ERP, accounting and project management software for AE firms
4.4/5 (60 reviews)InFocus by Clearview is an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution for the architecture and engineering (A/E) industry, with project management and planning, accounting, billing, reporting, and time & expense tracking capabilities.
InFocus offers users a central project management tool, incorporating project planning, job and employee scheduling, billing reviews, budgeting, and more. Users can view an overview of the full project, with the ability to drill down for more detail with a single click, and fully customize charts from predefined or user-defined packs. The bill review function allows users to make line item adjustments, set bill statuses, move transactions from project to project, make comments for invoices, and provide instructions to billers. Users can also manage contracts and budgets, setting levels, amounts, and applying formulas, with visual representation of this information automatically updated at the bottom of the page. In the scheduling tab, users are given real time access to resource allocations and project schedules, with the ability to adjust these as necessary. Users can also build their project team, add and manage contacts, upload documents, and edit project addresses.
InFocus can also be used in time and expense tracking for projects, with a mobile-optimized web app allowing users to submit time and expense sheets on the go. Standard and custom date ranges are supported, including weekly, biweekly, and semi-monthly, and a stopwatch timer is built in to each timesheet row for time tracking. Users can add comments to timesheets, for a single day or full timesheet period. Multi-level approval processes can be set up, with timesheet approvers assigned to individual employees, and second level approvals assigned to accounting personnel, with a log kept of approved and rejected timesheets.
Pros
Its flexibility, power and data retrieval ability. We have forty-five people in our company, with five office locations and six profit centers (disciplines). Of these forty-five people, more than two thirds are field personnel that are often asked to work in various disciplines or support the work in our other offices. At any one time we have a couple hundred projects open for scores of clients. Keeping track of this is incredibly difficult. We worked with Clearview for a couple of months in order to transfer our existing clients, projects, time records and accounting records to our new system. With over 16,000 historical projects and a current work in process in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, we matched to the penny. Working with them is a pleasure.
Not only is the InFocus package all that it claims to be, the folks at Clearview are great to work with. Sure there is a bit of a learning curve, but the answers are so intuitive you can’t believe you did not think of it yourself. Their support literature, training videos, white papers and support site are extremely helpful.
There may be comparable products out there, but I seriously doubt there is anything better. If there was a better product or solution, these folks would match or exceed it. We all have competition; we need competition to push us to do a better job.
Cons
Getting others in our organization to appreciate and better use this management too.
Choosing InFocus is one of the best decision we've made. Training can be a challenge when adopting any new system. Clearview offers extensive training videos, consultations, and webinars. Considering most software products continue to improve and implement client-suggested upgrades, I appreciate Clearview's workshops, where users can continue their InFocus education on advanced levels. Having the opportunity to attend has helped me to really hone in on configuring our InFocus database in ways that are compatible with my company's workflow. I also picked up tips and tricks other users developed for their needs.
Customer service is also very important to me. I appreciate responsive, knowledgeable technicians and staff members who listen. They do not over promise, over-sell, or mislead when discussing requests, issues or customization. They believe in empowering their users. I LOVE THIS!! They offer a workshop for those wanting to learn advanced report writing. Support staff will work through any issue or request until it has been satisfied.
InFocus demonstrates its value. Invoicing is fast. Communicating project details flow more smoothly. Preparing invoices in various formats are easier. All this and more are offered for a low monthly cost per user. They even offer a training version of our data for a very low monthly fee, and any user can access it. This has been crucial when I'm working through project setup options and need to test my ideas.
Overall, I love it.
Pros
It's easy to navigate, more intuitive than other products we've used, and customizable. It's difficult to pick my favorite aspect; it's such a great product overall.
Cons
I wish user's could change the color of the Sandbox (training environment). Having it the same color as the live version can make it a bit confusing when training others.
Being a newer accountant in the engineering industry, I had a bit to learn about how jobs are billed, tracked, etc. It is definitely a different process than accounting for goods being sold! I came into my job as the implementer of InFocus and learned A LOT simply by learning the system. InFocus is so easy to use and straight forward. If there is something that I don't catch onto right away, the Clearview support team is always ready to help and quickly help resolve the issue.
As the years have gone on they have updated the system based on feedback from their clients, which is amazing! The changes they have made make things run more smoothly and it is great to know that they are listening to the needs and desires of their clients. InFocus also has a built-in reports, but also its own report builder tool if the report you need isn't automatically there you can create it yourself!
Overall, I would definitely recommend InFocus to anyone looking for new engineering software. The program is easy to learn, easy to maneuver in and provides everything you would need. Even your specific need isn't met you can simply reach out to their support staff and be taken care of. It is a great software, but even better customer service - thank you Clearview team!
Pros
Ease of use, availability of support staff, resolution of issues, suggestion forum Clearview provides
Cons
Export to excel needs manipulated often, if modified the journals will show both versions
All accounting software and data is offsite, no servers or data to worry about locally! :)
Pros
* No need to keep software on servers on site. Everything is in the cloud.
* Local client install.
* Easy to use trouble ticket system when there is an issue.
* Since it is cloud based, it is always up to date.
Cons
* Occasional data slow downs which we have no control over because the software is running on Clearview's servers.
* The Microsoft ClickOnce technology used for the local client requires web browser ClickOnce integration which is built into Internet Explorer and Edge web browsers, but doesn't always work well with edge. You can get a ClickOnce plugin for Google Chrome, but it's not a transparent "click the icon on the desktop" scenario there either.
* No hosted SMTP server. If you want to send email, you'll have to utilize your own SMTP server, at an additional cost and there is also a charge if you want Clearview to help you set it up. This is my only real "gripe" about the service. It should come with it's own email capability for the cost and to truly be a service.
* I think it is a great Software As A Service overall, but you should know about the weaknesses going in.
Overall, flexible software accommodating engineering firms and great support team to work with.
Pros
Absolutely incredible customer service - a great team of highly skilled professionals providing a quick answer via an open ticket, a walk-thru via Webex or customization via a Work order.
Customization in data presentations, security, permissions, reports. An end user can do a desired customization him/herself or ask the Clearview team to run a script to implement it.
Constant development and training. Workshops, webinars, announcements, updates. Continuous improvement in all InFocus features and options. Clearview team always moves forward to the new advanced ways to use the system, always up to date with technology.
Cons
Whenever and whatever we like least in InFocus, we bring it up to the support team and try to change it to the way it would work out for us or find the best solution for it. In most cases it is all repairable and we get the changes we want to use InFocus more efficiently. InFocus team is open for ideas and suggestions and many improvements we asked for have been already in place and we use them routinely now.
$24 per employee per month (billed annually) or $29 per employee per month (billed monthly).
Full accounting system with automated reverse entry, financial statement and general ledger report printing, and accounts payable and receivable.
Invoice templates for most industry standard formats, with the option to separate expense, labor, and consultant charges, and summaries of multiple projects on cover sheets.
Report designer includes numerous defined project variables, with the ability to drill down to transaction line items, data filtering, and multiple definable period ranges.
Compare allocated resources against availability with real time information on resource utilization filtered by employee or role, and view by day, week, or month.
Automated workflows can be triggered by client, vendor, or project creation or updates, and can be used for data export or import, simplification of multi-step processes, and prompts or actions based on specified business rules.
Below are some frequently asked questions for InFocus.
InFocus offers the following pricing plans:
Starting from: US$24,00/month
Pricing model: Subscription
Free Trial: Not Available
$24 per employee per month (billed annually) or $29 per employee per month (billed monthly).
InFocus offers the following features:
InFocus has the following typical customers:
Large Enterprises, Mid Size Business, Small Business
InFocus supports the following languages:
English
InFocus has the following pricing plans:
Subscription
We do not have any information about what devices InFocus supports
We do not have any information about what integrations InFocus has
InFocus offers the following support options:
Online Support, Video Tutorials
With hundreds of projects and five offices our managers need to stay current on the status of their work and have the tools to develop new proposals. InFocus is indispensable for personnel management and project performance. Plus it provides financial statement and accounting data that is crucial for senior management and independent accountants. The data available and the variety of the reports are limitless. Also, our clients want their invoices and reports in a wide variety of styles. The open structure and adaptability of the InFocus system is a constant marvel at design and intuition.