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     Each major turning point in a job (like when the estimate is approved or the status code changes) is automatically recorded in the job diary. Manual entries can be added, too, then emailed to any staffer—or even the client—to record important job information. “I always use the job diary to record all communication with a client about a job and everything that happens of note,” says Shaun Schleif, AE at David & Associates. Staffers can also add job diary entries when they’re adding notes to their time cards just by clicking a checkbox in the time card window.

Job diaries, access privileges

     Each client account also has a diary, and anyone with the right access privileges can add and email a note. For example, if a client requests a strategy meeting to discuss next year’s promotion plan, the AE can add an entry in the client diary, then email the entry to the creative director and the client.

No-brainer billing

     AEs can print dozens of reports that select information based on the AE/Team sort field (this is usually the AE’s initials). AEs can track their own jobs’ costs, billings, purchase orders, change orders, and trafficking and scheduling information. They can also quickly gather information, both current and histor-ical, on all their clients without having to track down a harried manager or dusty job folder.

      The Job Snapshot will tell in an instant how close the job is to completion, display a current P&L, and flag the next billing amount and date. “Billing is a no brainer now,” says Lisa Tuckett, senior account manager at Hodgson/Meyers Communications. “Our billing time has been cut by three-fourths with C&P.” AEs lay the groundwork for the accounting department with reports like detailed job summary, job commitments and unbilled job costs. “If the estimate is properly done,” Lisa says,

“all the billings for the job are as expected, and the clients become really, really comfortable with our entire work process using C&P.”

Easy review of internal, external costs

     To stay current on work trafficking, AEs can print a Daily Job Status report, narrowing the parameters to search for jobs by their initials only. Many other critical trafficking and scheduling reports can be printed by AE initials, so it’s easy to pinpoint only their clients’ work in seconds. The Job Progress gives AEs a quick look at all costs for a job, with the ability to zero in on select groups. They can also review internal and external costs with the budgeted vs. actual columns, and transaction detail for costs is only a mouse-click away.

     The profitability reports can be sorted by client, giving details for each job or an overview by client. These reports are great tools for figuring out which clients actually add to the bottom line. Profitability is taken a step further in Clients & Profits with the Client P&L Analysis, a report that factors in the shop’s overhead before determining a client’s profitability.

     Account management runs a full circle, from winning good clients and keeping them informed, to sharing job details with the rest of the staff, to billing promptly and accurately. Remember, there is no such thing as too much communication. And with Clients & Profits, AEs communicate easily with both clients and staffers. With everything they need at their fingertips, AEs can respond quickly with up-to-the-minute accurate information. “Our AEs often give our clients financial information about their jobs well before the client could get that information from their own business,” Craig says. Now that’s account management!

Mindy Williams is a senior member of the Clients & Profits Helpdesk. She teaches the new-user training classes and edits the quarterly newsletters.