Glossary

 A   B   C   D   E   F   G   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W   X   Y   Z     

Blog

A blog, a truncation of the expression "weblog", has its origins as a discussion or informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries ("posts"). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent post appears first, at the top of the web page.

Many blogs provide commentary on a particular subject or topic, ranging from politics to sports. Others function as more personal online diaries, and others function more as online brand advertising of a particular individual or company. A typical blog combines text, digital images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic.

Accrued Job Cost at Closing

In Gemini an automated feature to allow for the posting of budgeted costs (which have not been received) at the time of closing the job. This provides a more accurate representation of the job gross profit on the Income Statement in the period it was closed.

ACH DD

ACH DD function allows the Gemini program to provide the required information for cash related batches created and sent to an Automated Clearing House to utilize Direct Deposit.

Auto Responder

AUTO RESPONDER is an email marketing tool that automatically answer emails or manages an electronic mailing list by confirming subscriptions, unsubscribers, posts, etc.

Automated email marketing campaign

Email automation is a very effective way to engage prospects. Home builders often don't have the time to send individualized messages to their customers. Automation enables them to send out messages to their customers at designated times.

Backup Company Data

BACKUP COMPANY DATA creates a zip file copy of the company at the time the backup is made.  The backup copy is saved to a folder designated by the user.

Balance Sheet

The BALANCE SHEET reports a company's assets, liabilities, and owner's (stockholders') equity accounts at a specific point in time.

Bank MICR

BANK MICR is a special module for use with a cash account.  MICR allows the Gemini program to utilize a blank check form and print the required checking account information at the time an invoice is paid.

Base Price

The BASE PRICE of a model includes the prices for all standard options.  Upgrade options are NOT included in the Base Price of a model.

Brand Discovery

A process by which a company’s brand is thoroughly examined in order to find the answers to the important questions regarding audience, competition, strengths & weaknesses to name a few needed to build the foundation for successful marketing strategies.

Call To Action

A call to action aims to persuade a visitor to perform a certain act immediately. “Buy Now!” and “Register Today!” are some common examples. The call to action is intended to improve the market’s response rate to the ad copy, as its absence may cause a visitor to forget about the ad and move on to other things.

Change Orders

In Gemini CHANGE ORDERS document a customer's desire to make construction changes to their job.  A change order updates the job's revised budget, cost and revenue.

Chart of Accounts

The CHART OF ACCOUNTS is listing of the accounts available in the accounting system in which to record entries. The chart of accounts consists of balance sheet accounts (assets, liabilities, stockholders' equity) and income statement accounts (revenues, expenses, gains, losses). The chart of accounts can be expanded and tailored to reflect the operations of the company.

Client

A CLIENT is a sales prospect in PSClient, they could be a "HOT" lead, or a person who has signed a sales contract for the construction of a new home.

Client Documents

In PSClient the CLIENT DOCUMENTS is a document management solution where all types of documents and images related to the entire process of the purchase, construction, and warranty can be saved within the PSClient database.  These documents can be sorted based upon each stage of the homebuilding process.

Client ID

CLIENT ID is an unique identifier assigned by PSClient upon the creation of the client record.

Client Profile Tab

The PSClient CLIENT PROFILE tab is a user defined area where the user can add fields related to customer traffic demographics.

Client Schedule

The PSClient CLIENT SCHEDULE  is the construction schedule identifying the specific task for a client's home based upon the model and options selected. This projects a closing date, as well as a start date and end date for each vendor assigned to specific TASKS.

Client Status

In PSClient the CLIENT STATUS describes the client's condition to assist in grouping for reporting.  Clients in the pre-sale stage would be Cold, Medium, or Hot.  Once a decision to purchase is made, the status would become Sold or Sold-Contingent. SPEC would identify a speculative home built for sale. Model identifies a model home not available for sale.  Clients whose homes are completed are Delivered.  Clients who cancel their contracts are identified as CX.

Closeout List

In Gemini a CLOSEOUT LIST is used in conjunction with a master cost code list that allows posting to different departments. This is used to create a separate income statement by community or product type.

Closeout/Transfer Jobs

In Gemini CLOSEOUT/TRANSFER JOBS close a job by adding a closing date to the job and moves the job's costs and revenues to the income statement in the month of the job's closing date. This is an automated entry in Gemini when a user selects a specific job (or selection of jobs) and a closing period.

Colors

PSClient COLORS are the attributes of certain construction options for the building of a new home.  "Colors" are not just actual color selections, but can also include manufacturer, style, and finish.

Construction Stages

PSClient defines the main CONSTRUCTION STAGES of a model (Pre-Permit, Foundation, Concrete, Frame, Finish, Delivered, etc) and are used for management reporting purposes for scheduling.

Content Management System

A Content Management System (CMS) is a software system that provides website authoring, collaboration, and administration tools designed to allow users to create and manage website content with relative ease.

Content marketing

Content marketing is a marketing technique of creating and distributing relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action.

Contract

The PSClient CONTRACT tab for a client on the client list.  On this tab, PSClient tracks the original contract and any pending or approved addendums made to the model options.  This tab is also used to store the required deposit detail information of amounts and dates due.

Cost Item List

The Gemini COST ITEM LIST contains cost codes that Gemini uses to track individual cost item components of each job. The cost code list is subsidiary account structure to the General Ledger.

CostCode

A COST CODE is a unique identifier for job related costs and revenue.

Credit

CREDIT refers to the right column of an account.

Debit

DEBIT refers to the left column of an account.

Departments: Gemini

Gemini Departments refer to an accounting structure designed to report income, costs and profit based on individual profit centers.

Departments: PSClient

PSClient DEPARTMENTS is a menu option for a client on the client list.  Selecting this option opens up additional tabs that contain system and user defined information for Construction, Design, and Finance departments.

Direct Deposit

A DIRECT DEPOSIT is a deposit of money directly into a person's bank account using electronic funds transfers instead of paper checks.  Direct deposit is most common for the payment of payroll.

Direct JC Only

In Gemini DIRECT JC ONLY is a way to lock a GL account to only allow postings directly from a job.

Divisions

The Eclare DIVISIONS menu option allows you to define a numbering system within your Item Master file. Although you may define the sixteen standard divisions used by the CSI (Construction Standards Institute) or AIA (American Institute of Architects), Eclare allows you to define up to 99 different divisions.

Drip Email Campaigns

A form of email campaigns, DRIP EMAIL CAMPAIGNS release a pre-written set of messages to potential customers over a period of time.

Duration

Used to assign the time required (in days) to complete a specific task in the construction schedule. For example Rough Plumbing might have a duration of 1 day and Framing might have a duration of 4 days.

E-Leads Retrieval

E-LEADS RETRIEVAL is a menu option that allows information collected from the builder's web site to be loaded into the PSClient database.

eBook

An electronic book (eBook) is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on computers or other electronic devices. eBooks are an effective tool for converting website visitors into leads by incentivizing them to provide their name and email address.

Email Campaigns

EMAIL CAMPAIGNS provide direct marketing messages to potential customers using email.

End of Month

END OF MONTH AND END OF FISCAL YEAR CLOSEOUT automatically updates the year to date amounts in the general ledger accounts, closes the fiscal year and advances the posting period to the next month in the new fiscal year.

End of Month Closeout

END OF MONTH CLOSEOUT automatically updates the month to date amounts in the general ledger accounts and advances the posting period to the next month. This is performed 11 times per fiscal year.

End of Year Closeout

END OF MONTH YEAR automatically updates the year to date amounts in the general ledger accounts and advances the posting period to the next month. Retained earnings is updated on the Balance Sheet based on fiscal year end profitability. This is performed 1 time per fiscal year.

Exchange

EXCHANGE is a module that allows the sharing of common information between the Gemini Accounting, Eclare Estimating, and PSClient Database software.

Financial Statements

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS are a collection of reports that present the company's activity at a specific point in time (BALANCE SHEET) or a period of time (INCOME STATEMENT).

Gemini

Gemini is the name for Prosoft's Job Cost Accounting system. This includes the following modules; General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Job Costing, AIA, Accounts Receivable, Purchase Orders and Payroll

General Ledger

A GENERAL LEDGER is the master set of accounts that summarize all transactions occurring within an entity.

General Ledger Account

GENERAL LEDGER ACCOUNT is a record to which financial transactions are recorded or posted based on categories or similarities.

General Ledger Journal Entry

A GENERAL LEDGER JOURNAL ENTRY  is the recording of transactions into general ledger accounts. Journal entries consist of at least one debit and one credit.  The total of the debits must equal the total of the credits. Journal entries directly change the account balances on the general ledger.

Global Update

Certain functions in Gemini, Eclare and PSClient will allow for the GLOBAL UPDATE of some items.  Changes can be made on a global basis for Job Cost Items (category, Item type, Closeout account, etc), Jobs (Closeout list, Lien, Project, etc.) or Vendors (Changes across multiple companies)

Google AdWords

GOOGLE ADWORDS is an advertising service provided by Google that focuses on the use of keywords.  When a potential customer uses a search engine for a keyword, the search engine returns websites containing that advertisement linked to that keyword.

Google AdWords

Google AdWords is an advertising service by Google for businesses wanting to display ads on Google and its advertising network. The AdWords program enables businesses to set a budget for advertising and only pay when people click the ads. The ad service is largely focused on keywords.

Google Analytics

GOOGLE ANALYTICS is a service provided by Google that tracks and reports website traffic and provides details regarding traffic source, user demographics like your visitors age, language, location, device. Tools used to understand and better reach your targeted buying audience.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing is a marketing approach whose target audience is actually searching for your products and/or services. They find your business through channels such as search engines, blogs and social media. Inbound marketing is a more efficient and cost-effective approach than the more traditional outbound marketing approach.

Income Statement

The INCOME STATEMENT reports a company's  revenues, gains, expenses, losses, net income and other totals for a period of time.

Insert

INSERT is used throughout the Prosoft programs to ADD a new record. When ADDING a new record (vendor, invoice or purchase order or job) to Gemini; INSERT is used. When adding a new prospect (lead) to PSClient INSERT is used. Alternatively when we are editing an existing record, the term CHANGE is used.

JC Category List

In Gemini the JC CATEGORY LIST provides major classification of job task groupings.  For example, R-Revenue, L-Labor and M-Material.

JC Closeout Account

A Gemini JC CLOSEOUT ACCOUNT is a general ledger account that a job's previously unreported revenue and cost will post to once a job is closed. Typically these are Income Statement general ledger accounts for Sales and Cost of Sales.

Job Closeout Accrual

The JOB CLOSEOUT ACCRUAL is an automated journal entry created to record a job's outstanding costs (based on budgets or open purchase orders) as of the job's closing date.

Job Criteria

The Eclare JOB CRITERIA menu option allows you to further customize your company’s Eclare takeoff criteria lists (e.g. area, elevation, series).

Job Schedules

The PSClient JOB SCHEDULES menu option allows users to view construction jobs by superintendent, access a specific client’s schedule, assign new clients to a superintendent, assign schedules from a master list, and track the jobs’ construction stage.

Job Status

In Gemini JOB STATUS indicates the method to account for the costs & revenues of a job.  OPEN (POST TO WIP) is used for the completed contract accounting method establishing an asset and liability account for a job until the job is completed and closed.  DIRECT (OPEN, POST TO P&L) is used for the percent complete accounting method that directly posts all costs & revenues to the income statement.  CLOSED (POST TO P&L) is the status a job is changed to once the job is completed and closed.  This sends any costs incurred after the closing date directly to the income statement.

Landing Page

In online marketing, a landing page, sometimes known as a "lead capture page" is a single web page that appears in response to clicking on a search engine optimized search result or an online advertisement. The landing page will usually display directed sales messaging that is a logical extension of the advertisement, search result or link. Landing pages are used for lead generation. The actions that a visitor takes on a landing page is what determines an advertiser's conversion rate.

Line Summary

LINE SUMMARY is the line number of the financial statement into which an account totals on the balance sheet or income statement.

Load Recurring Entries

LOADING recurring entries creates an entry in the Add/Edit GL or Add/Edit AP invoices functions based on a standard structure.  This automation saves time by "loading" one or several recurring (monthly) transactions. These entries can then be reviewed, changed and posted to the Gemini system.

Master File

The Eclare MASTER FILE is the estimating/purchasing database of building resources and prices. The Master File menu option allows the definition of items and assemblies of items for estimating jobs through the takeoff process.  There are 4 types of entries: Items, Fixed Items, Assemblies and Locked Assemblies. In the case of Items and Fixed Items one or more vendors can be associated to an item with a vendors unit prices for the specific item.

Master Option List

The PSClient MASTER OPTION LIST contains and defines all options available for the construction of a new home including upgrades, chargeable and nonchargeable items.

Master Product Groups

The Eclare MASTER PRODUCT GROUPS menu option allows you to define major item groupings by trades, and to assign each group a default vendor of choice.

Material Summary

The Eclare MATERIAL SUMMARY menu option allows you to generate a bill of materials for a job. Use this report to summarize all the job’s requirements.

Model Options

PSClient MODEL OPTIONS are structural and design options available to a specific model.

Models

MODELS are the house plans available for sale by a homebuilder. Design and structural options are selected from the Master Option list for each model plan available.

Original Budget

This is the Gemini Job Budget associated with the start of the house. It will contain all Base House budget amounts. It also includes all options and upgrades that were selected up to the job start.

Preliminary + Upgrades = Original Budget

 

Pay Codes

PAY CODES are used to determine payment points to vendors based upon approved stages of construction.

Pay Per Click

PAY PER CLICK is an internet advertising tool to direct customers to other websites for which the advertisers pay the initial website owner (or search engine) when the ad is clicked.

PO Pack

Eclare PO PACKS are used to stage release purchase orders and associate them with PAY POINTS in a schedule. To have Eclare generate multiple purchase orders for the same vendor, you must define Purchase Order Packs (PO PACKS). For example an electricians single bid might be broken down into a 40% Rough In and 60% Final.

PO Package

PO Packages are definable the release points and Pay Points for purchase orders. For example a plumber might have a single BID price for standard features in a certain plan. The BID could be broken down into Pay Points (sometimes referred to as draw stages).

PO Reason Code

PO Reason Codes are used to classify WHY a purchase order was created and used on conjunction with Variance PO’s. For example if I created a variance PO because of an estimating error I would assign a Reason Code = “Estimating Error”.

PO Sequence

The Eclare PO SEQUENCE report menu option allows you to generate a complete list of the purchase order sequences defined in the PO
Pack table. For example, Site Preparation, Foundation, Slab, Drywall, etc.

Preliminary Budget

This budget is typically used to show the Base House portion of the job.

Preliminary + Upgrades = Original Budget

Price Book

PRICE BOOK contains the company's master list of parts and prices associated with the company's vendors to create Purchase Orders.  This information is also maintained in the Eclare Estimating system.

Pricing

The Eclare PRICING menu option allows you to automatically update the current job’s prices based on your selected pricing method. You may reprice the entire materials list based on the latest prices in the Item Master File or only those for which pricing is missing, directly make price changes for specific items, or change the prices by changing the item’s or Master Product Group’s assigned vendor.

Purchase Orders

A PURCHASE ORDER sets forth the descriptions, quantities, prices, job location, building specifications and other associated terms and conditions with a subcontractor or vendor. A purchase order in Gemini also automates the invoice processing cycle because the vendor, job, cost code and dollar amounts are already known to the system. This saves considerable time and improves coding accuracy.

Quick Index

The Eclare QUICK INDEX menu option allows you to define references to specific locations in your Item Master file. Use this menu option to point to items or sections you regularly refer to, for easy access to records in the Master File menu option.

Reason Codes

REASON CODES are used to categorize Variance Purchase Orders. Reporting on VPO's by classifications such as vendor price change, vendor change, estimating error, damage, customer change order, etc. will assist in tightening budgets and proactively correcting mistakes on future jobs.

Receive Purchase Orders

Once an approved purchase order is obtained, the RECEIVE PURCHASE ORDER function processes the receipt of the purchase order and creates an AP invoice for the items.

Recurring Entries

In Gemini RECURRING ENTRIES can be set up for General Journal entries and AP invoices that occur on a regular basis. These entries are a standardized structure typically containing account distribution, vendor and dollar amount details.

Ref Code

REF CODES are used to set up payments to vendors based upon vendor types such as overhead or weekly subs.

Report Writer Manager

REPORT WRITER MANAGER allows the creation and printing of custom reports within Gemini, Eclare, and PSClient software.

Responsive Design

Responsive design is an approach to web page creation that makes use of flexible layouts, flexible images and flexible styling. The goal of responsive design is to build web pages that detect the visitor's screen size and orientation and change the layout accordingly.

Responsive Web Design

Responsive Web design is the approach that suggests that design and development of a web site should respond to the user’s behavior and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation.

Reverse Posted Entries

In Gemini REVERSE POSTED ENTRIES allows the correcting of a posting mistake by undoing the original transaction.  This functions is available in the AP, GL and AR modules. A complete audit trail is created showing the original entry and the corrected entry.

Revised Budget

Revised Budget is the current total budget if Change Orders have been added to the job.

Original Budget + or - Change Orders = Revised Budget

SEF

Search Engine Friendly URL's are clean and human readable. SEF URL's are optimized for SEO with breadcrumb style keywords going from general to specific.

SEO

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION is the process of improving the visibility and traffic of a website using the unpaid features of internet search engines such as Google, Bing and Yahoo.

SERP

A search engine results page (SERP) is the page displayed by a search engine in response to a query by a searcher. The main component of the SERP is the listing of results that are returned by the search engine in response to a keyword query.

Social Media Campaigns

SOCIAL MEDIA CAMPAIGNS are a marketing technique utilizing social media websites such as Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter and Linkedin to optimize a company's website traffic.

Subdivision & Lots

SUBDIVISION & LOTS are maintained in PSClient by Subdivision lists that have an associated Lot Inventory attached.  The Lot inventory contains the lot address, lot status (Sold, Open or Model), any lot premium attached and the name & job number of the client to whom the lot was sold.

Takeoff Types

The Eclare TAKEOFF TYPE menu option allows you to define takeoff variations. Use these categories to identify and group custom "on the fly" estimates and create a searchable library of historical estimates for later recall and to use as a starting point for a new custom estimate.

Takeoffs

Eclare TAKEOFFS are a job's detailed material list that contains individual items including labor and materials.

Task

A TASK is an activity within the PSClient construction schedule. A task will have a description (example: Plumbing Rough In) and have a duration and a vendor assigned to complete the task. The task may also have one or more PREDECESSOR tasks.

Terminal Set Up

TERMINAL refers to an individual's workstation.  The individual's configuration settings such as  prompting for backup upon program close can be set that will affect the individual's computer only

Time Cards

A TIMECARD is a piece of paper or cardboard that is put into a special clock in order to record the times when an employee starts and stops working.  Gemini uses the same concept to enter an employee's hours for a specified period.

To-Do

To-Do is a term used interchangeably with Transaction. These transactions are assigned to a customer (Client) record in PSClient.

To-Dos are reminders for upcoming events like a meeting or a scheduled phone call. To-Dos are also a log of events that have occurred, so they become a permanent record of what happen, when it happened and who was involved.

To-Do's

PSClient TO-DO's are activities related to the sale, construction and warranty coverage of a new home.  The To-Dos List can be sorted by user, ToDo type and client status.

Traffic Report

The PSClient TRAFFIC REPORT summarizes and totals the number of clients or realtors who visited models during a weekly period.

Transfer Unposted Entries

TRANSFER UNPOSTED ENTRIES allows the user to reassign unposted entries in AP, GL or AR to another user of Gemini.

Trial Balance

The TRIAL BALANCE is a listing of the accounts in the general ledger along with each account's balance in the appropriate debit or credit column. The total of the amounts in the debit column should equal the total of the amounts in the credit column.

Unit Conversion

Eclare UNIT CONVERSIONS is system-wide built-in functionality to assist you in keeping consistent units of measure within the database.

Upgrade Budgets

This calculated budget tracks the options and upgrades selected prior to the job start.

Preliminary + Upgrades = Original Budget

Variance Purchase Orders

Variance Purchase Orders are PO’s created that will result in a variance to the budget. VPO’s can be created for various reasons (vendor price change, weather, estimating error, customer change order) and a PO Reason Code would also be assigned to help track and analyze opportunities for corrective action on future jobs.

Vendor Price Update

The VENDOR PRICE UPDATE option allows viewing and updating the price book by Vendor.

Vendors

VENDORS are the company's suppliers, subcontractors and providers of any other good or services.

Visit

A VISIT is a particular type of To-Do used to create traffic reporting in PSClient

A Visit indicates a person (or persons) physically stopped by one of your model centers. This could be used to track the visitation by a home buyer prospect or by a realtor.

Void Check

VOID CHECK feature is found in the Process AP Checks function.  This feature is used to void a check that has been written in the Gemini program.  The vendor and check number are required.

Web to Lead

WEB TO LEAD is the ability to generate potential sales contact information from data collected on a company website.

WIP

WIP stands for Work In Progress.  WIP accounts are used on the balance sheet to summarize the costs incurred to a specific job while the home is still under construction.