idelpi Software Quick Install and Basic Configuration Guide (Trial version) This documentation helps you in installing the trial version of idelpi construction software on your computer. Prerequisites Operating system: Windows 7, Windows Server 2003 or higher or Windows 8 Framework: Microsoft.NET Framework 4.0 Database: Microsoft Access RAM: 1 GB or higher for better performance Disk space: 50 MB minimum including database. The database will grow with the data entry in the software. Installation Run the setup file and follow the setup wizard. The idelpi installation wizard is very simple and it will not ask you anything except for the folder name for software installation. You can keep it as default unless you know (generally IT technical person) where else to save the installed files. Installed Folders The software will create 2 folders after you finish the installation of idelpi software as below. 1) C:\Program files\idelpi 2) C:\iDelPiData The folder inside program files will hold all the program executable and supporting files required to run the software. The folder idelpidata on C: drive will store the the SQL server data files and reports. There will be one more file data.xml which contains database login information in encrypted format. You should never modify or delete this file. If required, the database can be moved to any other folder and attached from there but the data.xml file must be present in C:\iDelpiData folder on C: drive. Folder permissions: Before you run the trial version and attach the database, it is required to give full read/write permission to the folder C:\iDelpiData to all domain users or at least to the
logged in user. If this is not done, software will give error and database will be attached in readonly mode. By default, the installation will try to give the permissions automatically. If it fails then you will need to do it manually. Running software for the first time After the installation is complete, please run the software from the short-cut created on your Windows desktop. You will be promoted with a login dialog. The user name is admin and there is no password for this user by default. Just click login button and you will see the main window of application. To understand and try the software better, please refer to configuration guide on next page. Basic Configuration Guide Please use the information below to configure the software and put data into it. Setup employees Defining employee master is crucial since this information is linked with user manager and also with audit reports. Employees can be added from the Organization basics module -> Payroll section. Every employee may have a code which can be auto generated with some prefix or can also be defined manually. For each employee, you must define a designation, department and employee s type. If employee is a worker then a category must also be specified. Designation for a worker is not required to be set or it can be set as worker. Note: It is necessary to define people who will interact with the system and people which are part of the project such as estimators, labors, foreman, project managers, supervisors, approvers etc. Setup Users and Groups By default the system has only admin user. You can add multiple users with different permissions from user manager. It is not recommended to login with admin user for regular data entry and a new user should be created under the regular user group. Setup customers Customer database is required on project, invoices and project contracts.
Each customer s tax number, payment terms can be defined on customer window. And this will be picked up at the time of invoicing. Also ledger posting account needs to be defined. Unless this is defined, the accounting effect will not be correct in general ledger for the customer. Customer master is available in Accounts receivable module. Importing data: You can import customer data from Import customer wizard. The import customer wizard can be opened from Administration module. Setup suppliers Each supplier will have a supplier type e.g. subcontractor, vendor etc. The important one is subcontractor. All subcontractor records should have type as subcontractor so it can be identified further at the time of subcontract creation. For each supplier, you may define payment terms and tax number. To post correct effects to general ledger, a posting account should also be specified. You may also define compliances for each supplier. The compliances can be defined in compliances master. Later it can be selected at the time of supplier creation. At the time of generating purchase order, if supplier has compliances then it can be validated. Importing data: You can import supplier data from Import supplier wizard. The import supplier wizard can be opened from Administration module. Setup item group Every item in the master could have an item group. Having a group is optional and it depends on your needs whether to setup one or more groups. Item groups can be defined from Item group master in Organization basics module. Setup items This is the most essential data source which is categorized as raw material, equipment s, finished goods and service items. The items data can be fed manually from item master window or can be imported from excel sheet in bulk so as to save the time. The import items screen is available in Administration module. Every item should have a code. Codes can be defined manually or can also be auto generated. You should specify unit, rate, discount, and price and item code for all items that will be used in the system. Item master window can be opened from Organization basics module. Setup Items Initial Stock Before you start inventory system, it is essential to put up all items current physical stock as initial stock in the idelpi System.
Once you put in all items in the system, you can open the initial stock window from Inventory module to setup quantity and unit of all items including raw material, finished goods and equipments. Units and Unit conversion Unit master contains predefined values for most common unit of measurement. If you need more units, you can add it from unit master available in Organization basics module. Unit conversion is required for bill of material screen. The unit conversion between KG and gram for example can be used on bill of material screen where we define raw material required to create 1 unit of a finished product. Bill of Material If you are going to have finished products in the system then defining a bill of material (list of raw material used to manufacture the finished good) is essential. Each bill of material will have a list of raw material names along with required quantity to produce 1 unit of finished product. Bill of material screen is available in Inventory module. Setup tax master If tax is applicable to the region / state where you do the business then at least one tax rate needs to be setup in tax master. This tax rate will be used subsequently on all transaction forms such as progress invoice, T&M invoice, purchase invoices etc. Tax master is available in Organization basics module. Payment terms & Delivery terms You can specify basic payment terms such as NET 45, NET 30 etc. and also the delivery terms from Organization basics module. Once payment terms are defined, you can specify default terms for each customer and supplier which will be automatically selected at the time of creating a transaction record such as invoice or purchase order. Setup phases and cost types Every construction project will have common phases and cost types as well as some specific ones which can be specified in phases and cost types master. A phase could be something like a painting job, flooring, cooling etc. A cost type can be something like regular work hours, overtime, material, burden etc. Each cost type must have a category (labor, material, equipment, subcontract or burden). The phases and cost types will be used while defining project and will be used subsequently to record overall progress of the construction project by time and quantity. Phases and cost types can be defined from Job costing module.
Setup project locations A project location can be a name of the place, area or city where the actual work is going to happen. You can define various project locations on the project location master from Project module. Each project location will have a supervisor and foremen which can be specified at the time of defining a location name. Setup contract items Contract items are used for invoicing purpose. So the invoicing can be done in parts. Before you create a project contract and an invoice further, contract items must be defined. Each contract item will have a code, revenue group, tax code, default rate and unit (hours, numbers etc.) associated with it. Contract item window can be opened from Project module. Labor and Equipment Rates Standard rates for labor, equipment and material can be specified from this master screen. You can also specify rate specific to a project for labor, equipment and material. If the project specific rates are not defined then system will pick up standard rates at the time of invoicing and contract generation. Setup activity names Activity master defines list of all construction site activity names. This will be used at the time of recording daily work activities from the Work activity input screen from Project Management module. Each activity record will have a name and details about the activity in general. Chart of Accounts This is the core of finance module so defining a list of all possible ledger accounts before starting payments and sales entries is a must. By default ledger groups are predefined as asset, liability, equity, revenue, cost of goods sold, expenses. Sub groups are also pre-defined which can be modified as per convenience. Opening balance for each ledger account must be specified either debit or credit amount. Chart of accounts window can be opened from General ledger module. Accounting Setup The accounting setup screen allows you to map ledger accounts and it s posting from various modules to the general ledger. You must define default cash and bank accounts from here. You must define ledger account for each amount type which will affect the general ledger from sales, purchase and subcontract modules.
Setup Document Numbers (Number sequence) A number sequence is an auto generated number for a particular record such as estimate, project, invoice or journal. In idelpi, it is also possible to generate automatic numbers or codes for master records such as item, customer, supplier, company groups etc. Each document in the system can have more than one number sequence but any one number sequence can be set as active at time. Each number sequence can reset to 1 at a point of time in future. The reset interval can be a day, month, quarter or a year. There is no reset interval for master records. For transaction records it is recommend to keep it to year. Setup Financial Year By default there is one financial year added in the system. The new financial year information is retrieved from first run wizard. So here it is not required to do anything in addition to this unless a year has been passed. Email Accounts and templates One or more email accounts need to be defined in program setting under email settings tab. These email accounts will be used to send email for checks and transmittals. Email templates should also be defined in email templates window for transmittal and check printing. The email template contains the subject, message and list of senders if more than one otherwise a single sender name can also be selected Document (attachments) and reports path It is required to specify the path for attachment documents and reports. This can be setup from program settings window. Unless this is done, none of the reports are visible. By default, this path will be c:\idelpidata folder for trial version. Creating estimates, projects and contracts Once all the basic masters are defined, you can create estimates and print bid letters from Project module. In each estimate, you will have to define project phases and cost types and tax and payment terms. A predefined bid letter or estimate format is provided which can be modified as per requirement from the Report templates window. Report templates can be opened from Administration module. Each estimate can be linked to a project. At the time of defining a project in the system, you can select an estimate. All the data from estimate will be pulled into the project window so as to save your time. Of course, you can modify it if required.
Each project will have a contract which needs to be defined separately from project contract window. Each contract will define contract items for invoicing purpose. The purpose of defining a project is to record all construction project activities diving them into phases and cost types. The purpose of defining a contract is to record all the billing events either T&M or progressive. How to define a contract item is up to you and based on the size and nature of project. Unless a project contract is defined, invoicing cannot be done for the project. Recording work activities of construction site All activities happening on construction site including actual construction work, meetings, hazardous events, weather changes etc. can be recorded from Project module. Please feel free to contact us at support@idelpi.com for any further help while using the software.