Setting Up Your Office:

Thinking ahead when setting up "Consult 2.0" will save hassles and allows flexibility in the future when things inevitability change.

'Consult 2.0' is a very flexible system. You can have multiple users logging time and expenses against multiple companies.

Each employee has their own "TimeSheet" database that stores time and expenses for any project or company they may work on/for. Each 'Company' configuration has a single designated 'Project' database file containing a list of projects or jobs that employees can log times and/or expenses against.

Walk through each of the scenario's below to understand how you can best set up your system.

Single Users:

Single users that work for themselves require only one 'TimeSheet' database and one 'Project' database file.
This layout produces a simple easy to understand and use configuration where the user or employee logs times (and expenses) against a single job list. Each time you get a new project in, add it to the list, then you can log times against it. At the end of the month you can print out a timesheet report that summaries how many hours you have spent on each project along with a summary of expenses and notes you may have left yourself.

Single User, Multiple Companies:

Easily configurable from the 'single user' state above, the user can add a new 'company' configuration.
A typical situation where this may be appropiate is where you work as a contractor. The main company you work for requires you to produce a timesheet printout summarising all the projects you worked on for them. They only want to see their projects in the summary and you don't want to show them details of the other companies you may do work for.

Multiple Users:

The most common scenario has a group of users sharing a single 'Project' database file. This would be used in a typical office setup.
Note that each user has their own timesheet database file storing their own information. They can each print out details of the projects they have worked on for the selected time period.
Also note that the same Project or Job information is visible to all user. If you (as one of the users) change the project details of a project then all users will see the results. This is a good way of insuring everyone has the latest contact telephone number or addresses on hand.

Complex Scenario's:

For more complex business configurations you can build multi-dimensional array where there are multiple project lists ('company' configurations) that individual empolyees could work for.
An example of this would in a larger company with different divisions (say an Architectural and an Engineering division). An employee could clock time against either division and produce a print out specific to their own projects.

 

Management Module:

The 'Consult 2.0' Management Module is an add-on package available from Visual Windows Software Ltd. and is used to bring the complex array of information together into a series of manageable reports.
The Management Module does not configure the layout of your system but it does help in overseeing it. Use the 'TimeSheet' package to create new 'Project' database files and the Management Module can be used to open that file and configure how that information is viewed and who can edit it.