Thoughts on SaaS, Finance and Small Business

Jul 9, 2010

July release brings improved Tools, Reports and Organization

When you log in Monday July 12th, you’re going to have new options and features when you login to Virtual Time+Expense.

ENHANCED LAYOUT

A BRIGHTER, CLEANER LAYOUT

This new release brings a stronger color coordination to groups of timecards, expenses and invoices. Below is an image taken from the Review section. The columns and icons have been improved as well- to view the approval history click on Approved. To View or Modify, click on the magnifying glass icon.


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NEW ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS

VTSYNC IS NOW IN PRODUCT

Launch the synchronization process within Virtual Time+Expense! Now when you need to bring data from your accounting software – like QuickBooks – simply click the link in the settings menu to bring up VTSync!

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SEND EMAIL LOGIN NOTIFICATIONS

Now you will be able to email your new users once you’ve set up their login information. Simply check the users you’ve set up and click Send Login Info (note that this will change the user’s password).

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NEW ADMINISTRATIVE FEATURES

SUBTOTALS ARE BACK

Back by popular demand are subtotals in reports. For example, you can easily see how many hours each employee has worked on a specific project.

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NEW REPORT OPTIONS

There are now two options when you’d like to save reports. The Download Report function saves reports in a manner consistent to what appears on the screen whereas clicking on Download CSV saves the information in a flattened, spreadsheet-friendly file.

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Jun 21, 2010

USA Today says: Software-as-a-service gives small business powerful tools

USA Today says that small business owners have access to “a mother lode of technology that can free precious cash and manpower is available to them as in no other time in history.” They’re right.

There’s the old way of running of a business and there’s the new way, fueled by Software-as-a-service (SaaS) programs like Virtual Time+Expense. The reporter highlights Glen Smith, CEO of Commercial Retrofitters and Recyclers, who had his work computers stolen. If he was running a traditional small business, he would have had to spend a fortune on new computers, programs and data recovery. Empowered by SaaS programs, he was able to resume his business in a day.

It’s not just SaaS programs, it’s cloud computing that drives them. According to research firm IDC, growth in spending on cloud services by U.S. companies with 100 or fewer employees is projected to grow from $2.4 billion this year to $4.1 billion in 2013. But what is cloud computing, anyway? Cloud computing is internet-based computing that allows you to access applications and services on-demand, anytime, anywhere. Virtual Software is cloud computing and SaaS, allowing you to do your work online, anytime on-demand, free of the worries of software installations, maintenance updates and big upfront costs.

Perhaps more than anything, this quote highlights the long-term advantages of Cloud-empowered SaaS programs: “This technology allows you to do more with less,” says Bruce Chatterley, CEO of Speakeasy, a Seattle-based supplier of Internet phone systems. “Small business can now go toe-to-toe with big business.”

So if anyone asks you if you are using cloud computing or SaaS, you already are – with Virtual Software.

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Jun 4, 2010

NEW RELEASE SIMPLIFIES YOUR EXPERIENCE

FASTER EXPENSE REPORTS, UPDATED NAMES AND NEW BUTTONS

This new release focuses on ease of use and to that end, there are a few changes. While the functionality remains the same, several features have been added to match both the changing needs of our clients and to create a simpler, more accessible user experience.

Faster Expense Reports
If you’re creating multiple Expense Reports, there’s now a way to duplicate entire reports and line items – saving you time and speeding up the report process. Below is an example of duplicating line items.

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Updated Names
To better represent the different sections of Virtual Time+Expense, three headers have been changed. To Be Approved, To Be Processed and Admin become Approvals, Review and Settings, respectively.


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Revamped Buttons
Below is a guide contrasting the old with the new – the old buttons and sections are on the left, the new on the right.


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Easier Exports
When exporting Billable and Payables, VTSync now automatically opens – making it smoother to export data.

New Grouping for Approvals and Review
In both the Approvals and Review sections, a new grouping system has been implemented. Timecards that need to be approved or processed is grouped by week. Previously, there wasn’t a way to quickly select a week’s timecards – now you can simply check the box that will appear when you move your cursor over it to select all the timecards. Additionally, expense reports are now grouped by user and can be selected in the same manner as timecards.


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No action is required on your part and these improvements will be released on Monday, June 7th. Thank you for your continued business and enjoy the update!

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May 5, 2010

Welcome to Virtual Time + Expense 6.0!

The entire Virtual Software team is excited to go live with the 6.0 release! When you log in you will notice a new and improved look and feel – it’s a natural progression that improves legibility throughout the product, while maintaining the current functionality -ensuring a smooth transition for you and your team.

Overall, we’ve given the product a few common and consistent elements: A softer color theme, consistent table widths and summary information for all review pages. We have made a few differences that are worth giving you a preview of. Below are differentiated sections targeting the type of user you are within Virtual Time+Expense: time users, expense users, approvers and administrators.

Time Users

The layout of the Calendar has been streamlined with easier to understand colors and a simplified Status column on the right. You can enter your time by clicking on any day or using the Edit link in the same right column.

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The Weekly Time Entry screen remains generally the same, but implements a better use of space.  The action buttons at the bottom of the screen have been redesigned to make them more intuitive: The two primary buttons are now Submit All and Save and Close.

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Daily Time Entry has been streamlined as well. First, the sidebar on the left has been removed and the Summary information now appears at the top of the page, color coding the time by status.  This color coding is shown on each row of time as well.

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Expense Users

Expense Reports have also received a makeover – retaining the same functions, yet presented in a more intuitive manner. Below, the attachment feature is enabled as well.


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Approvers

The Approval Page has been streamlined to include the new summary information, while easy-to-use filters allow you to change how the page is viewed without clicking a reload button.

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Processors/Administrators

Reviewing time and expenses has taken a big leap forward with tabs on the To Be Processed screen that enables you to filter what you see, including All, ApprovedUnapproved, and Unsubmitted Timecards. Additionally, the Process button has been moved to the bottom of the page to be more consistent with other review pages.

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And Finally…

That concludes our preview of the new release. Thank you all for your continued support and we look forward to your continued feedback and comments.

The Virtual Software Team

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Apr 15, 2010

VIRTUAL TIME+EXPENSE HAS NEVER LOOKED SO GOOD

VIRTUAL SOFTWARE, THE NEW RELEASE, AND THE IPAD: A TEASER

There are a lot of words in that title, but everything’s true.

Virtual Software’s coming out with a new release. It retains the functions that make Virtual Time+Expense the most effective time and expense tracking tool available while completely overhauling and updating the look.

Unfortunately, we’re not posting detailed pictures just yet, but we do have a teaser: the new release running on an iPad

Check it out:

More »

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Apr 9, 2010

APRIL’S ALL ABOUT INTEGRATION

A QUICK OVERVIEW OF VIRTUAL SOFTWARE AND SMARTVAULT’S CONNECTIVITY

That’s right – Virtual Software and SmartVault are working together.

In this recent webinar, Virtual Software’s Marketing Manager Jason Woo works alongside SmartVault’s Claire Williams to showcase these two easy-to-use, readily accessible programs. Jason focuses on the complete functionality of Virtual Time+Expense – examining how it saves time for QuickBooks users by bypassing long charts and repetitive number entry for fast results. Williams narrows her presentation to the simplicity SmartVault offers in its upload and access capabilities. Together, Virtual Time+Expense and SmartVault create a complete package – two programs that complement each other: saving you time and money.

Virtual Software and SmartVault both want the same thing – your peace of mind. Check out the link below for ways to save time on data entry, upload files on the go, and how we’re proud to have created and partnered with SmartVault to present the definitive integrated solution for your all your time and expense needs.

We’ve got the video up on our YouTube channel which you can reach by clicking here or you can use the link below.

Virtual Software and SmartVault Integration Video

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Dec 30, 2009

New Feature: Expense Report Policies!

By popular demand, you can now set expense policies for each expense type. Highlights:

1. Require users to specify a Project
2. Force an expense type to be billable or non-billable
3. Force an expense type to be reimbursable or non-reimbursable
4. Default the check boxes to be billable or non-billable
5. Default the check boxes to be reimbursable or non-reimbursable
6. Set a maximum allowable amount for an expense type
7. Set a date range for the expense type (useful for mileage reimbursement rates, et al)

All of these settings are immediately available in the Expense Type settings page. Happy Holidays!

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Dec 30, 2009

New Feature: Pay Code and Department Code support for Paychex

Paychex payroll users can now hours worked and expenses reimbursements with custom Pay Code and Department Code information. The setup is easy and intuitive and the downloads are pre-formatted for easy uploads into Paychex Preview.

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Dec 30, 2009

Enhancement: Delete admin settings with a click

Use the new delete icons to remove excess and obsolete administrator settings with a click. You’ll find these icons throughout the administration section. They’re fun and easy to use so don’t get too carried away!

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Dec 30, 2009

Enhancement: Upload Progress Bar!

Watch how fast your files are transferring with the new upload widget. You’ll get to see all the important file information along with a visually gripping progress bar. Enjoy!

Finished progress bar 1

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