Did you know that with Sapphire, you can create your own reports and visual dashboards!  Using accounting, media, or project management datasets, create your own simple lists, detailed reports, or visual dashboards containing pie charts, graphs and other visual representations of data including the ability to drill down to details!  Contact us for more information on upgrading to Sapphire and we’ll get you started!www.gotoadvantage.com.

Looking to automate Project Management and become more efficient and productive in 2014?  Advantage has dedicated a new service department specifically designed to help you with this effort!  Contact us at 800.841.2078 to learn more about our consulting and training services focused on implementing Project Management in Advantage! 

Sapphire Release Date

The general release date of Sapphire has been announced!  Sapphire will be available on November 27^th.  We are offering limited FREE webinars on Sapphire capabilities.  Visit our Users Portal for more information! www.gotoadvantage.com.

New Unity Menu

Sapphire brings Unity to Webvantage! 

The new Unity Menu streamlines project management for your agency by giving you instant access to any job-related task from any page that references the job!  This gives you quicker access to things like alerts, documents, schedule details, estimates, forms, and even time entry without drilling into the job or other pages!   

Sapphire Beta Phase II

Sapphire Beta Phase II is available now and the general release is near! Based on the very insightful feedback from our clients, this version contains the last batch of major enhancements to be included in Sapphire. You’ll love the new Unity Menu in Webvantage which unites job-related tasks with the job links on any page and you’ll appreciate the simplification of the print/send feature throughout Webvantage, which cuts down on the steps it takes to print or send a document. This version also includes the re-written purchase order application in Advantage which replicates all the great features found in Webvantage, plus more, and a new CRM Central dashboard which places all CRM activities at your fingertips!

Phase II of the Sapphire Beta is available to anyone who would like to volunteer to test, but it won’t be in beta long. We’ll be announcing the general release of Sapphire soon!

For more information, contact us at www.gotoadvantage.com.

Schedules and Tasks with Sapphire

With Sapphire, schedules and tasks are more automated than ever before, allowing for immediate action based on instant notifications!  When staff members complete tasks, the project manager is alerted and as the next tasks on the schedule become active, the assigned employees are notified automatically! Contact us to find out more about Sapphire at www.gotoadvantage.com.

Sapphire is getting even better based on valuable feedback from beta testers!  Just when you thought it couldn’t get better, we’ve added additional features such as more automatic alerts in project schedules, a CRM dashboard, all new accounts payable import, all new purchase orders, and more!  Phase II of the Sapphire beta will be ready soon and will include all the new enhancements requested during the beta period.  Contact us at www.gotoadvantage.com for information on Sapphire.

ACCOUNTS PAYABLE

Accounts payable has been completely rewritten using our new, standard, interface feature set and includes some great new enhancements. Highlighted below are just a few of the more than fourteen new features & benefits:

·         Data entry is streamlined and simplified with new list boxes, filters and searching tools for both media and production.

·         Enter net or gross amounts for media orders, allowing you to control extra pennies and rounding.

·         Edit the selected vendor directly from accounts payable using the Edit Vendor features.

·         Three new search options are available for locating and reviewing invoices by many different criteria: By Vendor, By Invoice and the powerful new option-- By Invoice Details. This great new option allows you to choose your search criteria to include things like production purchase order number, job number, expense account, approval flag, and order number.  You can search for all invoices posted to a specific job or account number.

For more information, contact us at www.gotoadvantage.com

The new Client Relationship Management (CRM) application provides new insights into your client relationships, especially new business clients and prospects. 

 ·         CRM tools allow you to track communications and activities with current and future clients.

·         Company profiles store identifying information on your clients and prospects for analysis.

·         The activity summary provides an interactive tool for tracking current status and all activities.

·         Enter and track the value of the business you are working toward using Opportunities which are automatically converted to contracts when you win the business.

·         Contracts store agreed upon rates, fees, reporting schedules and other details. 

·         Advantage sends you reminders when contract renewal dates are approaching and when required reporting is due.

·         Scheduled Activities such as calls, to-dos and meetings can be added to the calendar by client or project so that you can track your activities.  Scheduled activities are accounted for in overall workload calculations.  Time can be recorded with a single click.

·         Designed for prospect focus in mind where there’s a clear interest and ongoing communication with the prospect. It’s not designed  with a lead focus, e.g. it’s not designed for mass-email marketing blasts. 

SAPPHIRE IS HERE! …and it’s just an upgrade away for you to harness the power.  

Are you ready for Media Planning?

The new media planning application is based on an incredible amount of input from a large segment of our media savvy clients. The beauty of this module, besides saying “goodbye” to Excel spreadsheets, is the integration it brings to your Advantage media data.

·         Create plans for all media types using interactive tools that generate flow charts as you design the plan.

·         Define the media plan template yourself to capture any type of information desired.

·         A spreadsheet-like interface enables you to enter proposed spending broken out by media-specific units and other details you can report on.

·         Use the copy feature to quickly and easily build plans using existing data.

·         Create client-facing flow charts, reports and dashboards based on the plan data.

·         Generate media authorization forms.

·         Track and compare the gross media budget to media estimated.

·         Track and compare approved media estimates to ordered, billed and received from vendors.

·         Future enhancements include creating orders from detailed plan estimates, pre-billing those orders, and tracking actual progress. 

·         Includes reports and dashboards on all available data.

To learn more, visit us a www.gotoadvantage.com

blue Sapphire beta testing

Are you ready for the next generation of blue?  blue Sapphire will be available for beta testing soon!  We are now looking for volunteers!

Sapphire builds on the popular blue platform and includes a large number of enhancements including ones you’ve previewed at the Advantage conference and have been hearing about through our blogs.  Release notices are located on our Users Portal and include all the enhancements in this exciting new release!   Contact us at www.gotoadvantage.com if you would like to learn more about Sapphire or participating in the beta process!

Accounts payable has been completely rewritten using our new standard features and includes some great new enhancements!

·         Data entry is streamlined and simplified.

·         Enter net OR gross for media orders, allowing you to control extra pennies and rounding.

·         List boxes, filters and searching are all greatly improved for both media and production.

·         Recurring payables has been integrated with the accounts payable module for single source access.

o    You now have the ability to change the system-defined invoice number before posting recurring payables.

·         Edit the selected vendor directly from accounts payable using the Edit Vendor features.

·         Three new search options are available for locating and reviewing invoices by many different criteria:

o    By Vendor including category, office, default AP account, market, vendor city, vendor state.

o    By Invoice including vendor, vendor description, category, office, market, invoice number, invoice date, entry date, invoice description, invoice amount, payment hold flag and 1099 flag.

o    By Invoice Details – This great new option allows you to choose your search criteria to include things like production purchase order number, job number, expense account, approval flag, and order number.  Using this option, you can search for all invoices posted to a specific job or account number.

We are looking for a Project Management Implementation Specialist! We have an immediate need for someone with experience using project management software and managing software implementation.  Advantage or Webvantage experience is a plus, but not required.  The position is in our Mooresville NC office and involves working with new and existing Advantage clients during the software implementation process.  To inquire, visit our website atwww.gotoadvantage.com/contact-us/careers.

Sapphire includes more ways to automate communications related to project schedules and tasks!  As options, tasks and be set to ‘active’ automatically and project managers are notified via alert and email when tasks are marked complete.  Sapphire builds on the existing blue features which simplify the automation of schedules, assignments, communication, collaboration, and workload analysis!  For more information, visit us at www.gotoadvantage.com.

The new report writer includes 13 additional datasets in all areas including accounting, media and project management that can be used in both Dynamic and Advanced report writers. This will allow you to better and more efficiently manage reports!

Alerts Options in Sapphire!

Alerts become more useful with these added options in Sapphire!

·         Alert assignments are now represented with a different icon for completing the assignment so they are more distinct in both the alert main application and on the related workspace object.

·         Added the ability to select and add multiple linked documents to an alert.

·         Added the ability to upload a document with a comment where it can be displayed and accessed in relation to the comment.

·         Added links back to alerts from more areas.

·         Added additional filters to the alert inbox view to include filter by AE, filter by Manager, and other options.

·         Changed the alert category list to a drop down list (to contain the volume of categories available).

·         Added the ability to re-assign an alert assignment from within the Alert Inbox view without drilling down to view the alert.

·         Added the ability to alert the project manager when a task is marked temp complete.

Sapphire includes better management of documents within Advantage!

The document manager is now available in Advantage and is fully integrated with Webvantage.  Upload documents from various applications where they are directly accessible. The full document manager application can be used to search for and manage documents from a central location.  Upload documents from within expense reports, accounts payable, client, division, product, contracts, and vendor maintenance.

Documents become more accessible within other areas of system!

Automatically upload and store client invoices within the document manager so that these printed invoices can be accessed in other areas of the system easily. 

For more information visit us at www.gotoadvantage.com

Webvantage blue Sapphire

Sapphire is coming soon!  Advantage and Webvantage have been enhanced to improve communication & collaboration and add clarity to everything you do.  Starting with Webvantage, Sapphire allows you to better personalize your settings with enhancements to agency and my settings.

Agency Settings include controls that are more intuitive and additional options make it easier to brand Webvantage to match your agency or business theme.

My Settings includes new options that control how menus are opened and closed and new themes have been added that provide additional flexibility for standard touch screen monitors and devices.

For more information, contact us at www.gotoadvantage.com.

The Advantage Conference is a MUST ATTEND EVENT and the only conference where you can learn more about the software you own, hear from industry leaders on key topics, and network with your peers!

Comprehensive training and workshop sessions are available in all areas including finance/accounting, project management, media, and IT.  

Visit our website at www.gotoadvantage.com for more info!

Clarity of information defines expectations and accountability. Providing quick, accurate access to information on project status, budgets and your agency’s financial position accelerates decision-making. 

Advantage contains a huge amount of valuable information!  Are you aware of everything that is available and have you been able to tap into that information and fully realize the benefits?

At the Advantage Conference, we help you visualize the end result and how simple it can be to get there.  Join us in May and we’ll help you plot out a path to success as we cover all these important topics:

·         New Business Status and Pipeline

·         Budget and Forecast

·         Project & Media Status

·         Resource Analysis & Staffing Needs

·         Visibility, sharing & control

·         Communication & collaboration across departments

·         Project & Media Performance

·         Client performance

·         Staff Performance

·         Agency Performance

Are you struggling with streamlining the Project Management process in your agency?

Are you struggling with streamlining the Project Management process in your agency? 

Attend The Advantage Conference and hear from industry leaders and Advantage experts on everything you need to know including how to outline your process, setup the Advantage system to meet your goals, and execute your plan.  In addition, you’ll learn how to use existing blue features and you’ll see how blue Sapphire can further enhance the experience!  Visit our website atwww.gotoadvantage.com for more information.

Advantage Conference Update

Advantage Conference Update           

At this year’s conference, you’ll see the debut of Sapphire which builds on the blue platform and includes many of the great new features and enhancements that you have requested.    There’s something for everyone!

• ·         If you’re new to blue, you’ll learn how to maximize the features in all areas including budgeting, billing, project management, media, and management information, and the report writer.
• ·         And, you’ll learn about all the great new features in Sapphire which is scheduled for release shortly after the conference and includes our new Media Planning module!

Media Planning is based on your requests!

• ·         Create media plans for all media types using interactive tools that generate flow charts as you design the plan.
• ·         A spreadsheet-like interface enables you to enter proposed spend broken out by media-specific units and other details you can report on.
• ·         Create client-facing flow charts, reports and dashboards based on the plan data.

REGISTER NOW!  

The Early Bird rate for the Advantage Conference ends on March 31st! Register now and save $$.

The conference is being held at the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando.  Register with the Advantage Conference to receive the discounted room rate, but room availability is limited so book your rooms now!  

Advantage Conference

Join us for the 30^th Advantage Conference in Orlando, FL!  The beautiful Loews Portofino Bay Hotel by Universal Studios is our destination.  During the conference, we’ll show you how to optimize your use of blue and we’ll showcase our exciting new version named “Sapphire”.

Register before March 31^st to ensure you receive the early bird conference rate!

Advantage Conference

Attend the Advantage Conference and be the first to learn about the new Client Relationship Management (CRM) tools being released in Sapphire and provide your input and feedback!  Our robust CRM features won’t disappoint.  Learn more about the conference on our Users Portal or sign up today using this link:  http://register.tascusersgroup.com.

Looking for management and other crucial decision-making information? Advantage delivers!

 Advantage includes over 1,000 report variations that provide valuable information as a by-product of the data you process every day, in every agency discipline.  In addition to standard reports, our Report Writer includes unique datasets of commonly requested information so that you can even write your own reports!  And you don’t have to be a programmer to use the Advantage Report Writer.  Create simple lists and exports using our Dynamic Report Writer, and create more complex reports using the Advanced Report Writer.   Contact us for more information at www.gotoadvantage.com.

2013 Advantage Conference

The 2013 Advantage Conference registration is now open. Register now and take advantage of the Early Bird Discount! Filled with sessions, speakers, and content focused on helping you optimize operations and maximize the benefits of blue and blue Sapphire, The 2013 Advantage Conference is another must-attend event! And we're returning to the Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando!

The 2013 Advantage Conference Guide outlines the conference content and provides an attendance guide for each session. You’ll see a great mix of training, best practices, new product introductions, speakers, and networking sessions.

You may Register for the Conference and Make Your Hotel Reservations now!

Webvantage Project Viewpoint – You need this project management tool!

Want and need an instant and automatic view of all your Projects widget-style? 

Project due dates, status, hours, and costs are clear and available in a single workspace object.   Simply hover to see total open tasks and assignments or drill down to all project components and details. 

Learn how Project Viewpoint and other great tools available in Webvantage can simplify and expedite the work you do by contacting us atwww.gotoadvantage.com!

Where are the 1099 User Guide and Year End Guide?

While we emailed out our two guides related to Year End closing and procedures including the 1099 Reporting User’s Guide and the Year End Closing User’s Guide, you can also find these guides on our User’s Portal within the training/implementation page and then the Users Guides tab shown below (Advantage section at the bottom).  With over ninety guides and procedures on the Advantage User’s Portal, it’s a great resource.  Everything from Invoice Printing, Billing Rates and Flags, to Trade for Goods & Services Special Procedure and how to handle Freelancers has information available.  Coming soon to a website near you is a new, improved User’s Portal!

Does your Agency Management Software integrate with your bank and credit card company for seamless payment processing and other benefits?  Advantage does. Learn about the Advantage Payment Manager program’s electronic payment options, and how the Advantage partnership with CSI Virtual Mastercard can result in cash rewards!  Contact us at www.gotoadvantage.com.  Check out the Partners page for more information on CSI Virtual Mastercard.

PTO

Advantage Software tracks all  your time including paid time off (PTO) with ease and accuracy.  Advantage allows you to create your own rules for accruing PTO by level and for various types of time.  Time accrues automatically each month through a service, allowing you to set it and forget it! You gain efficiency and you always have an accurate view of employee availability for the entire agency.  Contact us at www.gotoadvantage.com to learn how your agency can take advantage of these great features, and more!