Viewpoint Spectrum

Solid Construction Accounting Software

Pluspunten:

The job cost history and time card history functions are both very detailed

Minpunten:

Change order management and subcontracts management are a bit confusing to navigate

Spectrum Review for Electrical Contractors

Opmerkingen: Spectrum has treated us well so far. However the migration and implementation was a terrible experience.

Pluspunten:

Large upgrade from Procontractor, but I liked the functionality or workflow of Procontractor better.

Minpunten:

How each module is separate from the general ledger, becomes a pain!

Geiler Company

Opmerkingen: Overpromise. Slow to adopt

Pluspunten:

Great for construction project management and construction accounting

Minpunten:

If you do service work this is not the program to buy

Spectrum

Opmerkingen: Overall Spectrum has streamlined and made our entire experience easier start to finish. As long as the information going in is correct the end product is correct - garbage in garbage out. The support system is great as well as the external support such as the Viewpoint Network, connecting you to peers is fabulous

Pluspunten:

Ease of use, eliminating multiple programs, live data update, split screens

Minpunten:

having to do multiple steps to update invoices, not being able to access all information in one module. Some of the reporting is convoluted.

Cobuilt

Opmerkingen: The overall experience has been a positive one. The benefit is the data is consistent and reliable.

Pluspunten:

It was timeconsuming and somewhat tedious, but that could have been converting the data from our former software.

Minpunten:

The inability to customize reports without advance knowledge of Crystal Reports.

Poor Customer Service / Technical Support

Opmerkingen: Poor customer service and tech support and this happens over and over.

Pluspunten:

value for moneyAvailability of APIs for time entry and project entry

Minpunten:

The technical support is very poor.We were told that Spectrum can not find what went wrong with their system unless we tell them that exact time that the system has issues.We were also told that logs are deleted at 11pm everyday.How is that even acceptable for a software that is used by external vendors?On top of all this, the tech support person was quite rude

So far, so good

Opmerkingen: We switched from our old system in January 2023. The difference in the speed of the program has greatly improved our efficiency office wide. There are great tools for our program managers to track every aspect of their projects.

Pluspunten:

Speed of processing. Help function is very easy to use and a great tool. Haven't had to call their help desk once. Integration from our old system was quick with minimal hiccups.

Minpunten:

Only issue we are having is with getting additional invoice forms created.

spectrum review

Pluspunten:

Security and I like the TC1 addition to Spectrum

Minpunten:

The reports are hard to customize and not easy to read

Review

Opmerkingen: looking back it wasnt what was best for our company, and would have not purchased it

Pluspunten:

from accounting side, its really nice reporting structure

Minpunten:

cannot customize it for our specific use.training provided was very inadequate,felt like you were all in until it was sold, then felt left out

Viewpoint for Service Departments

Opmerkingen: Overall this software is very average.

Pluspunten:

The ServiceTech app for the crews in the field has been very easy to transition to.

Minpunten:

It makes it hard for viewing pictures in the work orders because you can only look at one picture at a time. It also is hard to close work orders that wont be billed out to customers because you have to bill a $0 invoice.

Spectrum is an effective and comprehensive Software for Job/Work Order Tracking

Opmerkingen: I have been learning about the Job module and it seems to be a very comprehensive system. I think there is a lot more that a Company could do with the various options within the module and then the analysis via reporting.

Pluspunten:

There are so many features that still need to be integrated into the user experience. The Webinar was extremely useful as I learned and advised the AP department of the function for the Automatic importing of invoices. The Banking and cash management is very straightforward and clearcut. I like how the modules are arranged and how they can be made favorites which makes my job more efficient.

Minpunten:

1) sending PR to multiple bank accounts within a company needs to be posted to Suspense and then journaled into the correct bank account - I'm not sure why that is.2) I wish the "favorites" actually reflected the "original path" of the favorited item (in the menu to the left). Sometimes when teaching someone else, it's hard to remember the original path.

Human Resources, Subcontracts and Purchase Orders

Opmerkingen: Spectrum is an excellent upgrade from our previous platform. While there are still improvements to be made to the HR, Subcontract, and PO sections I use, the product as it stands is very user friendly allowing our entire administrative team to see all changes and updates in real time.

Pluspunten:

I love the search feature which allows partial word search of employee name, vendor name, or even addresses! Having all attachments digitally available through various access points is great too!

Minpunten:

Some areas in the employee section and lower-tier subcontract section do not allow for attachments to be added, which is problematic and requires items to be saved where they do not necessarily make the most sense. Tracking for 1095 C forms is terrible, I do not use this at all because of the inefficient upload and download for each each employee needed to track monthly. There are many changes I would make in the employee area, making it easier to record and track employee benefit information. I use a separate Excel spreadsheet to track hires, terms, benefits, required mailings because Spectrum does not meet my needs. In the Subcontract area, the character limitations in the description of each phase code requires me to download the printed form into Adobe and add detail/make edits before sending to vendors.

Integrated Software that works well for us!

Opmerkingen: Overall, we are satisfied with the software. We love that InfoLink can be used to create queries and pull the exact info that we need from the database.

Pluspunten:

We love it that most modules are integrated (i.e., AR speaks to GL, etc.)

Minpunten:

When you find a limitation, there aren't many options aside from creating your own workaround - there aren't many things that can be customized in Spectrum.

Electrical Company Project Coordinator Review

Opmerkingen: A great tool for job management, compared to other more expensive software. I do like the PO reporting allot.

Pluspunten:

Entering New Jobs, and creating Purchase Orders are very easy, once you understand the methods.

Minpunten:

That you can't search a job by it's title, if you can't remember the job number. The migration from 3rd party (we use Bid2Win) doesn't migrate smoothly. You have to manually go in and change LS to EA, etc.

As a 35 year Accountant - I would not recommend this software

Opmerkingen: I just started a new position with a company that uses Spectrum and I am not happy with the program. I was not here when this system was selected or set up and waste a lot of time trying to guess at where to get information. Terms that are used for accounting tasks are not accounting terms. Your help articles are not helpful. When I submit cases for help - I get vague answers and screen shots of the help articles, not a helpful person that understands the accounting issues that I am asking. I have been a Controller for 15 years. If it was that easy - I would not be asking for your assistance.

Pluspunten:

The job cost abilities and progress billing functions look good.

Minpunten:

The reports are not download friendly. The AP invoice dates and the month end close processes are just awful. And if there is a way to send AR invoices / billings from the system, I have not found that. But there should be. Do you have any idea how much extra time is spend downloading billings and emailing them to the customers? This system is basic and does not address current accounting guidelines and processes.

Like the Product Overall but Needs Help

Opmerkingen: Yet to be seen but we have not lost hope. We however need quality help from Spectrum.

Pluspunten:

It works for subcontractors that bid Lump Sum and have complexity in their work. Contractors such as electrical, hvac and suppliers and installers of structural and miscellaneous steel require better accounting than many other subcontractors.

Minpunten:

Initial Implementation and training has been poor and very frustrating. There have been some good experiences but overall it has been negative and not productive experiences. We own other Trimble products but no one seems to know anything about the other products Trimble sells and we own. We changes to Spectrum for it was supposed to work better than our former accounting system, Computer Ease, but that switch over has not produced the promised results.

Viewpoint Spectrum review

Opmerkingen: Tracking and document imaging has saved us in paperwork

Pluspunten:

Training was so easy, customer support and education are awesome. It is extremely user friendly.

Minpunten:

Intergration wasn't bad at all. We just have such a narrowed field being in road contruction and bridge building. It took work to get them to understand what we needed once there it was a breeze.

Spectrum Reviewed

Pluspunten:

Spectrum does a great job of job cost management, record management, and the onboarding of employees directly to software with the help of HR Management.

Minpunten:

The payroll features and reporting are more complicated than most software I have used in the past and their are a few ways that this should be made easier for a payroll specialist. It is missing or overcomplicates the pulling of employee data that causes issues when specific report information is needed for governmental entities. Customized reporting would be helpful.

Let's get organized

Opmerkingen: It's great once you know how to use the product.

Pluspunten:

everything is easily accessible, in order. There are multiple ways to get the results you need.

Minpunten:

There aren't instructions in the software to assist me if I ever get stuck.

Spectrum

Opmerkingen: It is a workable system and better that the old system but is not up to date as other systems I have used in application of technology.

Pluspunten:

It provides the basic information and it is reliable.

Minpunten:

It skimps on General ledger reporting features. It seems not to have been designed by accountants so some of the features and finding these features are not initiative.

Spectrum

Opmerkingen: Overall, I would say it is satisfactory. Not great, not terrible.

Pluspunten:

It does provide a complete picture. However, it seems most upgrades are geared toward the job costing portion of the software rather than companies that just use the "work order" section of the company.

Minpunten:

There is no flat rate pricing availabililty in Spectrum for use on residential side of company so we have to use two programs and manually input data in Spectrum for the accounting aspect. Also, not impressed with Spectrum's side for the technician's use--Service Connect. It does not function well and we opted to go another route.

It works for what you may need in construction accountins

Pluspunten:

When it comes to Spectrum, there are many reports and easy to use accounts payable and receivable options. The interface takes a second to learn , but once you do it makes sense and is intuitive

Minpunten:

Spectrum does not always make it easy to work collaborative and when it comes to images, it does not make it easy to add or download.

Happy Overall

Opmerkingen: Great for the most part.

Pluspunten:

Ease of checking status and costs on a job. Also can access it from anywhere.

Minpunten:

I am told that we can't add a Credit to an Invoice that has already been submitted. So we have to create a CM and then use Adobe to change the original invoice and send it out like that instead of being able to add the CM to the original invoice.

Expensive but mostly user friendly

Pluspunten:

AP, AR, Multiple company setups, intercompany transactions,

Minpunten:

Job costing does not work well, major failure. Difficulty with credit transactions in AP and AR. No ability to match AR and AP from same customer easily

Payroll Processing

Opmerkingen: Viewpoint Spectrum provides a vast majority of online help guides which is quite useful. Overall, the system works well and is easy to learn.

Pluspunten:

The ability to go back to a previous process midway to make corrections.

Minpunten:

Spectrum does not allow one set future date changes to salaries, insurance premium activation dates to deactivate after a certain time frame. Spectrum doesn't allow one to activate bank account information during the onboarding process (only once a payroll has started). Currently, the system will not allow two users to process two different payrolls simultaneously.Viewpoint spectrum system doesn't allow one to void a direct deposit payroll check without creating a manual one that will also need to be voided later (would rather have a better streamlined process).