Support FAQ
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What is the latest available version of my software? Answer
You can find a list of all the latest version numbers here. We always recommend making sure you're upgraded to the latest version before calling in to Support.
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When I start BillQuick, I am asked for a User ID and Password. What should I enter? Answer
If you did not turn the security on and yet you are being prompted to log in, use the default User ID, SUPERVISOR, and default Password, SUPERVISOR, and then click OK. For more information on security and passwords, please see the Security section of the Help File.
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What is the first thing I should do when I start BillQuick for the first time? Answer
You can open the sample data file and work with that to get yourself familiar with the product. You can also create a new data file for your company and follow the instruction in our free online tutorial, located in our Support Section.
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I want to install BillQuick on my D drive, but it still copies files to my C drive? Answer
BillQuick copies some driver and library files to your Windows directory. If your Windows directory is on C drive, some files will be copied to your C drive. The program files will be copied to the directory that you specified during installation.
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Is there a way to specify an invoice number that I would like to start with? Answer
Yes, in System Settings, enter the last invoice number printed, and BillQuick will increment that number one unit when the next invoice is processed. Invoice numbers can also be changed directly in the Invoice Review screen.
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Can I prevent users of Microsoft Access® from reading my data file? Answer
Microsoft Access has a good security system. Please refer to the Access user manual and activate security within Access to prevent users from reading your data file. The BillQuick data file is password protected, it cannot be opened with Microsoft Access® without the password. The default password is admin; and it can be modified in the Global Setting screen.
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How Do I Modify Grids? Answer
Sorting: Clicking on the heading of a column toggles the order between ascending and descending. (Applies to almost all grids with a few exceptions). Shift-Click allows for sorting by multiple columns.
Customize Font and Colors: The font and colors of even and odd rows can be changed in Preferences.
Rearrange Columns and Rows: Shift + Mouse Click on column headings reveals a drop box that allows the user to swap columns. Columns can also be moved by dragging and dropping with the mouse.
Collapse Columns: Columns can be collapsed and expanded by right clicking the column heading.
Select Multiple Rows: To select multiple random rows, CTRL + Mouse click on extreme left cell of the desired rows.
Select a Range of Rows: To select successive rows, SHIFT + Mouse click on extreme left cell of top and bottom rows.
Change size of Rows and Columns: By placing the cursor between rows and/or columns they can be drag sized.
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How Do I Turn filters on/off? Answer
Filters can be turned on and off with check boxes. Filters are used throughout BillQuick, and in many instances the filters are located on a separate tab. To turn the filters on, simply check the Filter box. To turn off the filter, be sure the check box is not marked. It is not necessary to erase all filters each time you want to turn them on and off. It is easier to use the Master Filter Check Box, which is usually located at the lower left corner of the screen or in the upper right part of your toolbar.
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How Do I Join multiple projects on a single invoice? Answer
Project phases and separate projects with the same client can be processed together on a single invoice. In the Billing Review screen, the left most column has the heading 'J'. This is where you set projects and/or phases to be processed on a group invoice. Prior to processing, indicate which rows you want processed together. Do this by entering a like letter or number in the J column. For example, enter the letter ’a‘ in the J column next to three different projects of the same client. Next, mark each of these projects to be processed by checking the B column. Finally, process the invoice by clicking either Print/Proc or Process.
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How Do I Add a memo to an invoice? Answer
An unlimited length memo can be added to any invoice at any time. It can be added in the Billing Review screen prior to processing. With the desired project selected, click the Memo button to insert the memo. An existing memo can be edited or a new memo added in the Invoice Review screen. With the desired invoice selected, click the Edit Memo button to edit an existing or add a new memo to an invoice.
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How Do I Bill a client if I had NO activity on the account? Answer
The Billing Review screen analyzes all recurring projects on their scheduled billing frequency. For project with contract types other than recurring the Billing Review screen analyzes only those Projects that had some time or expense entries logged within the chosen billing period. If you would like to bill a client even though you had no activity on the account, you can do so by using the Add button in the Billing Review screen or using the manual invoice screen.
In BillQuick there is a rule "Always show in Billing Review". If this rule is turned on, the Project will appear in the Billing Review screen even though you may not have worked on the project for the specified billing period.
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How Do I Search for data? Answer
To search for data click on the Binocular icon or choose Find from the Edit menu. The BillQuick Find/Search is a powerful tool that can be used to quickly locate a specific set of records. The information found is presented in a "raw" database structure. The data displayed depends upon which screen was searched (i.e., Employee Table, Project Table, Invoices, etc.). The data will be laid out in column format. Each column represents a field contained in the original screen. For example if the Expense Log is to be searched, the raw data will be presented in columns representing each of the fields used in the Expense Log.
Type keywords for the item that you are trying to find. A keyword can be anything that is unique to one, or will link a series of records. For example, if you need to find an invoice but you only know the Project Manager and the Project ID, you should search the Transaction Table using the Project ID as a Keyword and select the Project ID field at the lower right. If you only set the Keyword to the Employee ID, BillQuick will display all invoice records matching the employee. This could be matched by thousands of records or by none at all.
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How Do I Merge two different BillQuick data files? Answer
Data files can be merged using the eTools. This is a separate add-on module that works with the BillQuick program. It will accommodate transferring data to or from other BillQuick data files. If you have off-site employees entering time and expense that you want merged with your company data file you need the eTools for BillQuick. For a complete features list of this product, please contact the BQE Software sales department at 310-602-4020.
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How Do I Use alphanumeric invoice numbers? Answer
BillQuick makes it easy to specify your pattern of alpha-numeric invoice sequence. Simply enclose the numeric part in curly brackets. e.g. XYZ-{5000}-2005 would generate invoice numbers XYZ-5000-2005, XYZ-5001-2005, XYZ-5002-2005 etc.
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How Do I Change Project ID, Client ID, and Employee ID? Answer
There are times where it may be necessary to change an ID number for a specific Client, Employee or Project. To accommodate this need, BillQuick has included Change feature. This Change feature searches throughout the entire database for all records (i.e., Project Table, Time Card Entries, Billing Review, etc.), with the old ID entry and then changes them to the new selected ID.
Select the type of ID to be modified from the Change pull-down menu.
Simply enter the Old ID and the New ID and click OK. -
How Do I Install BillQuick on a Network? Answer
BillQuick must be installed on each workstation individually. You can place your company data file on a network folder. Please make sure that all users have Read & Write access to that folder. Installing the BillQuick program to a network drive is not recommended. Only the data file should be on the network drive.
BillQuick can also be installed on Terminal Server. This allows users to access the application via Terminal services. In addition BillQuick Web Suite can be installed on a Web server giving access to users via Internet and/or Intranet.
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How Do I Backup BillQuick data files? Answer
In order to backup BillQuick data files choose Backup from the Utilities menu. You will then be prompted to confirm that you would like to backup files. Choose Yes, to continue with back up, otherwise choose No.
The System Settings provides the option of a Backup Files Reminder. In the System Settings, choose the frequency at which you would like the reminder displayed. It will then be displayed when you exit BillQuick at the specified time interval.
If your data file is stored on a SQL server, please refer to SQL documentation for backup.
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Which files do I need to copy to my Laptop for remote use? Answer
BillQuick stores all the company data in a single data file. The file has an extension of MDB. The file name is always displayed at the bottom status bar of the BillQuick screen. If you have archived your data, then you must backup the archive file too. The name of the archive file is same as your data file with a different (.ar*) extension. BillQuick Enterprise edition allows you to create data files on SQL server. Such files should be backed up using the SQL server backup utility.
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Can anyone see my password? Answer
BillQuick stores user passwords in the data file in an encrypted format. It is practically impossible to decode the encrypted password. There are over 18 billion combinations to be matched.
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How Do I Change labels on optional fields? Answer
BillQuick gives the user the option to customize forms to meet the specific needs of their company. Custom labels will change default labels of certain fields. This is accomplished from the Custom Labels menu located under the Settings menu.
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Does BillQuick differentiate between expenses reimbursable to the employee and those reimbursable to the company? If so, how? Answer
BillQuick expense entry has two separate attributes:
- Billable/Non- Billable
- Reimbursable/ Non-Reimbursable
If an expense entry is billable, then BillQuick will bill it to the client with the assigned markup. Thus, the client shall reimburse the company for it. Non-billable expense is that which a company has to absorb as a part of the contract and will not be billed to the client.
In addition to that, you can also mark an expense entry as reimbursable. It is incurred on a project and is reimbursable to the employee. Non-reimbursable expense will not be reimbursable to the employee. An expense entry marked as ‘Reimbursable’ in BillQuick may not always be billable to the client. E.g., You may want to reimburse your employee for mileage but not bill the client.
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In case of a lump-sum/fixed contract, we do NOT show a line item on the invoice as they are simply ‘built-in’ to the overall fee. However, we still want to attribute the cost of the fees to the project so that we get an accurate financial picture. Is it correct to assign these expenses to the project, but have marked them as non-billable? Answer
Yes, this is a correct. Record the bills for projects as expenses and make sure that they are marked as non-billable. That would tell BillQuick that these expenses are part of your fee. The job/project costing reports will include them as cost to the job since you marked them as non-billable.
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Is there any way to add new phases to projects ‘on the fly’ while recording time entry? There are occasions when we have additional services on projects that are not found out until we are entering time.? Answer
Yes, while entering your time in Sheet View, click on the Project ID drop-down and choose the Add New option. This will allow you to add the new project on-the-fly. On the Project screen> Detail tab, make sure you set the new project as a phase of the parent project. Or just drag-and-drop it over the parent project in the grid.
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In BillQuick, even though a Timer for a particular project is set as Billable, when I log that time, it records it as Non-billable. This only happens with certain projects. How to solve this problem? Answer
This might be happening because of some rules or settings associated with your project. For example, if your project is set up as Marketing or Fixed, the Contact Type would accordingly affect whether it is viewed as billable or not. Check your project settings and rules.
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Is there any way to integrate BillQuick with Swipe-In and Swipe-Out devices available in market? If yes, will this feature be made available for BillQuick Web Suite also? Answer
BQE Software is soon launching a direct interface between BillQuick and devices made by Count Me In (www.countmeinllc.com ). It shall help in directly logging time in the application. Other devices can work as well depending upon the data those devices store and output. It needs to be as complete as possible and be available in a format that BillQuick Import can read.
If you use the same database for BillQuick Web Suite as you do for your BillQuick desktop version, then you should be able to transfer the data from Count Me In's swipe device into Web Suite.
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While typing a memo in Invoice Review or Billing Review screen, the spell check only underlines a misspelled word when you are actually typing it. As soon as you move off the word, the indicator disappears. Is there a way to alter that feature so it underlines misspelled words all the time? Answer
The underline is a visual convenience. You have a quick and easy way to check spelling. Above or in each memo box you have a toolbar. Click the Spell Check icon (abc?). The Dictionary window pops up and shows you unrecognized words starting at the beginning of the memo. After correcting one, it finds the next one automatically. You don't need to scan for misspelled words with underlines.
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Can I flag a project and then have that flag show up on an invoice? Answer
The best solution would be to use one of the Custom fields in the Project screen and have that printed on your invoice. You will have to customize the invoice template using Crystal Reports or have our Report Customization Team do it for you.
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Is there a way to change the memo field in a modified .rpc file to another font? Answer
You can set the default font in the Global Settings screen and not allow users to change the Memo font. For existing memos on the invoices, there is a way to override the font. Instead of using a memo field directly on the invoices, we can use a formula which will override the memo font that gets stored in the database. If you have Crystal Report designer, you can open the attached report template and take a look at the formula '@TE_Memo_RTF_ Override'.
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Invoices that have already been posted, printed and sent should look the same when we open them again, even if the billing terms for the project have changed. Is there some way to ensure this in BillQuick? Answer
In BillQuick, the invoice numbers and their net bill amount never changes for posted invoices, even if you update the project information. It is recommended that after you post invoices, select those invoices in the Invoice Review screen and create a PDF copy. You can change the default location of where the PDF files are saved using the User Preferences screen.
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I have a few invoices that I ended up not getting paid for and marked them zero using client discount in QuickBooks. But when I get them into BillQuick, they still show up as open invoices in Invoice Review and on the Aging Summary report. How do I correct this? Answer
A Credit Memo to bad debt in either BillQuick or QuickBooks would have been preferable to the discount option that you used. You can also write-off the amount in BillQuick’s Payment screen and then transfer it to QuickBooks. Make a payment with the amount outstanding but choose ‘Write-Off’ instead of check or cash options. You can then transfer your payment to QuickBooks and it shows up as a write-off there as well. This works better for accounting and reports as it shows up properly instead of a $0 invoice amount.
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Many of the reports in BillQuick, like Budget Comparison Report, have a column titled Cost or Spent but the figures in the column are actually based on billing rates. The Budget-Cost Comparison Report utilizes Actual Hours and Cost Rate of the staff in the Spent columns, but nothing appears in the Budget column. Users may find this misleading. Answer
BillQuick reports have cost/spent values based on billing rates because it follows the premise that when an employee works on a client's project, the cost associated with the project is his full billable value, not his cost/salary value. There is a school of thought that considers the cost of a project being the actual expenditure of funds on it (employee’s salary + benefits). But in BillQuick, these are actually expenses for the project and not cost.
When a project manager prepares an estimate or a budget for a project, he can multiply hours by Cost Rate or Bill Rate, depending upon the company practice and project type. The real issue of Cost Rate versus Bill Rate lies in the type of contract that we have with a client. If we have an Hourly agreement, then it makes sense to budget using an hourly bill rate. For lump-sum or fixed projects, it can be different. We are having a feature in BillQuick * where you can budget by cost and then have the Budget Comparison Report show budgeted cost amounts compared with spent cost amount.
* 2009 or Better
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Most of our projects are invoiced using the joint invoice. We prefer that all of our phases remain under single invoice and invoice number. Is there a way to do a joint invoice, but use different formats depending on the billing arrangement (hourly, lump sum, phased percentage, etc)? Answer
Joint invoicing is a powerful feature in BillQuick. To support this feature, we offer you more than 20 different Joint/Phased invoice templates. This includes Joint Invoice for different contract types, which means you can bill on same invoice more than one project of the same client with different contract types, for example, Hourly, Fixed Fee, Percentage, etc.
Here are some of the most commonly used Joint/Phased invoice templates that BillQuick offers:
- Joint Invoice(mixed) (% Complete)
- Joint Invoice (mixed)
- Joint Invoice by Description
- Joint Invoice by Employee
- Joint Invoice by Employee Title
- Phased Invoice with Expenses
- Phased Invoice
- Joint Invoice Phased
Please feel free to contact our technical support if you need any help with processing a joint/phased invoice and then displaying it on one of templates.
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I apply late fees to outstanding projects. However when the customer pays and I use the Payments screen and bring up the invoice, the amount is the total not including the late fee. How to apply the late fee so that it no longer shows up on the print stats and transfers to QuickBooks? Answer
In the Payment screen there are fields in the grid for ‘Late Fee Calculated’ and ‘Late Fee Received’. By default these fields are hidden and can be included in the Payment screen grid by clicking on the Field Chooser. Late Fee will display in the grid, brought forward from the Invoice Review screen. You can apply the late fee payment in the ‘Late Fee Received’ field.
Currently we do not send late fee payments to QuickBooks.
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Time is recorded as it is spent on clients but contractors are not paid until it is billed out. I need a report or sheet view of time billed between a range of dates, by employee and by project? Answer
From the Reports menu, select Analysis, Activity Billing per Project report. This report displays billed time entries by Project and then within that project it can presents information by Employee and Activity. Additionally this report displays the invoice number next to the time entries, indicating which invoice these billed time entries are associated with. This report can be filtered by Invoice Date, Employee, Client or Project.
There are several other reports in BillQuick that can be filtered by specific date range to display the billed time.
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I want to review all time for the last month in Sheet View for all employees and all projects. I can only view by a single project or by a single employee (the View By and Employee drop-downs just allow one entry).? Answer
If you are using BillQuick * (Enterprise edition), use Reviewer function from the Time-Expense menu. The Reviewer screen is the only way to view both time and expenses for both projects and employees.
There are two ways to view time and expense records for projects and employees in BillQuick Basic and BillQuick Pro editions.
First, you can stack tabbed windows to view both the Sheet View and Expense Log screens on the BillQuick desktop. If the tabbed window feature is not active, go to Settings menu, User Preferences, Option screen and check that option. Open the Sheet View and Expense Log screen, choose View by Employee or Project, select the employee or project, and then click Refresh. Right-click the last window tab and choose ‘New Horizontal Tab Group’. The windows are now stacked.
You can view a short demo on the Window Stack feature here.
Second, you can view or print reports. For employee time and expenses, go to Reports menu, All Reports. Choose the Employee category, and scroll down to Employee Time and Expense.rpt (detailed listing). Use the filters to set the desired date range. For project time and expenses, you have 13 reports to choose from (detail, summary, etc).
* 2008 or Better
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We are an accounting firm and do tax prep, payroll and financial audits. We made an engagement (project) for payroll and cloned it to another engagement. After working on it, we billed the client; however the invoice won't transfer to QuickBooks because the engagement isn't in QuickBooks. I tried to transfer the engagement and got Error Code 3180 from QuickBooks. I tried to resolve the problem by going into QuickBooks and making the engagement there. Still no luck transferring the invoice! Answer
Generally, whenever there is a problem syncing with QuickBooks, there is a piece of data missing in QuickBooks that is necessary for the sync to complete. Go through each of the data elements that BillQuick offers to sync. Start with the list data i.e. employee, customer, etc. and work your way up to the invoice. Send the original engagement over to QuickBooks; then send the ‘engagement of engagement’ over. Now send over the invoice.
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While billing, I lost some invoices by mistake. In what ways can we save or backup our data? Answer
- Set BillQuick to remind you to do backup every day or at least once a week. Reminder can be set in the Global Settings screen.
- If you are using SQL backend, use the SQL's automatic backup feature to backup your data daily.
- If you are integrating with QuickBooks, you can easily re-sync your data and the missing data will transfer from QuickBooks into BillQuick.
- SQL maintains an automatic transaction log of every database. So it is easy to go back in time and have it restored to a specific point in time.
