Creative Manager Pro, Ad Agency Software and Project Management Groupware for Creative and Design firms, has released version 7.9 improving its free client extranet, support for Mac OS X Tiger 10.4.1, among other enhancements.
July 31, 2005
Lakewood NJ-based Creative Manager, Inc., (http://www.CreativeManagerPro.com) provider of Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro, has released version 7.95 of its flagship product, with improvements to the integrated calendar for both Mac OS and Windows users.
With its version 7.95, Creative Manager Pro has made significant improvements to the calendar to bring it more on-par with the capabilities of Microsoft Outlook. One such example is the new detailed five day week view, added rollover pop-ups that show the detail of meetings and assignments shown on the calendar. Additional improvements were made for Mac OS X 10.4.2, which incorporates a number of enhancements to improve reliability and compatibility for iCal.
No installation or conversion will be necessary, and the update is free to all users of Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro. All client logins and vendor logins are free.
Creative Manager Pro offers the most complete free user login on the market. In the last few months they have continued investing in this area of the system by adding the ability for free users to approve estimates, view the status of project assignments, add files to digital asset management, participate in project discussions via the diary, and now to view open and paid invoices. These new features are in addition to the ability to request new work, view calendar/gantt charts, review artwork online, view budgets and actual charges at billable, and review project specifications.
Ron Ause, Director of Marketing for Creative Manager, Inc., said "We continuing to invest and to add more value to our system for our users. Free Client Extranet is a feature of Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro that has attracted thousands of users. When our clients say that their clients want to see more of the project, we've answered by empowering them and their clients to communicate more efficiently, and with more powerful tools."
Creative Manager Pro continues to invest, adding new features which work with Apple's latest Tiger Mac OS X Unix-based Operating System and Microsoft Windows.
As a mature product with over eleven years in development, all new features added can not be sexy headline grabbers. In fact, the majority of the thirty-plus enhancements added to this release can only be appreciated by their existing clients, who have been the source of new ideas about sharing ways to fine tune the product for maximum efficiency.
When asked about the new upgrade, Ause said "We listen to our clients and have included many of the most requested enhancements, such as more flexible estimate format options, and simplifying the way hours are allocated to staff. 'We're Always Listening!'"
The following are some of the details of the current update: General Changes
* Users will now receive an email when time sheets are sent for approval.
* Users can now hide past events on the calendar in the detail section below the month layout.
* When running custom reports, Users no longer have to specify all options when running the report. The search criteria works the same way as the lists in Creative Manager.
* Users can now specify conditions to print on custom reports. There is a company wide default setting for this option and Users can also override this on each report.
Billing Changes
* Added settings that allow Users to specify the default invoice format (One line, By Task, By Service) These settings are then used when mass billing clients.
* Users can now hide the sales tax labels on invoices if the sales tax amount is 0.
* Users can now filter the estimated amount in fixed fee billing to a specific estimate. This allows Users to enter a new change order and easily bill it out from the fixed fee billing screen.
* Users can now default the Sales Tax settings on services and items. This makes it faster to set the taxable settings when billing by Service and Item.
* Users can now specify the posting date for write offs and Mark as Billed actions.
Project Management Changes
* The My Assignments screen has been reworked to bring more pertinent information into one place. The grid entry screen for time entry now allows Users to update several assignments at once.
* Added a new data set that allows reporting of allocated and actual hours by task.
* When Users add a new project, they can now copy all of the files and folders from the template project. This allows Users to set up a standard folder structure in their templates.
* The project diary has been enhanced to allow Users to post into the diary via email. When emails are received, they are added into the project diary and linked to any other people who the email was sent to.
* The traffic / staff schedules screen has been modified to add more searching options and a comparison of allocated hours to available hours from the labor budget. The view has also been simplified so that there is only one line per person and Users can drill down into the details from there.
* Users can now make assignments visible to their clients. Users can selectively make certain assignments visible using the Hide from Client option on the assignments.
* Users can now specify multiple people to be emailed when a digital art review is approved or rejected.
Estimating Changes
* Users can now view profitability on an estimate when they use the by Service and by Person options. Users will need to have a unit cost amount entered on either the service or person to bring the cost amount in for labor.
* Users can now create a quote from an estimated expense. Once the quote has been completed, Users can update the expense item in the estimate or create a PO from the quote.
* Users can now specify multiple people to be emailed when an estimate is approved or rejected.
Accounting Changes
* Users can now create payments with unapplied amounts and then later apply them to vendor invoices. This allows easier processing of cash advances.
* Users can now limit the sales tax report to only include paid invoices.
* Additional drill downs have been added to the WIP analysis screen to make it easier to determine where there are issues in WIP Posting.
Client Extranet Changes
* Clients can now print estimates for a project from the project budget screen. Users can also allow clients to see the budget, but not the actual amounts on the project.
* Clients can now be allowed to upload files directly into digital assets. When given this security right, the client will see the regular folders on the project and will be governed by the security rights assigned
Creative Manager Pro goes beyond costing to offer full Project Management, CRM, Digital Asset Management, billing and accounting, and Extranet capabilities.
Creative Manager Pro (at http://www.CreativeManagerPro.com), is the only Ad Agency software and Project Management Software for the Creative Design industry, created exclusively for design firms, ad agencies, in-house creative/MarCom departments, and creative service firms. It is a web-based integrated project management software and job tracking solution which streamlines the entire firm, from developing new business, to staffing, managing, and executing projects through to accounting and financial reporting.
Creative Manager Pro is a full-featured, intuitive system which makes project and ad agency management a breeze. Creative Manager Pro supports Customer Relationship Management, Document Management, Shared Calendaring, Accounting and much more. Because it is web-based, there is nothing to install and it can be set up in a single day. It works with both PC and Macintosh from any location over any connection. It may also be installed locally on the client's own servers. All options include training and support to ensure that clients are up and running quickly.
Among the many features of Creative Manager Pro:
- Graphically view your firm's metrics - manage your firm by the numbers.
- Manage Contacts and Leads
- Create Project Schedules, Calendars and Manage Tasks
- Take your contacts and calendar on the road with iCal, AddressBook & Outlook
- Approve Timesheets, Purchasing, Billing and Budgets
- Review and Approve Artwork Online
- Store and Manage Digital Assets
- Manage and Balance the Books
- Free client and vendor access to streamline workflow.
- Quick startup/import from Clients & Profits, Adman and other systems
- Full-featured CRM (Client Relationship Management)
- Extranet capabilities
- Manage media with an interface to the Strata Media Buying systems
- Charting of important industry metrics and firm statistics
The team members at Creative Manager, Inc. have been leaders in ad agency software and project management software for the creative industry and on the Mac OS for over 26 years. They provide their creative clients with two major offerings: Creative Project Manager and Creative Manager Pro. Both programs work seamlessly with the Mac OS and Windows.
Creative Manager Pro - Ad Agency Software and Project Management Software
