Deltek Costpoint Early Adopter Program 8.1 Part 2

The Redstone GCI Costpoint group finalized participation in the Early Adopter 8.1 testing program at the end of June. In this wrap-up we want to focus on the Projects and Contracts modules of Costpoint, as well as some additional highlights for Time and Expense. We are thankful for the opportunity to partner with Deltek on this program and are excited to see the new release of the update in the future.

Planning

The Costpoint 8.1 Release has added some features in Planning that help with usability and report functionality. One of the more exciting new features is the addition of Earned Value Applications to Project Budgeting. Users will be able to update project progress % (on final version Project Budgets only and NOT EACs), calculate earned value, and view an earned value status report. This release has also added the option to run several Org Budgeting reports by Organization or Reorganization if ‘Use Reorg Structure’ is selected in configuration settings. Another upgrade worth mentioning is the addition of the Profit and Loss statement report in the Org Budgeting option. This will display the standard P&L by Org with columns for Actuals vs Budget vs Variance. You will have the option to run this report by Organization or Reorganization.

There is now an Active Flag in the New Business Budgets. This flag will flow down to lower-level budgets in a project string. What does this mean for the end user? If you mark a New Business Budget inactive, that budget is no longer available in Org Budget/Outlooks or Budget by Resource screens. Marking a New Business Budget inactive will disable the boxes for Create, Modify, and Commit Budget which removes the ability to edit the budget. This functionality will also remove inactive New Business Budgets from BI reporting tables. The Costpoint 8.1 release will also remove the Refresh Process. The tables will now be updated through an integration using Link Views, shortening the processing times.

Contracts

With the release of Costpoint 8.1, the Contracts module is expanding its Opportunity tracking capabilities. Rating assessments can be assigned and tracked for an opportunity through the usage of an Opportunity Assessment Format containing up to 10 questions, each with an assigned rate. The system will include 1 default assessment format containing 9 questions with user ability to create additional formats, questions, and rate assignments. If looking for more robust usage of Activity tracking, Resource and Task subtasks have been added within the Activity subtask of Opportunities, Contracts, Subcontracts and Leads. Resources can be designated as Employee, Vendor, Lead, Customer and Other. Phone numbers and email addresses can be entered and utilized to connect the user to the resource from within the screen. Additionally, task assignments can be created, assigned, marked if completed and notifications utilized in Workflow. For your BD folks on the road, the CRM & Contracts module has mobile capability. New Opportunities, Contracts, Resources and Activities can be created, or existing efforts viewed. The mobile screen view is the same as the computer application so familiarity with both the layout and required fields will greatly benefit the user in the mobile environment. The design also allows emails and calls to be performed from the resource contact screen. This feature works for Android users or Apple iOS 14.5.1 or newer. These are all very exciting changes with a focus on users in a quick paced environment.

Time & Expense

In the latter portion of participation in the EA testing program, we have seen numerous helpful modifications to the Expense side of the system with the new release of 8.1. Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR) capture for receipts and credit card imports will include enhanced data to gather more detail beyond just cost. Anything on the receipt or in the import, the ICR will grab. The user does not have to enter room rates and taxes; the capture will transfer that information to the outstanding expenses screen. It will also notice merchant name and tip data, making expense report entry easier than ever for the employee.

The native mobile T&E application has also been updated with a new calendar icon, colors, fonts, and indicator for selected date. It will be easier for end users with a more modern look and feel to the buttons and options. Deltek has also added support for subcontractor entries with work assignments so that subs can now enter expense reports. Supervisors can approve both employees and subcontractors within the app.

Lastly, in addition to being able to view their leave balances within the mobile app, employees can also request leave. Supervisors can approve with the click of a button, making tracking of resource time off easier than ever before.