TBSAsset Application

Overview

 

TBSAsset is an application designed to sit between two BBC sets of data and automate the process of apportioning IT asset charges amongst cost/profit centres.

 

Application flow

 

TBSAsset needs to have certain sets of data entered in order to speed the process of apportionment of charges that are sent out each month.

 

Firstly you require a list of Profit Centres.

Then a list of Cost Centres can be entered which are attached to specific Profit Centres.

A list of known IT assets is held in the Asset Descriptions file - against each unique Asset ID (bar code) is held a description, a list of individual monthly charges, and certain other information relating to that asset.

The Current Assets list then shows against an Asset ID, the location and current cost centre against which the asset should be billed.

As assets are moved around and the location and/or cost centre information changes, copies of the previous settings are then made into the Past Assets file along with dates of the changes etc. so that a history of an asset can be easily shown.

 

The Asset Billing file then records the charges being made against an individual asset ID together with the cost centre being charged for a particular month. In the event that an asset has not yet been set up in the Current Assets file (i.e. the cost centre is not yet known) then it is recorded against a default cost centre and can be updated prior to reporting back the final split of charges for the month.

The Asset Billing file will produce summarised reports which then analyse billings for a given period and show the result totalled by cost centre.

 

TBSAsset makes use of Palm handheld technology to allow assets to have information stored against their ID on location which can then be synchronised using standard Palm HotSync methods into TBSAsset to update Current Asset information.

 

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Upon starting TBSAsset, you are first shown a Logon screen :

 

Enter your user name along with your password and then click on the Okay button in order to get access to the application.

 

The Main Menu screen has two columns showing : Main Menu, which contains three categories, and a right hand column which shows the contents of the selected category from the Main Menu column.

The Report Settings category shows as :

 

 

The System Administration category shows as :

 

 

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Profit Centres

 

Profit Centres can be either manually added, or can be automatically created from the Cost Centre Spreadsheet import routine (see Cost Centres).

To add a new Profit Centre, click on the New button to open a screen where you can enter the new Profit Centre along with a web access password (if required)

The New Copy button will perform the same operation as the New button but will start with the details already filled in from the last item shown - this can speed up the process of entering new records where there may be many fields in existence.

To edit an existing Profit Centre - double click on the Profit Centre you wish to edit to open the Profit Centre entry screen.

To delete an existing Profit Centre, highlight the line(s) you wish to delete, then click on the Delete button - Note : any Profit Centre which has Cost Centres still attached to it cannot be deleted.

Note : the titles of the list can be clicked upon to sort the list. Any current sort order is displayed at the bottom of each screen.

 

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Cost Centres

 

 

To keep Cost Centres up to date you can use the Import from Spreadsheet routine. If you take the latest Cost Centre spreadsheet (CSKS ALL), and delete the title lines then save this file as a CSV (comma separated file), leaving all columns exactly as they are given to you, then this is the correct format for import to TBSAsset. The format should be : Cost Centre, Valid To Date, 10 ignored columns, Comp, Ignored Column, Responsible, Hierarchy, Profit centre, Name, Description.

To import the csv spreadsheet file, either click on the Import From Spreadsheet button, or choose Import From Spreadsheet from the menu, you are prompted to select the file that you have saved. Once selected the data will be updated. Any cost centres which were previously showing, but which do not appear in the new set of data will be automatically made into Closed Cost centres. Any Profit Centres which did not previously exist will be automatically created. Any changed data will be saved automatically.

You can find a specific Cost Centre by clicking on the Find button and filling in the Search criteria as required (see explanation of Finding in Finding Records)

Cost Centres can be manually entered or edited - to create a new Cost Centre, either click on the New button at the bottom of the screen, or the New button in the toolbar at the top. To Edit an existing Cost Centre, either double click on the Cost Centre, or highlight it and click on the Edit button at the bottom of the screen. The screen will change to :

 

You will see that the Profit Centres are available as a list of known entries.

If a date is entered in the Valid To field which is prior to todays date, then this Cost Centre will appear in the Closed listing.

If you do not want to keep any changes made, press the Cancel button to return to the original settings, and the list screen.

To keep changes made, click on the Save Changes button and you will return to the List screen with your newly saved data showing.

To delete an existing Cost Centre, highlight the line(s) you wish to delete in the main list screen, then click on the Delete button - Note : any Cost Centre which has Current Assets still attached to it, or has had Billing information recorded against it cannot be deleted - in this case all you can do is to `Close' the Cost Centre by editing the Valid To date.

 

 

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Asset Descriptions

 

 

Asset Descriptions can be imported/updated by entering data from a Comma separated spreadsheet (csv file) set up with the following columns : Asset ID, Description, Product Description, Asset Type.

To import the csv spreadsheet file, either click on the Import From Spreadsheet button, or choose Import From Spreadsheet from the menu, you are prompted to select the appropriate file. Once selected the data will be updated. Note : in this Import routine, assets which are already in existence in TBSAsset will be updated if required, or if a new Asset ID is found a record is created. Asset description records are also created automatically by the Billing Import routine if an Asset ID does not already exist.

When viewing records in the Asset Description screen, if, for display purposes you wish to remove certain lines, you can highlight the lines you wish to not see, then click on the Remove Selected Lines button. The data is not deleted but the lines are temporarily removed from view. (To delete the data you would click on the Delete button)

You can find a specific Asset Description by clicking on the Find button and filling in the Search criteria as required (see explanation of Finding in Finding Records)

Asset Descriptions can be manually entered or edited - to create a new Asset Description, either click on the New button at the bottom of the screen, or the New button in the toolbar at the top. To Edit an existing Asset Description, either double click on the Asset Description line, or highlight it and click on the Edit button at the bottom of the screen. The screen will change to :

 

If you do not want to keep any changes made, press the Cancel button to return to the original settings, and the list screen.

To keep changes made, click on the Save Changes button and you will return to the List screen with your newly saved data showing.

To delete an existing Asset Description, highlight the line(s) you wish to delete in the main list screen, then click on the Delete button - Note : any Asset Description which has Current Assets, or Past Assets still attached to it, or has had Billing information recorded against it cannot be deleted. In this case you should fill in the Disposal Call Reference field to note how it was disposed of.

 

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Current Assets

 

 

Current Assets can be imported/updated by entering data from a Comma separated spreadsheet (csv file) set up with the following columns : Asset ID, Asset Type, Lease Start Date, Lease End Date, Room, Building, Room Description, Login ID of user, User Name.

To import the csv spreadsheet file, either click on the Import From Spreadsheet button, or choose Import From Spreadsheet from the menu, you are prompted to select the appropriate file. Once selected the data will be updated. Note : in this Import routine, Asset Descriptions which are already in existence in TBSAsset will be updated if required with Asset Type, Lease Start or Lease End dates, or if a new Asset ID is found an Asset Description record is created. Then the Current Asset record is checked to see if it exists. If it exists then if any of the current asset data has changed (Room, Room Description, Building, Login ID or USer name), a copy of the existing data is made as a Past Asset record, and the new data is saved in the Current Asset file. If there was no Current Asset record found then one is created.

Note : the action of the spreadsheet import here is similar to the action taken when importing data from the Palm.

When viewing records in the Current Asset screen, if, for display purposes you wish to remove certain lines, you can highlight the lines you wish to not see, then click on the Remove Selected Lines button. The data is not deleted but the lines are temporarily removed from view. (To delete the data you would click on the Delete button)

You can find a specific Current Asset record by clicking on the Find button and filling in the Search criteria as required (see explanation of Finding in Finding Records)

Current Asset records can be manually entered or edited - to create a new Current Asset record, either click on the New button at the bottom of the screen, or the New button in the toolbar at the top. To Edit an existing Current Asset record, either double click on the Current Asset line, or highlight it and click on the Edit button at the bottom of the screen. The screen will change to :

 

Note here that the Asset ID has a red border around it. This signifies that the field will be looked up from the Asset Description file after data is entered into it. If the relevant Asset ID is found, then the description fields will be automatically filled for you (you cannot enter into them in this screen). If the Asset ID was not found, then you are prompted to either change the entry you have made, or to search for the Asset ID, or to create a new record for that item. A valid Asset ID MUST be selected for an entry to be saved.

Note : the Cost Centre is available from a drop down list - click at the right hand side (on the down arrow) to display the list of entries from which you can choose. A Cost Centre MUST be selected for an entry to be saved.

If you do not want to keep any changes made, press the Cancel button to return to the original settings, and the list screen.

To keep changes made, click on the Save Changes button and you will return to the List screen with your newly saved data showing.

To delete an existing Current Asset, highlight the line(s) you wish to delete in the main list screen, then click on the Delete button.

Note : in the Billing import routine, if an Asset is being billed for which there is no Current Asset record, then one will be created showing the default cost centre against the asset. This can then be updated after the import has finished. If a billing record is edited and it is being changed from the default cost centre to a known valid cost centre, then the Current Asset record of that asset ID will automatically be updated at the same time. This only is true when editing a billing record which has the default cost centre showing.

 

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Past Assets

 

In the Past Assets file are details of all Assets which have had changes recorded against their Current Asset settings. The Past Assets record shows the settings for a given start and end date, the end date being the date at which a new Current Asset record took over for ongoing billing data.

From this screen it is therefore possible to track the history of an individual Asset ID, to see where it has spent its life.

You can find a specific Past Asset record by clicking on the Find button and filling in the Search criteria as required (see explanation of Finding in Finding Records)

 

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Asset Billing

The Asset Billing screen is the heart of what this application is really designed for :

 

 

Asset Billing can be imported by entering data from a Comma separated spreadsheet (csv file) set up with the following columns : SAP Cost Centre (ignored), SLA Code, Asset Type (Class), Asset ID, Lease Date, Lease Charge, Support Charge, Hardware Charge, Software Charge, Network Charge, Infrastructure Charge, Internet Charge. This format is as per the asset billing spreadsheet available to you, provided you simply remove the title rows at the top before saving as a csv file.

To import the csv spreadsheet file, either click on the Import From Spreadsheet button, or choose Import From Spreadsheet from the menu.

You are first asked to verify the month for which billing is being imported. Assuming that this is done chronologically, the answer to the question asked should be self evident - `Use month shown (yes) or increment it (no)' - where the title of the question box will say `Current Billing month set to February 2003' (or whatever it is set to) - if you did not save data for a particular month, or deleted it so you can re-import it, you may wish to leave the date as shown, alternatively if you are now entering data for the following month, then answer no to the question whereupon you are asked again but this time with the Current Billing Month having been set one month forwards, at which point you can answer yes to accept it. If in exceptional circumstances, you require entering data for a prior month than that shown, you can cancel your existing importation (by answering yes to the question and then cancel the file selection), and then go to the System Administration / Main Company details screen where the current billing month data is held, and edit the date here before attempting your import again.

Once the date has correctly been chosen, you are prompted to select the appropriate csv import file. Once selected the data will be updated. Note : in this Import routine, Asset Descriptions which are already in existence in TBSAsset will be updated if required with Asset Type, or any of the charges have changed, or if a new Asset ID is found an Asset Description record is created. Then the Current Asset record is checked to see if it exists. If it exists then the cost centre shown there will be used agsinst the billing record. If there was no Current Asset record found then one is created with the default cost centre code, which is then used in the billing record.

If at any stage an existing record is found for an asset for the same billing period as chosen, you are prompted to abandon the import run, and if you agree then the entire import routine will be stopped to avoid duplication of data. Note : it is highly undesirable to have duplicate billing data for the same item in the same period.

After all data has been imported, then the new billing data is saved and all billing for the chosen month is then displayed in the list.

 

Note : on all TBSAsset screens, the title of each column is also the sort button for the list being viewed. You may note that the current sort field (if any selected) is displayed at the bottom of the screen. To have multiple sort fields, first click on the first title required. Clicking again on the title field will reverse the order of the sort for that column. To then sort within that field on another column, do a Ctrl and click on another title. You will see the sort criteria at the bottom of the screen now display both columns, so if for example you wanted Billing Month within Asset ID (if you were for example looking at all billing results), you would click on the Asset ID column, and then Ctrl-Click on the Bill Month column.

So now it is advisable to sort the billing list for the current period by Cost Centre. You will then find all the items which have been set to the Default Cost Centre at one end of the list. Prior to completing your report for the current period, all default cost centre items should be edited to a valid current cost centre. These items are generally new assets which you have not previously been advised of, or such like. In any event, you will need to find out more information about them before ending the current month.

To Edit an existing Billing record, either double click on the asset line, or highlight it and click on the Edit button at the bottom of the screen. The screen will change to :

 

Note here that the Asset ID has a red border around it. This signifies that the field will be looked up from the Asset Description file after data is entered into it. If the relevant Asset ID is found, then the description fields will be automatically filled for you (you cannot enter into them in this screen). If the Asset ID was not found, then you are prompted to either change the entry you have made, or to search for the Asset ID, or to create a new record for that item. A valid Asset ID MUST be selected for an entry to be saved.

Note : the Cost Centre is available from a drop down list - click at the right hand side (on the down arrow) to display the list of entries from which you can choose. A Cost Centre MUST be selected for an entry to be saved.

If you do not want to keep any changes made, press the Cancel button to return to the original settings, and the list screen.

To keep changes made, click on the Save Changes button and you will return to the List screen with your newly saved data showing.

To delete an existing Billing Record, highlight the line(s) you wish to delete in the main list screen, then click on the Delete button.

Note : in the Billing import routine, if an Asset is being billed for which there is no Current Asset record, then a Current Asset record will be created showing the default cost centre against the asset. This can then be updated after the import has finished. If a billing record is edited and it is being changed from the default cost centre to a known valid cost centre, then the Current Asset record of that asset ID will automatically be updated at the same time. This only is true when editing a billing record which has the default cost centre showing.

Once you have updated all the billing records which were set to the default cost centre code, you can then run the Summary reports which form the basis of your return information from TBSAsset.

There are two principal reports that you will want to run : Summary Report 1 and Summary Report 2. These only differ in their style - Report 1 shows as :

 

where each line shows the split of charges horizontally against each Cost Centre.

Summary Report 2 shows as :

 

where each Cost Centre is shown with a list of charges vertically - this report contains a total of charges per Cost Centre, and a sumamry of the charge totals at the bottom (as shown).

Note : both of these reports are shown having been printed to the screen. If you wish to create an exported file from them, when asked for a destination for the report, select File. You are then asked if you wish to create a file for Excel or not. For Summary Report 1, use the Excel export feature (as either csv or tab delimited as you wish), but for the Summary Report 2, it is advisable to not use the Excel formatting but leave the report as it is. If you save this as a .txt file, Excel will open it and correctly format it.

The third report available is of Unbilled Assets. If you have not already opened the Unbilled Assets tab, then the list of Unbilled Assets will be calculated first. This routine will check all known Assets as defined in the Asset description listing, and correlate this information against the list of billed assets currently on display (so this obviously dpends upon whether you wish to view unbilled assets of a given month or of all time etc), to produce a list of any assets which are not included in the billed list.

If selecting the Unbilled Assets screen tab, you are shown a screen :

 

The Unbilled Assets report will simply print out a report of this list.

Finally the Export Spreadsheet button will reproduce an Excel spreadsheet of similar design to the one used to Import, but with a Cost Centre field added at the right most column, if required to check or verify records back to the original.

 

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Finding Records

TBSAsset screens all have a similar search facility built in. Taking the Asset Billing screen as an example, clicking on the Find button will show a screen as :

 

If you wish to find a specific Asset ID records, you can select the Asset ID button on the left hand side, the same for finding by Description.

If you wish to view all records held for this file, choose the All records button.

The Other button however gives great flexibility for finding information. Here you will see there are three entry fields. In the first, you can select from any of the given fields, which will be relevant to the screen you are finding for. The second field allows you to define what type of Find to perform. (Note : the `is equal to' option is the fastest Find) and the third field allows to specify what to look for.

When the Other button is selected, it is possible to construct complex searches by adding criteria together. For example, you may wish to find all billing records for February but just for cost centre L1159. In this case, you would start by making the first field Bill Month, the second `is equal to' and the third `1/2' (or `1 Feb' or `1/2/03' or `1 2 2003' - dates are quite flexible for entry ! - the billing month is always designated as the first of that month however). Now click on the And button and this information is placed in the field underneath. Now set the first field to Cost Centre, the second to `is equal to' and the third to `L1159'. Now click on the And button again. You will see that the Cost Centre query has been added to the Bil Month query. If you now click on Search, then only data that fits your query will be returned.

This principle applies for the `Or' button as well. Note however that if you wish to have multiple queries on both sides of your `Or' then these multiple queries must be set first before clicking on the Or button. Any subsequent queries will only be added to the end side of the query (i.e. after the Or !)

A complex search query can be stored using the Stored Search button, alternatively previously stored searches can be retireved from here also.

(*Note : the stored search facility is not yet operational as of March 2003)

 

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Palm Interface and HotSync

TBSAsset utilises a Symbol SPT1550 bar-code scanner enabled Palm device to allow remote data collection of asset information, which can be entered directly into TBSAsset from the Palm unit utilising standard HotSync capabilities.

 

Choosing the HotSync option of TBSAsset, you are shown the HotSync screen :

 

In the first pane (Palm Input), you can setup TBSAsset to receive data from a HotSync operation by clicking on the Load button. This will ready TBSAsset for receiving data. Note : if the Load button has not been set, then no data will be input to TBSAsset during a HotSync - the data will remain in the same state on the Palm.

Note : if your SPT1550 has not yet been used, or if the batteries have been allowed to run completely out so you have lost your TBS interface on the Palm, you will need to do the following before attempting to HotSync to TBSAsset :

Firstly, from the Start menu, go to the Palm program folder, and to the Install Tool option.

 

This will show you the name(s) of known Palm users on this PC, so you should choose the correct user.

Then click on the Add button, and choose the file OmDuit.prc (which is the TBS Palm interface) which should be the only one showing in the Add-On folder. Click on the Open button, and you should see this file now in your Install Tool screen :

 

Now click on the Done button, you are informed that this application will be added to your Palm upon your next HotSync.

Now perform a HotSync operation. (Without TBSAsset being readied as it will not function if the OmDuit application is not on the Palm at the start of the HotSync). The OmDuit application will now be on the Palm.

If this is the first time of operation for TBSAsset on this Palm, you will need to do another HotSync, with TBSAsset loaded for HotSync in order to set up the application on the Palm.

If the application had been removed because of battery failure or manual delete of the application from the Palm, then a HotSync should have reset the application data automatically.

You can now use the Palm to capture data :

The Palm screen allows you to do the following :

If you click on the New button, then in the following screen, enter a Cost centre by tapping on the Cost Centre words to open a list of current Cost Centres from which you can select. Enter (if known) a Room No., Description, Building, User Login and User Name. You can enter your own name as the person scanning the data by clicking on the Scanned by words at the bottom of the screen. Here you will see a list of known users of your version of TBSAsset from which to select. Then click back in the Asset field.

You can now scan an asset's bar code ID.

After a successful scan, this record will be saved and a new record created with all the room and user information still showing - only the Asset ID will be cleared. In this way, once you have set up information for a room, you can quickly just scan all the IT assets in that room. Of course if you need to change any information for an asset, you can do that either before scanning the item, or you can edit the Palm record afterwards.

To edit a record on the Palm, click on the Cancel button to go back to the List of scanned assets. Click on the one you wish to edit and you are returned to the entry screen where you can change any of the data there and then click on OK.

Note : the Palm does not need to be put into any particular state in order to perform a HotSync - you must just ensure that TBSAsset has its Palm interface loaded prior to performing your HotSync.

Following a successful HotSync, you can click on the Palm Data tab of the screen to show as :

 

Here you will see all the records that were on your Palm screen.

Note : these records will still be on your Palm at this time. They are not deleted from the Palm until they have been used or deleted within TBSAsset and then a HotSync needs to be performed to tell the Palm that the records have been used.

You can visually check your data here before using it within TBSAsset. If you see a record which requires editing then simply double click on the record, or highlight it and click on the Edit button :

 

Note : the Asset ID (barcode) is not checked for accuracy in this screen.

When you are happy that all the data shown in the list is correct, you can update the Current Assets file by clicking on the Insert Palm Data button. This will take any data shown in the Palm Data list and attempt to update the Current Assets file in the same manner as the Current Assets spreadsheet update works - i.e. if a Current Asset record is found and the data has changed, then a copy of the Current Asset data will be created in the Past Assets file, and the new data stored in the Current Assets file. If a new asset is entered via the Palm, then the Asset Description record will be created where it will show the name of the person who scanned that asset against the description.

If a new Current Asset record is created then if there is no Cost Centre entered for that asset, the default cost centre will be shown against it.

Note : if you have ended up with records in the Palm which show `No Scan' against the Asset ID, these will safely be ignored by the Insert Palm Data routine.

Once the data has been updated, you will need to perform a HotSync in order to update your Palm and remove used records.

 

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System Administration

TBSAsset allows detailed control over each users access rights.

To access System Administration, click on the System Administration button in the Main menu screen :

 

The Main Company screen allows you to set up various default entries about your own operation :

 

Here you can set the next Billing Month, the Default Cost Centre, as well as (for advanced users !) setting an image which will be shown in the Main menu screen.

Clicking on the Users button, shows the users screen :

 

This shows the list of known users of your version of TBSAsset.

Note : this is the list of users that is also shown in the Palm `Scanned by' list

To show the access rights of a user, edit the selected user :

 

To set up access restrictions, take off the System Administrator checkbox, and click on the Security List tab :

 

By right clicking in the list, a context menu will appear which allows you to choose from the list of known windows :

 

You can drag these into the Security List, so when you have finished selecting windows you will then see :

 

As you can see it is possible to set restrictions on a per window basis for each user.

The Windows Used tab will show you a list of all windows accessed by that user along with their last date of opening :

 

 

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Report Settings

To access Report Settings, click on the Report Settings button in the Main menu screen :

 

The Printer Settings option shows you the following screen :

 

from where you can select your default paper size.

The Report Settings option opens the following screen :

 

If you require editing these standard settings, seelct the format and then click on Edit to show the edit screen :

 

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