January release items

January saw one of our most significant releases since version 11 went live. We completely revamped the staffing contract screen. For some of you this was a long time coming, but we wanted to make sure we got it right, and we feel we have done just that! Not only is there a fresh look, we have also improved the usability of the screen, please see below a summary of the items included as part of the release:

• all contract details that affect staff members' salaries now reside in the contracts' salary details, rather than the 'core' contract information. This means that superannuation, first-aid allowance, and FTE (or paid weeks / hours for support staff) can now change across the life time of a contract without having to start a new contract (note that existing contracts will remain as they are and this will be improved functionality for use going forward).
• you can now create new staff members directly from the contracts screen
• new-look view, edit and create contract screens – limits user scrolling by hiding some of the lesser used information
• improved and simplified 'Salary detail' management
• a monthly breakdown of contract salary forecasts from within the view contract screen

Should you want any additional information, training or have any thoughts about the above, please be sure to let us know by contacting the finance helpdesk. Whats Next? Graphical Analysis... We are now well into development of the next release as part of our commitment to continually improve the software. In the coming weeks we will be releasing phase 1 of our graphical analysis release. This will see the introduction of a number of handy charts, clearly showing at a glance; full expenditure breakdown, staffing expenses, year by year balance comparisons, budget monitor variances and a new look dashboard. As with all new releases, full details will be offered in the home screen with updated interactive help articles.