transactions preferences that have changed.
- - Default UnitCost/ Unit Rate from item.
- - - These now always default on the transaction.
- - - The Short Description, Long Description, GL Account, Unit Cost, Unit Rate, Markup will always default onto the line. If a project is specified, the Unit Rate and Markup may not come from the item based on the project settings.
- - There is another setting "Always use Unit Rate for Gross Cost" that forces the system to use the unit rate from the item in all cases. Regardless of the unit cost, the rate stays the same. This also changes the behavior in transaction entry screens.
- - - This option has been moved from a global option to a per item option. It is also now called "Always use Unit Rate for Gross Amount". When you check this, the markup goes away and you can enter a standard rate.
- - - This option is now available for expense report items. This is useful for mileage type items.
- - - In item rate sheets, if this option is enabled for items, you can now set it per rate sheet.
Creative Manager Pro goes beyond costing to offer full Project Management, CRM, Digital Asset Management, billing and accounting, and Extranet capabilities.
Creative Manager Pro (at http://www.Creative-Manager.com), is the only Ad Agency software and Project Management Software for the Creative Design industry, created exclusively for design firms, ad agencies, in-house creative/MarCom departments, and creative service firms. It is a web-based integrated project management software and job tracking solution which streamlines the entire firm, from developing new business, to staffing, managing, and executing projects through to accounting and financial reporting.
Creative Manager Pro is a full-featured, intuitive system which makes project and ad agency management a breeze. Creative Manager Pro supports Customer Relationship Management, Document Management, Shared Calendaring, Accounting and much more. Because it is web-based, there is nothing to install and it can be set up in a very short time. It works with both PC and Macintosh from any location over any connection. It may also be installed locally on the client's own servers. All options include training and support to ensure that clients are up and running quickly.
Among the many features of Creative Manager Pro:
- Graphically view your firm's metrics - manage your firm by the numbers.
- Manage Contacts and Leads
- Create Project Schedules, Calendars and Manage Tasks
- Take your contacts and calendar on the road with iCal, AddressBook & Outlook
- Approve Timesheets, Purchasing, Billing and Budgets
- Review and Approve Artwork Online
- Store and Manage Digital Assets
- Manage and Balance the Books
- Free client and vendor access to streamline workflow.
- Quick startup/import from Clients & Profits, Adman and other systems
- Full-featured CRM (Client Relationship Management)
- Extranet capabilities
- Manage media with an interface with Strata
- Charting of important industry metrics and firm statistics
The team members at Creative Manager, Inc. have been leaders in ad agency software and project management software for the creative industry and on the Mac OS for over 26 years. They provide their creative clients with two major offerings: Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro. Both programs work seamlessly with the Mac OS and Windows.
Creative Manager Pro is a registered mark of Creative Manager, Inc.
Contact Info:
Ron Ause rona@Creative-Manager.com
Creative Manager, Inc.
800.203.7684 x3051
http://www.Creative-Manager.com
Michael Alberici
PUSH
407.841.2299
malberici@pushhere.com
Creative Manager Pro - Ad Agency Software and Project Management Software
