What’s New in 4castplus

Update 2022, R1 Release | June 20, 2022

This is the R1, 2022 Release of 4castplus

This upgrade of 4castplus is rich with key new features, core infrastructure improvements and many enhancements to existing modules and workflows. As always, it also features many performance and usability improvements and bug fixes. There are many details that may not be included on this page, so please feel free to connect with your customer service representative to learn more.

Release Summary

Here is a summary of the upgrades, improvements and new features in R1 2022. Scroll down for further details on this and more further below.

Jobsite

Timesheets and Payroll

Project Procurement

Resource and Rates Management

Reporting

System Configuration

Budgeting, Forecasting and Project Controls

Project Management

Approvals, Vendor Invoice Matching

Jobsite

Timesheets and Payroll

Project Procurement

Resource and Rates Management

Reporting

System Configuration

Budgeting, Forecasting and Project Controls

Project Management

Approvals, Vendor Invoice Matching

Release Details

1. Jobsite

1.1 Timesheet

Updated Equipment “Save” to allow for updates of Third Party/Company setting for Equipment

1.2 Third Party Expenses

Updated Equipment “Save” to allow for updates of Third Party/Company setting for Equipment

1.3 Unit Progress

To improve performance and responsiveness of this module, we’ve removed the “Overage” check

1.4 Jobsite Report Designer

Added ‘Group By’ into Progress Section and update Sort Order behavior
Provide additional metrics in Total by Workpackage section:
1. Total Billed To Date
2. Total Billed To Date (In Progress)
3. Total Current Budget
4. Total Remaining Budget

2. Timesheets

2.1 Usability Improvements

Update to Save action to address occurrence of ‘deadlocks’ where users are attempting to save data in the same feature at the same time

2.2 Timekeeper

Bug fix re: unable to add hours when existing Contractor hours on the Timesheet have been added to a Vendor Invoice

2.3 Expenses

User interface update re: data entered to 2 decimal places is displayed rounded to whole number

2.5 Third Party Expenses

Update alert on import when Header tab has no data

3. Project Procurement and Subcontracting

3.1 Usability and User Interface Upgrades

In this upgrade, we’ve placed a lot of attention on improved performance and user experience.

Optimize Purchase Orders in performing all common actions, such as New, Commit, Undo Commit, etc, and overall loading of data
In keeping with more common language used, we’ve updated ‘Retainage’ to be labeled ‘Holdback’

3.2 Purchase Orders and Subcontracts

3.2.1 New “Package Print” feature

This allows users to select one or more documents, in addition to the purchase order (or subcontract) itself, to print as a merged PDF package.

3.2.2 More Enhancements to Purchase Orders and Subcontracts

Advance Payment feature has now been deprecated (removed)
Updated PO Commitment (Net) to include non-reimbursable Taxes when Tax Type setting is ‘Include in Project Cost”
Updated of PO Good Through date field to “Purchase Order End Date”

Update of Payment Schedule to use “Purchase Order End Date”, when provided
Users can now set the “Default” print format, based on the desired purchase order design, for each purchase order or subcontract.
Updated Requisition # in the ‘Add Items’ listing to include Requisition Description
Added WBS # to the Purchase Order Line item

3.2.3 Purchase Requisitions

Updated calculation behavior of Unit Revenue for Line Items on Fixed Price and Unit Price workpackages to not calculate Revenue by default
Added WBS # to the Cost Code selector in Requisition > Add Items workflow and Requisition Line Item
Added Accounting Code to Requisition > Select Items screen
Added markup percent to purchase requisition import template

3.2.4 Purchase Order Receiving

NEW: Updated Incurred Cost to include non-reimbursable tax calculation when Tax Type setting is “Include In Cost”

3.2.5 Procurement Reporting

Added “Holdback” to the purchase order “Item Details” report

3.3 E-Signatures on Purchase Order Approvals

4castplus users can now take advantage of a fully digital experience by leveraging the new e-signature feature in purchase order and subcontract approvals. Each approver on the workflow can add their signature – along with title and date – in the appropriate location of the contract. Once committed, the purchase order can then be digitally signed by the vendor through the 4castplus “Vendor Portal”.

Watch this quick intro video on purchase orders through to expediting

4. Resource and Rates Management

4.1 Labor & Equipment Profile Updates

4.1.1 Labor

Provide new Labor “Type” dropdown of Salary, Hourly and Contractor (see screenshot to the right)
Add Labor “Type” field to Labor Resource UI, Report and Import

4.1.2 Equipment

Updated Import sample to ‘intelligent’ format
Added Division to import sample

4.1.3 Materials

Updated Import sample to ‘intelligent’ format
Added Division to import sample

4.2 Rates Management

4.2.1 Billing Rate Tables

Updated alert re: Effective Date to exclude Completed, Cancelled and On Hold projects

4.2.2 Cost Rate Tables

Updated user interface issue with Cost Rate table rows misaligning when moving through pages or when Effective Date updated

5. Estimating, Budgeting, Forecasting and Change Orders

5.1 Estimating

Update to Fixed Price billing model to retrieve Mark-up % from the WBS on Calculate; provision of Overwrite Mark-up fields in the Estimate grid
Bug fix re: unable to override by updating % or Set Markup/Final Negotiated Price, when Estimate Imported with Unit Revenue on a Cost + or Fixed Price task
Bug fix re: Estimate Hours Total displaying as 0.00

5.2 Budget Revisions

Bug fix re: when project is duplicated and a Budget Revision with Lumpsum Estimate is created, error is received on Submit

5.3 Change Order Management

Added “sticky” feature to Affected Workpackage column chooser and ordering
Bug fix re: Manhours entered on Receipts and Direct to Invoice not included in Actual Hours

5.4 Forecasts and Progress Measurements

Provided additional option for calculation of FTC: Current Budget (BAC) – Earned Value (EV)
Bug fix re: View Filters do not display the Filters created in WBS
Bug fix re: cannot Save resource forecast rate revision when FTC Qty is blank

6. Project Reporting

6.1 New "Scheduled" Reports

To help improve system performance and enhance the user experience, we’ve moved the ‘Custom Template” reports to be run in the background and downloaded from a new “Scheduled Reports” area. This area can be found on the main navigation bar.

The main difference you’ll find is that reports are queued and scheduled to run at a time defined by the user. The report is then added to the Scheduled Reports area where it will process and show as available once complete.

6.2 Project Summary and Details Reports

6.2.1 Project Summary Report

Added ‘Deliverables’ to the project summary report (see screenshot to the right)
Added ‘Holdback’ to Project Summary Report > Details Tab
Added ‘Holdback’ to Summary By Vendor report

6.2.2 Project Details Report

Update to Labor ‘Base Rate’ to store value and Total Base Cost with Timesheet entry
Bug fix re: Project Detail report producing error when user opens separate project and then reloads the first project Report

6.3 Project Timeline Charts

6.3.1 Earned Value S Curve

Provided drop-down for selection of Open and Submitted Progress Measurements (see screenshot to the right)
Aligned data in report (financials and time-phasing) to data in selected Progress Measurement
Updated Earned Value on the Earned Value S-Curve Report to be based on Work Days and not Calendar Dates

6.3.1 Project Spend Forecast Curve

Updated Earned Value on the Project Spend Report to be based on Work Days and not Calendar Dates

6.4 Cost Code Report

User Interface improvement. In cases where a cost code is experiencing ‘negative variance’ remaining budget of less than zero, the font will show in red. Previously, the whole row would be highlighted in red.

6.5 Project Dashboard

Bug fix re: Manhours entered on Subcontracts through Direct to Invoice not included in Actual Hours

6.6 Project Productivity Report

Bug fix re: Forecast At Complete (FAC) Hours column not populating

6.7 Project Resources Reports

Improved design of the Labor Summary Excel Report

6.8 4castplus Support Scheduled Reports

Updated nightly email re: Workpackage Billing Tables with Effective Date later than Start Date of WP to consolidate all Projects and Workpackages into one email

6.9 Custom Templated Reports

6.9.1 WBS (Cost) and All Procurement Items templates

Added Fields:

Business Dimension
Division
Required At Site Date

6.9.2 Global All Procurement Items Template

Added Fields:

Business Dimension
Division
Required At Site Date

6.9.3 All Project Summary (Billable) template

Added all Cost fields from WBS Cost dataset

6.9.4 Project > All Procurement Items template

Added Fields:

Business Dimension
Customer
Division
Program
Required At Site Date

6.9.5 Dashboard > Global > All Procurement Items

Added fields:

Business Dimension
Division
Required At Site Date

6.10 Business Intelligence Reports

6.10.1 Project Reports

All Project Summary

Added ‘Holdback’ to All Project Summary – Cost report

Procurement Reports

Added ‘Customer’ and ‘Program’ to reports

Change Order Management Report

Updated Change Management grid to align all metrics with the Project > Change Management Report
Updated Excel Report format

6.11 Export Documents

6.11.1 Labor and Expenses

Provide “Filter” options of Project, Salary and Hourly

6.11.2 Transactions

Bug fix re: Services Resource is reflecting ‘Vendor Name’ as the Services Resource name

6.11.3 Vendor Invoices

Bug fix re: Billable Total does not include Vendor Invoice Matching Revenue Adjustment

7. System Configuration

7.1 Organization

7.1.1 Company Profile > Notifications:

Added “Real Time” frequency to Vendor Invoices Approved
Added “Real Time” frequency to My Timesheet
Added “Daily” frequency to Purchase Order > Submitted for Approval
Updated Misaligned Accounting Code Notification to ignore Original and Reversal transactions that have been added to an Adjustment entry

7.1.2 Form Numbering

Update Project Autonumbering to ensure that if a Project is not created the sequence should not be used

7.1.3 Resource Classes

Added Accounting Code “Name” in the dropdown list

8. Approvals, Vendor Invoice Matching and Administration

8.1 Approvals

8.1.1 All Approvals:

User Interface: Reposition tabs to Waiting for My Approval, My Approvals and All Approvals
Removed Date Range from Waiting for My Approval
Update DOA Approval workflow to interpret a threshold of 0 to be 0 and not unlimited
Added Submission event to Approval History
Bug fix re: Approver seeing Approvals pending with other users

8.1.2 Purchase Order Approvals

NEW: E-signature added to purchase order and subcontract Approvals
Update to interface to display Purchase Order item Details, Summary and Documents in sub-grid
Bug fix re: PO Amount (Base CCY) in Purchase Order Approvals > Waiting For Approval is not populating until after the Project Dashboard is Recalculated

8.1.3 Change Order Approvals:

Update to interface to display Change Order Item Details, Summary and Documents in sub-grid (see the screenshot to the right)

8.1.4 Vendor Invoices Approvals

Bug fix re: Approval Notifications selected in Notifications are being sent even when the Approval workflow not enabled

8.1.5 Jobsite Timesheet Approvals

Add ‘sticky’ to All Submissions re: Payroll and Non Payroll filter selection
Bug fix re: My Approvals (Non-Payroll) Receiving is not open for editing

8.1.6 Labor Timesheets Approvals

Bug fix re: My Timesheet Approver unable to modify the Comments in Labor Approvals from their own Timesheet

8.2 Vendor Invoice Matching - Invoice Tracking

8.2.1 Accrual Transactions:

NEW: Added ‘PO CCY’ values

8.2.2 Vendor Invoice Header:

NEW: Tax fields added to interface, with calculated taxes applied from the Purchase Order Receipt
NEW: Currency fields added with ability to match Vendor Invoices in their non-project Currency (see screenshot to the right)
Updated Submit for Approval workflow with Bypass Approval options

8.2.3 Vendor Invoice Items

NEW: Tax fields added to interface, with calculated taxes applied from the Purchase Order Receipt, and ability to Overwrite tax calculations.
NEW: Currency Adjustment fields (see screenshot to the right)

8.2.4 Accrual Report:

Added Holdback and Accounting Code to Report

8.2.5 Vendor Invoice Matching > Direct Invoices:

User Interface

Added ‘Holdback’ Summary and Purchase Order selection grids

Vendor Invoice Header:

NEW: Tax fields added to interface, with calculated taxes applied from the Purchase Order Receipt
Updated Submit for Approval workflow with Bypass Approval options

Vendor Invoice Items:

NEW: Tax fields added to interface.

Adjustments:

Updated Submit behavior to auto-save unsaved Adjustment Entries
Added Accounting Code “Name” in the dropdown list in Adjustable Fields
Bug fix re: Vendor Invoice # not displayed in Adjustments Report
Bug fix re: can add Labor, Equipment and Materials entries to Deliverables

8.3 Administration

Added ‘Vendor Invoices’ to Unsubmit Export options

9. Project Management

9.1 Usability and User Interface

9.1.1 New Main Navigation Bar

Downloads, change password, Log Off, Notifications, etc. have moved to Profile drop-down
My Reports added to navigation bar, with Business Intelligence and My Reports located as sub-menu
The app now goes full screen

9.2 Dashboards

9.2.1 Project Manager’s Dashboard

Add ‘Entered By’ field Approvals Bottleneck Report

9.2.2 Project Profile:

Update Taxes Calculated on Estimate area to include Services and Expenses and exclude any non-third party Estimates in Tax calculation

9.3 Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) and Cost Breakdown Structure (CBS)

9.3.1 WBS

Added ‘Display on Jobsite’ to grid
Updated Import to include ‘Billing Table Effective Date’
Updated Import for Resource Type assignment, Display in Jobsite, Progressing Method
Updated Workpackage Forecast Dates to not update based on Current Dates, Change Orders, or the Progress Measurement Forecast time-phasing
Provided ability to restore Forecast To Complete time-phasing back to Workpackage Forecast Dates
Bug fix re: “Display On Timesheet ” grid display not matching the imported data
Bug fix re: Import not failing when “Display on Timesheets” is “Yes” for Deliverables
Bug fix re: Import not failing when Folder is Inactive and Workpackage within Folder is Active

9.3.2 CBS

Update the Cost Code Name field to be an editable field
Added Accounting Code “Name” in the dropdown list

9.4 Project Resources

Updated Labor Resources Report to make responsive to UI grid selections and updated format of report.
Provided responsive Excel report in Equipment Resources

9.5 Project Billing (AR)

Transactions:
- Bug re: Whoops error generated when adding Subcontract = Time & Materials > Expenses and other Charges transactions that have a Vendor Invoice Matching > Revenue Adjustment, to a Customer Invoice
- Bug fix re: Invoicing ‘Yes’ setting on Vendor Invoice Transactions is being set to ‘No’ for invoicing, when Unsubmitted in Timesheet Administration; when Submitted, the setting not updated to ‘Yes’
Documents
1. Improve alert received when Document selected to open has been removed in Repository

10. 4castplus Integration API and 4castplus Connect

Addition of ‘Tax Type Name’, Tax Type Cost’, ‘Tax Type %’ and ‘Tax Type Accounting Code’ to Vendor Invoice dataset

If you want to learn more about this software upgrade – and we hope you do – please feel free to email us at info@4castplus.com.

Or, if you’ve landed on this page and you’re not already a customer, here’s where you can sign up for a free live demo of 4castplus.