Common InFocus Terms

Description: Below is a list of some of the more common terms used in InFocus. As you encounter them, you can refer back here for a more detailed description.

Applet - The subcategories seen when you click a tab on the sidebar (ie. Click - Personal, Applets - Expense Sheets, My Work Orders, Time sheets) . Applets are a part of the InFocus application where security can be established. Everything at the second level of the Main Menu is an applet. Applets can be thought of as screens.

Bad Debt - The write off of open accounts receivable.

Base Code - The part of a general ledger account that describes the account but does not include an organizational unit.

Bill Rate - The rate that is billed to the client.

Bill Terms Node (AKA Project Level) - The node where most project attributes are assigned. This will usually be the top node, but in the case of the presence of a roll-up node, it will be the second level node.

Billed Revenue - Revenue from actual invoicing.

Bottom nodes - (also known as terminal nodes) are nodes with no children.

Burdened Cost Rate - The burden rate is the allocation rate at which indirect costs are applied to the direct costs of labor. You should add burden to the direct cost of labor when you want to present the total absorbed cost.

Chart of Accounts - List of all general ledger accounts. InFocus categorizes project management amounts through the Chart of Accounts.

Diluted Pay Rates - Diluted pay rates are a calculated pay rate for salaried employees for a given pay period, based on the number of hours for the period. By default, when you establish a pay rate for a salaried employee in InFocus, it is the average pay rate (typically the annual salary divided by 2080 hours). Alternatively, you can run a utility after timesheets have been approved to recalculate rates for non-overtime time entries for salaried employees. The employee salary per period amount is divided by the number of hours worked, excluding overtime, and the resultant rate is then applied to the timesheets. For instance, an employee earning $1,000/week would have an average pay rate of $25/hr based on a 40 hour work week. If in a given work week the employee worked 50 hours, the diluted pay rate would be $1000/50 or $20/hr.

Delimiter - A single character that separates the node codes with a path. Delimiters used in InFocus are period, hyphen, and colon.

Effort - Effort includes all cost charges against a project at the prevailing billable rate. For labor, that would be the established bill rate typically defined on a rate schedule. For non-labor transactions, that would be the cost plus the expense markup. All transactions are part of effort, regardless of their billing status.

ICC - In-Contract Consultants. All project-related consultants' expenses that are built into a fixed fee.

Job Cost Rate - A job cost rate is a user-definable rate for analyzing project labor charges. Basically, its the cost of the job to the company. Typically, companies use it to look at a burdened cost rate on projects. This would be done by setting the job cost rate to the pay rate, times a calculated or predicted overhead multiplier for the company. This would best be accomplished by defining a singular job cost schedule and then setting it as the default schedule in Global Settings. The schedule could then be modified on a periodic basis (typically annually).

Labor -  Employee and sub-contractor time. Sub-contractors are defined as workers who enter time sheets and are billed out like employees. However, they receive 1099's rather than W2's.

Late Charge - Late charges for unpaid invoices.

Main Menu - After you login into InFocus you receive the main screen with a Two-level menu system anchored to the left hand side of the screen. That is the main menu.

Module - A group of applets organized by the area of a business that they address. Modules are the items at the first level of the Main Menu.

Node - A node is an individual record or point in a tree structure (hierarchy), such as a phase or task.

OBS - Organizational Breakdown Structure. In InFocus, we refer to the organization as the organization break down structure.

OCC - Out-of-Contract Consultants. All project-related consultants expenses that are not built into a fixed fee.

ODC - Other Direct Charges. All project-related expense other than labor and consultants.

Path - A path is the code sequence that uniquely identifies a node. It is formed by concatenating all parent (project) codes together separated by a delimiter.

Pay Rate - The Rate that you pay the employee to complete a job.

PM Comments - PM comments stand for project management comments. These comments can be made on any cost (labor or non-labor) transaction and can optionally appear in Project Management reports and invoices.

Post - The action of saving a transaction and making it available to general ledger reporting.

Premium Time - Synonymous with overtime.

Project Code - Also called a "node code," is the code given to a project.

Project Level - The relative position of a node to the beginning of the tree.

Retainage - Monies held back during invoicing until project completion.

Retainer - Monies received prior to project work.

Roll-up Node - Allows multiple projects to be subtotaled together in project management reports

RDL - RDL stands for Report Definition Language. An RDL file is the file containing the design of a report (in XML format) used in InFocus

Subcontractor - A non-W2-employee who enters a time sheet.

Top nodes - (also known as root nodes) are level one nodes (nodes with no parent).

Transaction - An entry that affects the general ledger or time and expense. Transactions in InFocus are time sheet entries and adjustments, purchases, disbursements, employee reimbursements, expense sheets,  sales, receipts, and general adjustments.

Tree - Data that is related in a hierarchy is called a tree. There are two trees in InFocus - Organizational Units and Projects.

Unbilled Revenue - Earned revenue.

WBS - Work Breakdown Structure, In InFocus we refer to a project structure as the work break down structure.

WIP - Work In Progress, all transactions against a project that have a bill status of Ready to Bill or Hold.