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QuickBooks TIMESHEET
Groupe A.G.I. launched in December 2002 the Abak Small
Business, Abak Professional and Abak Enterprise specifically developed
for the Quickbooks timesheet 2002 and 2003 products including Quickbooks timesheet Pro
2003 and QuickBooks Premier 2003. The flawless data integration between
the QuickBooks products and Abak will allow the company to access a
huge basin of small businesses and will solidify the software's
position as the Time & Billing market leader.
"We are extremely confident that the companies that opt for Quickbooks timesheet
to manage their business finances will also turn to Abak to manage
time, expenses, projects and to invoice their customers. We feel
certain that Abak will cause quite a stir. Already, the phone is
ringing off the hook for advance copies, "said Guy Boisvert, president
and CEO of Groupe AGI Inc.
Abak 6.0 is offered in three different versions. For smaller firms, the
Small Business version accepts up to 50 employee timesheet uses, while
the Pro and Enterprise versions allow for an unlimited employee
timesheet numbers.
In 1995, Guy Boisvert was an information technology consultant, but
then the firm for which he worked was sold. Like most of his
colleagues, he found himself without a job but certainly not without
resources, as described in the French language magazine PME (April 2000
edition).
It was also important for AGTI to reduce the time to enter timesheets
by their approximately 200 consultants and to generate invoices. In
addition, management required flexibility in reporting. The Solution lied in the PSA products that AGTI considered were weak in WIP and too expensive. In Abak, AGTI found an affordable timesheets solution that met their requirements.
The Abak system manages timesheets, expense accounts, projects, WIP,
invoicing, and integrates with a number of accounting software
solutions. Abak was developed by the Groupe AGI (no relation to AGTI)
in Montreal, which started selling the timesheets system in 1997. There are now about 300 clients from a variety of industries including accounting
firms, engineers, architects, and consulting firms.
Abak is not as well known as some of the other timesheet packages
reviewed. But this timesheet package is well-established in Canada,
and the vendor is increasing its U.S. presence. We received Abak version
5 to review, as well as a beta copy of version 6, which is now readily
available.
This new version of the timesheet will change the way in which the
software is configured and accessed. The timesheet will be multi-tiered,
with the database separate from the application, though both of these
components can reside on the same PC.
New for this version, the program has adopted a user interface that is
similar to Outlook, multiple currency invoicing, fast timesheet entry
and client request processing functions. Abak provides mid- and
large-sized professional services firms with a tool to ensure accurate
invoicing. The program helps to prevent double-entry errors and offers
better control of subcontractors, vendors and resources.
Computer consulting companies prefer to keep their consultants billable
rather than working on internal activities. However, AGTI management
realized the importance of improving the internal business process, and
allocated resources to get the job done. It was not just a question of
training staff on how to use the new timesheet product. The training sessions reminded the consultants of the importance of submitting their timesheet “on time”, and helped ensure that they all understood the meaning of the timesheet coding scheme used by the company such as for non-billable activities including training, marketing, holidays, vacations, sickness, and leave of absence.
Abak Enterprise is the fullest version of the time sheet software.
It is perfect for a company with a more complex organizational
structure: multiple currency and taxing structures, managing employee
time banks, extended invoicing capacities, manage subcontractor’s
productivity and efficiency, automatic invoicing.
Abak comes in three different editions to meet the needs of any size
business from solo to the largest corporation. Abak Small Business
starts pricing at $125, Abak Professional starts at $300 and Abak
Enterprise version begins at $540. Abak time sheet software is
available directly from the company.
Unlike many of the time sheet software packages reviewed, which link
with QuickBooks and Peachtree accountings software, Abak can also
interface with some higher end accounting applications, such as the
Advantage Series by Accpac International.
Groupe AGI, enterprise efficiency optimization experts, is launching
Abak 6, an effortless time management software that allows companies
in the services industry to make every minute count.
Abak's time management software is project-based which means that you can invoice by project, by project phase, by client. You can generate batch
invoices and schedule invoices in advance. The project-based principle
means that you'll be able to track costs and benefits per project and
assign only the necessary resources by project.
For each review, we set up the time management software, walked through the company, staff and client set-up screens and entered time
information. We also printed reports and invoices. We looked for ease
of set-up, and features for time and expense entry, reports and
accounts receivable.
AGTI Consulting Services Inc. is an information technology consulting
firm based in Montreal and serving the Canadian market from offices
located in Montreal, Quebec City, Calgary and Victoria. AGTI has
experienced rapid growth since its founding in 1996. By the end of
2001, its consolidated business revenues had climbed to $38 million.
During 1999, it was clear to AGTI that their Excel-based systems were
not going to suffice, and they began their search for new time and attendance systems to track the time of their consultants and to bill their clients.
We believe information systems are key to business performance. Groupe
AGI works hand-in-hand with you to meet your business challenges. Our
primary goal is to provide you with time and attendance systems for your
business.
Our time and attendance systems are in keeping with the requirements of today's changing market. All of our products and tools have been fully tried and tested in real world environment. If the solution requires enhancements, we will make them. We take no chances with your success.
Abak Enterprise is the complete office project management software
for larger corporations that need unparalleled flexibility in managing
their employees, time, expenses, projects, and subcontractors, including
automatic features taking place throughout the software, thus,
streamlining the timekeeping and project management processes.
Abak, designed for companies of all sizes, is a time and billing and
project management software specifically designed to prevent underbilling
and lost time. Its management reporting capabilities allow detailed
analyses of productivity and workflow, for better control of clients,
sub-contractors, vendors and resources. With its Microsoft Outlook look
and feel, Abak is a workhorse for resource planning, budget management,
project management, time and expense management, report generation, and
work-in-progress analysis. Its already-powerful reporting features are
further enhanced with its ability to integrate with Crystal Reports.
Abak 6, the most recent version of Groupe AGI Inc.’s (727-561-9619);
www.abaksoftware.com client/server-based time and billing, workflow
and project management software package is a workhorse designed to
minimize lost time. The program is designed for all company sizes
(fully scalable) that need to control under-billing and manage their
client, sub-contractor and vendor relationships as well as monitor
their resources.
Groupe A.G.I. launched in December 2002 the Abak Small
Business, Abak Professional and Abak Enterprise specifically developed
for the Quickbooks timesheet 2002 and 2003 products including Quickbooks timesheet Pro
2003 and QuickBooks Premier 2003. The flawless data integration between
the QuickBooks products and Abak will allow the company to access a
huge basin of small businesses and will solidify the software's
position as the Time & Billing market leader.
"We are extremely confident that the companies that opt for Quickbooks timesheet
to manage their business finances will also turn to Abak to manage
time, expenses, projects and to invoice their customers. We feel
certain that Abak will cause quite a stir. Already, the phone is
ringing off the hook for advance copies, "said Guy Boisvert, president
and CEO of Groupe AGI Inc.
Abak 6.0 is offered in three different versions. For smaller firms, the
Small Business version accepts up to 50 employee timesheet uses, while
the Pro and Enterprise versions allow for an unlimited employee
timesheet numbers.
In 1995, Guy Boisvert was an information technology consultant, but
then the firm for which he worked was sold. Like most of his
colleagues, he found himself without a job but certainly not without
resources, as described in the French language magazine PME (April 2000
edition).
Tracking within Abak is centered on projects. Because billing for
special projects is an increasingly important aspect of most firms'
profitability, this project-centric tracking is a powerful tool for
better monitoring of time and attendance expended and dollars invoiced.
All of the time and attendance you enter can be billed in total on a
client-by-client basis or you can opt to select time by project.
Few categories of CPA applications have changed as dramatically over
the last few years as practice management, the group of applications
that include time and attendance, but go well beyond the jobs of capturing
time and preparing invoices.
Abak, Groupe AGI's effortless time & billing software solution, has been
specifically developed for QuickBooks® 2003 products.
Abak Time and Billing is an integrated time and expense management
system that allows employees to enter and approve timesheets and
expense reports from anywhere, at anytime, using a wide range of
techniques in a user-friendly format. Abak also allows you to generate
a wide range of reports in real time (work in progress, budget control,
WIP Aging, etc.)
"I am very happy with my new abak time and billing software and I
would be happy to provide a reference. It used to take me 2 weeks
(10 business days to complete my billing cycle). Last month I did it
in 3 days. Since this was my main objective in switching to abak time and billing software,
I am very satisfied in this regard. My invoices look far more professional and the
link with ACCPAC is working great. Since I also have more reports
directly from abak, I don't have to do anymore excel reports for clients
or internal purposes at month end. I found Abak intuitive to learn.
Abak, which emphasizes easy capture of time sheet and expenses
information, sports a Microsoft Outlook look and feel. Information is
entered into a "Detailed" time sheet where the user can select a client
or service (project), as well as service code (activity) information.
Having successfully penetrated the market among small professional
service firms with its time sheet and billing solution, Abak Software wanted
to grow its business by tapping clients with more employees and more
complex billing systems. To that end, the company needed to move from a
local database server model to an embedded client/server environment
that could manage larger amounts of information and increased user
loads without data corruption or loss, system downtime, installation
hassles, or other maintenance and support issues. The embedded server
also had to integrate easily within a Delphi environment for
hassle-free file migration to the upgraded system and client/server
database.
Groupe AGI wins the very coveted prize " DEVELOPER PARTNER ACCPAC OF
THE YEAR 2003 ".
The annual ACCPAC resellers' rendez-vous was held this year from August
17 to 23 for the first time in the beautiful city of Quebec, after
having been held previously in Las Vegas in 2002 and Orlando in
2001.This year, Groupe AGI (Abak) was awarded the ultimate prize,
coveted by more than 60 worldwide businesses represented at this event.
This honor, " Developer Partner of the year " aimed at rewarding the
developer of a system that integrated to the ACCPAC accounting software
and that illustrated itself among all the ACCPAC resellers during the
year.
There is no doubt that the technological advancement, stability and
user friendly qualities of the Abak time tracking software are no stranger to its
nomination. In addition, the excellent support and high standard
customer service given to our clients and resellers (more than 50
resellers to this date) by the AGI team are direct contributors to this
nomination. Abak time tracking software is a product that is very much appreciated by the ACCPAC resellers and their clients for its user friendly approach, its flexibility and its transparent integration to the ACCPAC software. This event has allowed us, through the praises of our partners, to confirm their appreciation of the product. Let's not forget the
excellent promotional work and the confidence demonstrated by our
resellers who, throughout the years, have contributed in maintaining
Abak in front of the competition with the quality of its product and
the professionalism of the service offered.
The time tracking software packages reviewed have a lot of similarities. That comes from their having been designed to meet the same basic need. They also do have some considerable differences. Making the right match between the time tracking software application and your firm requires that you have a good understanding of the work flow in your firm, and how the software needs to handle that aspect of the application.
If the application that you chose does not dovetail with the way your
firm and its staff works, there is likely to be a lot of resistance in
using the application, and you won’t be meeting the goals you set in
adopting a time tracking software application.
Abak Pro is a more powerful version of the timesheet software. Its extensive
invoicing and report generating capabilities are unparalleled while
enabling more “in-depth” budgeting capabilities to individual projects
than the Abak Small Business version. Thus, also enabling more powerful
management capabilities for organizations that have a larger number of
projects and employees.
Abak Professional timesheet software is the perfect solution to manage time, expenses, and
detailed specifics within a project, as well as invoicing with
precision and integrity and generating various reports in real time.
After timesheet software installation, the program opens into a highly
functional and attractive Windows environment that includes drop-down
menus for File, Management, Invoicing, Tools and Help across the top,
as well as a vertical icon toolbar field on the left. The timesheet software
toolbar provides tabs to move between the four primary tasking areas:
Enter, Management, Invoicing and Reports.
The Management, Invoicing and Reports tabs contain access-restricted
functions for managing clients, contacts, vendor billing and
productivity reports. From within these areas, billing defaults such as
rate structures, budget control, client timeslip entry and various other tasks are performed. The program can support an unlimited number of clients, staff and rates per staff member/client. It also allows the definition of timeslip activity and expense limits, billing schedules and management of fixed pricing files.
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