The default color on many database programmes is grey. Therefore, many designers, to minimise time and effort on programme design, stay with the grey as a colour scheme. We, at T. Bookman Limited, do not hold this view. The people who use our software live in a world of colour which excites the imagination and encourages creativity and a feeling of well-being. It is for this reason that we positively choose to add colour to our software.

We have colour-coded sections of the software to make areas more familiar to those who haven't used those sections before.  For example, all report selectors are colour-coded green, so that in whatever screen a person is in, a command button labelled in green is going to produce a report.  Similarly, set-up areas (to post new client details, add or amend work-types, departments or rates) are coded in light blue.  More critical areas are coded red.

The background that we use is dark blue to provide a calming effect while giving the contrast required to clearly identify the various screen elements.

In addition, both TimeExpense and FixedFee have very similar screens so that someone who is used to using TimeExpense will have little difficulty in upgrading to FixedFee.  The 'learning curve' will not be as steep as someone using FixedFee without any prior knowledge.  Having said this, both programmes have been designed with 'the user' in mind;  therefore, the time taken to learn how to use the software is minimal given an assumed working knowledge of both mouse and keyboard.

Time recording software is a tool that is used as a part of your whole time and billing system.  This system will include the internal procedures that your organisation has evolved over time to make the system work properly.

For example, a standalone computer is used to record the time worked for fifteen members of staff.  The staff firstly record their time manually on paper and pass these time-sheets for one member of the administration staff to enter on the computer (usually a week later).  When all the time has been entered and checked back to the time sheets, then an overall work in progress report is printed out for the firm as a whole (usually an aged work in progress report).  This report is passed to the financial manager who will use this report to indicate which individual client work in progress reports are needed to for billing purposes.  This then goes back to the administrator who prints out the required client-centred work in progress reports and passes them back to the financial manager.  The financial manager then indicates on each report what should be billed and provides the wording required on each invoice.  The administrator draws up the invoice and uses information from the work in progress report and the invoice to enter billing information and so reduce the level of work in progress by the amount billed.

This process involves much more than the software itself, but software can be designed to make the process easier and quicker.  In the case of our Time Recording software, we have designed both standalone and networked systems that are 'real-time', that is - no closing off for any particular period and all reports are available as at any specified date or date range.  So you can see what the work in progress figure for a client was last week or last month and compare it with today.

If you are operating a network version, your staff can enter their time each day as and when required so that the information presented in the work in progress reports is always up to date.  The data-entry screens are all very similar and are designed for speed of entry while providing useful information about entries already made.

As soon as a job has been completed you can invoice your time without waiting until next Monday for all the time-sheets to be posted!

When the end of the month arrives, your staff can continue posting their time without any problem and you can obtain reports for the relevant month-end a couple of weeks later!

Client-centred work in progress reports can be printed quickly and easily by selecting the particular clients from lists on screen and clicking on the 'print' button.

We, at T. Bookman Limited, know how the whole work in progress system works and we've designed our Time Recording software to make things easier for you and provide you with the information that you need to run your business - whenever you want it!

If we become aware of an improvement, or added feature that will benefit our clients, then we'll do our best to make the appropriate changes, so that you can reap the benefits.

We won't necessarily make changes to the programme every year ("...if it ain't broke..."), but if there is something that we can do that will be of real benefit to our clients then we'll certainly consider it.

If you become one of our clients, please don't sit back hoping that we're going to add a particular feature; we're good, but none of our staff are telepathic!  If you, as a client, want to see a particular feature added to either programme, then please let us know.  We'd be most happy to discuss your ideas with you and will gladly make appropriate changes if they are of benefit to the vast majority of our clients.