the best thing you can do for your business

Switching to Abtrac makes perfect sense

Choosing a platform that streamlines processes and delivers profitability will transform your business.

Abtrac's project management software screens on different devices

On-boarding icons - Project management hero

Pick a Go-Live Date

Let us know when you plan on getting started with Abtrac at your office. We call this a ‘go-live’ date.

  • If you’re bringing in data from your old system you might have two ‘go-live’ dates.
    The admin and management teams can get started with Abtrac, setting things up and preparing data in a soft launch before you go live with the entire office.
  • The other option is to start fresh with Abtrac, with no historic data. You can simply retain a subscription to your legacy system to access any historical information.
  • Or your Abtrac Online trial can become your live version on request.

The actual down time from shutting off your current system to cutting over to Abtrac need not be much more than a day.

 


 

On-boarding icons - Project management hero4

Make a plan

We help businesses switch to Abtrac all the time, and our sales, consulting and support teams can make sure you have a solid plan and everything you need to be up and running in no time.

We work back from the agreed go-live date to schedule the activities we’re helping you with.

 

The items to consider before you go live are detailed further on in this page, but can include:

Onboarding going live icons
Training
Onboarding going live icons2
Setting up templates for invoicing
Onboarding going live icons3
Connecting to your accounts
Onboarding going live icons5
Migrating your current data to Abtrac

The level of support you choose to get set up is optional.

We’ll send a formal quote once we have a decision to proceed with Abtrac.

You’ll receive an itemised plan with a schedule and costs for approval. Once you sign off on your plan the team will help you work through the steps to switch.

For larger teams, or when migrating data from a legacy system

Larger teams - Some steps

For teams switching to Abtrac with no legacy data import

Teams switching to Abtrac with no legacy data import copy

 

 

 

On-boarding icons - Project management hero5

Preparing your team


Include the team when evaluating your trial version

Whether you’re a start up or an established firm it’s worth putting some time into your trial before you switch to Abtrac.

Even if your firm already has a great time tracking and project management culture we recommend that the team practises with Abtrac before going live.

For established firms the reality is that adopting a new management system will impact many aspects of your business.
And that’s a good thing – with a streamlined management platform, everything else falls into line.

If relevant staff put in serious time entering and editing data through its life cycle, from job creation to timesheets to final invoice, and reports; it will pay off immensely when you go live with Abtrac.

This is especially true if you have some legacy systems and reports that you are looking to replace, or refine.

We will work with you in this regard and offer prelaunch consulting and training, to achieve a great start.

"I would recommend putting in the time getting ready with a trial version, get everyone practicing before going live. Don’t go live and then try and learn.

By spending the time beforehand, when we went live there was virtually no issues. And there has been no real productivity loss from staff. In fact some aspects were quicker." 

Configuring your invoices and other documents

The standard Abtrac templates can be desk-topped with your company logo and layout.

This is usually done after you go-live with Abtrac, but it’s something to consider when preparing the team.

Invoice, Accounts Rendered, Subconsultant purchase orders and Project proposal documents can all be modified by you using the Abtrac designer module. However, we’re often asked to do this as part of the set up process because we can do it more quickly. There’s a fee for this if we do it for you.

Inovoices2

Integrations to other systems

You can choose to link Abtrac to your accounts, or other business tools.
Again this is usually done after you go-live with Abtrac, but it’s something to consider when preparing the team.

Any costs involved will be included in your itemised plan and fee proposal to approve before you sign up to Abtrac.


 

On-boarding icons - Project management hero7

Preparing to switch


Bring data from your old system

Tips when importing legacy data

We regularly help businesses switch to Abtrac from other systems, and we are often asked to migrate data into Abtrac from legacy software systems. Migrating data means everything is on the new platform from start-up, significantly reducing the need to keep going back to old systems.

You can choose to import :

  • current projects and invoices only
  • all information for the current financial year
  • or all historical information from your legacy system

When migrating data the Abtrac sales and technical team will work with you, and let you know what information is required.

Our technicians request at least 3 weeks’ notice in order to schedule a data migration ready for an agreed go-live date.

The preferred process is to run test migration or a soft launch (see below).
There’s a fee for each migration, including time spent addressing any issues that may arise. This will be estimated in your initial cost proposal, and a fee will be confirmed once we receive a data sample from your current system.

The soft launch approach

When migrating data the preferred process from the team at Abtrac is to run a test migration - or a soft launch. We will import your data twice, once into a trial version of Abtrac, and the second time at an agreed date into your live version of Abtrac.

When migrating data the Abtrac sales and technical team will work with you, and let you know what information is required.

We’ll also request any reports of work in progress, counts of clients and jobs, invoices etc. so we can balance the migrated data wherever possible to confirm the integrity of the Abtrac data you need to rely on.
Once data is transferred into a trial version your team can put time into getting ready to switch, evaluating Abtrac prior to the live cut over, to find and address any issues with data imported that may arise.
After everyone who needs to be involved has learnt what they need to know, this first lot of practice data is completely removed and your most recent data from your old system is copied into Abtrac on a chosen date.

Make a new start

Opening balances only

If you choose to start Abtrac with a clean slate you’ll likely still have information from your current projects that you need to include.
If you’re starting with a small amount of data you can simply enter opening balance information by way of a single invoice + timesheet line that records the relevant numbers.
The Abtrac sales and technical team will work with you, and let you know what information is required. In some cases this historic information can be entered as part of your training and set up sessions.

How to self launch

If you’re part of a new or small team (1-10) you could get underway with Abtrac using our online training videos under the Help menu and a short training session from the support team.
You can follow the steps in our detailed guides to set up employee, projects and invoicing information. To ensure a successful start up, even if you choose to self launch we recommend following up with a one hour training session.

 


 

On-boarding icons - Project management hero9

Going live with the new system

 

Training

Training is typically delivered in two sessions, usually only to ‘power users’ and others who need to know how to use Abtrac beyond simple entering of timesheets.
Each session is broken into smaller segments and some people can come and go according to which aspects of Abtrac they need to spend time learning about.

First training session
The first (approx.) 3 hour session covers setting up Abtrac for your business, entering employees, charge rates, activity codes, entering clients and projects through to timesheet and disbursement entry, but usually not including invoicing.
If you’ve chosen to migrate data into Abtrac part of this initial set up will have been completed as part of your data migration and evaluations.

Second training sessions
Often a second or third training session is requested. We offer a formal session where we cover off issues and queries since the first session. We then show and practice how to create invoices in the formats you need. The invoice training can be done prior to the first invoices being generated in Abtrac.
At this time, or in a third session we can also show how to set up and sync invoices to your Accounting System if required.

On-going support

Throughout the transition and afterwards, our commitment is always to provide excellent training and support.
Your Abtrac subscription includes free email and telephone support for all members of your team.

We’re also always happy to provide consulting. You can arrange a health check at any time, to talk about project, invoice or reporting requirements. Or to book a refresher course for any of your team.

Our company culture is to develop long term working relationships with our clients. We’ve been around since 1999 and we’re proud that some of the earliest adopters of Abtrac are still using it today.

Demo page icons - contact

We’d be happy to help

Complete this form and we’ll be in touch to answer your questions directly.

If you’d like more information you can talk with the Abtrac team for answers.

+6494129294

We’re available Monday - Friday between 09:00 – 17:00 UTC+12.

Our experienced sales and support teams would be happy to help.

Ask a question or arrange a time for a one-on-one demonstration.