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QXpress version 6.0 (QX6) Release
QXpress version 6.0 (QX6) is the most significant version of QXpress ever
released, promising to revolutionize service industry businesses using
QuickBooks.
The QX6 release has the following highlights:
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To read a detailed step-by-step manual of how to use these new features, click
here.
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New for QXpress Standard,
Gold, Platinum and Enterprise:
- QuickBooks 2006 compatibility.
- QX SyncTM
is perhaps the biggest feature of QX6. This new feature
virtually eliminates the need to click Get new QB data, providing you are using
QuickBooks Pro 2004 or greater. QX Sync is a program that silently listens for
changes to QuickBooks. Whether it is adding a new employee, editing an item, or
merging two QuickBooks customers, QX Sync will detect the change instantly, and
update the changes in your QXpress database - regardless of whether QXpress is
even open. QX Sync confirms QXpress's committment to having the tightest
QuickBooks integration of any service industry software.
- New Module: QX MobileTM
for Pocket PC - QX Mobile revolutionizes the experience for QXpress
users. Imagine you and your staff taking a mini-version of QXpress out with you
in the field. Unlike the QXDC that was mainly meant as a job costing tool, QX
Mobile allows you to take all customer information, history, contact events, and
services out with you in the field. You have full read/write capabilities on all
data, and can add new customers, services, and items in the field and have it
sync back perfectly with QXpress. And get this: QX Mobile can by synced
wirelessly in the field, from a cradle in your crew members home, or using a
cradle back at the office. Did we mention you can even print estimates, work
orders and invoices in the field, as well as capture signatures from your
clients? QX Mobile requires a separate purchase and is designed for Pocket
PC devices only, not Palm OS or Blackberry.
- QX FormsTM
- These forms are industry specific and will be available in a
pre-printed format. When you purchase the pre-printed forms they will come with
your logo, boxes, lines, and colored shading. QXpress will print the field
labels, and data. This way you can still change the wording, and the data fields
used, using the Template Designer.
- QX MappingTM -
Recommend available time - Imagine you are sitting in front of
My Calendar, in the Day View, looking at all your crews for
the next three days, and a phone call comes in. It is a customer, and they want
a service call. Your job is to slot them into the calendar for a day, crew, and
time. It's a tough job because you need to find an available time slot that
minimizes the drive time to and from existing services that are already
scheduled. This is the purpose of the Recommend available time feature,
as it will do all necessary calculations automatically for you! This new
feature requires the QX Mapping module.
- QX MappingTM -
Re-route Current Date Range - This has been a long requested feature
from pest control, lawn / tree spraying, and other industries who need to route
days or weeks of work in a geographical manner. Imagine you have scheduled all
of your customers who receive a service in the first two weeks of July. It does
not matter which day or time these services are on, and it doesn't matter which
crew does them, it just matters that they are done in the two week time frame
with as little drive time as possible. The new Re-route Current Date Range
feature will automate your rescheduling and routing for you, and help you group
which customers should be serviced on which day. This new feature requires
the QX Mapping module.
- QX MappingTM -
Lock/Unlock Date - This feature compliments the Re-route Current
Date Range feature by allowing you to specify some services that should not
be re-routed to a different day. This new feature requires the QX Mapping
module.
- Recurring Scheduling - Turn off Automatic Rescheduling - You'll
now see a new checkbox labelled Turn off Automatic Rescheduling for
this service under the Recurring Dates tab, when scheduling a recurring
service with the basis of Weekly, Biweekly or Other Intervals. Normally, when
services of this type are rescheduled, QXpress looks at the basis and minimum
days, and looks to rearrange future services so that they are not too close or
far away from one another. While this is desired by most users, it can cause
problems for users who want full control over rescheduling. Therefore selecting
this checkbox turns off all QXpress automatic rescheduling features.
- Other Intervals - Min days per interval - When scheduling a
recurring service with the basis "Other Intervals", you'll see the Other
Intervals tab has been redesigned to allow a different Min days per
interval. Previously QXpress had one min days for the entire service.
- Min, Max & Done textboxes - select all when entered - Now when
you tab into the Min, Max and Done fields under the
Recurring Dates tab, the full value inside the box highlights, making
it easier to overwrite. Previously you had to delete the existing values before
you could start entering your own.
- Crew Name added to Crew dropdown list in My Calendar - Due to
many requests, we have added the Crew Name to the Crew
dropdown list in My Calendar.
- Setting default crews, deleting crew ‘001’ and ‘n/a’ - You can
now specify default crews for new customers, billing installments, and services
added to the Waiting List. Setting these defaults to crews other than
‘001’ or ‘n/a’ now allows you delete these crews - a very common request from
QXpress users.
- Defaults for Start and Stop Scheduling dates - For recurring
services, there is now a way to set a default start and stop scheduling date per
charge description, saving you from always having to manually change the dates
in the Recurring dates tab.
- Waiting List - State/Province field added - For companies that
perform services in multiple states or provinces, we have added the
State/Province field as an available field to the Waiting List.
- Waiting List - Available in the List View - The Waiting
List is no longer limited to just the Day View, it can now be used
in the List View as well.
- Generate Batch Invoices - Invoice Date field - When generating
invoices, you now have a new Invoice Date field in the Generate
Batch Invoices screen. By default, today's date will be recommended, but
you can always change this date before generating invoices. The Invoice Date can
be set in the future or a date in the past.
- Generate Batch Invoices - Bill To Address added to Sort By -
When generating Type 1 or Type 4 invoices, the Sort By dropdown list
now includes "Bill To Address 1" and "Bill To Address 2".
- Post Invoices to QuickBooks - speed and stability increase - We
have changed the process to send batches of 25 invoices over at a time, as
opposed to the whole batch at once. We have found that the larger the batch, the
longer it takes QuickBooks to process each invoice, and QXpress users are
clicking CTRL-ALT-DEL because they think that QuickBooks and QXpress
are frozen, when really they are not. By sending over batches of 25 at a time,
it will be faster, and more predictable in speed. From your standpoint, though,
you won't notice any additional steps, because you only have to click Post To QB
once, and QXpress will handle processing the batches of 25 at a time by itself.
- Post Invoices to QuickBooks - Balance column - We have added a
Balance column to the Post Invoices to QuickBooks screen.
- Post Invoices to QuickBooks - Edit Invoice button - You can now
edit invoices directly from the Post Invoices to QuickBooks screen.
- Template Designer - Drill-down reports - This is a great
feature for the hard core Template Designer enthusiasts. You can now make your
own drill-down reports similar to the built-in QXpress Job Costing and
Gross Status reports. A drill-down report hides the details of a group
section until you double-click on the group header.
- Template Designer - New CUSTOMDATE formula - You can now use a
new formula called 'CUSTOMDATE' to produce virtually any date or time format you
like.
- Template Designer - New MONEYTOTEXT formula - TD2 now has a new
MONEYTOTEXT formula which formats a numeric value into written text. This will
commonly be used for proposals or contracts. For example, you would use
MONEYTOTEXT(({Root.JobSetupAmount})) if you wanted the Job Setup Amount of
$110.17 to appear as "one hundred and ten dollars and seventeen cents".
- Charge Descriptions - Make Inactive - You can now set
Charge Descriptions to be inactive, so they no longer appear in your list
for new services or Job Items.
- Charge Descriptions - Filtering - The Charge Description
list now allows you to use filter options to quickly find Charge
Descriptions.
- Equipment screen - filter options - The Equipment
screen has filter options on top of the list to help you find Equipment
faster.
- Equipment screen - Customer Assignment - Many QXpress users,
mostly in the Plumbing and HVAC industries, maintain specific equipment on
properties. The new Customer Assignment feature allows you to assign a
specific piece of equipment to a specific customer, and have this equipment
listed in the Customer screen.
- Customer screen - Sorting saved for History & Schedule tabs-
When you are in the Customer screen, under either the Schedule
or History tab, you can click on a column header to have it sort by
that column. In past versions when you edit a service while it is sorted,
however, QXpress would reset the sorting back to the original order, causing you
to have to resort the list again, find the position you were on, and then edit
the next service. In QX6 the sorting will be saved for you, saving you this
hassle.
- Startup Interview - multiple selection - The Startup
Interview gives new users the ability to select multiple industries they
are involved in, instead of just one main industry.
- Add / Edit Customer screen - Formatting of phone numbers - When
adding or editing a customer, if the phone number begins with 10 digits, the
phone number will automatically format to a (###) ###-####.
- Add / Edit Customer screen - Autofill from Zip / Postal Code -
When adding a new customer, try entering in the Zip / Postal Code
first. QXpress will check to see if other customers in your database have that
Zip / Postal Code, and if so, it will automatically fill in the
City, State and Country for you.
- Login Form - only appears for users with login permissions - In
QX6, the Login Form only shows if you have setup login permissions in
QXpress Platinum or Enterprise. Otherwise, QXpress will simply open using the
last database you accessed.
- Startup Screens - Replaced with Startup Alert - In prior
versions of QXpress, you would be prompted by several startup screens asking if
you wanted to renew services, reschedule services, create invoices, and compact
your database. These prompts have now been consolidated into one new Startup
Alert screen making it faster to open QXpress each day.
New for QXpress Gold, Platinum and Enterprise:
- ALL QXPRESS STANDARD FEATURES
- Post Service Times to QuickBooks - Include Notes option -
QXpress users with many service times found the Notes field
makes the Employee Timesheet in QuickBooks hard to read, and
un-necessary. Therefore, in the Post Service Times to QuickBooks screen
there is a new checkbox Include Notes.
- Job Packages - Set missed visits to Needs Renewal - When adding
Job Packages to a customer's account, you'll see a new checkbox labelled Set
missed visits to Needs Renewal. If you have this checkbox selected, QXpress
will analyze each service in the Job Package. If the service is a Zone based
service, and the Approximate Service Date of the service is in a month
prior to the current month, the status will automatically be set to Needs
Renewal instead of Active. This means the service will not be performed this
year, but will be made available for the renewal process next year. This is
intended mainly for companies that perform several seasonal services, and pick
up customers half way through the year.
- Default Job Items - Apply settings to Pending Services - There
is now a feature to apply the default Job Items for a service across all
existing services. For example, imagine you have setup hundreds of customers
with "Service A". As part of Service A, you always use 1 unit of Material A and
2 units of Material B for every 1000 square feet of property size. If, half way
through the year, you make changes to the service to now substitute Material A
and Material B with just 1 unit of a new material called Material C, you would
have a huge amount of work on your hands changing all the services one-by-one.
This new feature, however, changes all existing services with a single click.
- Surcharges (a.ka. Fuel Surcharges) - You can
now setup Surcharges (usually Fuel Surcharges) in QXpress to be calculated
automatically when you create invoice.
- Customer screen - Sorting of Custom Fields - Custom fields, in
the Customer screen, of the type 'Dropdown list' now sort
alphabetically. Previously they sorted in the order entered.
- Refresh button in My Calendar speed increase - Databases with
over 2000 customers should see a speed increase when you click Refresh
in My Calendar. This is across all versions of QX6, but especially in
the new QXpress Enterprise version.
- New menu style - When you right-click, or choose from the
File/Edit/View/Lists... menus, you'll see menus have a new Windows XP type of
style. The new style enables us to use icons for common operations you perform,
making it easier for you to navigate throughout QXpress.
New for QXpress Platinum and Enterprise:
- ALL QXPRESS GOLD FEATURES
- Project Scheduling - Reschedule dates later/earlier
- One common request from QXpress users who have long multi-day projects is for
an easier way to reschedule future visits. The Reschedule dates later/earlier
feature allows just this. It pushes all visits in the project later or earlier
by a set number of days, in an easy and quick way.
- Project Scheduling - New view for Date Summary tab - The
Date Summary tab now shows Dates along top of the Project Visits grid,
instead of times. This allows you to get an easy overview of what tasks are
planned for which dates.
- Act. Mat Usage - Automatic Job Items - Now when you are
entering material usage in the Act. Mat Usage tab you don't necessarily
have to have the material already setup as a Job Item. The list of
materials to choose from first lists existing Job Items, but then also
lists materials that are not yet Job Items. When you a choose a
material that is not yet a Job Item, QXpress will automatically make
that material a Job Item for you, saving you several steps.
- Act. Service Times & Job Cost Timesheet - Automatic Job Items -
Similar to the Act. Mat Usage - Automatic Job Items feature, when
entering service times you are no longer limited to the existing Job Items,
as you can choose a service that has not yet been made a Job Item.
- Act. Service Times - Fill Crew Members - The Fill crew
members for all that have times entered feature, that was previously only
available in the Job Cost Timesheet, is now available in the Act.
Service Times tab as well.
- Act. Service Times - Distribute Times - The Distribute
times to selected services feature has also been added to the Act.
Service Times tab, as it was previously only available in the Job Cost
Timesheet.
- Fill crew members screen - Crew dropdown - A Crew
dropdown list has been added to the Fill crew members screen. This
allows you to easily choose members of a different crew from whom was originally
scheduled for the service.
- Job Cost Timesheet - Inactive Employees - In past versions of
QXpress, inactive Employees would never show in the Employee column in the
Job Cost Timesheet. This was due to the fact that you didn't want to
mistakenly choose an inactive employee and record time for them. The problem,
however, is that when scanning through old history, employees that had since
been turned inactive would only show up as numbers where their names used to be
- making it impossible to know who the recorded the time was for. Therefore, a
new rule has been set. If the From and To dates in My Calendar
are both greater than 7 days ago, the Job Cost Timesheet will be
assumed to be showing history and therefore will load inactive employees,
otherwise only active employees will load.
- Job Cost Timesheet - Resizing - You can now resize the Job
Cost Timesheet like you could previously with the Customer screen,
Equipment List, Charge Description List, etc.
- Custom Field speed increase in the Customer screen - Scrolling
through custom field tabs in the Customer screen has been redesigned so
that it is significantly faster - especially if there are over 1000 customers in
your database.
New for QXpress Enterprise: (ALL NEW VERSION!!!!)
- ALL QXPRESS PLATINUM FEATURES
- After over two years of development, we are pleased to announce that the
Enterprise version is now available! This modified version of QXpress uses
Microsoft's SQL Server Desktop Engine for its database. QXpress Enterprise
offers medium and large sized service companies a solution with enhanced
database stability and superior speed - all while maintaining the ease of use of
QXpress. For an example in speed, during our internal tests we found that large
databases with multiple users logged in across a network, were able to click
Refresh in My Calendar with about a 1 to 3 second pause time, while Route Lists,
Work Orders and Invoices loaded in approximately 2 to 5 seconds with the
Template Designer. To test drive QXpress Enterprise contact your sales rep, or
call general sales at 1.877.529.6659 ex 1. They will be able to get you a free
test run on Enterprise.
To compare QXpress versions and features click here.
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