The Projects Window displays all active Projects in Design Manager and is the main interface for adding, editing, and managing all Project information.

 

projects window

 

Select By:  The Select By option has three choices: All, Client, and Salesperson.  By choosing the Client or Salesperson options, a Client or Employee / Manager / Salesperson Code can be entered which will limit the Projects listed on the Projects grid to only the desired Client or Employee, respectively.  The All selection is the default and will always display each active Project in Design Manager.

 

Show:  The Show option has three selections: Open, Closed, and All.  The Open selection will only display Projects that do not have a Closed Date entered on the Projects Grid while the Closed option will only show Projects that do have Closed Date.  The All option will list both Closed and Open Projects.  Open is the default selection.

 

The Projects Window displays the following columns:

 

Project Code - The unique Code used identify the Project throughout Design Manager.

 

Project Name - The Project Name is the phrase used to further describe the Project such as "Smith Summer House" or "Jackson Home - Phase One".

 

Client Code - The Code of the Client for which the Project is being developed.

 

Client Name - The Name of the Client for which the Project is being developed.

 

Salesperson Code - The Code of the optional Employee / Manager / Salesperson assigned to the Project.

 

Opened Date - The date the Project was created or activated in Design Manager.

 

Closed Date - The date the Project was closed or deactivated in Design Manager.

 

Client Order Number (No.) - The Client Order Number is the optional coding scheme usually provided to you by your Client.

 

Budget - see the Projects overall budget as entered in the Budgets tab.

 

Requested Retainer - Shows the most recent amount of retainer requested for the project.  The amount is a link that you can click on to see the sent payment request.  To Resend the same retainer request to the client, highlight the project and select the Request Retainer button.  The amount last requested will appear, choose OK to resend the email request.

 

Retainer Request Sent Status - The date, time and email that you last sent a retainer request will appear in this column. The column will update its status if you were to resend the retainer request. Once a retainer amount has been received, this column will show the date, amount and payment type of the latest receipt.        

RetainerReqSentStatus_afterpaid

 

 

 

As with most grids in Design Manager, the Projects Grid can be sorted by any column simply be clicking the desired column heading.  You can also Export this grid to Excel or CSV file by right clicking on the grid and selecting Export.

 

 

Add and Edit:  The Add and Edit buttons will display the Project Window to create a new Project or change the selected Project on the Project Grid, respectively.  For a full description of the Project Window, see the Project Window below.

 

Delete:  Upon selecting a Project and clicking the Delete button, one of two actions will occur:

 

A message stating "Are you sure you want to delete this Project along with all of its Locations, Items, and Components?" will be displayed.  Clicking the Yes button will permanently delete the Project along with any specifications that have been added to the Project.  Clicking the No button will leave the Project and any specifications unaffected.
A message stating "This Project cannot be deleted . . ." along with the reason preventing the Project from being deleted will be displayed.  Upon clicking the OK button, you will then be asked "This Project cannot be deleted, however, it can be closed.  Closed Projects can be re-opened at any time.  Would you like to close this Project?"  Clicking the Yes button will close the Project by setting the Closed Date to the current system date.  You will have to leave the Projects Window for the Project to no longer appear on the Projects Grid.  Clicking the No button will not close the Project.

 

Note: Closing completed Projects is a good practice.  Many windows and reports are designed to selectively ignore closed Projects and will, therefore, be more efficient if you maintain a smaller list of active Projects.  Closed Projects also won't appear on the Project Search Window making finding a particular Project an easier task!

 

Items:  Clicking the Items button will display the Specifications Window, listing all the Items for the Project currently selected on the Projects Grid.

 

Close Project:  Upon clicking the Close Project button, you will be asked "Are you sure that you want to close this Project?".  Clicking Yes will set the Closed Date of the Project to current system date and you will be notified that the Project has been closed.  Clicking No will prevent the Project from being closed. To Reopen a Closed Project, you must first have the Show selection set to Closed or All.  Then find the Project and highlight it. Edit the Project and choose the Re-open button found at the bottom right of the window.

 

Status:  Clicking the Status button will display the Project Status Window which presents a wide variety of accounting and purchasing information for the selected Project.

 

 

 

RequestRetainerButton

Request Retainer: Highlight the project and select the Request Retainer button in order to ask your client for an amount of retainer you would like to receive from them.

 

A window will appear where you can enter the amount to collect.

ReqRetAmountWindow

 

Enter your amount, then select OK. An email will be created for the project with a link for the client to see the requested retainer amount. The client can send a check or pay online, if your Design Manager is connected to the Stripe credit card & ACH processor.

 

RetainerEmail
 

After requesting the retainer, the most recent amount requested will appear on the Project window in the Retainer Requested column. This amount will be underlined, as it is a link.  If you were to click on the link, you will be able to see the payment link sent to the client.  The date, time and email the link was last sent will appear in the Retainer Request Sent Status column.

 

RetainerReqandStatusColumns

 

Any retainer received will appear in your cash receipts.

 

ONLY the most recent retainer details will show.  Any retainer requested as a second, third, or any additional amounts will not show the previous amount requested history.  If previous retainer is received those transactions will appear in cash receipts; however, only a single NEW requested retainer will be tracked, not amounts of requested retainer from the past.