Back to Basics (B2B) – March 2010

March 9th, 2010 by Leslie

Job Dispatch

Following last week’s article, B2B – The 4 W’s of Job Creation, I wanted to explore the different ways to dispatch or ‘hand over’ the job to the technician to perform the work. Within simPRO there are many different options for dispatching jobs out to the technicians using mobile devices or Navman Wireless but first I want to take a look at the basic method of using simple printed job cards.

There are a couple ways to print job cards and which way you go about it depends on what suits you and how you relate the job information to your technician

1) Printing from the day view schedule.


Read the rest of this entry »


Recent Development Highlights – March 2010

March 9th, 2010 by Leslie

simPRO is constantly evolving.  Due to the growing number of companies choosing to implement simPRO to help them run their business more efficiently we are always coming across new and better ways to get the job done.

March’s Tips & Tricks include – RECS/VECS, Custom Client Fields, Plant Upgrades, Call Centre Upgrades, Employee Preferences

RECS / VEECS

A while ago the government announced an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and part of that involved trading Renewable Energy Credits from items used to offset carbon emissions generated by some of the big boys.  However for the contractor managing the POS for these RECS (and in Victoria also the VEECS – Victorian Energy Efficiency Credits) was next to impossible.

To help alleviate the problem for our clients we have developed simPRO to be able to track the RECS (and VEECs) Read the rest of this entry »


Tips & Tricks – March 2010

March 9th, 2010 by Leslie

This month in Tips & Tricks we show you how to:

  1. Invoice multiple jobs at once,
  2. Set up your client side simPRO login, and
  3. Decide on who gets a Christmas Hamper this year.

Invoice multiple jobs at once

Do you do heaps of smaller jobs that could be invoiced without manual intervention or checking every single one?  What about using recurring jobs or jobs from the maintenance planner that you know are already at the correct rate?  You ask “Why oh why do I need to go into each one to send the invoice?”

Answer, you don’t. Read the rest of this entry »


END-OF-MONTH – Simple Accounting Procedures that You Should be Doing!

March 8th, 2010 by Leslie

By Lynelle Hills

“How can I be assured that the financial data in simPRO matches our accounts program?”

This is one of the most common questions I get from concerned bookkeepers and Accountants regarding the use of simPRO. One of the most important things to do here is to ensure that the security profiles of your users are adjusted to ensure that transactions cannot be created, deleted or edited by a staff member who does not understand the accounting implications of doing so.

If a financial transaction in simPRO has been posted to your accounts program and that transaction is to be altered or deleted, the user who has rights to do this will receive a warning message in red. The alteration will need to be manually adjusted in the accounting program as well.

The list below contains a step by step procedure that should really be followed at the end of month to ensure that your simPRO and accounts package reconcile.   It could also be followed for the whole financial year when the accounts are being closed off. Read the rest of this entry »


Follow up: South Australian User Forum

March 8th, 2010 by Leslie

At simPRO we know a lot, and one thing we know for certain is that getting client feedback on the development direction of simPRO is a high priority. With that in mind it was South Australia’s turn to host a user forum on Wednesday the 24th of February in Glenelg.

This was the first user forum held in Adelaide and proved to be a great day full of ideas, feedback and audience participation. Twenty seven clients, new and old as well as some prospective customers were put in mixed groups that changed throughout the day. This meant that by day’s end everyone knew everyone, which created a great setting not just for sharing ideas with simPRO staff, but with each other.

The first workshop for the day was on development ideas for the future development of simPRO. Read the rest of this entry »


How to use an integrated web strategy to grow business

March 8th, 2010 by Leslie

In most service environments there is a high level of competition for your buyer’s attention.  And it’s the same on the Internet, too.  Most people venturing into their first website have a somewhat misguided version of how the Internet will help their business.

There seems to be a belief that the Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams movie line, “If you build it, they will come” applies to websites.

It’s as if you build a website and suddenly hundreds of new customers will appear.  That just because you’ve built a website the search engines will suddenly give you a page 1 ranking.

The reality is that if you consider how many websites there are competing for the search engine’s attention, and then consider that the search engines rank pages, not sites, you get some idea of the degree of difficulty. Read the rest of this entry »


simPRO Lite for Free for Your Subcontractors for 6 months!

March 5th, 2010 by Leslie
  • Love using simPRO?

  • Wish your subcontractors would start using a system that integrates with your simPRO?

  • Wish you could simply send a job straight into your subcontractors system?

For a limited time Acorn Software is offering you the option to give a full copy of simPRO Lite to your subcontractors.

That’s a saving of $480+gst!

This way you will be able to send jobs to the subcontractor directly out of your simPRO Enterprise which will appear into their simPRO Lite system for processing. How easy is that? Read the rest of this entry »


simPRO Pens Link to Xero

February 26th, 2010 by admin

simPRO Digital Pens now link to Xero: We show you how easy it is to fill out a service invoice form and have it sent straight into the Xero accounting software in real-time while you are on the road!


Invitation to Attend ActionCOACH International Event with Brad Sugars

February 12th, 2010 by admin

simPRO is all about helping you manage your business and getting the best systems & processes in place to take control of your business to get it to deliver the results you want. Over the years we have worked with ActionCOACH International to provide insights to business practises & processes that can help. Now we have partnered with both ActionCOACH and Xero to provide you with access to an invitation only event presented by Brad Sugars, the founder of ActionCOACH.

Here are the details:

In February 2010 Brad will be returning to Australia for a 7 cities tour to explain exactly why “Business Is Booming”
• Establish your vision and drive to take your business to the next level.
• Walk away with an abundance of proven successful business strategies.
• Discover confidence in yourself and in your business.
• Learn the 5 most important metrics towards financial improvement.

This is a FREE by invitation only event, so don’t forget to book your seat! Read the rest of this entry »


As a simPRO user, you are now eligible for exclusive pricing through simPRO’s relationship with MyOwn Tel

February 8th, 2010 by admin

What is MyOwn Tel?

MyOwn Tel is a world-class, community focused telecommunications provider specialising in the delivery of community based telephone and internet services that deliver competitive prices and value to our customers.

You’re probably wondering where the ‘community’ aspect of our service comes into play.  We tailor our services to individual communities and have created a simPRO Community business phone plan that we believe will meet the needs and expectations of your business.

MyOwn Tel can assist your business with:

  • Fixed Office lines
  • Mobile Telephones
  • Broadband

We believe ‘community’ and ‘communication’ go hand in hand. That’s why we provide you with the best landline, mobile and broadband at fully guaranteed levels; fully supported by Australia’s largest and most reliable networks.

We offer an obligation-free analysis of your telecommunications costs to identify where savings can be made.

Please quote “SIMPRO” to ensure your eligibility for the special pricing on offer.


simPRO Community Business Plan

Line Rental $35.95
Local Calls 15c
STD Flagfall 11.5c
STD Calls 12c / minute
Fixed to Mobile Flagfall 11.5c
Fixed to Mobile 25c / minute

Call Caps!

Pay no more than $1.10 for 10 minutes 24/7 whether you call a landline or mobile

Calls are billed in per second increments which means you only pay for what you use.

All prices include GST and are only applicable to businesses that are part of the simPRO community.


If you’d like to take advantage of the special pricing that simPRO have secured for its users, you can request a visit from an Account manager by calling 1300 859 152 or visiting www.MyOwnTel.com.au