Using Quick Allocation to add, edit, and view resource allocations:
Sometimes, small- to medium-sized organizations don’t want to follow the formal back and forth request process when allocating resources, due to its high overhead.
At these sorts of companies, the resource manager might know the skillset of each resource, and may want to use that knowledge to make allocation decisions, instead of relying on Smar...
Setting up project and client codes:
Project codes and client codes are optional alphanumeric fields that can be used as identifiers for projects and clients, respectively.
If desired, you can make one or both of these types of codes a unique identifier of projects/clients.
You can also specify whether codes should be automatically assigned when you create a new project, and set a s...
Configuring auto-generation of bill, credit memo, and payment reference numbers:
Billing managers need to enter a unique reference number on each bill, credit memo, or payment they create.
But, it can be difficult to manually add a unique number each time you add an item.
So, administrators and billing managers can be allowed to set reference numbers used on these items to auto-generate when the item is created. They can al...
How do I prevent All Users from being automatically assigned to new projects?:
When you add a new project, an All Users assignment will be added on the Resourcing > Timesheet Access tab. This is the system-wide default, and allows all users to record time against the project, without you having to add them one by one.
You can change this default, so All Users is never automatically added when you create a new project.
To...
Setting up rates for a project:
Rates are used to calculate billing amounts if the project uses a Time Billing plan; you don’t need to assign rates if the project’s bill plan isn’t Time-based.
There are three types of rates:
Project rate - default rate, used if no other rates are assigned to a resource
Role rate - associated with roles that resources can be assigned
R...
Handling availability limitations when allocating resources to a project:
As you fulfill resource requests, you may face availability limitations due to a resource’s other allocations, variable work schedules, part-time employment, and time off.
Polaris’ allocation functionality is time off aware and provides you with options to handle these limitations effectively. It offers you several ways to smartly allocate the...
Understanding how third-party tools integrate with Polaris:
Polaris offers three ways of integrating between Polaris and third-party systems:
Built-in connectors and integration managers
Flat-file upload
Custom integrations created using our web services
We can address just about any integration requirements using these three methods. Note that for cost and usability reasons, we always recommend ado...
Allowing a client to approve timesheets and expense sheets:
You can allow representatives of your clients to approve the time submitted against that client's projects. This feature is useful if you want clients to approve project hours before billing, when they can be easily corrected.
A client representative can log in to Polaris just like any other user, but their access is limited to approving their own...
Rescheduling a project:
Sometimes, projects don't start when project managers expect them to. To make it easier to move a project, we offer a Reschedule Project utility for each project.
With this utility, you can choose a new start date, and then choose whether to update dates for the project's resource requests, tasks, and/or bill plans.
To reschedule a project:
Go...
Archiving or removing a project:
If you've finished working on a project, you can archive it. Resources can't record time against archived projects -- they don't appear in timesheets or on the SmartBeats page.
Archived projects can be made active again at any point. They are accessible on the Projects page, by clicking the Archived button located in the top, right-hand corner o...
