Cases

Cases are assignments to which employees allocate work hours and travel expenses. There are two types of cases: Customer and Internal. Customer cases can be further delimited as sales or project cases, and invoices can be created for the customer. Internal cases are used for managing in-house projects.

You can categorize cases by assigning keywords, and then you can search for cases based on the keywords. Keywords are unique qualifiers which apply to both Customer and Internal cases. For more information on keywords, see Case settings.

Customer cases are those which have work or travel entries that will be billed to an account. Customer cases are usually divided into sales cases and project cases, which differ based on whether you are pursuing a sale or have already landed a contract, and this is reflected in the Sales status.

Sales cases are usually short-term and involve only one person. Sales cases make it possible to monitor and manage the sales process. The process can be traced from the initial contact, which would have a sales status of Request for information, to Proposal, through to the final deal. A successful sales case will evolve into a project case, at which time the sales status should be changed to Order and an unsuccessful sales case should be changed to Rejected Proposal.

Custom definitions can be created for the different stages of the sales process and assigned probability values, and these values can then be used in sales forecasts. For more information on the sales process settings, see Case settings.

Project cases may last a few weeks or several months and often involve a whole team of people. Project cases are confirmed contracts that require the management of people and resources over time as the project progresses to completion. Completed cases can be closed, but maintained in the system for future reference, or simply deleted.

You can add customer cases either from the top menu or directly from an existing account. All cases must be associated with an account, but accounts may have more than one case. To create a new customer case which will belong to a new account you will need to provide some data regarding the new account when creating the case. You can add more account information later. When you add a new case from an existing account, some of the customer details will automatically be transferred to the new case. The start date of the case is, by default, the current date. You can change this later if desired.

Figure: Adding a New Customer Case

New customer case form: When creating customer cases information should be entered in the following sections: Case Details, Sales and Next Activity. The Next Activity section will only appear after the Sales Status, in the Sales section, is changed to something other than No Sales.

• Case Details: Is the section for general information about the case. This information will be transferred to populate the Overview section once the case has been saved.
• Sales: Is the section for sales-related data which can be used to track the case. Information is entered when the case is created, but should be updated when there are changes in the case.
• Next Activity: Is the section for specifying the first activity. Activities might include calls, research or meetings. This information will be transferred to create a unique activity in the Activities & Phases section once the case has been saved.

To add a new case to an existing account:

1. Hover on New in the top menu, and click on Case in the drop-down menu. Or open an existing account, and click the New case button in the Cases section.
2. If you added the case from the top menu, enter the first character of the account name in the Customer field and select the correct account from the auto-complete list of names that appears below (if you accidentally select a wrong name, use backspace and type the first character of the account name again). If you added the case by clicking New case in an existing account, the customer name will automatically be inserted in the Customer field when the New case form opens.
3. Select a contact for the case from the Contact drop-down menu. The menu contains all contacts related to that account.
4. Type a name in the Case name field. Case name is the formal name of the case which will appear on the invoice. The Case short name is the unofficial version which will be seen on work time entries. By default, the Case short name is the first 15 characters of the Case name, unless typed otherwise.
5. Type a deadline for the case in the Deadline field manually (the format depends on the company settings), or click on the calendar to select it.
6. If your company uses keywords, click the Keywords link or the icon and select the appropriate keywords. Or enter a new keyword.
7. If desired, enter a short description of the case in the Description field.
8. Specify initial sales data in the Sales section. Note: None of the sales fields are editable until you have selected the Sales status.
   • Sales status: Lists the different sales stages specified by the company sales process.
   • Lead source: Lists possible lead sources for the case.
   • Value: Posts the estimated value of the case.
   • Probability: Posts the estimated likelihood of closing the sales case.
   • Expected order date: Posts the expected order date.
9. Click Save.

The case is now created. You can change the status of the case and make other changes on the case view. For more information, see Editing or managing customer cases.

To add a new case to a new account:

1. Hover on New in the top menu, and click on Case in the drop-down menu.
2. Enter the full name of the new account in the Customer field, and click on Add new in the drop-down menu.
3. Enter the name of the primary contact in the Contact first name and Contact last name fields.
4. Follow steps 4-9 in the To add a new case to an existing account instructions above to finish creating a new case for a new account.

Customer cases are easy to update from the Case view. Almost all of the information required for a sales case is entered when the case is first created. Adjusting the Sales status is often the only necessary change. Project cases, on the other hand, only include a fraction of the possible information when first created. It is likely the user will continually edit project cases, and will want to monitor the progress and performance of the case closely.

Figure: Editing a Customer Case (1)

Figure: Editing a Customer Case (2)

Customer case view:

• Overview: Contains general information about the case and customer that was entered when the case was first created (see Adding a new customer case). Also contains several bar graphs to display the case progress in graphical format. The Edit button is located in upper right of the subsection title bar.
• Activities & Phases: Contains a tree view of existing activities and phases with the ability to sort and organize. Add activity, Add phase and Edit project group buttons are located in the upper right of the subsection title bar.
• Files & Links: Contains information regarding the amount of disk space available and the files and links attached to the case. Add a fileand Add a link buttons are located in the upper right of the subsection title bar.
• Sales & Financials: Contains three subsections with data related to financial aspects of the case.
  • Sales: Contains information regarding the case status, sales representative, lead and the anticipated value, probability and order date. Current sales cases are usually marked Request for information or Proposal as entered when the case was created, and the information should be edited when the case status changes. Project cases are marked Order and rarely need editing in this section.
  • Pricing & Purchases: Contains information about case specific fees and charges such as hourly work rates and travel expenses. Fixed fees can be added to the case by clicking the link in the upper left, or if the case already has fixed fees they can be edited from the Edit fixed fees button located in the upper right of the subsection title bar. Work rates can be set using a default company price list or by specifying per hour fees based on the type of work. The Edit pricing button is located in the upper right of the subsection title bar.
  • Billing & Revenue: Contains financial forecasting and invoicing tools for the case. A chart displays case revenues in comparison to actual and forecasted billing. The lower section shows invoice details and clicking on the Invoice icon allows you to edit the invoice. Edit and New invoice buttons are located in the upper right of the subsection title bar.

To edit or manage customer cases:

1. Search for the case you want to edit using the search engine. Or if you’ve created a saved search list under the Cases icon, you can also find it there.
2. To edit general case data, click the Edit button located in the upper right of the Overview title bar. Additional contacts must be added to the account before they’re available in the Contact drop-down menu. Make the necessary changes and click Save.
3. To edit activities and phases, click on an activity or phase name to open it, and the details can be edited. Make the necessary changes and click Save. In the tree view activities and phases can be sorted, reordered, marked as completed and locked. Or, to create new data click the Add activity, Add phase or Edit project group buttons located in the upper right of the Activities & Phases title bar.
4. To add files and links, click the Add a fileand Add a link buttons located in the upper right Files & Links title bar. Files and links can be opened by clicking on the document name, edited by clicking on Edit icon, reviewed by clicking on the Download history icon, or deleted by clicking on the Delete icon. The total number of files and links, and the amount of disk space is displayed below.
5. The case sales details entered when the case was first created are displayed in the Sales subsection of the Sales & Financials. Since this data may need to be edited often, information can be selected from the drop-down menus or typed in the fields, and saved directly.
6. To add fixed fees, click the Add fixed fees link on the left in the Pricing & Purchases section. Or, to edit fixed fees click the Edit fixed fees button located in the upper right of the Pricing & Purchases title bar. In both instances, you will need to fill in the relevant information as explained below, and click Save.
   • Description: The name of the fixed fee.
   • Qty: The number of times the customer will be charged this fee.
   • Unit: The unit type for the fixed fee, e.g. pcs or km.
   • Unit price: The price per unit that the customer will pay.
   • Unit cost: The cost per unit at which the user’s company buys.
   • Tax: The tax percentage added to the price.
   • Date: The date on which the customer should be billed for the fee.
7. To specify work and travel prices click on Edit pricing in the Pricing & Purchases section. Make your selections from the Price list and Hour pricing drop-down menus, fill in the relevant information and click Save.
   • To use the company’s preset price list, select Default from the Price list drop-down menu. The Default price list can be defined on the Price list page of the Organization section in Settings.
   • To create a new price list, select Custom from the Price list drop-down menu. Custom price lists can be defined by selecting One price or Work type based from the Hour pricing drop-down menu. If you select One price a single price per hour will be used for all work hours entered. If you select Work type based different price per hour rates can be specified for the different types of work listed for the user’s company. Please note, you can’t save custom price lists created here for later use. If you think you might need the same prices for another case, you should create a reusable price list. For more information, see Managing price lists.
   • For information on setting overtime options, see Work time and travel settings.
   • To set a different hourly rate for a specific phase, for example if there are repairs the company will perform at half rate for the billed hours, click the Edit pricing button located in the upper right of the Pricing & Purchases title bar. Click to check the Exceptions box, and click in the Select task field to select the phase. Enter the hourly rate in the /h field, and click Save.
8. To create a financial forecast click the Edit button on the Billing & Revenue title bar. A partial forecast can be created by providing the following information and clicking Save (to produce a complete forecast requires data from a customer invoice for data in the Actual billing column).
   • Date: The month and year of the forecast.
   • Revenue: The expected revenue per month.
   • Billing forecast: The expected invoicing per month.
   • Notes: Any additional information.
   • Upon completion of a case it can be closed by clicking Closed in the Overview section title bar. Closed cases are still listed on the account page, and can be viewed or reopened from there.

Internal cases are created to manage and monitor a company’s projects which are not directly invoiced to a customer. Internal cases always list the user’s own company as the case customer.

You can add internal cases either from the top menu or directly from the company account. All internal cases are associated with the company’s account, but the company account may have more than one internal case. To create a new internal case you will need to provide basic case data. You can add more edit or add more information later. The start date of the case is, by default, the current date. You can change this later if desired.

Figure: Adding a New Internal Case

New internal case form: When creating internal cases, information should be entered in the Case Detailssection.

• Case Details: Is the section for general information about the case. This information will be transferred to populate the Overview section once the case has been saved.

To add a new internal case:

1. Hover on New in the top menu, and click on Case in the drop-down menu. Or open the company’s own account, and click the New case button in the Cases section.
2. Click to select the Internal tab, and the company’s name is automatically inserted into the Customer field.
3. Select a contact for the case from the Contact drop-down menu. Note: The menu contains company contacts listed on the company’s account view, in the Contact Information subsection. Other company users or case participants aren’t listed.
4. Type a name in the Case name field. Case name is the formal name of the case which will appear on the invoice. The Case short name is the unofficial version which will be seen on work time entries. By default, the Case short name is the first 15 characters of the Case name, unless typed otherwise.
5. Type a deadline for the case in the Deadline field manually (the format depends on the company settings), or click on the calendar to select it.
6. If your company uses keywords, click the Keywords link or the icon and select the appropriate keywords. Or enter a new keyword.
7. If desired, enter a short description of the case in the Description field.
8. Click Save.

Internal cases are easy to update from the Case view. General case details that were added when the case was created can be edited. Information can be added and managed in the Activities & Phases and Files & Links sections. However, you can’t add fees or invoice any fees to customers from an internal case.

Figure: Editing an Internal Case

Internal case view:

• Overview: Contains general information about the case and customer that was entered when the case was first created (see Adding a new internal case). Also contains several bar graphs to display the case progress in graphical format. The Edit button is located in upper right of the subsection title bar.
• Activities & Phases: Contains a tree view of existing activities and phases with the ability to sort and organize. Add activity, Add phase and Edit project group buttons are located in the upper right of the subsection title bar.
• Files & Links: Contains information regarding the amount of disk space available and the files and links attached to the case. Add a file and Add a link buttons are located in the upper right of the subsection title bar.

To add or edit information in internal cases:

1. Search for the case you want to edit using the search engine. Or if you’ve created a saved search list under Cases on the top menu, you can also find it there.
2. To edit general case data, click the Edit button located in the upper right of the Overview title bar. Additional contacts must be added to the account before they’re available in the Contact drop-down menu. Make the necessary changes and click Save.
3. To edit activities and phases, click on an activity or phase name to open it, and the details can be edited. Make the necessary changes and click Save. In the tree view activities and phases can be sorted, reordered, marked as completed and locked. Or, to create new data click the Add activity, Add phase or Edit project group buttons located in the upper right of the Activities & Phases title bar.
4. To add files or links, click the Add a file or Add a link buttons located in the upper right Files & Links title bar. Files and links can be opened by clicking on the document name, edited by clicking on the Edit icon, reviewed by clicking on the Download history icon, or deleted by clicking on the Delete icon. The total number of files and links, and the amount of disk space is displayed below.

You can export case information from Severa 3 into Excel (XLS) or Adobe Reader (PDF) formats, or you can print cases on any printer available to your computer.

To export case data:

1. Search for the case you want to export using the search engine. Or if you’ve created a saved search list under Cases on the top menu, you can also find it there.
2. Click the Excel icon or the PDF icon.
3. Select to save the file from the dialog window that opens.
4. Enter a name for the file and save it to a desired location.

To print case data:

1. Search for the case you want to print using the search engine. Or if you’ve created a saved search list under Cases on the top menu, you can also find it there.
2. Click the Printer icon.
3. Select the desired printer from the dialog window that opens, and click OK.
4. If you opted to print to file, enter a name for the file and save it to a desired location.