Topic overview
- What information and features are managed in the master data?
- Who has access to the master data?
- How does the master data affect my projects?
Introduction
In the master data, information is collected and managed in databases in Alasco, which can later be accessed by all projects. You can define basic settings here, such as the calculation method for forecasts or the participants in a workflow for checking invoices and change orders. You can also add new users to your account here or manage existing users and grant and withdraw access to your projects. You can use the change history to transparently track who changed something in a project and when.
You can find the master data in Alasco in the navigation on the left-hand side of the screen, provided you have the Admin or Normal user account role. Click on Master data to go to the overview of the master data categories.
Only the Admin account role has full access to the master data. The Normal user account role can still edit contractors and clients, but otherwise only has read access and no access to project groups, user-defined fields, user management and the change history. Users with the Restricted user account role generally have no access to the master data.
Master Data
The following chart shows how the individual databases that are managed in the master data are connected and what influence they have on the data in your projects.
In the following you will find details on the individual databases and which data is stored there. Please note the links to further articles in our Help Center.
Account data
In Alasco, the property is the piece of land or real estate on where the project takes place. You always need a property to be able to create a project in Alasco. A property can be used in several projects, for example if you create different sub-projects individually.
Please note, however, that each project in Alasco always requires a fixed assignment to a property.
In Alasco, a project represents the framework or superordinate folder in which you can collect, process and evaluate data such as budgets, contract units, contracts or invoices relating to your construction project. On the project dashboard, you can see the most important data and current processes for your project at a glance. In the cost controlling overview, the heart of your project, all data flows together and you can be evaluated in different views. You can also use the multi-project view to compare several projects with each other and evaluate data across projects.
The users of an account are also managed in the master data in Alasco. As a created user with administration rights for your customer account, you can set up the user and send invitations to new users. To do this, click on the "+ Add user" button at the top right of the screen.
The change history gives you an insight into when and by whom data was added, edited or deleted in Alasco. It gives you as an administrator the opportunity to view every change to data in Alasco and thereby track every step transparently.
Account configurations
The project group function is particularly interesting for you if you work with many individual projects and/or sub-projects. In this way, you can view several similar and/or related projects together in cost monitoring at multi-project level and compare them more easily without other projects that are not related to the group being displayed in the list.
The basic cost element structure is created in the master data of the account and applies to all existing projects. If you create your own cost groups for your projects and use a different structure, you can change and freely define these in the master data. Move the mouse pointer over a cost group to display the editing options.
In the forecast settings, you can define the values from which the forecast should be calculated. You can only edit the project forecast if your account was created after October 2020. Otherwise, it is already predefined by us.
You can freely define the order forecast for the real and worst case. Decide here which amounts of an order should be included in the forecast costs or deducted from them.
Under the third tab "Cash outflow", you can set the reference base for planned amounts on the one hand and the reference base for amounts already paid out in the cash outflow planning on the other.
Custom fields are available in Alasco for the clear presentation of order data. You can use them to comprehensively map your valid data structure in orders. A standardized project data structure not only ensures comparability and transparency, it also helps you to quickly and reliably assess the order status. Use this extension function to supplement or structure your order data with additional information, taking your internal standards into account.
Workflows
The invoice and change order workflows in Alasco are referred to as “workflows”. In the “Workflows” menu item in the master data, you can display the approval workflows set up in Alasco. Here you can see which workflows have already been created, in which projects they are used and who is involved in those workflows.
Click on the “+ Add” button at the top right to create a new workflow. By clicking on the three dots on the right-hand side of the screen, you can delete a workflow if it is not currently being used in a project. You can also duplicate the workflow here.
Once you have selected a project, you can adjust which workflow is to be used by default in this project in the project settings.
Contact data
In Alasco, the contracting entities are managed in a central database, just like the contractors. Here too, you can create new contracting entitites using the “+ Add contracting entity” button and edit or delete existing contracting entities.
When creating a new project, you will be asked for a main contracting entity. This is responsible for the project and is also initially stored as the default in every new order within the project.
In this database, you can add new contractors, search for existing contractors and edit or delete them. To create a list of project participants, you can filter the list according to the relevant project and then export it using the “Excel export” button.
As soon as you create a contract in a project, you can select the contractor from this database who will carry out the order. As all projects use the same database, you only need to create a contractor once, even if they work on several projects.
If the revenue feature is activated for you, you will also find the buyers and tenants database in the contact details. All buying/renting or interested private individuals and companies are stored here with their contact details. In addition to the name, you can also enter optional information such as the address, telephone number, e-mail address and a description. You can create a new contact using the “+ Add contact” button. The filter function allows you to search for specific contacts in order to view and edit their data. The buyers, in turn, are linked to the sales units and are selected or created when a sales unit is created.