Groups

Overview

Groups are containers for a homogeneous set of records that have something in common and are easily identifiable as a collection throughout BQE CORE. Records like projects, clients, employees, activities, prospects, opportunities, etc. can be assigned to groups. The Groups screen is a centralized feature that allows you to take items or records from the main list and bundle them together. Since a single item can belong to multiple groups, the main screen allows you to pick a default group so that there is a permanent home or container under conflicting scenarios. Every category has a default group called All; this always includes all items or records of a specific type. Click to watch this video on creating and assigning groups in CORE.

Groups are often used in other screens to narrow down the drop-down lists for quick navigation. They can also be used for billing purposes. Say you want to bill your East Coast clients first or want to reimburse your VIP-level vendors first. Creating groups allows you to accomplish these tasks with minimal effort. Another common scenario can be a collection of clients that are based in a particular city, say New York. After creating a group, you can assign appropriate clients to it. CORE allows you to run billing and other specialized reports filtered by groups.

Some of the common groupings include:

• Leads

  In some situations, when there are a lot of leads, it becomes easier to manage them by compartmentalizing them into smaller groups. It also allows for customized reporting and filtering of data. It is up to you to decide what trait to consider for grouping purposes. A lead can technically belong to more than one group.

• Prospects

  In some situations, when there are a lot of prospects, it becomes easier to manage them by compartmentalizing them into smaller groups. It also allows for customized reporting or filtering of data. It is up to you to decide what trait to consider for grouping purposes. A prospect can technically belong to more than one group.

• Opportunities

  When setting up an opportunity, you can quickly add record to a group of other similar records such that when reviewing your past or current opportunities, you quickly find and report on similar records. It is up to you to decide what trait to consider for grouping purposes. An opportunity can technically belong to more than one group.

• Projects

  You can group projects and jobs by the industry, residential, commercial, not-for-profit, government, etc.

• Employees

  You can group employees and staff by the hired date, department, title, annual reviews, skills, etc.

• Vendors

  You can group vendors and consultants by their skills, location, ability to travel, etc.

• Clients

  You can group clients based on their industry:
  - Architects/Engineers: commercial, residential and government
  - Accounting Firms: 1040 Tax, 1120 Tax, write-up, consulting, litigation support
  - Law Firms: contracts, bankruptcy, divorces, real estate
  - Computer Consulting: networks, remote maintenance services, solutions

• Activity Items

  You can group activities and services by the tax services, rates, administrative, marketing, etc.

• Expense Items

  You can group expenses by the overheads, tax, costs, reimbursable, administrative, etc.

CORE groups are dynamic; when you add or remove items from a group, they dynamically update in the schedules, budgets, filters and other places where they are applied. For example, when you add a new activity or delete an expense from a group assigned to a fee schedule, CORE updates the schedule accordingly. However, if you want to delete a group that is included in any fee schedule, budget, etc., it is better to make it inactive.

Field Descriptions

How To

Create New Groups

Edit Groups

View Reports

Show/Hide Columns in Grid

Mark Screen as Favorite

Field Descriptions

Create New Groups

To create a new group, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Groups screen from the side menu > Settings.
   
   
   
   
2. Click Create Group on the top-right and select an option from the list, say Client Group.
3. On the Create Client Group screen, enter the required information. Check Field Descriptions above for details.
   • Name
   • Description
   • Add new clients automatically
   • Include all clients in new group
     
     
     
     
4. Click Save & Done or Save & Add Another. The screen switches to an edit mode.
5. On the Edit Client Group screen, click Actions > Assign Client.
   
   
   
   
6. On the Assign dialog, select all the items, say clients, you want to include in this new group.
7. Click Assign. All group members appear in the grid list.
8. Click Save.

Edit Groups

To edit a group, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Groups screen from the side menu > Settings.
   
   
   
   
2. Select groups on the grid that you want to delete and click Actions > Delete. Alternatively, you can use the row-action menu to delete them individually.
3. In the list view, click on a row that you want to edit and select View Details.
4. On the Edit Group screen, enter more details or make changes, as needed.
   
   
   
   
5. Click Save.

Note: You cannot delete groups to which to-dos have been assigned.

View Reports

To view a report, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Groups screen from the side menu > Settings.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, click More > View Reports.
3. Select a report from the Report List dialog. It opens in the viewer.
4. Preview the report and then choose to export or print it.

You can also check the detailed video on running and managing reports in CORE.

Show/Hide Columns in Grid

You can configure fields or columns that appear on the grid in the list view. You can hide or show columns, and sort the order of columns according to your requirements.

To do so, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Groups screen from the side menu > Settings.
   
   
   
   
2. In the list view, click More > Show/Hide Columns on the action bar.
3. Select or un-select the column names in the drop-down list, say Active status.
4. Next, click the column you want to sort, say Type.
5. Click once for ascending order (A-Z) and twice for descending order (Z-A).

Note: You can resize the column widths on the grid and then reset them, if needed (More > Reset Column Widths).

You can also check the detailed video on navigation and customizing grids in CORE.

Mark Screen as Favorite

You can mark or flag the most-often used and important screens in CORE as your favorites up to a maximum of ten. These favorite screens then display separately on the side menu under the Favorites list. You can manage all your favorite screens in CORE from User Settings.

To mark this screen as your favorite, watch this video or follow these steps:

1. Open the Groups screen from the side menu > Settings.
   
   
   
   
2. Click on the top-right.
3. You can access this screen from the side menu under Favorites.

You can also check the detailed video on marking screens as favorite in CORE.