General

[Fixed] The lower set of commands on the User Form were being displayed incorrectly and could not be seen.

[Fixed] When using the "update token" method of installing a software update, the folder containing the update was taking longer to display than expected and covered up the running installer if the latter was able to run automatically. The folder now only opens if a problem occurs when FF&EZ attempts to launch the installer. (Note: this applies to future updates using this version, not the process of updating older ones to this one. Older versions still follow the procedures outlined here.)

[Fixed] The ability to scroll a major list while adding a new item to it has been disabled for now. It was causing problems with the work flow if the user happened to click on another entry in the list before saving the new item. You can still scroll with the mouse wheel or "elevator" control at other times.

Since one of the primary reasons for scrolling was to determine the next available Tag or Spec ID, a new "ID generator" function has been added to the Object List and Specification List screens. This automatically assigns the next highest ID of any pattern you specify.  See description in those sections below.

Setup

[Enhanced] Added a reminder that the "Business ID" and "Tax ID" entries appear on the Design/Purchasing version's client invoice formats.

Project List

[New] A "Hide closed projects" display option has been added to the Project List screen (at the bottom). This is enabled by default to clean up the project list display once you have marked a project as closed. It turns red when enabled.

The basic project list reports continue to include all projects, but where applicable they now have a Report Option that allows you to exclude them. If you would like a permanent report that only shows "active" projects, you can set this option as desired and save the report with a new name.

[New] The list now includes a project "Status" column that shows if a project has been issued, marked as revised or closed (if the "Hide closed projects" display option is not enabled).

FF&E Worksheet

Purchasing users, also see below.

[Enhanced] Added "Component # (Object)" to the list of query fields  (see next entry).

Object List

[New] Tag generator: A new [=] button appears next to the Tag field when you use any form of the Add command. It automatically assigns the next highest Tag in a sequence if you enter the exact existing pattern to use in the "Tag" field. You can do this manually or by right-clicking the button to use the pattern from the last highlighted object.

For instance, if you are creating a new art object and enter "ART-" as the tag pattern, clicking this button will return "ART-127" if the highest existing Tag is "ART-126."

More usage details are in the Object List section under "Tag."

[New] You can now sort the "Typical Usage" column to group objects by location usages. Note that when an object is used in more than one location, the "typical" usage is determined by semi-random factors such as when an object was created or first used. To get a comprehensive list of object usages, use Print... to produce the "Object Usage List by Tag" report.

[Enhanced] Added "Component # (Object)" to the list of query fields to help filter out objects in a query where a secondary component matches the query condition but the primary component does not and you do not wish to include that object. For instance, adding "Component # is equal to 1" would filter out otherwise ineligible objects where only a secondary component specification matches the other query conditions.

[Fixed] The sort order of the "Description" column only used the original object "Description" instead of "Type" description from component #1 (when that option was selected on the Objects screen). This was unlikely to have been noticed unless the two were alphabetically different. This did not affect any reports.

Specification List

[New] Spec ID generator: Similar to the new feature for objects, a new [=] button appears when you use any form of the Add command. It automatically assigns the next highest Spec ID in a sequence when you supply the pattern to use. You can do this manually or by right-clicking the button to use the pattern from the last highlighted specification.

For instance, if you are creating a new paint specification and enter "PNT" as the ID, clicking this button will return "PNT45" if the highest existing Tag is "PNT44."

More usage details are in the Specifications List section under "Spec ID."

[Fixed] The "Specification Status" reports displayed a superfluous checkmark to indicate an image was attached when images were already being displayed. The checkmark should only appear when images are suppressed.

FF&E Worksheet

[New] "Order / Item" column in the FF&E Worksheet's "FF&E Summary" section. In addition to the primary purchase order number that appears at the right side of the main Worksheet List, the component list in the FF&E Summary now displays the original order number and the item number for all components. This allows you to see which order and which item was used to order each component, including supporting components from other sources that appeared on separate orders.

The references you see are to the original order items created with the Worksheet's Order... command. Subsequent item changes and deletions will not be reflected here. The item references will not display if an order is voided.

Note: Orders that were created in much earlier versions of FF&EZ may not have the additional data used for this feature. The new column will be blank for those components.

Orders List

[New] A new "Client Deposit Requirements" section has been added to the Orders screen. This is located in the lower right corner and appears if you select the "Show client deposits" option at the bottom. This only applies to deposits owed to your firm (not to vendors) and is not available on purchasing  management projects.

The section display has a shortcut key of [Alt-W], which toggles between the "Vendor Deposit Requirements" and this new section. You can also toggle between the two sections by right-clicking on the section titles.

This section can be used to set up a client deposit invoice (see "Processing" below) that you can send to a client for any required pre-payments to you before you issue or confirm a purchase order. It applies only to for-profit / resale projects (billing type 1). To avoid misreading the section, the title of this section has a green color instead of the default.

For all pre-payments to vendors, continue to use the "Vendor Deposit Requirements" section.

[New] A "Clnt Dep Out" (client deposit outstanding) column has been added to the orders list at the top, and the previous "Deposit Out" column has been relabeled as "Vndr Dep Out." These represent the outstanding deposit due to your firm from a client and the outstanding deposit owed to a vendor. As before, the amount owed to a vendor would be owed by your firm in a for-profit or resale project (billing type 1) or owed by your client in any purchasing management projects (including those where you are acting "as agent").

[New] You can now record multiple vendor deposit invoices and payments to them in a new list designed for that purpose.

This is initiated by using the Multiple button on the right side of the vendor deposit title area (see image below). Once this is set up (and the affected order is saved), the original "Vendor Deposit Requirements" fields will only display the totals of vendor deposit invoices and payments. The details are updated using the Multiple button.

This does not change the normal procedures for orders with single vendor deposit requirements, which can be entered directly in this section as before. However, the Processing function's "Deposit Request" format will use the total deposit requirements and will subtract any deposit payments recorded for multiple invoices.

Once a deposit request for an order has been printed, you will continue to use the Check Request screen's Print> "Additional Deposit Request" report to handle additional requirements.

New or [Enhanced] These Orders List screen reports have been added or modified to reflect all vendor invoices of any type, including multiple deposit/pre-payment invoices and payments

[Enhanced] When entering required deposit amounts in the main vendor deposit area, the system will remember the percentage you chose if you used the right-click shortcut to select a deposit percentage. After that point, you can double-click in any deposit entry field to automatically use the same percentage (assuming there is a base amount for the calculation). This is only enabled if you are already in "editing" mode. The selected percentage remains active until you close the Orders screen.

This feature isn't available when entering multiple vendor deposit invoices, since partial vendor invoices will not directly correspond to the total FF&E, freight and tax amounts used for the shortcut calculations.

[Fixed] The "Project Orders Summary" and "Vendor Orders Summary" reports included voided orders in their source data.

[Fixed] The data source for the "Items List" section was redesigned to avoid phantom "split" quantities.

Removed: The "Brief format" screen layout option is no longer supported, as this was a feature added for a specific user.

Expediting

[New] "Estimated Delivery Date" field. This can be used to track the estimated date a line item will be delivered to the shipping destination. The other delivery fields have moved to make room for this.

[New] The Update Order Status command now includes the "Estimated Delivery" date as an option you can use to update all items on an order. This includes an option to overwrite existing delivery date entries (which are otherwise protected from change).

[New] "Expediting Status Report by 'Estimated Delivery' Date" report. This sorts order items by the estimated delivery date, organized by month. Items without this date are grouped together.

[Enhanced] All "Expediting Status" reports now display the estimated delivery date (if any) in the column containing the shipping destination.

[Enhanced] The "Expediting Status" reports that list line items grouped by Order number (instead of by Spec ID or other sort orders) now have an option to print the order "Status Notes."

[Fixed] If the "PO Notes" field was changed and the Revert button was then used to cancel changes to the order item line, changes to this field were not reversed.

Processing

[New] A new Print Client Deposit Invoices command now appears in the "Client Invoices" group. This can be used to create invoices for a deposit amount owed to you (not to a vendor), which is set up on the Orders screen (see "Client Deposit Requirements" above). The format of the deposit invoice is similar to that for the existing client final invoice, but shows the required deposit as the amount owed.

[Enhanced] The buttons that form the list of Processing functions have been rearranged to make the financial implications more clear. In addition to the section covering purchase orders, there are now two major sections: One for payments owed to vendors and another for payments owed to your firm.

The previous layout attempted to place the functions in order of likely use, but the timing of different deposit types (which can vary from one user, project or vendor to another) as well as client invoices made this layout confusing if it did not match a user's normal procedure.

The Enter Vendor Final Invoices function has been renamed to "Enter/Reconcile Vendor Final Invoices" to better reflect the purpose of this function. This becomes more important after adding the capability to handle multiple deposit/pre-payment invoices.

[Enhanced] The regular client invoice format now includes client deposits that were received and prints a net total.

Check Requests List

[Enhanced] Unless a query is in effect, the Print function now defaults to printing only the currently highlighted request instead of all requests. You can override this with the usual "Filter" options.

Invoices List

[Enhanced] Added a "Dep Applied" column in the invoice detail grid to make pre-payments more obvious.