Key Terminology

User Profile (Profile)

A user profile contains personal information for a system user. This information can be managed by the user by selecting "Profile" at the top of every screen. 

Business Unit

A business unit can refer to a location, such as a territory, subdivision, or subdivision section, or it can represent a subsidiary company within your corporate structure. Business units help keep your projects organized and also manage system user access levels, allowing you to specify which users have access to projects within particular business units. 

Account Preferences

Account Preferences are system-wide settings applied to all users within the company. These preferences are typically managed by a company administrator and can be accessed from the Account drop-down menu at the top of every screen. 

User Role (Role)

User roles are setup and defined by your company. A user role associates system users with permissions, what they are allowed to do, and responsibilities, what actions for which they are responsible and therefore held accountable.

Role Permission (Permission)

A permission, specifically when defining a user role, is what system users assigned to that user role are allowed to do.

Role Responsibility (Responsibility)

A responsibility, specifically when defining a user role, is an action that needs taken throughout the life-cycle of a project. When associated to a user role, system users assigned to that role will be notified when that action needs to be taken and will be responsible for checking it off their checklist.

System User (User)

A system user is anyone with a login to the system. System users with access to your company are those who have varying levels of privileges to your company data which is based on the user role(s) to which they have been assigned. These users include employees, vendors (subcontractors), and customers.

Vendor

A vendor can be any person or company who you rely on to furnish either product or services, or both, to complete a project.

Billing Item

A billing item is matched up with a vendor item when product selections are made so it can then be added to a purchase order to be fulfilled by the associated vendor. Billing items are stored in a library on the billing items page.

Vendor Item

A vendor item is the specific item chosen to fulfill a billing item of a purchase order. A vendor item is matched up with a billing item when product selections are made so it can then be added to a purchase order to be fulfilled by the associated vendor.

Project Work Order

A work order defines a scope of work and may contain multiple billing items, of which could be labor and/or product delivery. They also include a specific schedule start and complete date. A work order is what is scheduled in a project schedule.

Model Work Order

A model work order is a work order "template" that is associated with a model. When you use that model to create a new project it becomes a project work order. A model work order is similar to a project work order (above) except that instead of actual schedule start and complete dates, it specifies the amount of days required to complete the work order. Once a model is used for a project, it will auto populate your schedule from these model work orders, based on the days required to complete them.

Model

You can think of a model as a "template" from which you create projects. HBS™ becomes a powerful tool when you create a model for every floor plan you build repetitively. This is because not only does this save you time starting projects, it also limits repetitive mistakes. A model contains the billing items, scheduling requirements and general documents needed when creating a project which is carried over to each new project you start using this model.

Variation

A variation is a modification to a model work order. It allows the builder to make changes to a model without having to create a new one, helping to reduce the number of models in the model library. For example, you might have a variation called "Brick" and another called "Vinyl." By using variations, you can apply the same model to create projects with either type of siding. 

Workflow

Since HBS™ generates project schedules based on a model, the system needs to understand the chronological order in which work orders should be scheduled. You can design this order using the model's workflow. HBS™ offers a graphical interface that lets you visually build the flow of work orders for your model, allowing you to specify any work orders that are restricted or affected by other work orders. 

Checklist

A user's checklist in HBS™ displays directives that require their attention. This list is generated based on the user's assigned responsibilities, previous actions taken, and company settings regarding how many days in advance users are notified. Each user has a personalized checklist tailored to the responsibilities assigned to them.

Project

A project is the collection of all items, work orders, purchase orders, documents, and more needed to complete the construction. A project can involve building a home, a remodel, or other types of construction activities.