Uploaded by sabynu7za

Plunet 8 User Guide (1)

advertisement
Plunet 8 User Guide
Plunet BusinessManager 8
AUTHOR
Plunet GmbH
DATE
2022-04-27
Plunet 8 User Guide
Contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Login
Navigation
Dashboard - Overview
Dashboard - Elements displayed
Dashboard - Detailed view
Home - E-mail
Home - Settings
Home - Users
Home - Communication
Home - Time sheet
Home - Status report - Time sheet
Contacts - Customer search and other options
Contacts - Creating a customer profile
Contacts - Setting up user accounts for customers
Contacts - Resource profile search and other options
Contacts - Creating a resource profile
Contacts - Setting up user accounts for resources
Contacts - Absences
Project templates
Requests - Creating a request
Quotes - Creating a quote
Orders - Creating an order
Orders - Workflow templates
Orders - Automatic workflows
Resource assignment - Workflow template settings
Resource assignment - Resource availability
Resource assignment - Reviewing resources before assignment
Resource assignment - Starting the assignment round
Resource assignment - Reassigning a job to a different resource
Delivering a project to the customer
Invoices - Receivables
Invoices - Collective invoices for orders
Invoices - Payables
Invoices - Collective invoices for jobs
Plunet 8 User Guide
2
• Queries - Creating reports
• Queries - Creating status reports
Login
Login screen
Enter the URL of Plunet BusinessManager in the address bar of your Internet browser. Log in to the
system with your user name and password. Please make sure to disable your browser's pop-up blocker.
Options for forgotten password
If you enter the wrong password three times in a row, your account will be automatically locked for 24
hours. To unlock your account more quickly, please contact your project manager.
Plunet 8 User Guide
3
If you have forgotten your password, you can click on Forgot your password? and a new password will
be sent to you by e-mail. If you have problems logging into Plunet BusinessManager, please click on
Problems during login? and fill in the form to send a message to the system administrator. In addition,
you can enter your own e-mail address here in order to receive a copy of the message to the
administrator and thus ensure that the message was successfully sent.
 TIP
You can activate an additional level of security when a user clicks on Forgot your password? If
the option Activate security code for 'Forgot your password?' is activated in Admin → Users
→ Password and login settings, a Captcha must be entered as a security code before the
password can be reset.
Additional login options
If SAML or SSO is active, an additional button will be displayed on the login page, which forwards the user
to the respective login servlet. As a result, it is no longer necessary to enter /saml or /sso in the address
bar.
Plunet 8 User Guide
4
Navigation
Menu structure
Plunet BusinessManager is based on web technologies and is designed in a completely browser-based
manner. Navigation in Plunet is generally similar to browsing through a website.
The navigation in Plunet BusinessManager is divided into the three levels:
First menu level → Second menu level → Third menu level
Plunet 8 User Guide
5
First menu level
The first menu level contains the tabs, or main menus, at the top of the screen:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Home
Contacts
Requests
Quotes
Orders
Invoices
Queries
Marketing
Admin
The number of tabs that you can access depends on your rights and the modules that have been enabled
for you.
Second menu level
The second menu level contains sub-menus that open from the first menu level, such as Dashboard, Email, Settings, Users and Communication in the example above.
Third menu level
The third menu level contains the headers of the sections of the page that you are currently viewing. You
can navigate directly to the different sections by clicking on the respective header, instead of scrolling
down the page. In the example above, when you click on Receivables - In preparation, you will jump
directly to the detailed list of Receivables - In preparation at the bottom of the page.
Plunet 8 User Guide
6
The menu at the top of the page always remains visible, even after jumping down to a different section,
so you can navigate to other sections from any point on the page.
Action bar
Selecting a user interface language
You can select the language for the Plunet user interface by clicking on the language code in the top
right-hand corner. You can also set a default language in Admin → Settings → System
settings → Default settings for all users → Default UI language.
Info window
When you click on on the info icon in the top right-hand corner, the Info window opens. You can provide
your users with documents and links to useful websites in this window. More information can be found
here: Info window
Help
The Help button can be found next to the Info button. The Help window provides the user with help and
information on Plunet BusinessManager. More information can be found here: Help window
Plunet 8 User Guide
7
User
Clicking on the user button opens the User window, where you can find information on the currently
logged in user, as well as the option of making user-specific settings.
My Profile
For internal resources, this is a link to the resource profile under Contacts → Resources, where the
resource can make changes to their own data.
For customers and external resources with the appropriate rights, clicking on this link will open the
submenu My Data.
Settings
Link to Home → Settings, where you can make user-specific settings for Plunet BusinessManager. For
more information, see Home - Settings.
Logout
Log out of Plunet BusinessManager.
Plunet 8 User Guide
8
Info window
When you click on on the info icon in the top right-hand corner of Plunet, the Info window opens. Here
can provide your users with documents (such as emergency plans, medical directories, references, etc.)
and links to useful websites.
The 'Info' folder
The documents and links are stored in the Info folder in your system. You can access this folder in several
ways:
• In Windows Explorer: C:\Plunet\info
• Via FileManager
Plunet 8 User Guide
9
• Via Admin → Document templates → Templates
There are three subfolders for different user types: customer, internalresource, externalresource. You
can upload different documents for different users, for example, internal reference documents for
internal resources or a information about the company for vendors and customers. Alternatively, you can
upload general documents for all users in the Info (All) folder.
Uploading documents
Admin → Document templates → Templates → Info (Internal resources)
Upload the required documents to the Info folder, in the subfolder for the relevant user group if
necesssary. The documents can be downloaded by these users from the folder C:
\Plunet\Info\internalresource or directly from the Info window at next login.
Plunet 8 User Guide
10
Linking webpages
You can also store a list of useful links for each user type in the same folder. To do this, you need to create
a new document called AdditionalLinks.csv. In the first column of the document, enter the name to be
displayed in the Info window and in the second column the path to the website (the separator is a
semicolon ;).
Then upload the CSV file to the Info folder.
 NOTE
Please be aware that the separator configured in Plunet will be used here (under Home →
Settings → CSV delimiter). If this is not the case, and you do not want to change the separator
in Plunet, you can change it for Excel in Windows: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/
import-or-export-text-txt-or-csv-files-5250ac4c-663c-47ce-937b-339e391393ba
Plunet 8 User Guide
11
Help window
The Help button can be found next to the Info button in the top-right corner of Plunet. The Help window
provides the user with help and information on Plunet BusinessManager.
The information displayed here differs depending on the user type. Internal resources will have access to
the Plunet Help and ticket system, whereas external resources can download the vendor user guide.
Customers do not have access to the Help window.
Internal resources
Plunet 8 User Guide
12
Open Plunet Knowledge Center
Direct access to the Knowledge Center (https://helpdesk.plunet.com/) with the Plunet Help, Plunet
Community and general announcements.
Plunet ticket system
Link to the ticket system for Plunet BusinessManager. Here you can create tickets if you have any
problems when using Plunet BusinessManager.
Send e-mail with log file to the Plunet support team
One of your internal users, e.g. your administrator, can create a log file and send it to the Plunet support
team when problems occur.
Take a break!
Take a short break from your busy day with Plunet Blocks...
External resources
External resources can download the vendor portal user guide as a PDF file.
Plunet 8 User Guide
13
Plus button
The "Plus" button can be found at the far right of the title row. Along with the "Switch" button, it is
always visible at the top right of the page, even when you scroll down.
You can use the Plus button to create new projects and contacts in all areas with just a few clicks. When
you click on the plus icon, a window opens where you can create a new data record in the area in which
you are currently working. For example, if you are currently working on an order, you can quickly create a
new order via the Plus button. In the example below, you can decide how you want to create the order
and click on the corresponding Plus button in order to jump to the detailed view of the order, where you
can enter the required information. You can also create a data record for another area, e.g. Contacts or
Quotes, by selecting the relevant value from the drop-down list.
Plunet 8 User Guide
14
Switch button
The "Switch" button can be found at the far right of the title row. Along with the "Plus" button, it is
always visible at the top right, even when you scroll down the page.
Clicking on Switch opens a window, where you can quickly jump to other data records and projects, e.g.
in order to view an older quote as a reference for the quote that you are currently working on. The
window initially provides you with the option of switching to another data record in the same area. You
can switch to a different area by selecting the relevant value from the drop-down list.
Plunet 8 User Guide
15
If you select Requests, Quotes, Orders or Invoices, you can switch directly to the data record by
entering the project number. The Last selected and Current lists are displayed underneath. Last
selected shows you the data records that you have most recently viewed, while Current shows you the
projects that still need to be worked on, sorted by project number (e.g. orders with the status In progress
or Delivered).
If you select Customers or Resources from the drop-down list, the Last selected list will be displayed,
or, if available, the Search results of the current contact search.
Dashboard - Overview
Home → Dashboard
Your Dashboard provides you with an overview of the status, due dates, number and prices of all of your
projects and processes in Plunet BusinessManager. The projects and processes displayed depend on
your user role and your access rights. They are grouped together on the Dashboard according to type and
divided up by status.
If the elements are highlighted in red, then action needs to be taken, while green indicates completed
processes. You can limit time ranges, display or hide various statuses, display the Dashboard of
individual users or all users, and alternate between the currencies defined in the system.
Plunet 8 User Guide
16
Time period
You can choose which elements are displayed on the Dashboard by using the filters at the top of the
page. For example, you can decide to display only the elements within a certain time period by selecting
the dates at the top of the Dashboard. Alternatively, you can limit the displayed elements by day, month
or year. It is not recommended to limit/modify the date range, as it affects different elements in different
ways. The elements displayed on the Dashboard are filtered by the following dates:
Elements
Dates
Requests
No filtering
Quotes
The date when the quote expires
Orders
The due date of the order
Jobs
The due date of the job
Billable order items and installments
The due date of the corresponding order
Receivables
The date when payment is due
Payables
The date when payment is due
Tasks
The date when the task should be completed
The default time period is set from unlimited to one year today. If you modify the time period, your
settings will not be saved for the next login and will revert to the default value of one year today.
Plunet 8 User Guide
17
Currency
The Dashboard enables a choice of currency views for your projects. The default currency is USD.
Company codes
If you use multiple company codes, you can limit what is displayed on the Dashboard to a specific
company code.
Only show selected results
If you click on Only show selected results, all of the possible statuses will be displayed on the
Dashboard. You can hide certain statuses by clicking on the circle next to the status (the circle turns from
blue to gray). When you click once more on Only show selected results, only the statuses with a blue
circle will be displayed.
Share Dashboards with team members
It is possible to share your Dashboard with the members of your team and to display the projects of the
other team members on your own Dashboard.
Share your own Dashboard
You can choose to share your Dashboard with other internal resources under Home → Settings → Share
own Dashboard. As a result, these resources will be able to access your Dashboard.
Plunet 8 User Guide
18
View Dashboards of other internal resources
If you have been given the right to view the Dashboards of other resources (or other resources have
chosen to share their Dashboards with you) you can select the resources in the drop-down list at the top
of your Dashboard and click Save to view the projects for these resources. Access rights to other
Dashboards can be set under Admin → Rights → Share Dashboards and time sheets. Here you select
the resource to whom you want to give access and select the Dashboards of the other resources in the
popup.
Access rights to other Dashboards can be set under Admin → Rights → Share Dashboards and time
sheets. Here you select the resource to whom you want to give access and select the Dashboards of the
other resources in the popup.
Plunet 8 User Guide
19
Further options
Click on Details to display some additional options, which you can use to filter what is displayed on the
Dashboard:
• Only show projects of the following project type: If you have the additional module
InterpretingManager, you can filter the Dashboard by Translation projects or Interpreting
projects. This option is only relevant for Requests, Quotes, Orders und Jobs relevant.
• Only show elements for the following resource type: Select either all resources or a specific
project role (e. g. project manager or supervisor). The Dashboard will only display jobs where you
are the assigned resource and/or projects where you (and any other resource(s) whose Dashboard
you can see) are the project manager, supervisor etc.
• Only elements where assigned as account manager: Only the projects where you are the
account manager will be displayed. You can use this option in combination with Only show
elements for the following resource type to further refine your results - for example, you could
display your colleague's orders on your Dashboard, but only those in which you are listed as the
account manager.
• Multiple selection in Dashboard: You can select multiple elements at once, which will then be
displayed in more detail at the bottom of the Dashboard. Elements of the same type (e.g. Jobs -
Plunet 8 User Guide
20
Overdue or Jobs - Delivered) are grouped together in the same table, while other elements are
displayed in separate tables, one after the other.
Dashboard - Elements displayed
Requests
All quote and order requests that have been placed by customers in the customer portal are displayed
here, grouped by status, regardless of who is the project manager, account manager etc. for specific
customers.
Quotes
All quotes are listed here, grouped by status. If you have selected a time range in the Dashboard, you will
only see quotes with an expiration date within this time range and quotes created during this time range
without an expiry date.
Orders
All orders/items with a requested delivery due date within the selected time range are displayed here.
The due date of the item supersedes the due date of the order. This means that if the due date of the
order is not within the selected time range, it will not be shown - but if one of its items is due within the
time range, then the item will be displayed.
 NOTE
Please note that the status in the list is that of the individual item, not the entire order.
• All: All items
• In preparation: Jobs for the items have not been created yet
• In progress: An order confirmation has been sent by e-mail, an RTF document has been created or
a job for this item has been created
• Can be delivered: All items in the order are ready to be delivered
• Delivered: All items in the order have been delivered
• Approved: Items that have been approved. This does not necessarily indicate that the whole order
is ready for billing. There is an additional setting under Admin → Settings → Orders, which
controls which elements are displayed: If you select Only show orders with all items approved
on the Dashboard, then the list under Billable order items and installments will only show
Plunet 8 User Guide
21
orders where all items have the status Approved. All approved items will still be displayed under
Orders - Approved. This is particularly useful for customers who prefer to bill entire orders rather
than individual items when they are Approved
• Scheduled installment: Orders that have been partially invoiced and are scheduled to receive
additional installments
• Created today: All orders that have been created today
Jobs
All jobs with a requested delivery date in the selected time range are displayed here. Jobs without a due
date are also displayed here, even if they are not within the selected time range.
• All: All jobs
• In preparation: Jobs that have not yet been assigned to a resource
• Requested: A job request has been sent to a resource - either an availability request or a FCFS
assignment
• Assigned - waiting: This job will be completed in the future, because it is part of an interpreting
project or because a previous step in the workflow needs to be completed first. A resource has
already been assigned to the job
• In progress: The resource has accepted the job and has started work on it
• Overdue: The due date for the job has passed, but the job has not been delivered yet
• Delivered: The resource has delivered the job
• Approved: The project manager has approved the delivered job. The job can now be invoiced
• Invoice created: A payable for this item has been created by the resource in the vendor portal
• Invoice checked: The payable for this item has been checked by a different internal resource
Billable order items and installments
All approved installments due within the selected time range and all items with a requested delivery date
within the selected time range are displayed here
Receivables
All receivables and credit notes that are due to be paid in the selected time range, but have not been paid
yet, are displayed here.
• In preparation: The invoice has been created in Plunet, but an RTF document has not been
created/an e-mail has not been sent to the customer
• Outstanding: The invoice has been sent, but has not been paid yet
• Credit notes: All credit notes due to be paid
Plunet 8 User Guide
22
Payables
All payables with a due date for payment in the selected time range are displayed here.
Tasks
All tasks with a due date in the selected time range are displayed here. Tasks without a due date will not
be displayed here, even if they were created during the selected time range.
Dashboard - Detailed view
Opening the detailed view
When you click on a status, for example In preparation in the Jobs section, a more detailed list of all
elements with this status appears at the bottom of the Dashboard.
You can also pin specific lists to your Dashboard so that they always remain visible, even if multiple
selection is not activated for your Dashboard. To do this, click on the pin icon, for example next to Jobs In preparation in the image above.
Column settings
You can decide what appears in the list view by adjusting the column settings. To do this, select Column
settings from the Options drop-down list and then click OK. A window opens where you can change the
order of the columns displayed in the table or add new columns by selecting the column from the drop-
Plunet 8 User Guide
23
down list. The width of each column can also be adjusted to ensure that longer column names are fully
displayed, for example.
It is also possible to make separate column settings for different user types (Resource (Internal),
Resource (External) and Customer. As different project information is relevant for customers and
project managers, for example, it is possible to select the user type under Column settings for and make
the column settings accordingly.
 NOTE
This only applies to tables that are also displayed in the customer/vendor portal.
Export
The detailed view in the Dashboard can be printed or exported to Excel.
Plunet 8 User Guide
24
Detailed view: Requests
In the detailed view of the requests, you can jump directly to any request by entering the request
number.
Detailed view: Quotes
In the detailed view of the quotes, you can jump directly to any quote by entering the quote number. The
quote items can be grouped by customer or project category.
Detailed view: Orders
In the detailed view of the orders, you can jump directly to any order by entering the order number.
The order items can be grouped by customer, project category, order or project manager. For example,
select Group by - Customer from the Options drop-down list. All of the items will then be grouped
according to customer.
Plunet 8 User Guide
25
The status of the jobs in the list of order items can also be displayed on the Dashboard for internal
resources and customers. In this way, users get a quick overview of the current status of all jobs in each
item.
To display the statuses, go to Admin → Jobs and activate the options Dashboard (Customer) and
Dashboard (Internal resources) for the respective job types. These options are active for all existing job
types by default.
In the Column settings of the detailed view of the orders, activate the Jobs column. Click on the gear
icon to select the statuses you want to see. If you also want customers to be able to see the job status in
the customer portal, select Customer under Column settings for and choose the job statuses. All job
statuses are checked by default.
When you click on Save and close, only the jobs with the selected statuses will be listed:
Plunet 8 User Guide
26
Furthermore, you can send e-mails directly from the list of order items. Click on the down arrow in the
column Contact person or Customer to send an e-mail to the contact person for the order or customer.
Detailed view: Jobs
In the detailed view of the jobs, you can jump directly to any job by entering the order and job number.
The jobs can be grouped by target language, customer, resource, order or job type.
In the Status column, you can change the status of individual jobs by clicking on the pencil icon.
Furthermore, you can change the status of multiple jobs at once by selecting the jobs in the list and
selecting Change status to.... Choose the status and click OK.
Detailed view: Billable order items and installments
The billable items and installments can be grouped by customer, order or project manager.
Plunet 8 User Guide
27
If you work with multiple company codes, you can filter the billable items by company code.
In the detailed view for Billable order items and installments - Approved, you can create invoices for
all order items that have been approved by the respective project manager. To do this, click on the Plus
button in the respective row. If it is not possible to create an invoice, a yellow warning triangle will
appear in the column.
Furthermore, you can create a collective invoice. Select the items and the option Create collective
invoice. Select the customer, contact person and any other relevant information from the corresponding
drop-down lists and specifiy whether you only want to include the selected items in the collective
invoice. Click OK to create the collective invoice.
Detailed view: Receivables
The receivables can be grouped by customer or reminder level.
Detailed view: Payables
An overview of all payables that are due to be paid in the selected time range.
Detailed view: Tasks
The tasks are grouped by area (customers, resources, miscellaneous contacts, quotes, orders, invoices).
Plunet 8 User Guide
28
Select Show birthdays to display any contacts whose birthday is today. With the option Show
delegated tasks, you can display not only your own tasks, but also the tasks that you have delegated to
other resources.
You can also send an e-mail to the creator of a task or person responsible by hovering over their name
and clicking the down arrow.
Home - E-mail
 NOTE
In order to send and receive e-mails via Plunet, the e-mail client needs to be set up and the
corresponding rights assigned to the user. Take a look at the e-mail setup guide: E-mail settings
The system can be used to send e-mails. The e-mail client makes it possible to, for example, send e-mails
to customers after quotes have been created, to inform internal resources that they have been added to
a project team, or to simply send out an e-mail to one or more recipients.
Plunet 8 User Guide
29
Inbox
In Home → E-mail you can see your Inbox, along with the folders Drafts, Outbox, Sent and Trash. All of
the e-mails that are sent from the system by the logged-in user are saved in both the Sent folder and the
corresponding project folder. The names of the folders can be customized under Admin → Settings →
Set SMTP.
On this page, you can create new e-mails and group the e-mails the folders by month or calendar week.
In the Action list, you can mark the selected e-mails as read/unread, move them to another folder or
move to Trash.
Outbox
E-mails that are being processed in the background and have not yet moved to the Sent folder can be
found in the Outbox folder. This applies for all users with the right Send e-mails (SMTP) (under Admin
→ Rights → Resources (internal)).
Plunet 8 User Guide
30
Every outgoing e-mail stays in the outbox until it has been successfully sent. The system will try to send
the e-mails in the outbox every 15 minutes. If an e-mail cannot be sent after 30 attempts, a pop-up will
display at the next login, informing you about the e-mails that could not be sent and that they should
contact the Administrator.
You can also delete e-mails from the local outbox as long as they have not been sent. This action cancels
the sending process. If an e-mail has been deleted from the outbox, it will not be sent and will be moved
to the local Trash folder.
Formatting
You can make the following settings in the Formatting section:
• Replying to e-mails / Forwarding e-mails: Decide whether you want to attach the original
message when you reply to or forward an e-mail and in which form (as text, indented text, text and
prefix). Otherwise you can specify that only the attached documents should be forwarded (without
the original message).
• Prefix: Define a prefix for forwarding e-mails.
• Formatting: Choose whether the e-mails should be sent as Text or in HTML format. Please note
that this option will impact which version of your e-mail templates (Text or HTML) will be used by
Plunet for all e-mails (which can be customized in Admin → Document templates → E-Mail).
Select HTML if you want to be able to format your e-mails or if your signature contains an image
(for example, a logo).
• E-mail window: Decide whether or not the window in which you compose e-mails should close or
remain open after the e-mail is sent.
• Receipt: Decide whether or not you require a confirmation that e-mails have been read.
Plunet 8 User Guide
31
Home - Settings
In the Home → Settings area, you can make your own display settings for the system, enter your
working hours and absences and set up the e-mail client. The corresponding settings that have been
made in the Admin area for all users can be overwritten here for your personal login.
Personal settings
Working hours
 VIDEO
Availability Function
Click on Manage weekly schedule to enter your personal weekly schedule.
On the left-hand side you can select the Time zone. Availabilities are displayed from the perspective of
the user who is currently logged in. This means that you can see the availability of your international
colleagues and resources in terms of your own time zone.
Enter the week starting from which this schedule applies under Schedule valid from and click on OK.
To create a new schedule for the selected week, enter the working hours (from-to) and select the days of
the week. The exact "from-to" working hours will be entered in your own time sheet. You can also select
multiple days at once.
 NOTE
Only the number of working hours is relevant for the capacity utilization, not the actual working
hours.
Plunet 8 User Guide
32
Click on OK. The times will then be displayed in gray in the table.
 You can also directly edit the times in the weekly schedule by clicking on the relevant field and
adding/removing a grey field.
Absence
You can enter the dates on which you will be absent from work here. Only users with the right Time sheet
- Supervisor can enter absences retroactively for you and other resources under Contacts → Absences.
Further information on absences can be found here: Contacts - Absences.
User account
You can change your Plunet BusinessManager password here whenever you like.
Plunet 8 User Guide
33
Display settings
In this section, you can make display settings for your Plunet login.
Style sheet
If the option Allow style sheet selection for users is selected under Admin → Settings → System
settings → Default values for new users, then you can change your personal style sheet for the system
(i.e. the color of the header).
'Requests'/'Quotes'/'Orders'/'Invoices' drop-down list
Define how the project numbers and names should be displayed in selection lists:
Plunet 8 User Guide
34
For example, No. + Customer + Project name is selected for the drop-down list 'Orders'. This means
that the project number, customer of the project and project name will be displayed in drop-down lists
such as Orders → Select → Order (In progress+Delivered):
• X/Y position of new windows: Define how new pop-up windows should be positioned on the
screen (e.g. the e-mail window).
• Width/Height of new window: Specify (in pixels) how large a pop-up window should be, e.g. when
you open the FileManager or compose an e-mail.
• CSV delimiter: Before data can be exported from Plunet to Excel, the separator needs to be
selected (e.g. ; ). This ensures that reports and lists are exported correctly in CSV format and
everything is displayed in the correct column.
• Date format: Decide how the date and time should be displayed in the system.
• Share own dashboard: Select the internal resources with whom you want to share your
Dashboard. As a result, these resources will also be able to access your Dashboard.
Plunet 8 User Guide
35
• Items: Default view: Decide whether the items in projects should be expanded or collapsed by
default. Further information can be found here: Default view of items in a project
• Items: Default workflow: Decide whether the automatic or manual workflow should be selected
by default in projects. We recommend selecting the automatic workflow as the default setting.
Further information about automatic workflows can be found here: Automatic workflows
E-mail addresses
Information on the options in this section can be found here: E-mail settings ("User settings")
E-mail signature
You can customize your e-mail signature to include logos, links to your website, etc. To do this, either
upload your image to the Styles folder (Admin → Document templates → Templates → Templates
folder) or use an online image and copy the URL.
 NOTE
Please note that the existing default signature in the grey field underneath will also be displayed
in e-mails. This can be adjusted by an Administrator in the Admin area or completely removed, if
users are only supposed to create their e-mail signature under Home → Settings → E-mail
signatures.
Accessibility
This area refers to Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act in the USA, which governs the accessibility of
information technology to persons with disabilities. Plunet has been made compliant with this Section
by ensuring that labels and format elements in the system are configured so that screen readers, for
example, are able to identify the elements correctly.
Further information can be found here: Accessibility - Section 508 compliance
Home - Users
In Home → Users you can see a list of all users that are currently logged into the system, as well as an
overview of all logins/logouts.
Available actions:
• The internal IP can be enabled for a user.
Plunet 8 User Guide
36
• A user can be logged out manually. As a result, the user's license will be made available.
Home - Communication
In Home → Communication there is an overview of your contacts that have Skype contact details in
their profile (Contacts → Customers/Resources/Miscellaneous contacts → Communication → Skype
contact). You can start a call by clicking on the Skype logo.
Plunet 8 User Guide
37
Home - Time sheet
The time sheet can be used to record working hours and to record the time spent working on quotes,
orders, jobs, tasks and other activities.
The monthly working hours and weekly schedule can be defined for all of your resources in Plunet
BusinessManager. The agreed working hours will then be copied to the resources' time sheets. Absences,
such as vacations or public holidays can also be created for resources and resource groups.
Admin settings
Assign rights
Admin → Rights → Resources (Internal/External) → Time sheet
• If the Time sheet right is activated, the resource can use the time sheet and has access to the
menus Home → Time sheet and Home → Status report – Time sheet.
• If you assign the Supervisor right to an internal resource, this resource has access to the time
sheets of all other resources, as well as the menus Admin → Miscellaneous → Time sheet and
Queries → Time balance.
Plunet 8 User Guide
38
Activate time sheet toolbar
Admin → Settings → System settings → Time sheet
You can activate a toolbar at the bottom of the screen to start, pause and stop the time you record on
each activity. The time will be automatically added to your time sheet under Home → Time sheet.
To do this, select the option Toolbar for time sheet. You can also specify whether or not you want to
include breaks in the time sheet. For example, when you stop an activity temporarily and then continue
with it later, the pause is automatically taken into account in the time sheet. To do this, select Pause for
every activity.
Time sheet settings
Admin → Miscellaneous → Time sheet
Under Admin → Miscellaneous you can define settings for the time sheet, including which job types will
appear in the time sheet, how times are recorded and which activities will be regarded as working hours.
Plunet 8 User Guide
39
Activate time sheet options
You can (de-)activate individual time sheet options in the Active column. Deactivated options will not be
displayed under Home → Time sheet.
Select how times are recorded
Select whether the times for each activity will be entered as a Duration (e.g. 8 hours) or in the format
from - to (e.g. 9:00-17:00). This setting only applies to the way time is entered and has no effect on the
counted working hours.
Count activities as working hours
If an activity should be regarded as part of an internal resource's working hours, select this option in the
column Count as working hours. If activities are not counted as working hours, the recorded times will
only serve to calculate the expenses.
Visibility for external resources
You can make Other activities visible to external resources in the column Show for external resources.
The Service and Post to quote/order/customer sections are excluded from this option. External
resources can always record times for their jobs (for a quote/an order) as well as for their specific
services.
Plunet 8 User Guide
40
Activity description as a mandatory field
You can make it mandatory to write an activity description for each activity when times are entered in the
time sheet. To do this, select the option in the Note is a mandatory field column in the Admin settings
for the time sheet. Subsequently, if a resource does not enter a note for this activity, a message stating
that the note is missing will appear each time he opens the time sheet until the week has been checked.
The times that have been entered will be saved regardless.
Add services to the time sheet
You can add specific job types (e.g. translation, DTP) to the time sheet using the drop-down-list under
Service. Job types can be deleted from the time sheet by clicking the trash can symbol.
Define who can enter certain activities
It may be that some activities (such as vacation) should only be entered by a supervisor following
approval. By selecting the corresponding option in the Can only be entered by the supervisor column,
you can prevent internal resources from being able to enter this activity. Service and Post to quote/
order/customer are excluded from this option. These times can always be entered by all resources.
Default schedule for resources
Admin → Settings → Contacts
You can set a default weekly schedule for all of your resources in the Admin area.
 NOTE
The default weekly schedule affects the reaction time that resources have to respond to job
requests. More information about this can be found here: Default settings for jobs ("Reaction
time in hours for resources (according to weekly schedule)")
Click on Weekly schedule next to Default weekly schedule for resource and a new window will open.
Plunet 8 User Guide
41
On the left-hand side you can select the time zone. Enter the week starting from which this schedule
applies under Schedule valid from and click on OK.
To create a new schedule for the selected week, enter the working hours (from-to) and select the days of
the week. You can enter any time here, as long as the total number of working hours per day is correct.
The exact "from-to" working hours will be entered in the resources' own time sheets. You can also select
multiple days at once. Click on OK. The times will then be displayed in gray in the table. You can adjust
the working times by clicking and deselecting individual times.
Plunet 8 User Guide
42
You can also define the first day of the week for resource calendars under Settings for contacts.
Saturday and Sunday are set as the weekend by default, however, in some countries the working week
starts on a Sunday, for example. If Sunday is set as the first day of the week, the resource calendar under
Orders → Resource search → Resource calendar, Job → Job calendar and Contacts → Resources →
Calendar is automatically adjusted.
 NOTE
It may be that not all of your resources have a valid weekly schedule in the system. In this
case, you can apply the default weekly schedule to existing external resources in the system
(Admin → Settings → Contacts → Default values for resources). There are two options:
• Use default weekly schedule for external resources without a weekly schedule
• Use default weekly schedule for all external resources
The option Use default weekly schedule for external resources without a weekly schedule
does not work for resources that have a valid, but empty weekly schedule.
Weekly schedule for individual resources
Contacts → Resources → Communication
You can enter the resource's Standard hours per month on the right-hand side of the communication
area in a resource's profile. As in the Admin area, click on Weekly schedule to open a new window, where
you can enter the time zone and the valid week for this schedule. Then enter the hours for the relevant
days.
My time sheet
Home → Time sheet
The main area for time sheets is located here. You can enter the time spent working on quotes, orders,
jobs, services (= job types), activities and tasks.
Plunet 8 User Guide
43
Select a type and an activity from the respective drop-down lists. Enter the time spent on the activity (in
the example above, the resource enters the times at which they began and ended each activity). Click the
memo symbol to enter comments for the day and individual activities.
Click the open padlock symbol to complete the entries for the selected week.
Live time recording
The toolbar in the footer is a handy way to use the time sheet in all areas of Plunet BusinessManager
without needing to open the time sheet menu for every single activity.
To activate the time sheet toolbar, the Toolbar for time sheet option needs to be selected under Admin
→ Settings → System settings → Time sheet.
The toolbar contains the following features:
Symbol
Description
Link to Home → Time sheet.
Click on "Change activity" to switch to recording time
for the quote/order etc. that you are currently working
on.
Plunet 8 User Guide
44
Symbol
Description
Start, pause and stop the time recording.
Click on the "Start" button to begin the recording. The
clock symbol and the "Start" button will turn red.
 NOTE
Click on Change activity before you click on Start in order to ensure that you start the time
recording for the current project.
The time spent on each activity will be automatically added to your time sheet.
Breaks
When the option Pause for every activity is selected under Admin → Settings → System settings →
Time sheet, the amount of time that passes between clicking the Pause icon and starting the activity
again will be taken into account in the time sheet. The "pause" is automatically entered in minutes. This
applies regardless of whether you have the time recording format as from-to or Duration.
In the example above, you have selected the from-to format for time recording when you work on
quotes. You have worked on this particular quote from 09:00-12:00, pausing for a 30-minute break in
between. When you stop the time recording, the 30-minute break will be automatically added to the time
sheet and deducted from the time you spent working on the quote. For orders, on the other hand, you
have selected the Duration format. You have worked in total on this order for 2h 30 minutes, with a 1h
break in between. This break will be deducted from the total duration.
Plunet 8 User Guide
45
Home - Status report - Time sheet
Depending on your user role and access rights, you can create status reports on recorded working hours
and filter by time period, resource, status and activities.
How To
Select the time period for which you want to create the report. Then you can select a specific Resource or
show the working hours for a whole Resource group. You can also filter the results by Property or
Agency.
You can either display all working hours, or select a particular activity.
 NOTE
This report is affected by the right Time sheet >Supervisor (set under Admin → Rights →
Resources (Internal)) and the right to access other resources’ time sheets (set under Admin →
Rights → Share dashboards and time sheets).
Plunet 8 User Guide
46
In the Options drop-down list, you can group the working hours by Project or Week.
You can export the results in two ways:
• Output - Excel (CSV): The working hours are exported to Excel, with one row per entry.
• Output - Excel (CSV) (Summation of resources/activities): The working hours are exported to
Excel, with one row per resource and activity. The total number of hours for each activity are
added together in the Hours column.
Plunet 8 User Guide
47
Contacts - Customer search and other options
Searching for customers
Contacts → Customer → Customer search
1. Open Contacts → Customers. From here you can select one of your Last selected customers or
search for customers using the filters provided.
2. Use the simple search to filter by company code, status, name or telephone number. For example,
type in the name of a customer or part of the name (e.g. "bank") to run a search for a customer
name containing that word. You can either click on the magnifying glass or hit Enter on your
keyboard to start the search.
3. lternatively, you can use the advanced search with individual filters in order to find certain
customers (e.g. select the standard filter City to search for all of the customers in a particular city).
Click Add to add the filter to the search. When you have added all the required filters, click Update
search. The filters available in the drop-down list under Properties are fully customizable under
Admin → Properties. Properties can be assigned to customers in their profiles.
 NOTE
In order to search for customers using filters, you need to add the required filter criteria to
the customer profile.
To perform a new search with different filters, click Delete search. You can save your filter
selection to use again under Search templates.
Options for search results
The search results are displayed in a table below the search options. The details displayed in this table
can be defined by users with Admin rights in the Column settings. Click on the envelope icon to send an
e-mail to the customer.
Plunet 8 User Guide
48
There are a wide variety of actions in the drop-down list that can be applied to one or multiple
customers. The relevant customers need to be selected in the table before an action can be performed.
The following actions are available here:
• Send e-mail: Send an e-mail to the customer.
• Copy: Duplicate the selected customer profile. A copy of the customer profile will be created with
the same name and suffix "COPY".
• Delete: Delete the selected customer profile.
• Assign CAT tool (and CAT project template): If you work with a CAT integration, you can assign a
CAT tool (and CAT project template, if applicable) to a customer.
• Assign/Remove property: Assign a Property to a customer or remove it from the customer profile.
• Assign/Remove text module: Assign a Text module to a customer or remove it from the customer
profile.
• Assign marketing promotion: Assign the customer to an existing Marketing promotion (only
with the additional modul MarketingManager).
• Assign/Remove project team: Assign a Project team for the customer or remove an assigned
project team. The assigned project team will be selected in this customer's projects by default.
• Assign/Remove account manager: Assign or remove the Account manager for the customer.
• Assign/Remove project manager: Assign a Project manager for this customer or remove an
assigned project manager. The assigned project manager will be selected in this customer's
projects by default.
• Create customer group: Create a new Customer group with the selected customers.
• Assign customer group: Assign the customer to a Customer group.
Plunet 8 User Guide
49
• Assign promotion: Specify whether or not the customer should generally receive Marketing
promotions (select Yes or No).
• Assign template set: Assign a Template set to the customer.
• Create user account: Create a User account for a customer contact person so that they can log
into the customer portal.
• Show/Hide contact persons: Show or hide the Customer contact persons in the Contact
persons column.
• Select customers that receive marketing promotions: Select all customers in the list that have
Yes selected for Marketing promotions in their customer profile.
• Select all: Select all of the customers in the list.
• Select all default contact persons: If the option Show contact persons has already been
selected, you can use this option to select all of the default contact persons displayed in the list.
• Select all contact persons: If the option Show contact persons has already been selected, you
can use this option to select all of the contact persons in the list.
• Remove selection: Deselect customers (remove the tick from the checkbox).
• Assign/Remove confidentiality level: Assign a Confidentiality level to the customer or remove
the assigned confidentiality level (only with the additional module ConfidentialityManager).
• Export addresses/price lists into Excel: Export the customer's Addresses or Price lists into
Excel.
• Output - Excel (CSV): Export the search results into Excel.
• Output - Printer: Print the search results.
• Column settings: Adjust the columns that are displayed in the results table.
Contacts - Creating a customer profile
Contacts → Customers → Customer Search
Click on Create new customer in Plunet in the top right-hand corner to create a new customer profile.
This will open an empty customer profile, which you can fill with the required data.
Communication
Contacts → Customers → Communication
Enter the company name in the field Name 1 and add further communication details by entering the data
in the relevant fields.
1. Status: The default status of a new customer is New. It is important to set the status of the
customer to Active in order to use the customer in the system. You will not be able to create
Plunet 8 User Guide
50
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
quotes or projects with that customer if the status is not set to Active. Further information on
customer statuses in Plunet can be found here: Customer status
Customer type:
a. Select Direct customer if projects will be delivered directly to this customer, who then
delivers the completed project to the end customer (if applicable)
b. Select Indirect customer for end customers (more information on indirect customers can
be found here).
c. Select Direct/Indirect customer if projects can be delivered to the customer in both ways.
Opening: You can specify how the customer is to be addressed in documents or e-mails that are
produced from within Plunet BusinessManager (e.g. "Dear Ms Schmidt").
Enter general communication data, such as a telephone number, e-mail address, Skype ID etc.
Promotion: If this customer will be included in marketing promotions created using the
MarketingManager module, select Yes here.
Customer folder: This folder contains customer-related files and correspondence that are not
related to specific projects or apply to multiple projects, e.g. contracts or style sheets.
Template: Define which template should be used to create documents and e-mails that will be
sent to the customer.
Memo for customer: You can set memos to appear as a pop-up when creating a quote, order,
invoice or before printing an order confirmation, delivery note or invoice by selecting the
corresponding checkbox.
Source of contact: Enter the place where contact was first made with this customer, e.g. a
conference or trade fair. This field tracks the contact's opt-in and is required for documentation
purposes. It can be added to documents and e-mails using the flag [SourceOfContact].
Below the memo there are Shortcuts to the following reports and queries:
a. Status report - Requests
b. Status report - Quotes
c. Status report - Orders
d. Receivables
e. Prices
f. Change log.
You can use the drop-down list below the shortcuts to create new requests, quotes, orders,
primary projects and invoices for this customer.
Communication settings
Contacts → Customers → Communication → Communication settings
Click on the gear icon next to Communication to open further Communication settings, for example, a
drop-down list for selecting the account manager, options for creating a user account or specifying how
project files should usually be delivered to this customer.
Project roles
Select the internal resources who will be part of the project team for this customer. The project team and
its members will be preselected in the Project team section when you create projects for this customer.
Plunet 8 User Guide
51
Customer groups
If the customer is part of a customer group, a link to the customer group will be displayed here.
Default project settings
• Source language: You can select the default source language, which will be preselected in the
Languages section when you create projects for this customer.
• Delivery: A default delivery method for project files can be selected (e-mail attachment, download
link, download via customer portal, delivery note or using a different company code, if you have
multiple company codes that handle projects for each other).
• Project type for customer portal: The default project type for requests can be selected if the
customer creates requests in the customer portal (translation or interpreting project).
• Reference/PO number required: You can specify if a reference number/PO number needs to be
entered for this customer's quotes, orders and/order invoices.
• Cost transfer to item: You can predefine whether or not the job costs in projects are automatically
transferred to the corresponding item.
User account
Click Create user account to create an account for this customer so that they can log into the customer
portal. A window opens where you can edit the information and create the account. Please note that an
e-mail address needs to be entered for the contact first.
Plunet 8 User Guide
52
If a user account has already been created for this customer, there is a different button called Edit user
account in the Communication settings. Here you can edit the information about the user account and
de-/activate the account under Status.
Dates of first/last projects
The dates of the first order created for this customer is displayed here, along with the most recent quote
and order.
Indirect customers
If you want this customer to be able to select an indirect customer when they create a request in the
customer portal, activate the option Show indirect customer in customer portal.
Plunet 8 User Guide
53
 CAUTION
If you have activated the above option, it is very important to limit the selection of indirect
customers in the customer portal. First, you need to create a customer group with all of the
indirect customers for this customer (see 4. Create customer groups) and then select it under
Limited selection of indirect customers. If you leave this field empty, then the customer will
also be able to see all of the other indirect customers that you have created in the system
Further information on indirect customers can be found here: Using indirect customers in projects
Review quote before submission
If you are using the quote review functionality to approve quotes by supervisor before sending them to
the customer, you can specify whether or not the default settings in the Admin area should apply for this
customer. If you select No for According to default setting, then you can enter different thresholds, if a
higher/lower level is required for this customer.
Plunet 8 User Guide
54
Allow workflow selection in requests
If you select Yes here, when the customer creates requests in the customer portal they can select a
workflow template to be applied to the project. The workflow templates listed here can be selected by
the customer in the Scope of service drop-down list in the request.
 NOTE
In order to be selectable in a request, a workflow template needs to have the status Released for
all customers or Released for selected customers (including the customer of the request).
More information on workflow templates can be found here: Workflow templates
Commission
If the module Customers/Commission is activated, you can define the commission the project manager
would receive for a this customer. You can also specify that commission should be automatically
activated for the customer's account manager in orders.
Further information about commission can be found here: Commission
Uses own Plunet BusinessManager
See Automatic job exchange via XML
CAT interface settings
If a CAT interface is used for this customer's projects, you can select the integration here, which will be
preselected in projects for this customer.
You also have options to link the customer to a user or client in the CAT tool. For more information, see
the pages on the respective CAT tools: CAT interfaces
Plunet 8 User Guide
55
EventManager
If the EventManager additional module is activated, you can specify the server, user, and folder for
requests send via EventManager and project delivery via EventManager.
Further information on this module can be found here: EventManager
Contact persons
Contacts → Customers → Contact persons
Add contact persons
You can add as many contact persons as you like. As with the company in general, you can enter
communication information for each contact person. Once a contact person has been entered and saved,
another empty contact field will appear. If there are several contact persons, one can be selected as the
Default contact person in the corresponding drop-down list. You can also select default contact persons
for invoices and interpreting projects.
Create user
You can create a user account for customer contact persons so that they can log into the customer
portal. After you have entered a name, e-mail address and other information for a contact person, click
Save. The blue button Create user appears. Click on it and select a rights group for the contact person.
When you click on OK, an e-mail will be sent to the contact person with a user name and password.
Plunet 8 User Guide
56
Display inactive contact persons
When the contact persons of customers are set to Not active, by default they are no longer displayed in
the overview of contact persons in the contact profile. When the Display inactive contact persons
option is active, the names of the inactive contact persons will be displayed in italics.
Specify source of contact
The Source of contact field is also available for each customer contact person. Enter the place where
contact was first made with this customer contact person, e.g. a conference or trade fair. This field tracks
the contact's opt-in and is required for documentation purposes. It can be added to documents and emails using the flag [ContactSourceOfContact].
E-mail addresses
Contacts → Customers → Communication/Contact persons
You can specify additional e-mail addresses for your customers and customer contact persons, which will
be entered as CC recipients when project documents are sent by e-mail. To do this, please follow these
steps:
1. Under Admin → Rights → Modules activate the Customers - Contact persons/Additional e-mail
addresses module.
2. Under Contacts → Customers → Communication/Contact persons enter additional e-mail
addresses for your customers and their contact persons for requests, quotes, orders and invoices.
Select a document type from the E-mail drop-down in the Communication section for a customer
or under Contact persons for a single contact person. A text field is then added and you can enter
the e-mail addresses for additional recipients here.
3. Under Admin → Document templates → E-mail → CC Recipient you can specify that the
addresses entered for the customer contact person are to be set as CC recipients by selecting the
corresponding checkbox in the relevant e-mail templates (e.g. order confirmation e-mail).
4. When the e-mail is sent, the system checks whether or not an e-mail address has been entered for
the contact person. If not, the e-mail addresses under Contacts → Customer → Communication
Plunet 8 User Guide
57
will be used.
Addresses
Contacts → Customers → Addresses
Under Addresses, you can enter as many addresses as required for the customer in question (e.g.
headquarters, branch offices, or deviating billing address). This makes it easy to display complex
company structures, particularly if there are different contact persons in different branch offices. You can
assign the addresses to different contact persons by selecting the address in the contact person's profile.
Properties
Contacts → Customers → Properties
Properties are additional classifications that help to optimize your business processes. Customers,
resources, price lists and projects can be tagged with the values of these properties, which can then be
used as search and grouping filters. Properties and their values can be created and adjusted as required
under Admin → Properties.
Plunet 8 User Guide
58
Add properties to your customer profile by selecting from the drop-down list in the top left-hand corner.
Then you can choose one or more values for this property and save your selection by clicking on Add. You
can add and delete an unlimited number of properties for each customer.
Price lists
Contacts → Customers → Price lists
Standard price lists can be set up in the Admin area for customers. Additionally, you can set up individual
price lists for each customer if specific rates were negotiated. You can create price lists from scratch,
copy existing price lists and link price lists to a standard price list.
1. Click on Create new price list. To copy an existing price list, select a standard price list under
Copy standard price list and click on the Plus button.
2. Enter a name for your new price list under Change name of price list, e.g. "Standard Marketing
Customer XY".
3. Memo: Enter internal information on the price list here, e.g. information on the language
combinations or services included in the price list.
4. Currencies: Select the standard currency for the price list.
5. CAT calculation basis: Select the calculation basis for the CAT analysis, e.g. Words or Characters.
6. Active: Activate the price list for use in projects here.
Plunet 8 User Guide
59
7. Rounding procedure: Select how prices with multiple decimal places should be rounded up/
down. This setting can also be made under Admin → Settings → Orders → Rounding in items
(Unit price).
8. Minimum price per item: You can define a minimum price for each item in a project, which will be
applied automatically if the total amount of the item is lower than the minimum price set in this
field.
9. Properties: You can assign a customer property to the price list and thereby limit its use to quote/
orders that also have this property assigned, e.g. Price category, Area of expertise/Sector.
10. In the price list table, you can delete or add language combinations on the left-hand side and price
units on the right-hand side. You can set up your price units individually under Admin → Prices →
Prices I. You can work with absolute prices or weight price units against a base price.
11. The price factor gives you the option of having multiple language combinations in one price list,
even if they do not have the same rates. For example, if you charge 20 percent more for an EN-DE
translation than for an EN-ES translation, then you can use a price factor of 1.2 for EN-DE and leave
EN-ES at 1.0. The price factor only works if there is a mathematical correlation between the prices.
If all price factors are 1.0, it means that no price factor is applied.
12. Only if you have a standard CAT tool integration (separate module): If you open the CAT
interface tab, you will be able to define which match range within your TM software should be
connected to which price unit in your price list. When creating a quote or an order, Plunet enables
you to upload log files from the TM tool(s) currently being used. Subsequently, the analysis results
will be automatically connected to the corresponding price units in the chosen price list and the
prices for your quote/order will be generated automatically.
For more information on this topic, please see Price lists.
Payment
Contacts → Customers → Payment
The customer's contract data, tax settings and other payment-related information can be entered here.
1. Contract data: Enter the contract number and contract dates for the customer.
2. Account information: Enter accounting-related information for the resource, such as accounts
receivable, revenue account, the tax rate and type, and the address to which invoices should be
sent.
3. Conditions: Enter a cash discount for the customer if they pay before the payment deadline as
well as the number of days required for the cash discount to apply. You can also block the display
of standard price lists in projects created for the customer and automatically copy the exchange
rate from orders to invoices. In addition, you can change the calculation method for the payment
deadline for this customer if it differs from the standard setting in the Admin area. Settings for
reminders and collective invoices can also be made here, as well as the target profit margin and
standard currency for this customer.
4. Alternative invoice recipients: If the module Alternative invoice recipients is active under
Admin → Rights → Modules, you can select an alternative invoice recipient for invoices that
differs from the standard invoice recipient. The alternative invoice recipient will be set as the
customer in the invoice. More information on alternative invoice recipients can be found here.
5. Tax, payment information: Enter the customer's bank details and credit card details.
Plunet 8 User Guide
60
Sales
Contacts → Customers → Sales
The module Customer/Sales discount needs to be active under Admin → Rights → Modules.
On the left-hand side of the Sales section, you can enter the Sales forecast for this particular customer
for each year. This is what you think the amount will be per year. You can also enter how probable it is
that the customer accepts orders as a percentage under Order probability. This can be compared with
the status reports for this customer under Marketing → Status report - Customers.
On the right-hand side, you can also enter the Sales discount to be used in the customer's invoices. The
customer will receive a discount on each future invoice once their annual sales reach a certain amount. In
the example below, when the customer's annual sales reach 50000 EUR, then the customer will receive a
5% discount on all receivables to be paid from this date onwards. When the annual sales reach 100000
EUR, the discount will increase to 10%, and so on. The Reset button can be used to reset the discount
level to 0.
At the bottom of the table, you can see the current annual sales and the customer's current discount
level.
 NOTE
If you want the discount to apply starting from the customer's first order, enter a negative value
as the discount level. As a result, the discount will be used immediately in the customer's first
order.
More information on the sales discount can be found here.
Marketing
Contacts → Customers → Marketing
Plunet 8 User Guide
61
This area is displayed if you have acquired the optional MarketingManager module and the
corresponding rights have been assigned. Here you can enter the date when initial contact was made
with the customer and the location, as well as information on marketing promotions.
Further information on the MarketingManager module can be found here: MarketingManager
Tasks
Contacts → Customers → Tasks
You can create tasks for certain internal users related to the customer, e.g. to call the contact person or
arrange a meeting.
To do this, select the due date, contact person on the customer side, the internal resource responsible
and enter a short description of the task. You can also specify the priority of the task. The tasks that have
been created will then appear in the Dashboard of the person who receives the task.
Contacts - Setting up user accounts for customers
Admin → Users → Customers
After creating the customer's profile, the next step is to create a user name and password for the
customer, so that they can use the customer portal.
Plunet 8 User Guide
62
User accounts for customers can be created in the respective customer profile, in the results table of the
customer search or under Admin → Users. Under Admin → Users → Customers you can search for
existing user accounts or create new ones.
 NOTE
User accounts can only be created for customers that have a valid e-mail address in their profile
and do not have an assigned user in the system yet.
Option 1: Create a user account in the Admin area
Admin → Users →Customers
In the Admin area, you can search for existing user accounts for customers or create new ones.
Select the relevant customer from the Customer drop-down list. Enter a user name and password and
click on the Plus button to create the account. Then you can assign a contact person to this user account
if the contact persons for this customer will use different accounts and require different rights in Plunet.
Option 2: Create user account in a customer profile
Create account in the communication settings
Contacts → Customers → Customer profile → Communication settings
User accounts for customers can be created in the Communication settings with the button Create user
account. When you click on it, a window opens where you can edit the information and create the
account. Please note that an e-mail address needs to be entered for the contact first.
Plunet 8 User Guide
63
If a user account has already been created for the contact, there is a different button called Edit user
account in the Communication settings. Here you can edit the information about the user account and
de-/activate the account under Status.
Create account for a customer contact person
Contacts → Customers → Contact persons
After you have entered a name, e-mail address and other information for a customer/resource contact
person, click Save. The blue button Create user appears. Click on it and select a rights group for the
contact person. When you click on OK, an e-mail will be sent to the contact person with a user name and
password.
Plunet 8 User Guide
64
Option 3: Create user account in the customer search
Contacts → Customers → Search
If you want to create accounts for multiple customers/resources at once, use the customer search to find
the corresponding contacts. Then mark the customers in the results table and select Create user
account. When you select this option, an additional drop-down list appears so that you can select the
corresponding rights group. Click OK to create the user accounts for the selected contacts.
A password is generated for each user and sent to the respective customer by e-mail. The user name is
created based on the settings under Admin → Settings → Contacts → Default values for contacts →
User name format.
Plunet 8 User Guide
65
Contacts - Resource profile search and other options
Search for resources
Contacts → Resources → Resource search
Open Contacts → Resources. From here you can select one of your Last selected resources or search
for resources using the filters provided.
At the top, you can select the relevant resource statuses to filter the search.
 NOTE
Please note that the statuses that are selected here have an effect on the resource search in jobs.
This means that only resources with the statuses selected here will be displayed in the results list
of a job.
1. Use the simple search to filter by company code, name or telephone number. For example, type in
the name of a resource or part of the name (e.g. "Allan") to run a search for a resource name
containing that word. You can either click on the magnifying glass or hit Enter on your keyboard to
start the search.
2. Alternatively, you can use the advanced search with individual filters in order to find certain
resources (e.g. select the property Area of expertise/Sector to search for all of the resources who
are qualified to translate texts on a particular subject). Click Add to add the filter to the search.
When you have added all the required filters, click Update search. The filters available in the dropdown list under Properties are fully customizable under Admin → Properties. Properties can be
assigned to resources in their profiles.
 NOTE
In order to search for resources using filters, you need to add the required filter criteria to
the resource profile.
Plunet 8 User Guide
66
3. To perform a new search with different filters, click Delete search. You can save your filter
selection to use again under Search templates.
Options for search results
The search results are displayed in a table below the search options. The details displayed in this table
can be defined by users with Admin rights in the Column settings. Click on the envelope icon to send an
e-mail to the resource.
There are a wide variety of actions in the drop-down list that can be applied to one or multiple resources.
The relevant resources need to be selected in the table before an action can be performed.
Plunet 8 User Guide
67
The following actions are available here:
• Send e-mail: Send an e-mail to the resource.
• Copy: Duplicate the selected resource profile. A copy of the resource profile will be created with
the same name and the suffix "COPY".
• Delete: Delete the selected resource profile.
• Assign/Remove property: Assign a Property to a resource or remove it from the resource profile.
• Assign/Remove text module: Assign a Text module to a resource or remove it from the resource
profile.
• Create resource group: Create a new Resource group with the selected resources.
• Assign resource group: Assign the resource to a Resource group.
• Assign template set: Assign a Template set to the resource.
• Create user account: Create a User account for a resource so that they can log into the system.
• Show/Hide contact persons: Show or hide the Resource contact persons in the Contact persons
column.
• Select all: Select all of the resources in the list.
• Select all default contact persons: If the option Show contact persons has already been
selected, you can use this option to select all of the default contact persons displayed in the list.
• Select all contact persons: If the option Show contact persons has already been selected, you
can use this option to select all of the contact persons in the list.
• Select all (current page): Select all of the resources on the current page of the search results.
• Remove selection: Deselect resources (remove the tick from the checkbox).
• Clear selection (current page): Deselect the resources on the current page (remove the tick from
the checkbox).
• Assign/Remove confidentiality level: Assign a Confidentiality level to the customer or remove
the assigned confidentiality level (only with the additional module ConfidentialityManager).
• Export addresses/price lists into Excel: Export the resource's Addresses or Price lists into Excel.
• Output - Excel (CSV): Export the search results into Excel.
• Output - Printer: Print the search results.
• Column settings: Adjust the columns that are displayed in the results table.
Plunet 8 User Guide
68
Contacts - Creating a resource profile
You can create profiles for your internal and external resources in Plunet BusinessManager and set up
user accounts so that resources can view and deliver their jobs and create invoices.
Contacts → Resources → Resource search
Click on the button Create new resource in Plunet in the top right-hand corner to create a new resource
profile. This will open an empty resource profile, which you can fill with the required data.
Communication
Contacts → Resources → Communication
Enter the resource's last name in the field Name 1 and the first name in Name 2 and add further
communication information in the relevant fields.
1. Status: The default status of a new resource is New. It is important to set the status of the
resource to Active so that the resource can be used in the system. You will not be able to create a
user account or assign the resource to a job if their status is not set to Active. Further information
on resources statuses in Plunet can be found here: Resource status
2. Opening: You can specify how the resource is to be addressed in documents or e-mails that are
created in the system (e.g. "Hello Steven").
3. Enter general communication data, such as a telephone number, e-mail address, Skype ID etc.
4. Resource folder: This folder contains resource-related files and correspondence that are not
related to specific projects or apply to multiple projects, e.g. contract or CV.
5. Templates: Define which templates should be used to create documents and e-mails that will be
sent to the resource.
6. Memo for resource: You can set memos to appear as a pop-up when a new job is created and
specify that the memo will be copied to the job comment by selecting the corresponding
checkbox.
7. Source of contact: Enter the place where contact was first made with this resource. This field
tracks the contact's opt-in and is required for documentation purposes. It can be added to
documents and e-mails using the flag [SourceOfContact].
8. The Weekly schedule gives you the opportunity to set up standard working hours and absence
times for the resource. Your resources can also update their own weekly schedule and absence
times in their vendor portal.
9. Underneath the weekly schedule you can see the date of the most recently assigned Job and
shortcuts to the following reports and queries: Status report - Orders, Status report - Jobs,
Payables, Prices and Change log.
Communication settings
Contacts → Resources → Communication → Communication settings
Plunet 8 User Guide
69
Click on the gear icon next to Communication to open the Communication settings.
User type
Set the User type either to Internal (if you want to set up a project manager or an internal reviewer, for
example) or to External (if you want to create a vendor profile).
Internal
For internal resources, you can select a resource type and a default project role, if this resource is to be
part of a project team.
External
If you select External, the checkbox Agency appears. Activate this option if you want to set up an LSP as
a resource.
User account
Click Create user account to create an account for the resource, so that they can log into Plunet
BusinessManager (external resources will log into the vendor portal). A window opens where you can edit
the information and create the account. Please note that an e-mail address needs to be entered for the
resource first.
Plunet 8 User Guide
70
If a user account has already been created for this resource, there is a different button called Edit user
account in the Communication settings. Here you can edit the information about the user account and
de-/activate the account under Status.
Plunet 8 User Guide
71
Uses own Plunet BusinessManager
If the resource also works with Plunet BusinessManager, enable the function Uses own Plunet
BusinessManager and enter the required information. When a job is assigned to the resource, an XML file
containing the metadata for their job will be created and attached to the job assignment e-mail. By
clicking on the XML file, the resource adds the metadata and documents as a new project in their system.
For more information on this functionality, see Automatic job exchange via XML
CAT interface settings
If you work with a CAT interface, you can link this resource to a user in the CAT tools here. For more
information, see the pages on the respective CAT tools: CAT interfaces
Calendar
Contacts → Resources → Calendar
The calendar displays the resource's availability over a certain period of time. You can choose the length
of time to be displayed. The times when the resource is not available are shown in different colors
depending on the reason. In the example below, you can see Allan Miller's absence time (dark red vacation) and his current job (orange - in progress):
Contact persons
Contacts → Resources → Contact persons
Add contact persons
In the case of external resources who are agencies, you can specify one or more contact person and enter
their contact details. If there are several contact persons, one can be selected as the Default contact
person in the corresponding drop-down list.
Plunet 8 User Guide
72
Display inactive contact persons
When the contact persons of resources are set to Not active, by default they are no longer displayed in
the overview of contact persons in the contact profile. When the Display inactive contact persons
option is active, the names of the inactive contact persons will be displayed in italics.
Specify source of contact
The Source of contact field is also available for each resource contact person. Enter the place where
contact was first made with this resource contact person. This field tracks the contact's opt-in and is
required for documentation purposes. It can be added to documents and e-mails using the flag
[ContactSourceOfContact].
Address
Contacts → Resources → Address
Here you can enter one or more addresses for the resource. You can also calculate the geographic
latitude and longitude of the resource's location by clicking on the magnifying glass. This is useful for
interpreting projects: it is possible to search by geographic coordinates in order to determine which
resources are located closest to the event location.
Properties
Contacts → Resources → Properties
Properties are additional classifications that help to optimize your business processes. Customers,
resources, price lists and projects can be tagged with the values of these properties, which can then be
used as search and grouping filters. For resources, properties act as filters in the resource search and
thus speed up the process of finding resources for jobs: for example, only the resources with the property
DTP will be suggested when you search for a resource for a DTP job. Properties and their values can be
created as required under Admin → Properties.
Plunet 8 User Guide
73
Add properties to your resource profile by selecting from the drop-down list in the top left-hand corner.
Then you can choose one or more values for this property and save your selection by clicking on Add. You
can add and delete an unlimited number of properties for each resource.
Price lists
Contacts → Resources → Price lists
Standard price lists can be set up in the Admin area for resources. Additionally, you can set up individual
price lists for every resource to cover their specific rates. You can create price lists from scratch, copy
existing price lists and link price lists to a standard price list.
1. Click on Create new price list. To copy an existing price list, select a standard price list under
Copy standard price list and click on the Plus button.
2. Enter a name of your new price list under Change name of price list, e.g. to "Price List for Allan
Miller".
3. Memo: Enter internal information on the price list here, e.g. information on the language
combinations or services included in the price list.
4. Currencies: Select the standard currency for the price list.
5. CAT calculation basis: Select the calculation basis for the CAT analysis, e.g. Words or Characters.
6. Active: Activate the price list for use in projects here.
7. Rounding procedure: Select how prices with multiple decimal places should be rounded up/
down. This setting can also be made under Admin → Settings → Orders → Rounding in items
(Unit price).
Plunet 8 User Guide
74
8. Minimum price per job: You can define a minimum price for each job in a project, which will be
applied automatically if the total amount of the job is lower than the minimum price set in this
field.
9. Properties: You can assign a resource property to the price list and thereby limit its use to jobs
that also have this property assigned, e.g. Skills, Staff category.
10. If you want to link certain translator price lists to be used in the jobs of particular customers,
define these prices in a separate price list and select the customer under
Contacts → Resources → Price list → Price list for selected customers only. This price list is
automatically used in jobs for the selected customers/customer groups.
11. You can delete or add language combinations on the left hand side of the price list table and
delete or add price units on the right hand side. You can set up your price units individually under
Admin → Prices → Prices I. You can work with absolute prices or weight price units against a base
price.
12. The price factor gives you the option of having multiple language combinations in one price list,
even if they do not have the same rates. For example, if you charge 20 percent more for an EN-DE
translation than for an EN-ES translation, then you can use a price factor of 1.2 for EN-DE and leave
EN-ES at 1.0. The price factor only works if there is a mathematical correlation between the prices.
If all price factors are 1.0, it means that no price factor is applied.
13. Only if you have a standard CAT tool integration (separate module): If you open the CAT
interface tab, you will be able to define which match range within your TM software should be
connected to which price unit in your price list. When creating a quote or an order, Plunet enables
you to upload log files from the TM tool(s) currently being used. Subsequently, the analysis results
will be automatically connected to the corresponding price units in the chosen price list and the
prices for your quote/order will be generated automatically.
For more information on this topic, see Price lists.
Payment
Contacts → Resources → Payment
The resource's payment information, tax set-up and other payment-related information can be entered
here.
Plunet 8 User Guide
75
1. Contract data: Enter the contract number and contract dates for the resource.
2. Account information: Enter accounting-related information for the resource, such as creditor
account, expense account, the tax rate and type, and the amount of commission for orders with
this resource in the project team. In addition, you can change the calculation method for the
payment deadline for this resource if it differs from the standard setting in the Admin area. You can
also define an hourly rate for jobs completed by internal resources. The internal costs will be
included in the gross profit of the quote/order based on this hourly rate. You can also block the
display of standard price lists in jobs assigned to this resource and add an automatic deduction or
bonus to jobs for this resource based on job feedback.
3. Tax, payment information: Enter the resource's bank details and credit card details.
Sales
Contacts → Resources → Sales
You can enter a sales target and sales discount for the resource. You take on the role of the customer
here, as you purchase the services provided by the resource and receive the discount accordingly. The
discount level is applied to all future payables when the amount from the invoices in a calendar year
reaches the defined amount.
 NOTE
The module Resource/Sales target needs to be active under Admin → Rights → Modules.
Resource assessment
Contacts → Resources → Resource assessment
You can rate your resources' performance internally by entering a resource assessment in the resource's
profile. This assessment can be made at regular intervals by the project and vendor management teams.
Further information on resource assessments can be found here: Resource assessment
Tasks
Contacts → Resources → Tasks
You can create tasks for certain internal users related to the resource, e.g. to request the resource's CV or
to send a test translation. To do this, select the due date, the resource or contact person for the resource
(if an agency), the internal resource responsible and enter a short description of the task. You can also
Plunet 8 User Guide
76
specify the priority of the task. The tasks that have been created will then appear in the Dashboard of the
person who receives the task.
Contacts - Setting up user accounts for resources
Admin → Users → Resources
After creating the resource's profile, the next step is to create a user name and password for the resource,
so that they can use the vendor portal.
User accounts for resources can be created in the respective resource profile, in the results table of the
resource search or under Admin → Users. You can view existing user accounts and create new ones
under Admin → Users → Resource (Internal) or Resource (External) – depending on the type of
resource you created under Contacts → Resources.
 NOTE
User accounts can only be created for resources that have a valid e-mail address in their profile
and do not have an assigned user in the system yet.
Option 1: Create a user account in the Admin area
Admin → Users → Resources (internal)/Resources (External)
In the Admin area, you can search for existing user accounts for resources or create new ones.
Internal resources
Select the relevant resource from the Resources drop-down list. Enter a user name and password and
click on the Plus button to create the account.
Plunet 8 User Guide
77
External resources
Select the relevant resource from the Resources drop-down list. Enter a user name and password and
click on the Plus button to create the account. If this resource is an agency, select the respective contact
person from the Contact person drop-down list.
Option 2: Create user account in a resource profile
Create account in the communication settings
Contacts → Resources → Resource profile → Communication settings
User accounts for resources can be created in the Communication settings with the button Create user
account. When you click on it, a window opens where you can edit the information and create the
account. Please note that an e-mail address needs to be entered for the contact first.
If a user account has already been created for the contact, there is a different button called Edit user
account in the Communication settings. Here you can edit the information about the user account and
de-/activate the account under Status.
Plunet 8 User Guide
78
Option 3: Create user account in the resource search
Contacts → Resources → Search
If you want to create accounts for multiple resources at once, use the resource search to find the
corresponding contacts. Then mark the resources in the results table and select Create user account.
When you select this option, an additional drop-down list appears so that you can select the
corresponding rights group. Click OK to create the user accounts for the selected contacts.
A password is generated for each user and sent to the respective resource by e-mail. The user name is
created based on the settings under Admin → Settings → Contacts → Default values for contacts →
User name format.
Plunet 8 User Guide
79
Contacts - Absences
Along with project-related activities that your resources can enter in their time sheet (such as
Translation or Project management), there is another category for Other activities. Here you can enter
additional activities that cover that working hours that are not related to projects. This includes
absences, such as Vacation or Sick.
Admin settings
Admin → Miscellaneous → Time sheet
In the Time sheet area, you can define whether the hours entered for Other activities should be counted
as working hours and whether or not the times can only be entered by the supervisor.
Entering absences for resources
Contacts → Resources → Communication → Absences
Click on the option Create absence to enter an absence for the resource in their resource profile. Enter
the dates, times and reason for the absence. Select All-day if the resource will be absent for the entire
day or multiple days, or Hourly if they will be absent for a certain number of hours. You can also enter a
comment or more detailed reason in the Memo field. The absences that have already been entered for
this resource are listed here and can be edited.
Plunet 8 User Guide
80
 NOTE
In the resource profile, you can only enter absences that will take place in the future. Absences
that have already taken place, but were not recorded in Plunet BusinessManager, can only be
entered by a supervisor under Contacts → Absences.
Absence planning
Contacts → Absences
If you have the Time sheet - Supervisor right, you can access the Absences area in the Contacts menu.
Under Select you can get an overview of all absences for a particular resource/resource group in a given
time period. Select the time period and the resource (group). All of the absences will initially be displayed
in the Absences table. To narrow down the results, select an absence type and all absences of this type
will be displayed in the Absences table. You can add new absences directly into the table using the dropdown list underneath the table.
Plunet 8 User Guide
81
Vacation time
You can also define the number of vacation days per year. When you select a resource, the Vacation time
table will appear on the right-hand side. Enter the calendar year and the number of vacation days that
the resource can take in that year. Click on OK to save.
The number of vacation days remaining in each year is displayed in the Remaining column.
Entering absences for multiple resources
If more than one resource will be absent on a particular day (e.g. a public holiday), you can save time by
creating an absence for all of the relevant resources at once. First, select the corresponding Resource
group under Select (resource). Then select the type of absence (e.g. Public holiday) from the dropdown list underneath the Absences table. Enter the dates, the number of days and, optionally, a
Comment (e.g. the name of the public holiday). Click on OK to save.
Plunet 8 User Guide
82
When you open the time sheet for a resource who is a member of this resource group, the absence and
number of hours will be displayed. In this case, 8 working hours per day is the default amount for this
resource, so a whole day absence is entered as 8 hours.
Viewing resource absences in jobs
Job → Assignment
Resource absences can be seen in the availability overview of each job. Absences are represented by an
exclamation mark. This means that there is at least one absence in the resource's calendar between the
start date and due date of the job. If you hover over the symbol with the cursor, you can see more details
on the absence.
Further information on the availability overview can be found here.
Plunet 8 User Guide
83
Absences can be defined for resources by the project manager under Contacts → Resources →
Communication → Create absence time or by the resources themselves under Home → Settings in the
vendor portal (whole day or hourly absence).
Project templates
What are project templates?
You can create templates for orders, quotes, order items, quote items and jobs. Templates facilitate and
speed up the preparation of projects, because specific details (vendors, price units, customer properties,
languages, etc.) can be predefined. This prevents spending too much time on repetitive tasks and helps
eliminate error.
What can you predefine in a project template? (* = depends on additional modules
activated in Plunet)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Customer
Contact persons
Properties and their values
Text modules and their values
Language combinations
Price lists
Price units
Jobs
Workflows
*Multi-team projects with specific item supervisors
*Project confidentiality level
*Cost transfer options
Quote and order templates
If a project manager creates similar quotes or orders on a regular basis, a template can reduce the entire
process to a few clicks. You can create new templates, edit existing templates, or create templates from
existing quotes/orders and then edit them as required. The templates can be generic or customerspecific (with the customer, customer contact person, project category, etc.). Values can be pre-defined
for all properties and text modules. Languages can be added and a specific price list preselected.
Plunet 8 User Guide
84
Creating an order template
Orders → Templates
Create a new template under Orders → Templates by selecting Order template and clicking on the Plus
button.
It is also possible to use an existing order as the basis for an order template, by selecting the order from
Template from order.
Project team
Orders → Templates → Project team
The project team section will be filled in when the order is created, depending on the settings in the
customer profile or if certain resources have been preselected in the Admin area (Admin → Settings →
Orders → Preselected supervisor/Preselected project manager/Preselected resource group). For
more information, see Project roles
Add information to the Memo, if required, and specify whether it should be printed on documents for the
customer (order confirmation, delivery note, invoice) or displayed in the job.
Customer
Orders → Templates → Customer
If you are creating a template for a specific customer, enter their name and select the relevant contact
persons as well as any other required information here.
General
Orders → Templates → General
Plunet 8 User Guide
85
The Project name field is used for the template name. This will be the default name for all projects that
are created using this template. Add a description if required, as well as a project category, any other
requirements and values for properties that you have specified for orders.
Languages
Orders → Templates → Languages
Here you can predefine the language combinations and select the price list.
Items
Orders → Templates → Items
You can also pre-define the items in each order template. Alternatively, you can create item templates to
be used in different projects.
Creating a quote template
Quotes → Templates
Create a new template under Quotes → Templates by selecting Quote template and clicking on the
Plus button.
Plunet 8 User Guide
86
It is also possible to use an existing quote as the basis for an order template, by selecting the quote from
Template from quote.
Project team
Quotes → Templates → Project team
The project team section will be filled in when the quote is created, depending on the settings in the
customer profile or if certain project roles have been preselected in the Admin area (Admin → Settings
→ Quotes → Preselected project manager). For more information, see Project roles
You can add information to the Memo field and specify whether it should be displayed as a popup when
the quote is generated or if it should be copied to the jobs as a comment.
Customer
Quotes → Templates → Customer
If you are creating a template for a specific customer, enter their name and select the relevant contact
persons as well as any other required information here.
General
Quotes → Templates → General
The Project name field is used for the template name. This will be the default name for all projects that
are created using this template. Add a description if required, as well as a project category, any other
requirements and values for properties that you have specified for orders.
Plunet 8 User Guide
87
Languages
Quotes → Templates → Languages
Here you can predefine the language combinations and select the price list.
Items
Quotes → Templates → Items
You can also pre-define the items in each quote template. Alternatively, you can create item templates to
be used in different projects.
Plunet 8 User Guide
88
Item templates
Item templates can be incorporated into quote and order templates or can be used by themselves in an
existing project (instead of creating items from scratch).
You can pre-define items to be added to projects, for example if you want to add a project management
fee or file preparation fee. You can also add all of the fuzzy match ranges here if the customer does not
use a CAT integration. Then the project manager can enter the word counts in the actual project. To do
this, select the corresponding price units. All price units can be set up individually by a user with admin
rights under Admin → Prices → Prices I.
In order to use an item template in a quote/order template or project, select the item template from the
drop-down list under Languages → Create items and click Create items.
Plunet 8 User Guide
89
 NOTE
Quote item templates and order item templates are not interchangeable. For example, a quote
item template can only be used in quotes, not orders.
 NOTE
If required, quote templates, order templates, and item templates can be restricted based on
rights groups so that only specific users can edit or use them in projects.
Job templates and workflow templates
Individual jobs or workflows can be attached to quote, order or item templates with preselcted
resources, price units, etc.
This is especially useful if you are using a quote or order template with predefined language
combinations, because you can assign specific resources based on the selected language combinations.
Job settings
Within a workflow template, each job can be configured differently than the global settings for the job
type under Admin → Settings → Jobs. For example, jobs can be created as follows:
•
•
•
•
•
Jobs with predefined resources
Jobs that require feedback to be entered for the previous job upon delivery
Jobs in which only specific folders are shared with the resources
Jobs with different automation settings
Jobs with different transfer options for quantities/ price units (quantities and price units can be
transferred from the item according to different settings)
Workflow settings
Simple or complex workflows can be created to further help automate your processes:
Plunet 8 User Guide
90
• Workflows that include automatic jobs (e.g. automatic delivery to the customer and or automatic
jobs related to the dynamic CAT tool integration).
• Multiple jobs that run in parallel and are followed by one different job type (e.g. several translation
jobs followed by one editing or DTP job).
• Workflows can also be restricted so that they can only be used in projects for certain customers or
customer groups. In this case, the workflow could contain customer-specific properties as
selection criteria, as well as customer-specific work instructions.
• Workflows can be created specifically for ISO-compliant projects, where only certified linguists can
be used. For that purpose, specific different properties and values can be set as selection criteria,
so that only qualified vendors will be displayed as 'matching resources' in the job. This workflow
can be incorporated into an item and/or quote/order template as well, for additional automation.
• Workflows can be made visible in the customer portal (this only takes effect if workflow selection
has been enabled under Admin → Settings → Customer portal and in the customer profile).
Workflows selected by the customer will be automatically attached to the quote/order.
 NOTE
If you want specific workflows to only be visible to certain customers, restrict each workflow
template accordingly so that they are not visible to other customers. In Orders → Workflow
templates → Workflow details select Released for selected customers as the status. The
Restrictions section will appear and you can select the customers and customer groups that will
be able to request this workflow.
Example: Achieving a high level of automation using templates
1. Create a Workflow template with TRA, EDT and DTP jobs
2. Create an Item template with pre-defined price units and a project management fee
3. Create an Order template for a specific customer
a. Add the most frequently used language combinations
b. Create items for all languages using the item template
c. Check or change the price list if required
4. (Optional) Create language-independent item for the DTP job, add subtotal and project
management fee
5. In the Job list attach the workflow and pre-select resources based on the languages (Video
tip: How To Quickly Find Preferred Resources Using Workflow Templates)
Plunet 8 User Guide
91
6. Create an order based on the template
 NOTE
You can turn a request into quote or order based on a selected template. Even if a quote/order
template contains multiple language combinations, Plunet will only use and create items for the
languages in the request.
Requests - Creating a request
The first step of most project workflows is the initial request from the customer. Customers can create
requests in Plunet BusinessManager using their own login or the project manager can create a request for
the customer. Depending on the customer's rights and installed modules, it is possible to create either a
translation project or an interpreting project.
 NOTE
The workflow described here is for creating a translation project. For detailed information on
creating an interpreting project, please see the user guide for the InterpretingManager
additional module.
Admin settings
Once a request has been created, a confirmation e-mail can be automatically sent to the relevant
recipients. To set this up, select the e-mail template Request confirmation under Admin → Document
templates → E-mail and select the Automatic sending of e-mails active checkbox. Then you can choose
the default recipient(s) for the e-mail, e.g. the Contact person of customer and the Account Manager as
in the example below. The relevant contact persons can be individually set up in the customer's profile
under Contacts → Customer → Communication.
Plunet 8 User Guide
92
Creating a request from a customer's point of view
First, log into the customer portal as a customer.
In order to create a request, click Create a request on the Dashboard. You can decide whether you want
to Request a quote or Request an order. In the example below, we will request a quote. The steps
involved in creating a request are visible at the top of the page, which means that you can always keep
track of your progress. The current step is highlighted in bold. Completed steps are marked with a tick,
but you can still access them again for further editing. At the bottom of each page, you have the option of
going to the next step or returning to the previous step. Any changes you have made will be
automatically saved in the process.
 TIP
You can copy existing requests and change the due date. This will save time if you often create
requests with similar requirements.
Step 1: General
Enter basic information on the project, such as the project name, the scope of service (in this case
Translation, Editing and Proofreading) and the delivery date.
Plunet 8 User Guide
93
Step 2: Languages
Select the source and target languages and click on the plus button. If applicable, specify alternate
delivery dates for different languages. These language combinations can also be saved as a default for
future requests.
You can also specify if there are different source files for each language combination by selecting the
corresponding checkbox. As a result, a different sub-folder is created for each language combination in
the project folder.
If activated in your system, you can also select properties for each language combination.
 NOTE
At least one language combination must be selected before the request can be created.
Plunet 8 User Guide
94
Step 3: Project files
Upload the source files and any additional reference materials via FileManager. You can also upload the
files with Drag & Drop by selecting the files in your file explorer and dragging them into FileManager.
If there are different source files for each language combination, then a separate sub-folder will be
created for each language combination in the Source directory. When a quote or order is created from
the request, the documents will be copied or moved to the corresponding item folder. When all files have
been uploaded, close the window.
 TIP
If you have style guides or glossaries that apply to all of your projects, you can make them part of
your projects by default, which means that you do not need to upload them for every new
project. They will be stored in a separate folder, which can be shared directly with your service
providers. To set this up, please contact your project manager.
Step 4: Summary
Now you can check the information you have entered. The information is initially displayed in "Readonly" mode. If you hover over one of the sections with the cursor, the Edit button appears, which you can
click on to edit the information once more. Changes can then either be saved or discarded by clicking on
Save or Cancel.
Plunet 8 User Guide
95
To complete the request, enter your e-mail address under Send request confirmation to. The options
displayed here vary depending on whether you want to request a quote or place an order. If you want to
request a quote, enter a due date for the quote. Click on Request a quote to send your request to the
project manager or account manager, who will then send you a confirmation by e-mail. If you want to
place an order, click on Request an order and the project manager or account manager will send you a
confirmation by e-mail.
Create a request as a project manager
In some cases, the project manager will create the request, e.g. for documentation purposes or if the
customer does not use the customer portal. In some companies there is an internal resource who records
the requests that come in by e-mail or telephone in Plunet BusinessManager. The request is then either
sent to the project manager who creates the corresponding quote/order or the internal resource creates
the quote/order directly. To create a request as an internal resource, proceed as follows:
1. Click on the Plus button in the menu bar and create a new request by selecting Request from the
drop-down menu and clicking on the Plus button under New request.
2. Select the customer and contact person. The default contact person for the customer is
preselected.
Plunet 8 User Guide
96
3. Enter request details such as the project name, the project category, the workflow (in the example
below, Translation-Editing-Proofreading) and the start/requested delivery dates.
4. Select the language combinations and specify if the delivery dates for different language
combinations are different. These language combinations can also be saved as default for future
requests. If there are different source files for each language, select the corresponding checkbox.
As a result, a different sub-folder is created for each language combination in the project folder.
You can also specify the CAT interface at this point.
5. Click on FileManager under Project files and upload the source files and any additional reference
materials via FileManager. You can also upload the files via Drag & Drop by selecting the files in
your file explorer and dragging them into FileManager. If there are different source files for each
language combination, then a separate sub-folder will be created for each language combination
in the Source directory. Place the files in the corresponding sub-folders and click on Upload. In the
example above, the file is uploaded to the en_fr folder, because this file is to be translated from
English into French. The second source file, which is to be translated into German, will be
uploaded to the en_de-de folder accordingly. When a quote or order is created from the request,
the documents will be copied or moved to the corresponding item folder. When all files have been
uploaded, please close the window.
Plunet 8 User Guide
97
6. Under Send request you can either Request a quote or Request an order. The project manager
will receive a request confirmation e-mail and can then create the quote/order.
Quotes - Creating a quote
When a request has been submitted by the customer or internally, it will appear on your Dashboard
under Requests - Pending. You can view more details by clicking on Pending.
Select the request that you want to process and open it by clicking on the request number.
You can see whether the customer requested a quote or an order in the Action area:
Plunet 8 User Guide
98
Now check and modify the details of the request and upload additional files as needed. Under Turn into
a quote or order you can select a quote template, if applicable. If you create similar quotes on a regular
basis, quote templates are useful, as they can include predefined information such as the customer,
language combinations, etc.
You can also decide whether to move or copy the documents and whether an item should be created
automatically for each language combination. Click on Create quote to create and open a new quote.
Completing the quote data
Quotes → Quotes details
Once you have created a quote from the request, you can review the data and fill in the remaining
information before sending the quote to the customer for approval.
Plunet 8 User Guide
99
Project team
If not predefined for this customer, enter the members of the Project team, e.g. the project manager,
supervisor and any other team members. The resource type and default project roles for specific
resources can be defined in their resource profile under Communication → Communication settings.
For more information, see Project roles
You can add information to the Memo field and specify whether it should be displayed as a popup when
the quote is generated or if it should be copied to the jobs as a comment.
Customer
This section displays the customer name and other contact data. You can edit the contact fields and
specify additional e-mail recipients if necessary (if the module Project/Additional e-mail recipients is
activated under Admin → Rights → Modules).
General
This section contains general project information, such as the project name, description, project
category, due dates and any other properties or text modules that you have activated for quotes.
Languages
The source documents and reference material can be downloaded at any time via FileManager under
Project files. The source documents can be found in the source folder, within the language-specific
subfolder(s) created automatically by Plunet BusinessManager (e.g. en). If the customer specified that
there are separate source files for different items in the request, the documents will be automatically
stored in separate folders here. The reference material can be found in the ref folder.
Plunet 8 User Guide
100
The language combinations specified in the request are displayed here along with a pre-selected price
list, which you can adjust if required.
You also have the option to delete the language combinations or to sort them alphabetically by source
language via the three dots in the top-right corner of the languages table. If you change the order of the
items (see Items below), you can also sort the language combinations in that order (the option Sort by
source language changes to Sort by item order).
The system can automatically create items based on the language combinations in the request or based
on the quote template. Items (additional language-dependent or language-independent) can also be
created or added manually if necessary.
CAT interface
If you work with a dynamic CAT tool integration, select the CAT interface from the drop-down list here.
You can find detailed information on the CAT settings here: CAT Interfaces.
Items
With CAT tool integration
If you work with a static CAT tool integration, you can download the source file, run the CAT analysis and
upload the analysis file in FileManager to the right of the item.
Plunet 8 User Guide
101
1. After uploading the analysis file, click on the TM button next to TM analysis to generate the
results.
2. The TM analysis window opens. This is where the CAT analysis is processed and the prices are
calculated.
3. The results of the CAT analysis are linked to the price list that was chosen for the item and can be
inserted by clicking the button Copy analysis results to item.
4. The price units are created automatically based on the word count and match ranges of the CAT
tool. All prices and amounts can be overwritten and additional price units can be added (e.g.
project management cost or a discount).
5. If a price unit (e.g. a discount) is calculated in percent, the percentage will be calculated based on
the last price unit of the item.
6. For information on adding discounts and surcharges within an item or across several items, please
see Price blocks.
Without CAT tool integration
If you do not work with a CAT tool integration, you can manually enter the quantities (word count or
number of pages/lines/hours etc.) for each item and choose the matching price unit in the drop-down list
on the left.
Click anywhere in the item to open editing mode and click on the tick in the top left corner when you
have made your changes.
At the top of the Items section you can change the currency of the project. Under Item overview you
have several options:
• You can select and Copy items in order to add duplicates to the project or Cut items in order to
move them. You can choose where the item should be inserted by click on Paste in the relevant
position.
Plunet 8 User Guide
102
• You can also select New item and then Paste it in the relevant position.
• You can also move the items up and down in the list by using the arrows next to the item number.
You can change the preselected price list in the item via the Price list drop-down list:
Creating jobs
Quotes → Jobs
It is possible to create jobs at the quote stage. This is useful for planning the gross profit, among other
things. You can preselect resources and adjust the costs where necessary. Documents may also need to
be prepared before the quote is sent to the customer, so some jobs may be delivered at this stage as
well.
Plunet 8 User Guide
103
More information can be found here:
Creating a job workflow
Assigning resources to jobs (as of version 8.0)
Generating and sending the quote document
Quotes → Quote details → Output
1. First, decide which template set you would like to use to create the quote. The default for this
customer is preselected.
2. Then select the Output format of the quote document. The prices in the printed document can be
output in the following ways:
a. Abbreviated version: Only the total price of the item is printed.
b. Default (with price memo/without price memo): The quantities, price units, unit prices
and total prices are printed out unchanged, with or without price memos.
c. Weighted quantity: The weighted total quantity is calculated according to the percentage
pricing of the match ranges.
d. Quantity not weighted (without unit price): The total quantity without weighting and the
weighted price are calculated. The total quantity and the weighted price are printed.
e. CAT discount: The total quantity and price without weighting is calculated first. In addition,
a CAT discount is calculated from the weighted match ranges and subtracted from the price.
The total quantity and the price without weighting, the CAT discount, and the calculated
total price are printed.
i. The CAT discount is calculated as follows: CAT discount = (Gross quantity - Net
quantity) * Unit price (Word No Match)
f. Further information can be found here: Output format of prices in printed documents
3. To prepare the quote document, click Create quote. An RTF document will be generated and can
be edited before being sent, if necessary. When you click on the envelope icon next to it, Plunet
BusinessManager converts the RTF file into a PDF file and attaches the file to the quote e-mail. The
e-mail will be automatically filled in based on the template Quotes (m) (set up under Admin →
Document templates → E-mail). The text of the e-mail can be edited in the e-mail window.
Plunet 8 User Guide
104
 NOTE
If the Create quote button is greyed out, it means that a mandatory field in the quote has
not been filled in.
4. Once the quote has been sent to the customer, the status of the quote changes to Pending and the
Create order button becomes active.
5. The quote will then appear in the customer's Dashboard under Quotes - Pending. The customer
can click on the quote number to view the quote in detail, place an order or reject the quote.
6. If the customer accepts the quote, the project manager will receive an e-mail notification. Then
the project manager can create a quote from the order by clicking Create order under Quotes →
Quote details → Output.
7. If the customer rejects the quote, they can select a reason for rejection (which can be defined and
made visible to customers under Admin → Miscellaneous → Quote - Reason for rejection). This
information can be used for reporting purposes or to create a new version of the quote.
Plunet 8 User Guide
105
Orders - Creating an order
Quotes → Quote details → Output
Once a quote has been accepted by the customer, you can convert it into an order. To do this, open the
quote and go to the Output section. Click on Create order and all of the information will be transferred
from the quote. Initially, the order has the status In preparation. Now you can check the project data
and make modifications, if necessary.
Completing the order data
Orders → Order details
After creating the order, you can review the data and fill in any remaining information.
Project team
Orders → Order details → Project team
If not predefined for this customer, enter the members of the Project team, e.g. the project manager,
supervisor and any other team members. The resource type and default project roles for specific
resources can be defined in their resource profile under Communication → Communication settings.
For more information, see Project roles
Add information to the Memo, if required, and specify whether it should be printed on documents for the
customer (order confirmation, delivery note, invoice) or displayed in the job.
Plunet 8 User Guide
106
Customer
Orders → Order details → Customer
This section displays the customer name and other contact data. You can edit the contact fields and
specify additional e-mail recipients if necessary.
General
Orders → Order details → General
This section contains general project information, such as the project name, description, project
category, due dates and any other properties that you have specified for orders.
Languages
Orders → Order details → Languages
The source documents and reference material can be downloaded at any time via FileManager under
Project files. The source documents can be found in the source folder, where Plunet BusinessManager
has created a folder for the source language (e.g. en). If the customer specified that there are separate
source files for different items in the request, the documents will be automatically stored in separate
folders here. The reference material can be found in the ref folder.
The language combinations specified in the request are displayed here along with a pre-selected price
list, which you can adjust if required.
You also have the option to delete the language combinations or to sort them alphabetically by source
language via the three dots in the top-right corner of the languages table. If you change the order of the
items (see Items below), you can also sort the language combinations in that order (the option Sort by
source language changes to Sort by item order).
Plunet 8 User Guide
107
The system automatically creates empty items based on the language combinations in the request.
Additional language-dependent or language-independent items can be added if necessary.
CAT interface
Orders → Order details → CAT interface
If you work with a dynamic CAT tool integration, select the CAT interface from the drop-down list here.
You can find detailed information on the CAT settings here: CAT Interfaces.
Items
Orders → Order details → Items
With CAT tool integration
If you work with a static CAT tool integration, you can download the source file, run the CAT analysis and
upload the analysis file in FileManager to the right of the item.
1. After uploading the analysis file, click on the TM button next to TM analysis to generate the
results.
2. The TM analysis window opens. This is where the CAT analysis is processed and the prices are
calculated.
3. The results of the CAT analysis are linked to the price list that was chosen for the item and can be
inserted by clicking the button Copy analysis results to item.
Plunet 8 User Guide
108
4. The price units are created automatically based on the word count and match ranges of the CAT
tool. All prices and amounts can be overwritten and additional price units can be added (e.g.
project management cost or a discount).
5. If a price unit (e.g. a discount) is calculated in percent, the percentage will be calculated based on
the last price unit of the item.
6. For information on adding discounts and surcharges within an item or across several items, please
see Price blocks.
Without CAT tool integration
If you do not work with a CAT tool integration, you can manually enter the quantities (word count or
number of pages/lines/hours etc.) for each item and choose the matching price unit in the drop-down list
on the left.
Click anywhere in the item to open editing mode and click on the tick in the top left corner when you
have made your changes.
At the top of the Items section you can change the currency of the project. Under Item overview you
have several options:
• You can select and Copy items in order to add duplicates to the project or Cut items in order to
move them. You can choose where the item should be inserted by click on Paste in the relevant
position.
• You can also select New item and then Paste it in the relevant position.
• You can also move the items up and down in the list by using the arrows next to the item number.
Plunet 8 User Guide
109
You can change the preselected price list in the item via the Price list drop-down list:
Creating jobs
Orders → Jobs
The next step is to create jobs. Information on jobs can be found here:
Creating a job workflow
Assigning resources to jobs (as of version 8.0)
Plunet 8 User Guide
110
Order confirmation
Orders → Order details → Output
You can send the customer a confirmation that the order has been created.
First, decide which template set you would like to use to create the quote. The default for this customer
is preselected.
Then select the Output format of the prices in the order confirmation:
• Abbreviated version: Only the total price of the item is printed.
• Default (with price memo/without price memo): The quantities, price units, unit prices and total
prices are printed out unchanged, with or without price memos.
• Weighted quantity: The weighted total quantity is calculated according to the percentage pricing
of the match ranges.
• Quantity not weighted (without unit price): The total quantity without weighting and the
weighted price are calculated. The total quantity and the weighted price are printed.
• CAT discount: The total quantity and price without weighting is calculated first. In addition, a CAT
discount is calculated from the weighted match ranges and subtracted from the price. The total
quantity and the price without weighting, the CAT discount, and the calculated total price are
printed.
The CAT discount is calculated as follows: CAT discount = (Gross quantity - Net quantity) *
Unit price (Word No Match)
To prepare the order confirmation, click Create order confirmation. An RTF document will be generated
and can be edited before being sent, if necessary. When you click on the envelope icon next to it, Plunet
BusinessManager converts the RTF file into a PDF file and attaches the file to the order confirmation email. The e-mail will be automatically filled in based on the template Order confirmation (m) set up
under Admin → Document templates → E-mail. The text of the e-mail can be edited in the e-mail
window.
Plunet 8 User Guide
111
Orders - Workflow templates
Plunet workflows can be used to combine, automate and clearly display jobs and production workflows
in projects. A workflow template is a predefined sequence of job types that can be used later in your
projects. Workflow templates can be used to predefine job-specific data (resources, instructions,
comments, prices) as well as the job sequence. By using workflows, you can add jobs more quickly to
projects. They are particularly useful if the same steps are often used in different projects, for example
Translation-Editing-Proofreading.
The workflow editor
Orders → Workflow templates
Under Orders → Workflow templates you can find the workflow editor, which can be used to create
workflow templates and edit workflows in projects.
Plunet 8 User Guide
112
Add jobs to workflows
Jobs and workflow templates can be selected from a sidebar and added to a new workflow template
using drag & drop. New jobs can be added to a workflow at any time and jobs can be added to multiple
items at once.
Automatic workflow
The transitions between each working step in an automatic workflow are represented by icons:
• Wait for start signal: The job waits for the start signal from all previous jobs (Partial delivery,
Final delivery or Approved).
• Partial delivery: The next job does not need to wait until the previous job has been completely
delivered. For example, if a TRA job includes the translation of 100 pages, the package for the next
job can be created after 50 pages have been delivered, so that the next job can already start.
Plunet 8 User Guide
113
• Final delivery: The next job can only start once the previous job has been completely delivered.
• Approved: The project manager has to approve the job before the next job can start.
 NOTE
More information on the automatic workflow can be found here: Automatic workflows
Overview
There are three different workflow views with different levels of detail. You can decide whether you
would rather see more jobs at a glance or more information on individual jobs.
Plunet 8 User Guide
114
Workflows that contain jobs in different items are displayed clearly in the workflow area of a project. In
one item, the jobs from other items are displayed with job number and abbreviation in the position in
which they would appear in the workflow (like DTP-010 in the example above).
You can also display parallel jobs in the workflow area. Parallel jobs are useful if, for example, one
translation text is being worked on by more than one translator.
 NOTE
Please note that the menu bar in the top right-hand corner with the options for logging out,
opening the Help window etc. is hidden in the workflow view, in order to maximize the space for
editing workflows.
Creating a workflow template
Admin settings
Admin → Rights → Resources (Internal)
In order to be able to see and edit workflow templates, internal resources need to have the right Orders
> Workflows.
By default, resources with this right can see the existing workflow templates in the sidebar of the editor
and add them to their workflows. In order to be able to add individual jobs as well, the resources require
the rights Jobs > Create workflow and Create individual jobs.
Plunet 8 User Guide
115
Workflow details
Orders → Workflow templates → Workflow details
In Orders → Workflow templates → Select you can create new workflow templates and edit or copy
existing ones. Create a new workflow template by clicking on the Plus button.
Plunet 8 User Guide
116
The system will enter your name (the currently logged in user) as the Creator of the workflow template.
Give the workflow template a descriptive Name and enter an additional Description, if necessary. You
can also choose whether or not the workflow should start automatically.
 NOTE
Please be aware that the Description may also be displayed in the customer portal if the
workflow has been made available for selection in the customer portal.
The status of the workflow template determines which customers/customer groups can request this
workflow for their projects in their customer portal. You can either make the workflow available to all
(Released for all customers) or select certain customers/customer groups. If you select the status
Plunet 8 User Guide
117
Released for selected customers and click on Save, the Restrictions area appears on the right-hand
side. Click on the pencil icon to select the customer(s) or customer group(s) in the overlay. You can
remove customers again by clicking on the Delete symbol.
If you select the option Workflow visible in customer portal (and the workflow is not In preparation), it
will be visible in requests made by the customers selected under Restrictions.
Workflows that have the option Workflow visible in customer portal activated and do not have the
status In preparation will appear in customer requests for the customers selected under Restrictions. In
this way you can decide which workflows can be made available to customers and which are only
available internally.
Adding jobs to the workflow template
Orders → Workflow templates → Workflow editor
To open the workflow editor, click on Workflow editor in the top right-hand corner.
Plunet 8 User Guide
118
Initially, the area in the middle is empty. In the sidebar, you can search for different job types or existing
workflow templates. Workflow templates can be created by adding jobs/workflows to workflow area via
drag & drop. To create the template for a classic T-E-P workflow (Translation-Editing-Proofreading),
proceed as follows:
1. Drag the TRA, EDT and PRF jobs into the workflow area. The jobs are always added to the end of
the respective workflows.
2. Select the TRA job. Additional settings for this job can be made in the sidebar, for example, you can
change the position of the job within the workflow by adding a previous or next job, or you can
Plunet 8 User Guide
119
delete the job.
3. Open the job view by double-clicking on the job or clicking Open job. Here you can make the
default settings for the selected job within the workflow (e.g. selection criteria for the resource
who will complete the job, price lines and automation settings).
4. Click in the workflow area to continue editing the workflow template.
5. Once you have made all of the required settings, you can start using the workflow template in your
projects.
Using workflow templates in a project
1. Create your project and add the required items.
2. Click on Workflows in the top right-hand corner to open the workflow editor.
Plunet 8 User Guide
120
3. The items are now visible in the workflow area.
4. Drag and drop the required jobs into the items. To add a job to multiple items at once, hover the
cursor over the job and click on Add.
Plunet 8 User Guide
121
5. You can either add the jobs to all language-dependent items (which would be the case for a TRA
job, for example) or select individual items.
6. Now you can edit the individual jobs by selecting a job and opening the job view. Here you can
make the required settings and assign a resource to the job.
7. If, for example, a translation job should be split between two resources, you can display two
parallel jobs by inserting the second job in the shaded area below the first.
8. Once you have made all of the required settings in the jobs, the workflow view is automatically
updated and the current status of each job is highlighted in color. You can customize the colors for
Plunet 8 User Guide
122
each status under Admin → Settings → Job → Color settings for job status.
Access rights for multi-team projects in the workflow editor
Multi-team projects can also be displayed in the workflow editor. There are two cases, depending on
which rights and roles the current user has:
1. A user in the project team with the right Manage multi-team projects is allowed to:
a. See all items in the workflow editor and open/edit all jobs (depending on the job status).
b. Insert and move jobs in all items.
c. Delete jobs from all items (only jobs with the status In preparation).
d. Jump to all language-dependent and language-independent items.
2. A user in the project team without the right Manage multi-team projects, who is the Item
supervisor or Default contact person for jobs in one or more items, is allowed to:
a. Only see the items in which they are the Item supervisor or Default contact person for
jobs, as well as the language-independent items. This user can also open the jobs in these
items.
b. (for workflows across several items) See the jobs in other items that are part of the same
workflow as the item in which the user is Item supervisor or Default contact person for
jobs. They cannot open, edit or move these jobs.
c. Only delete jobs in items in which they are Item supervisor or Default contact person for
jobs. They can delete all of the jobs in the language-independent items.
d. Insert jobs into the items in which they are Item supervisor or Default contact person for
jobs. They can add jobs or workflow templates to multiple items at the same time, but only
items in which they are the Item supervisor or Default contact person for jobs.
e. Move jobs within the items in which they are Item supervisor or Default contact person
for jobs. They are not allowed to move jobs to other items.
Plunet 8 User Guide
123
f. Jump to the items in which they are the Item supervisor or Default contact person for
jobs, as well as the language-independent items.
Further information on multi-team projects can be found here.
Orders - Automatic workflows
You can set up your workflow so that the next job in a workflow automatically starts once the first job
reaches a particular status. The next resource in the workflow will be informed and is given immediate
access to the files.
Admin settings
Activate automatic workflow
Admin →Settings → Orders → Items
In the Admin area, you can decide whether a manual or automatic workflow should be the default setting
for all users. To make automatic workflow the default, select Auto for Items: Default workflow.
 NOTE
Users can modify their own settings under Home → Settings → Miscellaneous → Items:
Default workflow.
Automatic or manual workflow?
Orders → Jobs
Before assigning resources to the jobs, you can decide whether you would rather use a manual or an
automatic workflow in your project. In an automatic workflow, all of the jobs are assigned in advance and
started automatically when the preceding jobs have reached the specified status. In a manual workflow,
Plunet 8 User Guide
124
the jobs are only assigned once the preceding jobs have been completed. You can select the type of
workflow in each item by clicking on Auto or Manual.
Manual workflow
When a job request is sent, the job's status changes to Requested. When the resource accepts the job,
the project manager needs to change the status manually to In progress. When this job has been
delivered, the resource assigned to the next job needs to be informed that they can start. In addition, the
files from the previous job need to be released for the next job by the project manager.
Availability request and manual assignment
You have a workflow with the jobs TRA-EDT-PRF. You send a job availability request to the resources
using the Manual assignment method. The status of all three jobs changes to Requested. When the
resources have accepted the job request, you need to assign them manually. The status changes to
Assigned - waiting. You then need to manually change the status of the first job to In progress.
Manual direct assigment
If you assign the resources directly to the jobs, the status of the jobs changes to Assigned - waiting. You
then need to manually change the status of the first job to In progress.
FCFS
If you use the FCFS assignment method, the status of the job changes to Assigned - waiting as soon as
the resources accept the job request. You then need to manually change the status of the first job to In
progress.
Plunet 8 User Guide
125
Top Ranked
if you use the Top Ranked assignment method, the status of the job changes to Assigned - waiting as
soon as the top ranked resource accepts the job request. If the response time elapses and the top ranked
resource has not accepted the job, the system selects and assigns the best ranked resource from the
resources that have accepted the job, and the status of the job changes to Assigned - waiting. You then
need to manually change the status of the first job to In progress.
 NOTE
Under Admin → Settings → Job there is an additional option Job assignment in manual
workflow sets job status to 'In progress'. If this option is activated, then the job status of all
jobs in a manual workflow will change to In progress as soon as the resources have been
assigned.
Automatic workflow
Job → Specification → Automation
After assigning all of the resources in the workflow, the project manager does not have to intervene at
all. The first job has the status In progress, while the subsequent jobs are Assigned - waiting. There are
several options to trigger the start of the next job, which can be selected in the job under Specification
→ Automation.
Status of previous job
Select the status of the previous job, which will trigger the next job:
• Final delivery: The previous job has been delivered; the status of that job is Delivered (Default
setting)
• Partial delivery: The previous job has been partially delivered; the status of that job is In progress
Plunet 8 User Guide
126
• Approved: The previous job has been delivered and then approved by the project manager; the
status of that job is Approved
• Approved/Without invoice: The previous job was carried out by an internal resource; the status of
that job is Approved/Without invoice
Use case example 1: The revision job should already start with the first batch of translated files, followed
by verification and delivery to the customer.
• Trigger for next job is set to:
TRA: Partial delivery
REV: Final delivery
VER: Final delivery
Use case example 2: The project manager needs to check the translated files before revision. The
translation is always done by an external translator, there is no verification job required before delivery
to the customer.
• Trigger for next job is set to:
TRA: Approved
REV: Approved
Use case example 3: The project manager needs to check the translated files before revision. The
translation can either be done by an internal or external translator, verification is required before
delivery to the customer.
• Trigger for next job is set to:
TRA: Approved/Without invoice
REV: Final delivery
VER: Final delivery
Use case example 4: The project manager does not need to check the translated files before revision. The
revised files are verified and then delivered to the customer.
• Trigger for next job is set to:
TRA: Final delivery
REV: Final delivery
VER: Final delivery
Plunet 8 User Guide
127
Wait for all previous jobs
The standard functionality for the automatic workflow is for the current job to start when at least one of
its direct predecessors has been delivered. However, by selecting Wait for start signal from all previous
jobs, you can specify that the current job can only be started when all of its direct predecessors have
reached the status defined above.
Depending on the settings in the workflow, the resource assigned to the second job will be informed
automatically by e-mail and is given immediate access to the project files. The status of the job
automatically changes to In progress. The project manager will also be informed by e-mail and is given
access to the delivered items, but does not need to take action until the final job has been delivered.
 EXAMPLE
There is an item with a classic TEP workflow (TRA, EDT and PRF jobs). Initially, all of the jobs have
the status In preparation. After the project manager assigns the resources to the jobs, the status
of the TRA job will automatically change to In progress. The status of the subsequent jobs will
change to Assigned – waiting. As soon as the first resource has delivered the TRA job, the status
of the EDT job will change to In progress and the resource for this job is notified by e-mail that
they can begin. After this resource completes the EDT job, the resource for the PRF job can begin.
Resource assignment - Workflow template settings
Orders → Workflow templates → Workflow editor → Job
Workflow templates can be used to predefine job-specific data and are particularly useful if the same
steps are often used in different projects. If you work with workflow templates, you can set up the
assignment rounds directly in the template, which will be applied once you create the job in a project.
The settings for the automatic resource assignment are configured in the Assignment tab of the job,
within your workflow template. Please note that these settings can also be modified in the jobs, if no
workflow template is used.
 NOTE
If you are working with workflow templates where resources have been preselected, you may
need to adjust them if they do not contain any selection criteria. Otherwise the results list may
contain a very large number of resources.
Plunet 8 User Guide
128
Matching resources
A list of resources that match the selection criteria for the job will be displayed in the workflow template
if Manual assignment is selected as the assignment method. The resource selected here will be copied
to the corresponding job when the workflow template is used in a project, if they still fulfill the selection
criteria.
 NOTE
We do not recommend selecting the resource directly in the template. Workflow templates are
conceived as a tool to find the right resources in different scenarios. Preselecting resources here
will prevent you from using the new assignment area and automation functionalities to their full
extent. These functionalities are intended to reduce administrative and repetitive tasks. You
would also require a large catalog of templates, which is more difficult to manage and update.
Assignment rounds
Every job has one assignment round by default. You can add as many rounds as required. In the workflow
template, rounds always have the status In preparation. In the actual job, the rounds have different
statuses depending on the progress of the job assignment. You can find an overview of the different
statuses in the document Round statuses
Selection criteria
In the Selection criteria box, you can add the criteria that the resources for the job will be filtered by.
These are the properties that you can create and assign to resource profiles, such as the CAT tool(s) used
by the resource, the area of expertise, etc. You can add as many properties to the job as required, once
they have been activated for Resources under Admin → Properties.
Plunet 8 User Guide
129
More information on creating Properties can be found here.
 VIDEO
Properties and Selection Criteria in Jobs
Find out the differences between the existing properties in jobs and the new selection criteria in
the assignment rounds (03:59 min.)
As of version 8.8. there are additional selection criteria available that are not properties. Multi-select is
also possible here. In this way, you can narrow down the search for suitable resources further.
The following criteria are available under Other selection criteria:
• User type: You can search for Internal or External resources; if you do not select anything here, all
resources will be displayed, regardless of their user type
• Resource status: You can filter for resources with a particular status or multiple; if you do not
select anything here, all resources will be displayed, regardless of their status. The resource search
in the job no longer takes into account the resource statuses selected under Contacts →
Resources.
• User account: Whether or not the resource has a user login for Plunet BusinessManager (Yes/No).
• Agency: Whether or not the resource represents a translation agency (Yes/No).
Plunet 8 User Guide
130
The information for User type, User account and Agency corresponds to the Communication settings in
the resource profile.
 NOTE
The sections below are the same as in Admin → Jobs → [Job type] → Properties →
Assignment. If you do not use a template, the settings from the Admin area will be applied to the
job.
Ranking criteria
Add the criteria that are relevant for the order of the resources in the results list. Currently, the following
ranking criteria area available:
• Price: The resource's price for this job
• Availability: The availability of the resources during the time period of the job (see Further
information about availability)
• Resource assessment: The current resource assessment value for the resource
• Number of jobs for customer: The number of jobs that the resource has completed for the
customer of the project
• (job type) jobs for customer: The number of jobs of the current job type that the resource has
completed for the customer of the project. This criterion narrows down the search further than
Number of jobs for customer. For example, there could be an internal resource who always does
the proofreading for a particular customer and would always be at the top of the list due to the
sheer number of jobs that they have completed for this customer. However, if you actually want to
see the resource with the most Translation jobs for this customer, then you can use this criterion.
Plunet 8 User Guide
131
• Profit margin: The profit margin of the item, including this job (see Further information about
profit margin)
• Job feedback: If the additional module QualityManager is activated in your system, there is an
additional ranking criterio for the resource's value for job feedback.
• Distance: If the additional module InterpretingManager is activated in your system, there is an
additional ranking criterion for interpreting jobs that can be used to sort resources by their
Distance from the project's event location. Depending on the setting under Admin → Settings →
Default values for all users → System for length measurement units, the distance will be
displayed in kilometers (metric system) or miles (anglo-american system). If no distance is
displayed for a resource, please check if an event location with coordinates has been specified in
the project and if the resource profile contains an address with coordinates.
You can choose the order of these criteria and move/delete them as required. The criteria are displayed
as columns in the results list in the job.
• Example: If you put Prices as the number one criterion, each resource's price for the job is
displayed. If two resources have the same value for the top ranking criterion, the second ranking
criterion specified here will be used to determine the order of the results list.
Further information about availability
The availability is compared with the workload of the resources:
• The workload is displayed when you hover over with green/orange/red circle with the cursor. The
color of the circle indicates how busy the resource is during the time period of the job.
• When you add the ranking criterion Availability, the corresponding availability of the resource in
the time period of the job will be displayed as a percentage in the Availability column.
Plunet 8 User Guide
132
In the following example the resource Annie Whois is already working on another job during this time and
is 60% busy. Her availability is calculated accordingly as 40%.
The workload percentage is calculated as follows:
Workload = Planned time * 100 / (Working time - Absences)
Planned time = Total of the proportional planned times of all jobs that have been assigned in the time
period of the current job (1)
Working time = Hours according to the resource’s weekly schedule
(1) This means that, for example, if a job lasts longer than the time period of the current job, then the
planned time will be split across all days of the job and only the times of the overlapping days will be
included in the calculation
The colors have the following meaning:
•
•
•
•
Green: The resource is available (0% - 30% busy)
Orange: The resource is probably available (31% - 70% busy)
Red: The resource has a heavy workload and is probably not available (71% - 100% busy)
Gray cross: The workload is unknown (e.g. because the resource has not filled in their weekly
schedule)
Further information about profit margin
The price for each resource in the results list is used for the calculation of the profit margin, which means
that the value displayed in the job is the profit margin of the item including the job. The displayed profit
margin is just a "snapshot", as other jobs in the item might not be taken into account, because they have
not been assigned yet. In this case, an icon will appear in the column header with the information that
the displayed profit margin may differ from the final profit margin of the item, because at least one other
job in the item has not been assigned yet.
The profit margin displayed in the column is highlighted in color if the calculated profit margin takes all
of the jobs of the item into account:
Plunet 8 User Guide
133
• Green: The profit margin is greater than or equal to the target profit margin.
• Red: The profit margin is less than the target profit margin.
 NOTE
The target profit margin can be set under Admin → Settings → Orders → Profit margin.
If the profit margin cannot be calculated because, for example, the job price cannot be identified, then
this information will appear on the screen.
Only jobs with the option Include expense I (job prices) in gross profit activated under Prices & Times
→ Settings will be included in the calculation of the profit margin.
Under Queries → Gross profit you can use the checkboxes to decide which job statuses should be
included in the calculation of the gross profit (and therefore the profit margin). For example, if you
deselect the status In progress, jobs with this status will no longer be included in the calculation of the
item's profit margin (it is not recommended to use this setting).
Plunet 8 User Guide
134
Assignment method
There are three ways of assigning resources, either automatically or manually. The resources then have a
specified amount of reaction time to respond to the job request. It is possible to cancel an automatic
assignment round at any time and switch to a manual request or assignment in the next round.
In the workflow or job template you can predefine how many resources you want to send a request to,
and also specify the number of resources in each round individually.
Send job request
For each assignment method, you can decide how many resources will receive a job request:
• All matching resources: All of the resources in the results list are selected and will be sent a job
request.
• [number] matching resources: The specified number of resources, starting from the resource
ranked 1st in the list, will be selected and sent a job request. Example: If the number three is
entered here, then the resources ranked 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the list will be selected.
• Manually selected resources: You can select specific resources in the list.
Automatic assignment - Top ranked
 VIDEO
New Request and Selection Method: Top Ranked
Plunet 8 User Guide
135
The ranking of the resources determines who will ultimately be assigned to the job. The resources will be
ranked in the results list depending on their values for the criteria selected in Rank results by. For
example, if Prices is the number one ranking criteria, the resource with the lowest price will be ranked at
the top of the list. It is also possible to assign a different resource who has accepted the job before the
reaction time has expired, as long as the top ranked resource has not accepted the job yet.
Automatic assignment - FCFS (first come, first served)
 VIDEO
Automatic Resource Assignment in Plunet BusinessManager 8.0 - FCFS
If this option is selected, the first resource to accept the job request will be automatically assigned to the
job.
Manual assignment
 VIDEO
Manual Resource Assignment in Plunet BusinessManager 8.0 - Assign
Manual Resource Assignment in Plunet BusinessManager 8.0 - Request
If this option is selected, you have the choice between asking resources for their availability or their
availability and price. You can manually assign one resource directly from the list or send a request to
multiple resources and assign a resource manually as soon as they have accepted the job.
Plunet 8 User Guide
136
Reaction time for resources
Enter the amount of time (in hours) that resources will have to accept or reject the job request.
The reaction time does not always have to be End of Business by default - you can define different
reaction times depending on the job or workflow. For example, you may want to define a reaction time of
a few days for an interpreting job, but only a few hours for a minor translation job.
You can enter whole numbers or decimal numbers (e.g. 0.25 = 15 minutes, 0.5 = 30 minutes).
The reaction time does not take into account the individual working times (and time zones) of the
individual resources who received the job request. Instead, the default weekly schedule for resources is
used. This can be configured under Admin → Settings → Contacts → Default values for resources (if
Plunet 8 User Guide
137
no default weekly schedule has been set up, then the following rules do not apply. Instead, the reaction
time is calculated from the moment when the assignment round starts).
The reaction time begins as soon as the assignment round has started. The expiry time is calculated as
follows:
When the starting time of the round is within the working hours specified in the default weekly schedule,
then the reaction time counts the number of hours entered under Reply within (hours). This only
applies if these hours are within the working time according to the default weekly schedule. If the
specified reaction time exceeds the working time of the same day, then the reaction time continues on
the following working day (according to the default weekly schedule).
 EXAMPLE
Starting time of the round: Tuesday 22.02.22 10:00 UTC
Reaction time in hours: 8
Default weekly schedule: Monday - Friday 9:00 - 17:30 UTC
Calculated expiry time: Wednesday 23.02.22 9:30 UTC
In this case, the reaction time runs for 7h 30 mins on Tuesday (10:00-17:30) and then 30 mins on
Wednesday (9:00-9:30).
If the starting time does not lie within the working time, then the calculation starts at the beginning of
the next working day.
 EXAMPLE
Starting time of the round: Tuesday 22.02.22 18:00 UTC
Reaction time in hours: 8
Default weekly schedule: Monday - Friday 9:00 - 17:30 UTC
Calculated expiry time: Wednesday 23.02.22 17:00 UTC
As soon as a round with reaction time has been started, the specified reaction time is converted into a
date displayed above the results list.
Plunet 8 User Guide
138
Different time zones in the job or in the default weekly schedule for resources are taken into account
automatically. The expiry of the reaction time can be displayed in the different time zones (project time
zone, user time zone) when you change the time zone in the top-right corner of the job.
Round settings
In this area, you can make settings for automated e-mails and actions in the next rounds. You can
activate or deactivate the e-mail notifications in every job or workflow template.
Round ends without assignment
Here you can make settings for completed rounds with the status No assignment.
Plunet 8 User Guide
139
• Next round starts automatically: The next round (if one exists) will automatically switch to the
status Requested and a job request will be sent to the selected resources. If no resources could be
selected in this round, the status will automatically switch to No assignment. This option is only
active if the VendorSearchManager PRO module is activated in your system.
• Notification is sent to job contact person: The e-mail The assignment round was not
successful will be sent to the contact person for the job. Please note that the option to send this email automatically must be activated in the e-mail template (Admin → Document templates →
E-mail → Send e-mail automatically).
Notify job contact person
Here you can decide if the job contact person, project manager or other responsible member of the
project team should receive an e-mail notification when a resource accepts or rejects a job request. You
can also modify these options per job and round, as required.
• Resource accepts the job request: The e-mail Job request was accepted is sent to the job
contact person. Please note that the option to send this e-mail automatically must be activated in
the e-mail template (Admin → Document templates → E-mail → Send e-mail automatically).
• Resource rejects the job request: The e-mail Job request was rejected is sent to the job contact
person. Please note that the option to send this e-mail automatically must be activated in the email template (Admin → Document templates → E-mail → Send e-mail automatically).
Resource assignment - Resource availability
The availability of the resources can be seen in the job. The availability of a certain resource is calculated
for the entire time period of the job (from start date to due date). The working hours and absences of the
resource in their weekly schedule are compared with the planned time in the jobs that they are already
working on or scheduled to complete.
 NOTE
It may be that not all of your resources have a valid weekly schedule in the system. In this case,
you can apply the default weekly schedule to existing external resources in the system (Admin
→ Settings → Contacts → Default values for resources). There are two options:
• Use default weekly schedule for external resources without a weekly schedule
Plunet 8 User Guide
140
• Use default weekly schedule for all external resources
The option Use default weekly schedule for external resources without a weekly schedule
does not work for resources that have a valid, but empty weekly schedule.
Availability overview
In the standard list view, a colored indicator gives you a rough analysis of the resources' availability
during the time period of the job, based on their current workload:
• Green: The resource is available (0% - 30% busy)
• Orange: The resource is probably available (31% - 70% busy)
• Red: The resource has a heavy workload and is probably not available (71% - 100% busy)
Plunet 8 User Guide
141
• Gray cross: The workload is unknown (e.g. because the resource has not filled in their weekly
schedule)
 NOTE
How is the workload percentage calculated?
Workload = Planned time * 100 / (Working time - Absences)
Planned time = Total of the proportional planned times of all jobs that have been assigned in the
time period of the current job (1)
Working time = Hours according to the resource’s weekly schedule
(1) This means that, for example, if a job lasts longer than the time period of the current job, then
the planned time will be split across all days of the job and only the times of the overlapping
days will be included in the calculation
Absences are represented by an exclamation mark. This means that there is at least one absence in the
resource's calendar between the start date and due date of the job. If you hover over the symbol with the
cursor, you can see more details on the absence.
The availability overview makes it easier to plan the job. If you have to update the due date of the job, the
availability of the resources will be adjusted accordingly. In this way, you can estimate whether or not the
preferred resource will be available in the scheduled time period.
Calendar view
Click on the calendar symbol to see a more detailed overview of the resources' availability. The
availability is represented by the size and color of the blocks.
Plunet 8 User Guide
142
In this example, Bella DiMagio has a heavy workload during the time period of the job, while Jean-Paul
Belmondo and ABC Translations are availabile. Daily Planet GmbH and Sarah Watson have already
planned some working hours for other jobs, but could still have enough capacity for this job. The gray
blocks are displayed when no working hours have been entered for these days in the weekly schedule.
Information about other jobs in the calendar view
When you click on the arrow next to the resource name, you can see a more detailed view that displays
the other jobs assigned to each resource during the time period of this job. This includes the job number
and a status bar (which corresponds to the colors under Admin → Settings → Job → Color settings for
job status). All jobs that are used to calculate the resource's workload per day and availability will be
displayed here (status Assigned - waiting, In progress and Overdue).
Plunet 8 User Guide
143
When you click on a job in the calendar view, the following information is displayed:
•
•
•
•
•
The job number, which you can click to directly open the job
Name of the job contact person
Start date of the job
Due date of the job
Net quantity with the corresponding unit (Admin → Prices → Prices I → Price units → Unit)
Plunet 8 User Guide
144
Calculation of availability for jobs without a start date
The resource availability in the job calendar is calculated based on the following information: planned
time, weekly schedule of the resource, due date of the job, start date of the job. If no start date has been
selected in a job, today's date will be used to calculate the availability.
Plunet 8 User Guide
145
Resource assignment - Reviewing resources before assignment
If you want to check the resource's data in the job and/or the content of the assignment e-mail before
assigning the job, then you can click on Review in the results list while the round has the status In
preparation. Resources can also be reviewed when the round has the status Reaction time has expired
(see "When can you review resources?" below) and Review before assignment .
 NOTE
This functionality is only available for the Manual assignment method.
When this button is clicked, the round status changes to Review before assignment. The resource is
selected and their data is transferred to the job. A banner appears with the followig message: [Resource
name] is in review. Review the data for [resource name] and then assign the job.
Once you have reviewed the data, you can either assign this resource or choose a different resource.
Assigning the reviewed resource
In the results list, you can click on Assign to immediately send the assignment e-mail to the resource. The
round status changes to Assigned and the reviwed resource's data remains in the job.
Alternatively, if you click on the arrow, you have the option to Edit e-mail before sending. The e-mail
window opens and you can make the required changes to the assignment e-mail. As soon as the e-mail is
sent, the round status changes to Assigned.
Plunet 8 User Guide
146
Assigning a different resource instead
Resetting the review
If you no longer want to assign the resource that is currently in review, it is possible to reset the review.
Click on the Reset review button in the banner. The resource and their data (quantities, price
information and price units, job comment, text modules) will be removed from the job and the job will
return to its original state after it was created from the template.
Reviewing a different resource
If you want to compare resources (e.g. based on their prices for the job), you can go directly from
reviewing one resource to another.
Click on the Review button next to the new resource's name. The original resource and their data
(quantities, price information and price units, job comment, text modules) that are displayed in the job
will be overwritten by the data of the new resource.
Directly assigning a different resource
You can also directly assign another resource while the original resource is in review.
Click on the Assign button next to the new resource's name. The original resource and their data
(quantities, price information and price units, job comment, text modules) that are displayed in the job
will be overwritten by the data of the new resource.
When can you review resources?
The Review button is only visible in the results list when the round has the status In
preparation, Review before assignment and Reaction time has expired.
If you want to start a review and the round already has the status Reaction time has expired (i.e. job
requests have already been sent to the resources), then the Review and Assign buttons are only visible
next to the resources that have accepted the job request (with the status Available in the results list).
During the review, the status of the round changes to Review before assignment. If you started a review
when the round had the status Reaction time has expired and then decide to reset the review, the
round status will return to Reaction time has expired.
Plunet 8 User Guide
147
Resource assignment - Starting the assignment round
Once you have added the workflow template to a project or created a job, the progress of the assignment
rounds differs depending on which assignment method is selected.
Automatic assignment - Top ranked
If this option is selected, click Send request to [number] resources to start the round.
If the top ranked resource in the list accepts the job, the round stops automatically and the resource is
assigned to the job.
• If the top ranked resource rejects the job, the 2nd ranked resource becomes the new top ranked
resource and the round will stop automatically once this resource accepts the job. If the 2nd
ranked resource rejects the job, the round will stop once the 3rd ranked resource accepts the job,
and so on.
• If the top ranked resource does not respond to the job request, the round remains in progress until
the end of the specified response time. Once the response time has elapsed, the system selects
and assigns the best ranked resource from the resources that have accepted the job.
• If all of the resources reject the job, the round ends automatically with the status No assignment,
even if the response time has not elapsed.
Manual assignment
• To assign one resource directly: Click on the Assign button next to the name of the resource in the
list. This will not generate a job request, but rather assign this specific resource to the job.
• To send a request to multiple resources: Select the resources in the results list. Click on the Send
request to [number] resources button. Once a resource has accepted the request, you can assign
them before the reaction time elapses. It is also possible to wait until the reaction time has
elapsed (the round has the status Reaction time has expired) and then choose between the
resources that have accepted the request.
• If the option Availability and price is selected, the e-mail Send availability and price request manual assignment will be sent to the resources. If the ranking criterion Prices is active in the
round, then the prices in the results list will be displayed in italics. As soon as a resource responds
to the request and enters their price in the vendor portal, the price in the results list will be
overwritten with the resource's price. If the resource's price is accepted, the job price will have to
be adjusted manually by the project manager, as required, before the job assignment is made.
Plunet 8 User Guide
148
Manual resource assignment without using the vendor portal
In the case of Plunet customers that do not work with the vendor portal, it is still possible for project
managers to request and assign jobs without using the vendor portal. The job request status can be
manually changed when the assignment method is Manual and the reaction time of the round has not
yet expired (round status is Requested). The new status can be selected from the drop-down list next to
the resource's name:
• Did not respond yet
• Accepted
• Rejected
As soon as the reaction time of the round has expired, the round status will be updated accordingly and
the resources with the status Accepted can be checked or assigned.
Review before assignment (only for Top Ranked and Manual assignment)
If you want to review the resource's data in the job and/or the content of the assignment e-mail before
assigning the job, then you can click on Review in the results list while the round has the status In
preparation. Detailed information on how to use the Review functionality can be found here: Reviewing
resources before assignment
Further information on the different Round statuses can be found here.
Plunet 8 User Guide
149
Options for the purchase order
Once a resource has been assigned, a corresponding message will appear in the job. The assignment
document (purchase order) can be downloaded directly from the job as a PDF or RTF file. It is also
possible to create and send a new purchase order if, for example, you need to adjust the word count or
the due date.
The purchase order is either stored in the job or in the PRM folder (depending on whether the setting
Save job communication at project level is active). If any changes are made to the job and the project
manager creates a new purchase order, the old PO will still be saved. If the option Save job
communication at project level is not active, then only the most recent version of the PO will be saved
in the job. Older versions will be moved to the PRM folder.
Options for resources: Accepting/rejecting the job request
The resources who have been sent the job requests can accept/reject the job request or confirm their
availability directly in the vendor portal. After logging in and opening the job, they have the following
options, depending on the selected assignment method:
• Manual assignment: Available / Not available
• First come, first served: Accept / Reject
• Top ranked: Accept / Reject
Resource assignment - Reassigning a job to a different resource
As of version 8.11.0 it is possible to reassign jobs, even if they have already been assigned to a resource.
In the Assignment tab, there is a new button Reassign job with the options to create a new round for the
reassignment in the same job or to create a new job.
Plunet 8 User Guide
150
Creating a new round
For example, if the resource has not started working on the job yet, you can create a new round and
reassign the job to a new resource. Click on Create new round. A new round is created with the status In
preparation. As a resource has already been assigned, their data (prices, quantities, text modules, job
comment) have been added to the job. Before the new round is created, you can decide whether you
want to retain the resource's data in the new round, or restore the original job data from the job data and
(if applicable) any other data from the project or item.
Plunet 8 User Guide
151
• Job comment and specification details: Decide if you would like to keep the job comment and
text modules that are displayed for the currently assigned resource in the Specification tab, or if
you would like to restore the original job data from the job template.
• Quantities and price units: Decide if you would like to keep the currently assigned resource's
quantities (words/characters/pages) and price units, or if you would like to restore the original job
data from the job template.
• Notify previously assigned resource by e-mail: You can send an e-mail to the resource that was
previously assigned to the job, telling them that a change has been made to the job assignment.
You can enter more detailed information as a comment.
Creating a new job
If the assigned resource has already started working on the job, but could not finish it, they will still
receive an invoice for the part that they have completed. As a result, it is not possible to create a new
round in the same job. Click on Create new job. Here you also need to decide whether or not the
resource's data should be copied to the new job.
Plunet 8 User Guide
152
• Job comment and specification details: Decide if you would like to copy the job comment and
text modules that are displayed for the currently assigned resource in the Specification tab.
• Quantities and price units: Decide if you would like to copy the currently assigned resource's
quantities (words/characters/pages) and price units to the new job.
• Set original job to following status: You can set the original job to Canceled or leave the current
status (In progress/Assigned - waiting/Overdue) until the resource that was originally assigned
to the job has delivered their work.
• Notify previously assigned resource by e-mail: You can send an e-mail to the resource that was
previously assigned to the job, telling them that a change has been made to the job assignment.
You can enter more detailed information as a comment.
Plunet 8 User Guide
153
Informing the previously assigned resource by e-mail
Admin → Document templates → E-mail
You can use the e-mail template Changes made to job assignment to inform the resource that was
previously assigned to the job about the reassignment. To add your comment to the e-mail, use the
flag [ReassignmentComment].
Delivering a project to the customer
You can deliver the whole project to the customer or each item individually. The second option is useful if
the items in a project have different due dates, for example. Before you can deliver an item to your
customer, all of the jobs in that item need to have been delivered by your resources. When a resource
delivers their job in Plunet, the status of the job automatically changes to Delivered.
 NOTE
It is also possible to deliver items automatically, as soon as the files have been delivered by the
corresponding resources. For more information, please see Automatic jobs.
Delivery dialog
Orders → Order details → Output
1. To deliver the project to the customer, click on Open delivery dialog under Delivery.
2. The delivery dialog will open in a separate window.
3. Enter the number of the items that you want to deliver under The following items will be
delivered and click OK.
Plunet 8 User Guide
154
4. Select the checkbox for Prepare items - Copy/Move documents to 'target'. Select the jobs to
deliver for each item and decide whether you want to copy or move the documents to the target
folder.
5. Select the checkbox for Prepare delivery folder - zip and/or copy documents to 'Final'. Decide
whether you only want to copy the documents to the final folder or if they should be copied and
delivered in a ZIP-file.
6. Select the checkbox for Delivery. You can choose to deliver the documents as an e-mail
attachment, via a download link in an e-mail or as a printed delivery note, or you can make the
documents available for download in the customer portal. You can also include the delivery
comment as a PDF attachment to the e-mail. The delivery method can be set up as a default for
Plunet 8 User Guide
155
each customer individually under Contacts → Customer → Communication → Delivery.
7. Select the checkbox for Change status if you want to change the status of the item(s) and jobs.
Change the status to Delivered or Approved to enable your resources to create an invoice in the
vendor portal, or select the status Without invoice if no invoices need to be created for specific
items or jobs.
8. Click Apply. The delivery note is created as a PDF and an RTF file. You can choose which you would
like to attach to the delivery e-mail by clicking on the envelope next to the file.
Plunet 8 User Guide
156
9. The e-mail is sent to your customer along with the delivery note and (if the delivery method is as
attachment (e-mail)) the final documents.
10. After the e-mail has been sent, you will find the items in your Dashboard under Billable order
items and installments → Approved. They are now ready to be processed by the accounting
department.
 NOTE
The download link (generated when you choose via download link (e-mail) as the
delivery method) expires when either the project is archived or Feedback is entered for
the order by the customer or an internal resource (if the QualityManager module is
installed).
Manually set job status to "Delivered"
You can also manually set the status of multiple jobs in an item to Delivered. To do this, select the jobs
and select Change status to ... from the Action for selection drop-down list under the item and then
Delivered from the drop-down list that appears next to it. Click OK and all of the jobs will be set to
Delivered. It is also possible to change the status of multiple jobs across different items by selecting
Change status to ... from the Action for selection in all items drop-down list.
Invoices - Receivables
Invoicing an order
Home → Dashboard → Billable order items and installments
Plunet 8 User Guide
157
Under Home → Dashboard → Billable order items and installments you can create invoices for all
order items that have been approved by the respective project manager. Click on the Approved list and a
table with detailed information on the approved order items will open below. To create an invoice for an
item, click on the Plus button in the respective row. If it is not possible to create an invoice, a yellow
warning triangle will appear in the column.
Alternatively, click on the order number, check the details in the order and create the invoice by clicking
on the Create invoice button under Orders → Order details → Invoices.
Creating the invoice document
Invoices → Receivables → Output
The view now switches to Invoices → Receivables, which is where you can review your invoice data.
 NOTE
The current exchange rate from the last 90 days is stored for every currency in the system. This
means that the exchange rate can be automatically modified if the invoicing date is changed for
an invoice under Invoices → Receivables → General → Due dates. If the invoicing date is
changed to a date for which there is no exchange rate available, then the following message will
appear: "There is no exchange rate available for the selected invoice date" and the original
exchange rate will be used.
In order to create the invoice document for your customer, click on Create receivable in the Output
section. The invoice will be generated as an RTF and its status will change to Outstanding.
From here you can open and edit the invoice as required. The document can also be found in
FileManager on the right-hand side of the Output section. Any changes related to the layout only can be
made within the document itself. Changes affecting the invoice amount should be made in the system
and a new invoice document should then be generated.
Plunet 8 User Guide
158
Sending the invoice document to the customer
After the RTF document has been created, you can send the invoice document to the customer contact
person by clicking . The RTF document is converted to PDF and attached to the e-mail. The PDF invoice is
displayed on the user interface and can also be found in FileManager. It is also possible to create an
eInvoice.
 NOTE
If you do not need to edit the RTF invoice, you can click the envelope icon instead of Create
receivable and create the PDF invoice and e-mail for the customer directly. This action will also
change the status of the invoice to Outstanding.
Once you have completed all of the steps described above, the invoice will be listed as Outstanding
under Home → Dashboard → Receivables. This table gives you a quick overview of all outstanding
invoices. In addition, you can see the invoices that are overdue.
Duplicated invoices
Invoices → Receivables → Select
For some customers, a proforma invoice is required in addition to the official invoice. The proforma
invoice is created after the order has been completed and then duplicated after the customer has paid. It
is possible to specify which company code the duplicated invoice should belong to. The company code
selected at the top of the page is used to create the duplicated invoice. In this way, you can use different
company codes for each invoice.
Plunet 8 User Guide
159
Invoice payment
When customers have paid their invoices, the invoice also needs to be marked as "paid" in Plunet
BusinessManager.
Marking 'Outstanding' invoices as paid for one customer
Invoices → Accounts receivable
To settle the invoices for a particular customer, go to Invoices → Accounts receivable and select the
customer from the drop-down list. All outstanding invoices and credit notes for this customer are
displayed in the tables underneath. In the Invoice (outstanding) table, select the invoices that have been
paid, and select the option Mark invoice as 'Paid' in the Action for selection drop-down list.
Marking 'Outstanding' invoices as paid for multiple customers
Queries → Receivables
To mark invoices as paid for multiple customers at once, go to Queries → Receivables, select the time
frame and Outstanding as the Status of receivable. A variety of filters are available if you want to
restrict the search further. For example, you can specify the project category or invoice type. Click on
Plunet 8 User Guide
160
Update search and select the invoices that have been paid in the list of results. Select the option Mark
invoice as 'Paid' in the Action for selection drop-down list and click on OK. The status of the invoices
changes to Paid.
After an invoice has been marked as paid, it is no longer displayed on the Dashboard. You can find all
paid invoices under Queries → Receivables.
Entering partial payments
Invoices → Accounts receivable
Under Invoices → Accounts receivable, it is also possible to select partial payments. In the Accounts
receivable (FA) table, select the invoice for which you have received a partial payment, enter the amount
paid in the Payment field, and click on Save. The system will calculate the remaining outstanding
amount.
Queries on receivables
Queries → Receivables
Plunet 8 User Guide
161
Under Queries → Receivables you can generate reports on receivables with different filters. In the
Result list, invoices can also be exported or marked as paid. Additional reports and charts are also
displayed below the results (grouped by month, project type, customer, target language and taxation
type).
Invoices - Collective invoices for orders
Creating a collective invoice
Home → Dashboard → Billable order items and installments
If you want to create a collective invoice for multiple items in different orders, go to Home → Dashboard
→ Billable order items and installments and open the Approved list. In order to create a collective
invoice for a customer, select the option Create collective invoice in the Options drop-down list. Select
the customer (mandatory field) and enter one or more PO numbers/cost centers, as required. Select the
option Only selection if you only want to include certain items in the invoice - otherwise all of the
customer's approved items will be invoiced. Then click OK.
The view switches to Invoices → Receivables, which is where you can review your invoice data. The
project name has been changed into Collective Invoice, as the invoice includes various orders with
different project names. You can now proceed as described above ("Invoicing an order").
 NOTE
The items of each order in a collective invoice document can be grouped together, which makes
the document much easier to read if it contains a large number of orders. To do this, the flags
[OrderBegin] and [OrderEnd] should be placed around the orders area in the invoice document.
Customers with collective invoices only
It is also possible to invoice a customer only via collective invoices. Go to Contacts → Customers →
Payment and select the check box Collective invoice only. As a result, it will no longer be possible to
Plunet 8 User Guide
162
create an invoice for this customer directly from an order. The button Create invoice will be displayed in
gray, while a tooltip saying Customer is only billed via collective invoices appears when you hover over
the button with the mouse.
Go to Home → Dashboard → Billable items(s) and installments → Approved. Above the table there is
an option to hide all customers who are only billed via collective invoices until a specified date (e.g. until
tomorrow or the end of the month). The billable items will not be displayed on the Dashboard until the
selected date. This date applies for all users in the system. As soon as the selected date is reached, all of
the customers' billable items will be displayed. Collective invoices can then be created as described
above.
Collective invoices with an alternative invoice recipient
Admin → Rights → Modules
Dashboard → Billable order items and installments
If required, collective invoices can be created with recipients who differ from the standard invoice
recipients. If the module Alternative invoice recipients is active under Admin → Rights → Modules, the
Alternative invoice recipient option is displayed in the corresponding column in the detailed view of
the Billable order items and installments - Approved Dashboard table.
When Create collective invoice is selected from the drop-down list and the customer is selected, the
additional filter Alternative invoice recipient will also appear. The alternative invoice recipient will be
set as the customer in the collective invoice.
Plunet 8 User Guide
163
Collective invoices of this type can only be created from this table and can only contain orders with the
same alternative invoice recipient. If the user tries to create a collective invoice with multiple alternative
invoice recipients, the invoice cannot be created. The following message appears: "The invoice recipients
are not the same in all selected items. Please create a separate invoice for each alternative invoice
recipient."
Invoices - Payables
Creating a payable internally
If you receive invoices from your external resources as a hard copy or via e-mail, they need to be checked
against the approved jobs in Plunet so that a payable can be created.
Comparing prices
Orders → Status report - Jobs
Go to Orders → Status report - Jobs and select the resource who has sent you the invoice and search for
their Approved jobs. In the list of results, check the prices of the jobs against the prices stated on the
invoice and select each job after you have checked it.
If there are any discrepancies, they need to be resolved with the resource, and the price calculation in the
job may need to be modified (in this case, the resource will need to send you an updated invoice).
Plunet 8 User Guide
164
If everything is correct, select the option Invoicing - Clear invoice for payment in the Options dropdown list. By clicking on OK, the system will create a payable.
Creating an invoice document
Invoices → Payables
The view switches to Invoices → Payables, where an invoice has been created for the resource. The
invoice initially has the status Outstanding/Invoice accepted, as you have already checked all of the job
and price information. You can modify the invoice date and payment due date, if necessary, and enter
the number of the invoice you received from the resource in the External invoice no. field. You can also
print the invoice document and send it to the resource via e-mail.
The invoice will now be displayed under Home → Dashboard → Payables → Outstanding. Click on
Outstanding to see more details on the outstanding payables.
Sending a list of all approved jobs to resources
Orders → Status Report - Jobs
If you send your resources a list of all approved jobs every month before they issue an invoice, you can
follow the above procedure without creating an invoice. To do this, go to Orders → Status report - Jobs
and search for all approved jobs for the resource. Select all jobs and then the option Output - Excel from
the Options drop-down list. When you click on OK, the system will generate an Excel file with all of the
Plunet 8 User Guide
165
relevant information on the selected jobs, which you can send to the resource. Once the resource has
sent you their invoice, you can return to this page and create the payable as described above.
Creating a payable in the vendor portal
If your resources create their invoices using the vendor portal, follow the procedure below.
Rights settings
Admin → Rights → Resources (External)
In order to be able to create invoices in Plunet BusinessManager, external resources need to have the
corresponding right activated. You can also give your resources the right Upload invoice, which enables
them to upload the invoices that they have created in their own accounting systems to Plunet
BusinessManager.
Creating and submitting invoices for approval
Home → Dashboard → Jobs → Approved - Please create invoice
At the end of the month, the resource logs into Plunet BusinessManager and checks all approved jobs
under Home → Dashboard → Jobs → Approved - Please create invoice.
If there are any discrepancies between the data in the system and the resource's personal records, the
resource should contact the vendor manager or project manager.
Plunet 8 User Guide
166
If all of the job data are correct, the resource selects the jobs that will be included in the invoice and
clicks on Create invoice for approved jobs.
An invoice is created with the status In preparation. Depending on the rights assigned to the resource,
the resource may be able to change the amounts and/or the payment due date. The resource can also
enter their own invoice number in the field Your invoice no. and print the invoice document by clicking
Print invoicing statement. If the resource has the right Upload invoice, then the invoice can be uploaded
here via FileManager.
After checking the invoice data, the resource needs to click on Submit for approval to submit the invoice
to be checked. The status of the invoice changes to Created by external resource. The resource can find
the invoice under Home → Dashboard → Invoices → Created by resource.
 NOTE
External resources can also delete their uploaded invoices or the invoices that they create in
Plunet BusinessManager, if they notice any mistakes, for example. This is only possible for
invoices with the status In preparation.
The Resource coordinator defined under Admin → Settings → Contacts receives an automatic e-mail
whenever the resource creates an invoice. This automatic e-mail can be activated under Admin →
Document templates → E-mail (e-mail template Resource creates invoice).
Checking the submitted invoice
Home → Dashboard → Payables
You can check the invoice created by the resource by opening the Created by resource list under Home
→ Dashboard → Payables. Click on the invoice number to open the invoice and check the details. You
can modify the invoice date and payment due date, if necessary, and print the invoice document. If all of
the data in the invoice are correct, select all of the jobs in the invoice by selecting the checkbox at the top
of the list and select the option Set job status to 'Invoice checked'.
Plunet 8 User Guide
167
The status of the jobs changes to Invoice accepted and the status of the invoice changes to
Outstanding/Invoice accepted. The following pop-up notification is displayed to inform you of the
status change:
The invoice is now displayed under Home → Dashboard → Payables → Outstanding. Click on
Outstanding to see a list of all outstanding invoices.
Invoice payment
Queries → Payables
Plunet 8 User Guide
168
When resources have been paid, their outstanding payables also need to be marked as Paid in Plunet
BusinessManager. To mark the outstanding payables as paid, go to Queries → Payables, select the time
frame and the status Outstanding/Invoice accepted as a filter. Click on Update search and select the
invoices that have been paid in the list of results. Select the option Mark invoice as 'Paid' in the Action
for selection drop-down list and click on OK. The status of the invoices changes to Paid.
 NOTE
Paid invoices are no longer displayed on the Dashboard. However, you can still search for them
under Queries → Payables.
Checking tax settings
Invoices → Payables
When resources move to a different state, for example, their tax settings may change (e.g. from Without
tax to Tax 1). If the resource has completed jobs with the previous tax setting and not invoiced them yet,
their next invoice may contain multiple tax rates. To ensure that the invoice contains the correct tax
setting, the tax in payables is now checked:
• If a price line in the invoice does not match the Preselected tax in the Payment section of the
resource profile, the following message will appear: "A different tax is set for this resource in
Contacts | Resources | Payment. Please check the tax for the item and use the action Adjust tax
according to resource settings, if necessary."
• There is an option under Action for item called Adjust tax according to resource settings. When
this option is selected, the tax in all price lines in the selected jobs will be changed to the
Preselected tax from the resource profile.
• The check is only made in payables with the status In preparation or Created by resource. The
check is disabled if the job status is Invoice checked.
Plunet 8 User Guide
169
Queries on payables
Queries → Payables
Under Queries → Payables you can generate reports on payables using different filters. Invoices can be
exported or marked as "paid" via the drop-down list above the results table. Additional reports and
charts are displayed below the results (grouped by month, creditor and target language).
Invoices - Collective invoices for jobs
It is possible to create collective invoices for multiple jobs. Furthermore, you can set it up so that
collective invoices for jobs are created automatically. There is no temporal restriction for the jobs: all of
the jobs with the specified status will be automatically billed.
Setting the status
Admin → Settings → Company code → Payables
The status can be set under Admin → Settings → Company code → Payables. If you select the
checkbox Create invoice only for jobs with status 'Invoice checked', the jobs will only be billed if the
invoice has already been checked. Otherwise all jobs with the status Approved will be billed.
Invoice type
Admin → Settings → Company code → Payables
There are several options for creating collective invoices, depending on whether you want the invoices to
be created automatically or not.
Plunet 8 User Guide
170
Manual
Single and collective invoice
If Single and collective invoice is selected, then you cannot select a day of the month for the start of the
billing cycle. It is possible to manually create both single invoices and collective invoices for this
resource.
Collective invoice only
If Collective invoice only is selected, then you can select the day of the month as of which the Approved
items are added to the collective invoice (when the external resource or project manager creates the
invoice)
Plunet 8 User Guide
171
If a month has fewer days than specified (e.g. you have selected 31 and the month has 30 days), the
system automatically uses the last day of the month.
 NOTE
Please note that the resource needs to have at least two jobs in order to create an invoice with
this option.
Automatic
The option Automatic collective invoice for jobs needs to be activated.
There is an e-mail called Automatic collective invoice for jobs that is automatically sent to the external
resource on the selected day with the invoice document as an attachment (as RTF or PDF, depending on
the setting under Admin → Settings → Company code → Payables → Attach invoice to e-mail as
PDF). In addition, the option Send e-mail automatically also has to be active under Admin →
Document templates → E-mail for the e-mail template Automatic collective invoice for jobs.
Plunet 8 User Guide
172
Single and collective invoice
If Single and collective invoice is selected, you can select the date for the start of the billing cycle. This is
when the invoice is created automatically by the system.
Collective invoice only
If Collective invoice only is selected, then jobs that have been delivered and approved within the
current cycle can be added to a collective invoice from this day onwards. Jobs that were approved during
previous cycles and have not been invoiced yet can be added to a collective invoice at any time.
If a month has fewer days than specified (e.g. you have selected 31 and the month has 30 days), the
system automatically uses the last day of the month.
Notifying the project manager
Admin → Document templates → E-mail
Plunet 8 User Guide
173
You can also specify whether or not the project manager will receive an e-mail when invoices have been
created for the jobs in their projects. This is particularly useful as the project manager will receive a
notification that the automatic invoicing has taken place. To enable the automatic sending of this e-mail,
go to Admin → Document templates → E-mail and select Status change to 'Invoice created' from the
E-mail drop-down list.
Select Send e-mail automatically and Contact person for job. The person specified as the contact
person for the job (usually the project manager) will receive an e-mail whenever a job's status changes to
Invoice created.
Queries - Creating reports
For the purpose of effective reporting and controlling, in the Queries menu you can create reports on:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Receivables
Payables
Gross profit
Gross profit summary
Prices
New customers
Credit line
Change Log
Tasks
Cash flow
Time balance
Plunet 8 User Guide
174
Example: Queries → Gross profit
1. Under Queries → Gross profit, you can customize each report by limiting the time period,
applying various filters in the drop-down lists and selecting the status of items or jobs.
2. You can save your reports and queries by clicking on Search templates.
3. Click Update search to display a list of all orders that correspond to the filter criteria. You can use
the drop-down list to print the results table, export it to Excel or change the column settings.
4. Under Month details you can see the Number of orders, Sales, Expense, Gross profit, Profit
margin and % Share for each month. The total gross profit for each month is displayed as a table
and a bar chart in the Month section. The table can also be exported to Excel.
5. The project categories of all projects in the defined period are displayed as a table and a pie chart
in the Project categories section. The table can also be exported to Excel.
6. The total gross profit for the selected Customer is displayed as a table and a pie chart. The table
can also be exported to Excel. If you did not select a customer for the search, the gross profit for all
customers over this time period will be displayed.
7. The Language details table shows you the Sales, Expense, Gross profit, Profit margin and
% Share for each target language in the defined time period.
Plunet 8 User Guide
175
8. Under Language share you can see the percentage of the total gross profit for each language as a
table and a pie chart. The table can also be exported to Excel.
Queries - Creating status reports
Under Quotes → Status report – Quotes you can create status reports on current and completed
quotes, while in the Orders menu you can create status report on jobs and orders (Orders → Status
report – Orders/Status report - Jobs). In addition, you can create reports on requests, customers,
marketing promotions and resources' working hours. The results can then be exported to Excel.
Each report has a set of filters and selection options. You can add more filters from the Additional filters
drop-down list and also define your own filters in the Admin area. It is possible to limit the time period for
the reports select values for the individual filters. To run a report click Update search.
Example 1: Status report - Orders
Orders → Status report - Orders
1. Select or enter values from the drop-down lists for the relevant elements. For example, select the
time period, customer, item status, project manager and source/target languages.
2. Select the currency and the elements that you want to display in the report (Items, Jobs,
Installment, Commissions) and click Update search.
3. A list of all orders that correspond to the filter criteria appear under Result. You can select orders
or items and use the Options drop-down list to change the status of the projects/items, print the
results table, export it to Excel or change the column settings.
Plunet 8 User Guide
176
4. Under Month you can see the total amount of the invoices for each month over the specified time
period as a table and a bar chart. The table can also be exported to Excel.
5. Project categories provides an analysis of the different types of project that were invoiced in this
period (e.g. technical translation, marketing translation) as a table and a pie chart. The table can
also be exported to Excel.
6. If you do not enter a specific customer for the search, the results will include orders for all
customers. The Customer section will show the percentage of the total orders in the defined
period for each customer as a table and a pie chart. The table can also be exported to Excel.
7. You can view an analysis of the actual delivery times of the items under On-time delivery (Items).
The number of items delivered on time for each customer is displayed along with the percentage
of all items for this customer that were delivered on time. The table can also be exported to Excel.
8. The Sales by project manager section shows the percentage of the overall sales for each project
manager, as a table and a pie chart. The table can also be exported to Excel.
Plunet 8 User Guide
177
9. Click Delete search to remove all of the set filters and make a new search.
 NOTE
If there are a large number of customers/resources in the results tables for status reports and
queries, it may take a long time for the page to load. Now, in all tables where the results are
accumulated according to customers/resources, all results that make up less than 5% of the
total will be grouped together as Other (below 5%). However, it is still possible to view these
results in detail by clicking on Export details.
Example 2: Status report - Time sheet
Home → Status report – Time sheet
Depending on your user role and access rights, you can create status reports on recorded working hours
and filter these reports by time period, resource, service or type of activity, for example. The results can
then be exported to Excel.
Plunet 8 User Guide
178
Plunet 8.0: Additional filters for status reports
Multiple time periods can be selected at once
Orders → Status report - Jobs
It is possible to select multiple time periods as filters. For example, you can search for two time periods
containing the job creation date and delivery date of the job. To do this, click on the Plus button to add a
new line.
Plunet 8 User Guide
179
A time period (e.g. Period (Job delivered on)) can only be active once in the search. This means that you
cannot search for the job delivery date in two different time periods.
In the graphs (e.g. Total jobs/resources) the time period is only displayed if you have filtered by one date
type. If you filter by multiple date types, the graph will be displayed without a date/time period. In the
monthly analysis, if you use multiple filters, only the first filter will be included in the graph.
Filter for multiple source languages
Orders → Status report - Jobs
In version 8.0, the filters for Source language and Target language were changed to multiple selection.
For example:
• Source language: AR, DE
• Target language: EN, FR
In this case, the system searches for all jobs with the language combination AR → EN, AR → FR, DE → EN,
DE → FR.
If no source language or no target language is selected, the system only searches for the specified
languages. For example:
• Source language: • Target language: EN, FR
In this case, the system searches for all jobs with the target language EN or FR.
Filter for 'Assignment date'
Orders → Status report - Jobs
Plunet 8 User Guide
180
In the Period drop-down list, there is an additional option to filter by the Period (Assignment date). The
assignment date is the date on which the job's status changed from In preparation or Requested to
Assigned - Waiting or In progress.
Plunet 8 User Guide
181
Copyright notice
Plunet GmbH
Dresdener Str. 15
10999 Berlin
All ideas, proposals, text and images are the intellectual property of Plunet GmbH and are subject to the pertinent copyrights. The unauthorized use of this
material is expressly prohibited – no part of this documentation may be furnished to others, copied, reproduced or transmitted by any means or for any
purpose. All rights reserved.
Plunet 8 User Guide
182
Download