Touchstone Contract Management Solution
For Construction, Facilities Management and associated
Industries
The Touchstone Contract Management Solution is a suite of modules
for Microsoft Dynamics AX specifically
designed for use in the construction, facilities management and
associated industries. The system is highly configurable to allow
the delivery of highly functional systems tailored to meet the wide
range of business requirements and methodologies prevalent in these
sectors.
Many of these companies use a number of
different software applications to manage their contracts to ensure
control and profitability – with much work being done in
spreadsheets. Microsoft Dynamics AX and the Contract
Management Solution offers a fully integrated, all-in-one system,
automating manual processes and eliminating duplication from one
system to another. It also provides full traceability of
transactions throughout the system for the life of a contract.
Sales Contract Structure
The sales contract structure enables you to
set up contracts in the best way to control and bill that
particular contract. The multi-level structure provides for
up to 10 levels of contracts and components ensuring that you get
the level of analysis that you need. There can be multiple
customers on a single contract, and multiple sites per
contract.
A contract and component Wizard and template
system enables rapid creation of contracts and standardisation of
structures for easy analysis and reporting.
The system supports a range of component types
with associated functionality including Extra works, Projects,
Internal, Summary, Comprehensive and Maintenance. It also
handles multiple charge line types including stage payments,
incidental charges, billing plans, adjustment charges and charge
subtotals: and it handles multiple cost line types including hours,
costs, vendor purchase orders and invoices, subcontractor contracts
and cost summaries.
Billing Systems
Accurate billing and easy processes to produce
bills are key to being paid correctly and promptly, reducing the
pressures of month-end processing. The Contract Management
Solution has a multilevel advanced Schedule of Rates system for
hours, items, costs and revenues, with standard and cost plus
options.
To significantly ease the burden of processing
revisions to Schedule of Rates uplifts, a system is also provided
to do this, with functionality enabling uplift by absolute or %,
and back calculation and correction of previous charges utilising a
charge adjustment system.
Also helping you to bid competitively and
invoice correctly, comprehensive billing rules provide rules by
supply type for capping, first £x free, charge up to etc. The
billing plan allows flexible periodic billing of repetitive charge
regimes; intelligent invoice formatting gives various automatic and
manual consolidation, and provides for automatic line description
generation. Further, an advanced charge proposal system
allows comprehensive review and manipulation of charges including
skip, cancel, manual adjustment system, error reporting and history
features.
Budgeting and Estimating
Features
To enable tight control and easy monitoring,
budget/target and actual data is recorded throughout system,
enabling cost summaries and variances to be produced whenever
required.
Construction Industry
Functionality
The system enables the processing of stage
payments and cumulative billing where this is used. There are
multiple cumulative billing groups and functionality for stage
payments, final certificates and other retention recovery
points. Applications for payment are produced, with
pre-approval generation. Both VAT invoice and Authenticated
Receipt Billing methods are supported. Sales and Purchase
Retentions are handled, with retention tracking and reporting.
Job Control Systems
The Job logging and control functions enable
the creation of jobs and automatic insertion of the contract
structure, and provide a universal numbering system. Job
control and manipulation allows status changes, closure and logging
direct to job.
Subcontractor Systems
Both CIS and non CIS subcontractors are
handled, allowing extra data to be stored and reported on.
Subcontractor contracts can be setup with back to back
contracting. The system also caters for subcontractor
maintenance contracts, stage payments, and retentions.
CIS Payroll Systems
The Contract Management Solution is fully CIS
2007 compliant.
Other Functionality
The system also contains an Advanced Approvals
multi-level approvals and control system, with tolerance
adjustment, point or route approval and delegation ability.
Supplier rebates can be calculated and
claimed. This has very definable supplier rebate control,
with a tracking and claims system, multiple claim schemes and
automatic departmental distribution of realised claims.
Also provided is a three tier supplier
classification system with ‘find supplier’ functionality.
This is supported by a Supplier certification control system.
Reporting
Advanced reporting functionality is provided
with very flexible configuration. Various reports are
provided, e.g. Job Profitability Reporting - comprehensive job
reporting showing all aspects of job, cost, sales and
purchases.
However all data is accessible for reporting
using Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, and can be
dynamically or statically viewed and manipulated using Microsoft
Excel.
Advanced Accounting Systems
At the core of the Contract Management Solution is
advance accounting functionality, providing functionality such
as:
- Dynamic WIP Adjustment
- Purchase Order Accrual
- Subcontractor Maintenance
Accrual
- Project WIP Accounting
- Comprehensive Rule
Accounting
- Cross charging Systems
- Overhead Recovery
Accounting
Microsoft Dynamics AX Integration
Microsoft Dynamics AX is an integrated,
adaptable business management system that helps to run your
business and make business decisions with greater confidence, based
on having the right information available at the right time and
presented in a meaningful way. Microsoft Dynamics AX works
like and looks like other familiar Microsoft office Software.
CMS is fully integrated into the Dynamics AX
projects module and adds to its functionality, streamlining
processes. It is also fully integrated with the Sales and
Purchase ledgers, generating purchase and sales documents
automatically, giving seamless integration with both modules at
many points.
