Welcome to Next!
This article serves as a guide and checklist for you as a new user in Next Project. Here, you'll find information on how to quickly set up your Next Project with the most important configurations.
By following the steps below and using the recommended documentation, you'll be able to start working in Next in no time!
Start by logging into Next Project with the login credentials provided.
Step 1: Activation and Basic Administration
Next Project
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Verify and complete company information in Admin → Settings → Office/company.
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Upload your logo for it to appear on invoices and reports in Admin → Settings → Office/company. The logo file can be in jpg, png, or gif format. If it's too large, you may need to compress it first.
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Add additional users for the onboarding process in Admin → Users/Permissions → Users.
Integration Next Project - Your Financial System
Activate the integration between Next and your financial system and perform basic imports of Customer and Supplier records, as well as the Chart of accounts. These records are needed for the upcoming steps in this guide.
Refer to the instructions for your financial system here:
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Xero (coming soon)
For other financial systems, please contact us.
Registers and Settings
Start by entering your company's basic information in Next Project. Basic information refers to the basic information needed in Next for the right people to log in and for you to have the proper conditions to run your projects. Since there are dependencies between different record registers, we recommend entering the information in the following order:
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Customer Records (refer to the instructions in the mailout or integration with financial system for more information)
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Chart of Accounts (refer to the instructions in the mailout or integration with financial system for more information)
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Supplier Records (refer to the instructions in the mailout or integration with financial system for more information)
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Hourly Rate
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Price List
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Wage Supplements (see information for each payroll system below)
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Absence
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Users
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Payment Terms (in Administration → Accounting → Payment terms)
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Projects
Prepare for Payroll Files
When hourly rates and wage supplements are added, these can be complemented with time codes or Wage/Salary codes so that you can generate a payroll file when reporting your first payroll period.
The process varies depending on the payroll system used in your company:
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Xero
Once you've reached this point, you'll have the basic framework you need to start working in Next Project - for more good tips to get you started, read Step 2 below!
Step 2: Customize Next for Your Business
After importing all basic information and activating integration according to the above steps, it's time for you to make Next more personalized with choices and options that fit your business.
Project Tree
Your project list is found in the menu to the left, and how projects are mapped in the project tree can be customized to your needs. The goal is for you to easily find projects, but this also provides an opportunity for monitoring at the folder level.
💡 Tips! Some common ways to build your folder structure are:
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By Project Manager: Name folders after project managers with projects they are responsible for. This does not automatically control permissions, but there is an option to limit permissions at the folder level so that project managers only see their projects going forward.
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By Location: If your organization is geographically spread, you can build a folder structure based on location or region.
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By Client: If you have a few major clients, their projects can be placed under their respective folders
Follow-up Criteria
In Next Project, there are many ways to mark and follow up on your projects, besides cost and revenue. Most criteria are found on the project card and can be changed if the suggested options do not fit. If each project is tagged with information in these fields, you have good opportunities to extract statistics in the Project Overview module!
These fields include:
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Form of compensation
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Project type
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Project category
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Type of assignment
To read more about how to work with the labelling fields, click.
Status
Statuses are found in several modules in Next Project, including Project, Work order, Variation order, Deviation, and Invoice. In some cases, they are only for monitoring and control, but in some other cases, they serve more functions. The statuses can be found under Administration → Settings → Statuses.
If you want to add more statuses, it's good to consider the following:
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The status code must be unique.
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Choose a color by typing the name of the color or a six-digit color code (#000000). Example colors and codes can be found here.
To read more about status management click.
Project Status
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Statuses with code 40 and above are sent to the financial system. This means it's possible to book costs and revenue on projects with a status higher than 40.
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Statuses with code 90 finalizes a project in Next and in the financial system. Information about the project's end date is sent to the financial system.
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Statuses with code 39-89 are visible in Next Mobile and are open for reporting for mobile users. This range can be configured; contact us if you need assistance!
Work Order/Variation Order Status
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The status of all work orders and variation orders are visible in Next Mobile if their respective project is visible in Next Mobile.
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If work orders and/or variation orders are set to be exported to your financial system, all work orders and variation orders are exported if their respective project is exported.
💡 Tips and Good to Know!
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Status changes are generally a manual process.
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Project status should primarily be changed by Next Project Client users.
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Work order status can be changed by both Client and Mobile users. If you have a business with many service orders, a good routine is to let the responsible serviceman mark the work order as completed.
Step 3: Go Live!
Once you've made it this far and completed all the steps, you'll be ready to go live and start using Next Project for real!
💡 Tips!
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The absolute essential steps to quickly get started with Next are those shown under Step 1.
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Begin with the most basic to get started; then, you can build in several steps and start working in more modules.
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Watch previously recorded webinars.
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Set a date for when time reporting should be done in Next, usually at the beginning of a new payroll period.