Creative Manager Pro, Ad Agency Software and Project Management Groupware for Creative and Design firms, has released version 8.0 adding over 65 enhancements, focused on client requested enhancements throughout the application, and adding a speed bump for Safari users.
September 23, 2005
Lakewood NJ-based Creative Manager, Inc., (http://www.CreativeManagerPro.com) provider of Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro, has released version 8.0, with improvements to traffic management. This month's list of enhancements is focused squarely on enhancements requested by users of the company's flagship products.
With its version 8.0, Creative Manager Pro has added a new screen to the traffic management tool that now shows task deadlines across multiple projects in an easy to read grid view. Traffic Managers will more easily be able to adjust schedules, reassign work, and stay on track with multiple projects.
No installation or conversion will be necessary, and the update is free to all users of Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro. All client logins and vendor logins are free.
Creative Manager Pro's media module has been greatly enhanced with a new and easier way to track and bill orders. Media orders no longer have to be tied to a job or task for billing. The invoice format options have also been modified to offer every conceivable way to group and report media bills to clients.
Setting up Creative Manager Pro has never been easier. Set up screens have been organized into multiple areas guiding new users to ten simple screens needed for basic setup. The default data set has been improved and the firm continues to expand on the library of on-demand flash training videos. To accompany these changes is a new implementation guide to step help get new users up and running quickly.
Ron Ause, Director of Marketing for Creative Manager, Inc., said "Our clients came to us with their list of requests, and today's release is our answer to them. Over 65 enhancements just for them. We're Always Listening!"
Creative Manager Pro continues to invest, adding new features which work with Apple's latest Tiger Mac OS X Unix-based Operating System and Microsoft Windows.
Accounting functionality in Creative Manager Pro also continues to improve with the addition of reversing journal entries, credit card processing, and new expended hierarchy of reporting by Parent Company > Client > Division > Product. Income statements can now be run by a range of classes, and the mass billing function can now automatically generate one invoice for multiple projects.
When asked about the new upgrade, Ause said "When it comes to accounting for the numbers in a creative firm, we continue to pour our resources into helping our clients grow. When they are able to view their numbers, ratios and metrics as they grow, planning for growth becomes second nature."
The following are some of the details of the current update: Billing Enhancements
* We have added the ability to process credit cards directly from within Creative Manager. We currently support on the Payflow Pro system, but others are in development. If you use a specific provider, please notify our support department to determine if we can support it for you.
* When inputting an invoice, you can now apply an unlimited number of sales tax codes to an invoice and select these sales tax codes on a line item by line item basis.
* You can now mark billable items as On Hold so that they can be billed separately from a main billing run.
* Estimates are now auto numbered for you based on the project number and a sequential number. This gives you a unique reference to an estimate making them easier to find and reference. We have also added a new listing view of estimates which allows you to view all estimates across your projects.
* We have expanded the visibility of dates for insertion and broadcast orders in the billing and invoicing process making it easier for you to bill clients for specific media orders.
* We have enhanced the mass billing section of the system with several requested enhancements.
* You can now specify the invoice and posting dates for all invoices
* You can create invoices that combine projects by client or by parent company.
* We have created a new special media billing screen with enhanced options for selecting and invoicing media orders.
* We have also enhanced the printing of media orders on invoices giving you 5 levels of grouping and the flexibility to choose the columns that show up on the invoice detail.
* In the billing worksheet report, you can now view the budget for the task or item if you use one of these grouping options.
* The invoice write off process has been enhanced to automatically create a credit for that client that will hit your write off account. This give you better control over the posting date and amount that is written off.
Calendar Enhancements
* When adding a calendar event, the system will now warn you if anyone who is attending the meeting has a conflict with that time.
* You can now set up global and personal distribution groups for the calendar. now you can select a group of people to add to an event rather than selecting them one by one.
Purchasing Enhancements
* We have enhanced the printing of orders within our purchasing system with options like:
* The ability to link specification sheets from projects to Quotes, Purchase Orders, Insertion Orders and Broadcast Orders
* The ability to print Net and Gross on a media order
* You can now have the default expense account on a vendor invoice either default from the vendor or the selected item.
Project Management Enhancements
* The reassignment function on project has been enhanced allowing you to reassign specific assignments or everything on a project. You can even reassign everything from one person to another across all projects.
* You can now link your projects to client products and divisions for better reporting on your larger clients
* When creating a project, you can now set up predefined team that will assign specific people to the project for you.
* We have added a new scheduling view that allows you to look at your projects like that old excel spreadsheet that you are used to. You can specify a standard set of task ID's in a layout and the system will create a virtual spreadsheet for you to review and edit tasks and assignments.
* We have added a flag to tasks that allows you to flag them as special administrative tasks. Now you can limit people to just charging time to tasks they are assigned to and set up administrative projects to track vacation and sick days. The system will let you flag the Vacation task as open to anyone for time entry making it easier to administer these projects.
* You can now specify that the system will NOT use actual dates to update the plan. Many clients have told us that they would prefer that the system not update the plan with actual dates entered by people.
* The creative brief has been expanded from 8 to 12 sections.
General Enhancements
* We have modified the setup screens by separating them into different sections based on how far along you are in your implementation. We have also added some new implementation guides that we hope will make it easier and faster for you to get up and running.
* You can now add a new time sheet from the My Assignments screen without needing to leave the screen.
* When running the financial reports, you can now select a group of class ID's for a report or view only the transactions that have no class on them making it easier to view your financial reports for special projects, divisions or other needs.
* We have expanded the size of the time sheet comment field from 300 characters to 1000.
* You can now specify a journal entry as auto reversing and the system will post a reversing entry on the first day of the next calendar month.
* You can now specify that a sync from Outlook or the Mac address book will not delete any server side records. This can help with the accidental loss of data during a sync process.
* You can now search for contacts using skills and specialties in the main contact search screen.
* If you have the ability to manage other people's calendar, but you don't want to see other people's requests for meeting approvals, you can now turn this off on the dashboard part by editing the settings on that section.
* You can now select the time and frequency of the daily updates. You can even set different times to have the missing time notification, overdue time sheets and project budget notifications to be sent out.
Creative Manager Pro goes beyond costing to offer full Project Management, CRM, Digital Asset Management, billing and accounting, and Extranet capabilities.
Creative Manager Pro (at http://www.CreativeManagerPro.com), is the only Ad Agency software and Project Management Software for the Creative Design industry, created exclusively for design firms, ad agencies, in-house creative/MarCom departments, and creative service firms. It is a web-based integrated project management software and job tracking solution which streamlines the entire firm, from developing new business, to staffing, managing, and executing projects through to accounting and financial reporting.
Creative Manager Pro is a full-featured, intuitive system which makes project and ad agency management a breeze. Creative Manager Pro supports Customer Relationship Management, Document Management, Shared Calendaring, Accounting and much more. Because it is web-based, there is nothing to install and it can be set up in a single day. It works with both PC and Macintosh from any location over any connection. It may also be installed locally on the client's own servers. All options include training and support to ensure that clients are up and running quickly.
Among the many features of Creative Manager Pro:
- Graphically view your firm's metrics - manage your firm by the numbers.
- Manage Contacts and Leads
- Create Project Schedules, Calendars and Manage Tasks
- Take your contacts and calendar on the road with iCal, AddressBook & Outlook
- Approve Timesheets, Purchasing, Billing and Budgets
- Review and Approve Artwork Online
- Store and Manage Digital Assets
- Manage and Balance the Books
- Free client and vendor access to streamline workflow.
- Quick startup/import from Clients & Profits, Adman and other systems
- Full-featured CRM (Client Relationship Management)
- Extranet capabilities
- Manage media with an interface to the Strata Media Buying systems
- Charting of important industry metrics and firm statistics
The team members at Creative Manager, Inc. have been leaders in ad agency software and project management software for the creative industry and on the Mac OS for over 26 years. They provide their creative clients with two major offerings: Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro. Both programs work seamlessly with the Mac OS and Windows.
Creative Manager Pro - Ad Agency Software and Project Management Software
