We are glad to share with you the latest release of Deskera Accounting. This new release was focused around the mantra of integration and adaptability.

We want our users to have complete control over their data and they should be able to choose how to use it. The new enhancements reflect this philosophy by now giving users more options to choose how they want to manage their data. e.g. export options made available for various reports and accounting statements like:

• Cash Flow Statement
• Sales by Item Summary
• Sales by Item Report
• Cost Center Summary Report
• Purchase Tax Report
• Sales Tax Report

All the above can now be exported to PDF or CSV formats or you could print them directly from the application.

In addition to the above, we have added:

• Bank and Cash Payment Functionality for fixed assets
• Functionality for direct removal of assets from business

To know more, please visit Deskera.

A major challenge that any organization faces is integration of the various collaboration tools (instant messenger, chat, email etc.) with the various enterprise applications (crm, project management, HRMS etc.). A side-effect of fast growth is often reliance on disjointed systems that do not talk to each other. Research shows that this becomes a problem once an organization reaches a critical size (usually >50). Collaboration and communication are the two things that take a major hit with growth if integrated collaboration tools are not available to the workforce.

With the new enhancements to Deskera Apps in the February release though, these issues would cease to exist. The collaboration tools that are now going to be a part of standard Deskera offering would ensure that IT managers no longer have to worry about integration between collaboration and enterprise tools. Deskera has integrated collaboration tools with enterprise applications in a web based environment to bring to you a most robust enterprise solution. Let us take a look at the new enhancements then, shall we:

• Instant Messenger with one click access
• Wall interface to share, communicate and discuss
• Groups to control communication
• Calendar
• Personalize your profile page
• Easy access to enterprise and collaboration solutions from one interface

To know more, please visit Deskera.

Ensuring that automatic notifications for important tasks go out on time to the respective stakeholders is an absolutely necessary feature for  any project management application. Delays often happen in a project due to human error. There are certain human errors that could be avoided by clever use of auto-notifications by a project manager during the planning stage.

The February release of Project Management by Deskera, among other things, makes the process of setting up and implementing notifications a lot easier for project managers. Let us take a quick look at the new features which are now a part of the project management application:

• Updated daily notifications to include overdue tasks as per project management timeline. The project manager can decide if these would be automated or require subscription from the team-members
• Notifications for overdue tasks can also be sent manually from the project by the project manager. A team member need not necessarily be subscribed for the project manager to request updates
• Now project managers can get daily notifications as well as milestone updates for various projects created within the project management application
• The milestone feature now highlights any overdue milestones

Deskera Project Management has got loads of other existing features (in addition to the ones mentioned above) which make it the best choice for managing all kind of projects and related activities (and it is completely web based). To know more, please visit Deskera.

A CRM should provide at least the following as a part of its reporting capabilities to reduce friction in usage:

• Quick access to all CRM reports
• Real Time Availability of CRM reports
• “Live” Dashboards showing data from CRM reports
• Ability to save CRM reports in popular formats (PDF, Excel etc)
• Option to print the CRM reports directly from the application interface
• Ability to customize existing CRM reports
• Option to create new customized CRM reports

Deskera offers all of the above through the extensive reporting capabilities available in its CRM. Please go through the following video which demonstrates how to use the reporting features available in Deskera CRM.

Also, please go here to see how you may use Deskera to generate custom CRM reports.

We saw in this post how a CRM should incorporate lead management capabilities. Since a successful sales-force would convert many leads into accounts, account management is of paramount importance in the sales cycle.  It is accounts that generate revenue for any organisation. The logical next step therefore is to take a look at the account management capabilities that should be an integral part of any CRM.

Accounts are converted leads where business has been closed or an opportunity for business closure exists. Accounts will have details of existing (or prospective) products or services, expected and generated revenue, key contact details and existing opportunities. In addition, all customer cases, queries, complaints etc. should be tagged to the respective accounts and acted upon. It should also allow quick access to relevant documents (if any) associated with the account.

Consequently an effective CRM should have robust Account Management capabilities to help track and manage all accounts along with product, opportunity, activity, contacts and case details. Moreover, a document management system that allows you to upload, tag, store and search relevant documents is essential.

Deskera provides the complete account management solution with its CRM. Key benefits of using an account management through its CRM are:

• Maintain Comprehensive Account Details
• Provide Extensive Account Support and Customer Service
• Add an Activity, Opportunity, Contact or Case to any Account
• Add Documents to any Account
• Easy spreadsheet functionality

Please go through the following short video demonstrating how to use Deskera CRM to manage accounts:

Tracking time of employees on various projects could be a painful task for organizations. If not managed properly, it could lead to anything from widespread confusion to inaccurate financial accounting. Errors in adding time, projects, WBS elements etc. could lead to issues as stated above. In addition, delays could happen if timesheets are not filled or approved on time, or are rejected but not acted on by the employee. Thankfully, Deskera provides, as part of its HRMS , a timesheet software that does away with all the problems.

In our December ‘11 release, new features have been added to timesheets that allow an organization greater control over how time is tracked and provide them more flexibility in setting up timesheets. Let us take a look at these new features in detail-

Configure Projects & Default Durations

Now you can pre-configure job/project details like name, default duration etc. in Master Configuration. Also, an option can be provided to the employees to add/edit job/projects manually from the timesheets. This is useful if a large chunk of employees have similar projects with default duration that need to be tracked.

This can be easily done by going to Master Configuration, selecting Timesheet Job and adding/editing sub-fields there. Please refer to the image for details.

Notifications for Approval/ Rejections

Now immediate notifications would go to the employee upon approval or rejection of  timesheets by the supervisor. This is in addition to the existing alerts for employees to fill timesheets and for supervisors to approve timesheets.

To know more about how to use timesheets for your business, please visit Deskera.

We are pleased to announce the latest enhancements to Deskera HRMS, the human resource management system of choice for many. The new features provide greater control over tracking & maintaining timesheets for all employees.

New Enhancements:

• Option to configure jobs/projects/ WBS elements through Master Configuration
• Option to define default duration of projects/WBS elements
• Send alert notifications to employees when action taken on timesheet

You may read more about these updates to the timesheet system here.

Please visit Deskera to know more.

Lead management is an important activity and often differentiates an ordinary CRM application from an excellent CRM application.

The Lead Management module in Deskera allows the CRM to make leads simple to qualify, distribute, and follow-up on. Using Lead Management in Deskera CRM, you can:

Here is a short video on how to manage leads using Lead Management in CRM:

Please visit Deskera to know more.

We have come a long way from the time when a Rolodex was considered the “last word” in contact management! Fortunately – we have software tools available to manage contacts now. Imagine managing all your contacts from the phone-book, Google, Facebook, Yahoo etc with a Rolodex!

A Contact Management tool should allow you to capture, monitor, store and track all critical information on your key stakeholders i.e. customers, prospects and partners. Furthermore, it should enable you to maintain up–to–date data on all activities happening for each of your contact, keep you updated on each of your account via real-time alerts and notifications, and give you a quick overview of all your contacts through customized reports and views.

In a nutshell, a Contact Management tool should enable you to segment available customer data and gain knowledge about your customers so that you can deliver the right value proposition to them.

Deskera CRM has an integrated Contact Management application. You may add new contact directly, or get them from existing leads or accounts. Moreover, campaign managers can access the data from the contacts directly to add them to target lists, due to integration with the Campaign Management module.

Key features of Deskera CRM – Contact Management are –

• Efficiently record and track complete contact details including lead source and account name.
• Click and Type functionality allows you to select, edit, add in three clicks or less
• Import contacts easily in convenient file formats from MS Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, MSN and more
• Define contact activities – Tasks, Events and more – for accurately carrying out sales process and get regular updates
• Add/Update documents for each contact and maintain a central repository of documents for all your contacts
• Export your Contact list in multiple file formats like .pdf, .csv and more
• Integration with all Deskera CRM modules

Here is a short video on how to use Deskera CRM for Contact Management.

Please visit Deskera to know more.

Sometime ago, we had written about designing effective email campaigns. Today we will take a look at how we can use Deskera CRM to not only design and manage email campaigns, but also to track and manage all  kind of campaigns.

Campaign Management is an important feature of Deskera CRM. It allows you to reach out to your audience, identify people who respond, and close business with them. Key advantages of Deskera CRM – Campaign Management include:

• Easy to build and manage marketing campaigns.
• Build targeted marketing campaigns that address each customer segment with the products and services they need.
• Provides quick access to campaign status and updates.
• Allows you to build campaigns and update prospective customers about new offers within no time.
• Maintain easy-to-manage target lists for selective targeting of prospective customers.

The following videos demonstrate how Deskera makes your campaign management better, easier, faster.

Managing Campaigns

Manage Email Campaigns

Please visit Deskera to know more.

Studies show that the an ergonomic user interface can increase efficiency multiple times over. There is a lot of research that has gone into it as well – as can be viewed here.

Deskera CRM has a Mashboard (the next generation of dashboards with new, and hybrid dashboard design techniques, incorporating all the features of the previous generation dashboards in a real time customizable format) that is designed keeping only one thing in mind – you. It can be customized to look the way you want it to and displays relevant and real-time information. The widgets could be moved around and arranged in any order you want. Users can choose the information displayed within widgets and can be toggled between reports, alerts, updates and charts.

Here is a short video highlighting how Deskera CRM  makes your business better, easier, faster.

Please visit Deskera CRM to know more.

Configuring any software for the first time could be a daunting task. The user at times may feel like Alice in Wonderland – confused in a whole new world. Tech Support forums are full of highly intelligent people who find it impossible to comprehend the setup and configuration of a new software application.

Fortunately for Deskera users, this has never been a problem. In addition to the help available through our 24×7 email support, telephone support, and the support website, we also have a product that has been consistently rated by our users as one of the most intuitive and easy-to-use software applications.

If you find that hard to believe then let us demonstrate, with the help the following video, the ease with which user and company details can be added during first time setup of Deskera CRM.

The following video shows us how to configure users and provide role based access in Deskera CRM as well as configuring Company details.

Please visit Deskera CRM to know more.

Competence is generally defined as – a combination of awareness, skills, knowledge and attitude that enables an individual to perform a job to the standards required for successful job performance.

Essentially, “Competence” is what enables people to be better at what they do. It is not just skills picked up to enhance one’s knowledge. e.g. – A salesperson who learns to play the guitar is picking up a skill, but a salesperson who learns to play the guitar, so she can converse knowledgeably with her clients while trying to sell them a guitar, is picking up a competency. The difference between a skill and a competency lies in the purpose.

Competency based training is a methodology which involves mapping the current competency levels against desired competency levels, identifying the resulting gaps, and creating a training plan to bridge those gaps. This is an extremely powerful tool if used correctly. Which is one of the primary reasons that most organisations across the globe, including Fortune 500 companies, are investing in setting up competence based training for their workforce.

Before deciding to invest in competence based training though, one needs to have the following in place:

• Process to determine correct competencies (with required skill levels) for each role
• Process to measure and benchmark skill levels for any given competency
• Training programs to improve or develop competencies
• Follow up programs to monitor progress

Word of Caution – Do not let the HR department handle it all by themselves.

The entire exercise is a huge task for Human Resources alone, even for a small size company of say 200 employees. The best way to go about this is to create a task force with representation from senior executives, line managers, HR personnel, and the employees themselves.

Competence based training approach helps with the learning & development of employees, and can also be used as the spine of performance appraisal and career progression processes.e.g. if an assistant manager has to be promoted to be the manager, then the competencies and skill levels of the individual (assistant manager) should match at least the minimum competencies and skill levels of the desired position (manager).

Not only does this help create a transparent environment in the workplace, but also motivates employees by giving them adequate support to achieve their aspirations. A win-win for everyone.

If you do not have a tool to utilize the advantages of competence based training in your organisation as yet, then you might want to take a look at Deskera eTraining. It is a comprehensive, award winning corporate learning solution.

To know more about us, please visit Deskera.

We always strive to bring the best to our partners. The Deskera philosophy of “Better, Easier Faster” extends to our partners. The various features which we have put in our partner portal allow them to conduct their business in just that way.

In our earlier post, we had taken a look at customizing the sign-up page. Today, we will take a look at how our partners can easily manage the subscription plans through the partner portal.

• Click on Plan Settings in the left hand side menu of the Partner Portal
• Update the application names as desired on the sign-up page
• Update the subscription fee for each application as desired on the sign-up page
• Update all changes
• Get the ready to use sign-up page which can be linked to your website

Please visit Deskera Partners to know more about our partner program.

To know more about our products, please visit Deskera.

We are pleased to announce the update to our initial post about the October release of Deskera HRMS. Please read on to know more.

• Option added to Master Configuration to allow email-id being saved as default fields
• Multiple employee id prefixes can be customized through a simple interface, just like the job-id prefixes. Earlier you were only able to maintain one prefix for employee id
• The payslips are now displayed in reverse chronological order, with the latest payslip being the first one

In addition, 5+ bugs have been fixed as part of the latest release.

To know more, please visit Deskera HRMS.

Please sign up for our free demo at Deskera to know how we can make your business better, easier, faster.