Viewpoint Spectrum Reviews

Solid Construction Accounting Software

Pros:

The job cost history and time card history functions are both very detailed

Cons:

Change order management and subcontracts management are a bit confusing to navigate

Spectrum Review for Electrical Contractors

Comments: Spectrum has treated us well so far. However the migration and implementation was a terrible experience.

Pros:

Large upgrade from Procontractor, but I liked the functionality or workflow of Procontractor better.

Cons:

How each module is separate from the general ledger, becomes a pain!

Geiler Company

Comments: Overpromise. Slow to adopt

Pros:

Great for construction project management and construction accounting

Cons:

If you do service work this is not the program to buy

Spectrum

Comments: Overall Spectrum has streamlined and made our entire experience easier start to finish. As long as the information going in is correct the end product is correct - garbage in garbage out. The support system is great as well as the external support such as the Viewpoint Network, connecting you to peers is fabulous

Pros:

Ease of use, eliminating multiple programs, live data update, split screens

Cons:

having to do multiple steps to update invoices, not being able to access all information in one module. Some of the reporting is convoluted.

Cobuilt

Comments: The overall experience has been a positive one. The benefit is the data is consistent and reliable.

Pros:

It was timeconsuming and somewhat tedious, but that could have been converting the data from our former software.

Cons:

The inability to customize reports without advance knowledge of Crystal Reports.

Poor Customer Service / Technical Support

Comments: Poor customer service and tech support and this happens over and over.

Pros:

value for moneyAvailability of APIs for time entry and project entry

Cons:

The technical support is very poor.We were told that Spectrum can not find what went wrong with their system unless we tell them that exact time that the system has issues.We were also told that logs are deleted at 11pm everyday.How is that even acceptable for a software that is used by external vendors?On top of all this, the tech support person was quite rude

spectrum review

Pros:

Security and I like the TC1 addition to Spectrum

Cons:

The reports are hard to customize and not easy to read

Review

Comments: looking back it wasnt what was best for our company, and would have not purchased it

Pros:

from accounting side, its really nice reporting structure

Cons:

cannot customize it for our specific use.training provided was very inadequate,felt like you were all in until it was sold, then felt left out

So far, so good

Comments: We switched from our old system in January 2023. The difference in the speed of the program has greatly improved our efficiency office wide. There are great tools for our program managers to track every aspect of their projects.

Pros:

Speed of processing. Help function is very easy to use and a great tool. Haven't had to call their help desk once. Integration from our old system was quick with minimal hiccups.

Cons:

Only issue we are having is with getting additional invoice forms created.

Viewpoint for Service Departments

Comments: Overall this software is very average.

Pros:

The ServiceTech app for the crews in the field has been very easy to transition to.

Cons:

It makes it hard for viewing pictures in the work orders because you can only look at one picture at a time. It also is hard to close work orders that wont be billed out to customers because you have to bill a $0 invoice.

Our perspective

Comments: The implementation of the software was frustrating at best. High costs to get basic training to implement the software that should have been included in the purchase price. The Service Tech application has been nothing but aggravating. Notes are lost, labor hours are lost. It has taken months to get the app working correctly, but still issues arise which cause payroll issues. Running payroll is over complicated and the minimal training we have received was not efficient to learn it properly. Now that things are settled, and our data is all inputted to Spectrum, we are running a lot smoother. The staff that uses the software is trained to be able to use 75% of the software. There are many features we do not use due to lack of training and the features not being user friendly or at an additional cost. On the positive side, invoices are going out smoothly, posting AP, payments, and cash receipts are going well.

Pros:

The ease of invoicing. AP invoices are instantly attached to a job or work order and the labor and notes carry over from the Service Tech App. It's nice to have all the charges already ready to be reviewed and invoiced. We do appreciate the real-time availability of the data. We can leave one site map open with data already entered and then we can open a new site map to add or change information. This allows us to not have to delete and start over on the original site map. We like the ability to be able to attach documents.

Cons:

The implementation of the software was frustrating at best. High costs to get basic training to implement the software. The Service Tech application has been nothing but aggravating. Notes are lost, labor hours are lost. It has taken months to get the app working correctly, but still issues arise which cause payroll issues. Access to the work order/reports/labor report is terrible. Once the data is pulled to payroll it is not possible to pull the technician's time. There is no other report we can pull to send the guys to verify their hours.

Spectrum is an effective and comprehensive Software for Job/Work Order Tracking

Comments: I have been learning about the Job module and it seems to be a very comprehensive system. I think there is a lot more that a Company could do with the various options within the module and then the analysis via reporting.

Pros:

There are so many features that still need to be integrated into the user experience. The Webinar was extremely useful as I learned and advised the AP department of the function for the Automatic importing of invoices. The Banking and cash management is very straightforward and clearcut. I like how the modules are arranged and how they can be made favorites which makes my job more efficient.

Cons:

1) sending PR to multiple bank accounts within a company needs to be posted to Suspense and then journaled into the correct bank account - I'm not sure why that is.2) I wish the "favorites" actually reflected the "original path" of the favorited item (in the menu to the left). Sometimes when teaching someone else, it's hard to remember the original path.

Like the Product Overall but Needs Help

Comments: Yet to be seen but we have not lost hope. We however need quality help from Spectrum.

Pros:

It works for subcontractors that bid Lump Sum and have complexity in their work. Contractors such as electrical, hvac and suppliers and installers of structural and miscellaneous steel require better accounting than many other subcontractors.

Cons:

Initial Implementation and training has been poor and very frustrating. There have been some good experiences but overall it has been negative and not productive experiences. We own other Trimble products but no one seems to know anything about the other products Trimble sells and we own. We changes to Spectrum for it was supposed to work better than our former accounting system, Computer Ease, but that switch over has not produced the promised results.

So good so far.

Comments: As I mentioned in the title, so good so far.Viewpoint looks like specified for construction project management. My boss and our team members like this program now. Except for the cons that I typed.

Pros:

The best pros in Viewpoint are connection (Sync) and update. All the update is synced right away. So this was so helpful to me to work on a computer or mobile phone.

Cons:

Regarding Uploading and downloading the pictures.Our company stop using picture with Spectrum. Because of how hard it is to download and research it.I know you guys make "Tag". But it was not the solution to the work. Also, the Login system makes me so stressful. Every time I need to log in again and again. I hope you can handle this issue.

Project Manger feedback on a useful application of Viewpoint

Comments: It is an excellent experience

Pros:

- Easy Access.- Structured categories- practical Solution for all stakeholders/Trades- Strong communication protocols.- Unlimited space- Many Useful application

Cons:

- Mobile access is somehow limited - Some issues with time sheet.- uploading pictures slowly- Sometimes uploading drawings takes forever.

Integrated Software that works well for us!

Comments: Overall, we are satisfied with the software. We love that InfoLink can be used to create queries and pull the exact info that we need from the database.

Pros:

We love it that most modules are integrated (i.e., AR speaks to GL, etc.)

Cons:

When you find a limitation, there aren't many options aside from creating your own workaround - there aren't many things that can be customized in Spectrum.

Viewpoint Spectrum Overview

Comments: Overall experience has been great! I enjoy the Help feature as well, whenever i need assistance finding, generating and overall questions - this is a great tool. mostly, all you need to keep track of all your projects are in one pie!

Pros:

Features and functionalities are easy to navigate, while maintaining and keeping track of all pieces of the projects together.

Cons:

some features can be explore more in order to give better results, such as some of the reports.

Electrical Company Project Coordinator Review

Comments: A great tool for job management, compared to other more expensive software. I do like the PO reporting allot.

Pros:

Entering New Jobs, and creating Purchase Orders are very easy, once you understand the methods.

Cons:

That you can't search a job by it's title, if you can't remember the job number. The migration from 3rd party (we use Bid2Win) doesn't migrate smoothly. You have to manually go in and change LS to EA, etc.

It works for what you may need in construction accountins

Pros:

When it comes to Spectrum, there are many reports and easy to use accounts payable and receivable options. The interface takes a second to learn , but once you do it makes sense and is intuitive

Cons:

Spectrum does not always make it easy to work collaborative and when it comes to images, it does not make it easy to add or download.

Human Resources & Payroll Modules

Comments: Works well for a construction company. Many areas of the programs are very outdated. The Human Resources module is mainly lists and info gathering. Viewpoint One HR Management is slowly adding funcational and interacting features - but need more incorporated with payroll.

Pros:

They are slowly enhancing their features - Onboarding is good.

Cons:

They need to develope more functionality with time and attendance. Incorporate time off requests against vacation accruals, etc.

Why I would never recommend Viewpoint

Comments: Overall it is horrible.

Pros:

I don't like anything about Viewpoint and even worse not that it is a Trimble product the customer support is even worse than before.

Cons:

The customer support is not very supportive.

16 Years Later

Comments: I have used various programs over the years and I find Spectrum to be one the most efficient.

Pros:

Spectrum is a fully intergrated software incorporating Job Costing, A/R, A/P, Payroll and Document Imaging. Utilizing the software is relatively easy and the reports are very on point.

Cons:

The software constantly times out and closes our sessions. We have contacted support many times and as of today the issue has not been resolved. The only other issue is that certain tasks are a little labor intensive.

User Friendly Software

Comments: Wonderful!

Pros:

We love most that the software is user friendly. The customer service is great. Rarely have issues.

Cons:

The software sometimes has a lag at the end of the day.

AP/ HR user

Comments: It's kind of a mixed bag. Some things work well as long as you follow the somewhat intuitive software. If you slightly deviate from the standard way of doing it you might find that you spend hours finding a solution.

Pros:

Fairly few options makes it fairly user friendly

Cons:

I've not seen a lot of the options (mostly reports) I've seen in other similar products.

Happy Overall

Comments: Great for the most part.

Pros:

Ease of checking status and costs on a job. Also can access it from anywhere.

Cons:

I am told that we can't add a Credit to an Invoice that has already been submitted. So we have to create a CM and then use Adobe to change the original invoice and send it out like that instead of being able to add the CM to the original invoice.