Knowledge Base Articles
The BIS Cloud Portal has been enhanced with a new interface and new optional 2FA (Two-Factor Authentication) access mode to enhance access security. The BIS Cloud Portal basic access mode requires only a username and a password. The username is an alphanumeric five characters string. Used letter must be all uppercase. The password must be
With the advent of various special state programs like family medical leave, etc., we have developed a universal template functionality that allows users to set up state related programs on-the-fly, as needed. At this time, this functionality is only accessible for the state of Washington so users may create and implement a special deduction for
In Payroll Hours & Adjustments the Employee is reimbursed for fuel in the amount of $775.00 using a newly created “non-payroll” Fuel Reimbursement Addition Account 2140 – Fuel Reimbursement. The Fuel provider is Vendor 1800 – Mobil Oil: Create a Vendor Invoice to the fuel provider (1800 – Mobil Oil) with a newly created GL
This form allows you to manage tax deferred compensation and cafeteria plans for your employees through this option. BIS maintains the following payroll adjustments master record: Additions, Deductions, Tax Deferred and Local Taxes. These adjustments must exist in the master file prior to setting up adjustment defaults in an employee master record or being used
Deduction codes are used to decrease an employee’s gross pay. Reasons for deductions include insurance payment, to pay back a payroll advance, or to withhold additional Federal or State taxes. For your convenience, BIS has 12 system deduction codes, which cannot be deleted. You may also create your own deduction codes to use. To add
Addition codes are used to increase an employee’s gross pay for a variety reasons, including vacation or sick pay, non-payroll additions (such as a reimbursement), or an Advance Earned Income Credit payment. To assist you, BIS has 13 system addition codes that you may use. These system codes cannot be deleted. You may also create
To access, go to Administrator, Change Fiscal Year Date Limits in the menu or click the link in the white area of the My Desktop Administrator folder. Note that the company’s fiscal year dates were selected at the time the company was initially created and should have been selected carefully. It is recommended that the
The length of the account numbers was determined at the time the company was created in BIS. To change the number of digits, use this option to add digits, up to ten. NOTE: Once account numbers have been assigned, the length may not be shortened. However, additional digits can easily be added to expand the
The Cash Receipts Customer Payments option allows payments to be received and applied to outstanding customer invoices. If the payment received is a deposit, the Customer Deposits form should be used to post the receipt. If the payment is not to be applied to outstanding invoices, consider using the Other Cash Receipts option. BIS ensures
The Busted Budget report is used for viewing those job segments that have exceeded the budget set, including actual costs and amounts committed. To access the report query form, go to Reports, Job, Job Cost and select Busted Budget from the menu or select the link in the blue area of the My Desktop Job
It is vital to back up your company data on a regular basis. If your data becomes corrupted or information is accidentally deleted, your backed up files can be restored. The backup procedure takes a brief amount of time which will vary depending on the size of your data files, but having a current backup
Inventory Adjustments can be used to increase or decrease the Unit Cost of an inventory item. First, create one adjustment to reduce the balance on hand to zero (using the current unit cost). After the balance on hand is reduced to zero, make another adjustment to increase the balance on hand back to the correct
To access company databases in BIS, the company name and file directory must be made available to the selected Control folder in the BIS system. The Edit Company form is used for this purpose. The list of companies available to your system can be viewed by opening the Edit Company form. A company created in
In addition to printing payroll checks, the Print PR Checks form includes special features that include generating a direct deposit bank file, voiding checks in a check run and reloading selected payroll information back into Payroll Hours and Adjustments as well as the option to change the pay year, if needed. To access the Print
As part of the Bank Reconciliation module, the Cash Deposit form is used to select those cash receipts which will be delivered to the bank on a given date. A Cash Deposit may represent one or more cash receipt transactions from a single day or multiple transactions over a date range (multiple days.) This step
In BIS, data relationships are quickly and easily available to view using the Drill Down+ ™ functionality simply by clicking on the hyperlink or by right-clicking on the hyperlink and selecting from a list of available options. How Drill Down+ ™ works: When a report is previewed, pertinent related field information appears as a hyperlink.
The second step in the Customer Deposit process is to “Apply Customer Deposits.” The Apply Customer Deposits form permits one or more customer deposits to be selected and applied to invoices that show a balance due. Reminder: While a customer deposit may be something that typically occurs before the start of a job, it is
In addition to the accompanying job billing paperwork (Cover Page, Schedule of Values, etc.), posting an application for payment creates the appropriate customer invoice(s) for the amount billed on this application. The application for payment amounts and information reflects that which is in the Schedule of Values at the time, and it will post to
Effective January 1, 2023, the state of Oregon instituted its Paid Leave Oregon program. Note: Prior to setting the System Wide parameters settings for Paid Leave Oregon you may want to create both a Withholding account, a Payable account, and an Expense account for Paid Leave Oregon in the Chart of Accounts. (Go to List
Effective January 1, 2023, the state of Colorado enacted the Colorado Family and Medical Leave Insurance program. functionality, effective January 1, 2023, has been added to BIS. Colorado FAMLI is a shared fee between employers and employees based on 0.9% of wages. This rate is set through 2025 by Proposition 118, voted in by 57%
What Is the Connecticut Program? The Connecticut Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) program was passed into law in June 2019. The program makes benefits available through a state-run program or employer plan. Benefits include: Up to 12 weeks of Paid Leave for all covered employees. Up to a maximum weekly benefit of 60 times
The Washington State Paid Family and Medical Leave started on January first, 2019, as a new shared benefit program called Paid Family and Medical Leave implemented in the state of Washington. Paid Family and Medical Leave is a statewide insurance program. Nearly all employers in the State of Washington are responsible under the Paid Family
The Application for Payment form provides the option to print standardized American Institute of Architects (AIA) forms G702 (Application and Certificate for Payment), G703 (Continuation Sheet: Scheduled Values) and G701 (Change Order) formats or AIA styled form options which may be user modified, if desired. You may choose to either print the application data directly
Overview: The Application for Payment process computes and reports a job’s current billing cycle information based on the current Schedule of Values “Work in Place” and what has been previously billed. The corresponding AIA or AIA styled documents may be generated without completing (posting) the Application for Payment. Once an Application for Payment is processed
While a customer deposit may be something that typically occurs before the start of a job, it is important to know that the Customer Deposit process in BIS is also used when receiving a customer payment that is over the amount of what has been currently billed. The reason for this is that the amount
Customer Payments are typically applied to one or more Contract Invoices generated using the Application for Payment process, or created manually using the Contract Invoices form, or to the Sales Invoices. Important Note: If the payment amount is more than what the customer currently owes, the payment MUST be entered as a Customer Deposit. A
MICS tailors each BIS system to meet the customer’s requirements. This means that you purchase only the modules and number of licensed users needed. Additional modules and users can easily be added at any time by contacting MICS Customer Service. When additional modules or users are purchased or you upgrade to a new edition such
The company contributions for payroll expenses can be accrued to the general ledger at the time payroll is processed before the expense is actually paid. This option will produce an automatic journal entry for each paycheck run to post the accrued contribution to both a payable account and an expense account. If you choose not
In BIS®, the Accounts Payable Journal is a listing of accounts payable invoices by date for a particular account. This can be compared with the actual records to verify that they have been entered correctly. To access the Accounts Payable Journal, go to Reports, Accounts Payable and select Accounts Payable Journal or select the Accounts
The BIS® Password and Security module provides both a user password functionality and administrative control of access throughout the modules in BIS. The Password portion is discussed in a separate Knowledge Base article. The User Access functionality grants up to four levels of administrative control. In the Standard Edition, the system administrator can grant or
Upon subscribing to the BIS Cloud Edition and having your company data uploaded to the Cloud server, an online link is provided for access along with the user credentials. Clicking the link (or adding the address to a browser’s address field) will take the user to the Cloud server desktop screen as pictured below: Two
System Wide Parameters as the name implies is the primary area in BIS where options and settings are available which affect all related areas within BIS. These settings are generally set or modified by the BIS Administrator. To access, go to Administrator, System Wide Parameters and select System Wide Parameters in the menu. AP –
System Wide Parameters as the name implies is the primary area in BIS where options and settings are available which affect all related areas within BIS. These settings are generally set or modified by the BIS Administrator. To access, go to Administrator, System Wide Parameters and select System Wide Parameters in the menu. GL –
System Wide Parameters as the name implies is the primary area in BIS where options and settings are available which affect all related areas within BIS. These settings are generally set or modified by the BIS Administrator. To access, go to Administrator, System Wide Parameters and select System Wide Parameters in the menu. Each area
With Builder Information System, when migrating to a new server, once the data and Control folder have been copied or restored to the new location, it is a matter of redirecting the workstations to the new Control folder and then the company data. This is true regardless of whether the new paths are the same
For customers with the Password module, the BIS Backup form also includes an optional password protect function when creating backup files. This functionality will be available only when the Password module is enabled. The new password box can accept a maximum of sixteen characters and a minimum of six characters. The password can contain any
There are three very different functions found in the Fiscal Year Menu: Change Fiscal Year, Change Fiscal Year Date Limits, and Start New Fiscal Year. Change Fiscal Year Period This form allows the user to change access between the Prior Period from the Current period and visa verse. Simply click the Prior or Current button
A traditional bookkeeping/accounting practice use to be “closing the books” on a monthly basis to “lock in” the accounting and assure that there would be no changes moving forward. While the process may not be necessary or desirable today in a fast-paced and ever-changing construction environment, it is a quick and available option in BIS.
An optional checkbox that allows excluding data verification at login on the login form. This option bypasses the verification process which checks the company data for data related problems. If needed, this option is best used by users logging into company data that has already been accessed at the time of login. The prior user
My Favorites is a View option that allows a user to setup My Favorites folders with links in the left sidebar to areas that are most be commonly utilized within BIS. Then, simply by double-clicking the link BIS will launch that area in the My Desktop main area to the right. This is especially useful
While background colors or an image provides aesthetics within the BIS, it can also be a way to identify which company data is being accessed to eliminate some confusion. Go to Administrator, User Preferences and Select User Preferences in the menu. Select the Backgrounds tab. Set Application background Image Clicking “Set Application background” will allow
If you have used the Delete Historical Fiscal Years process to reduce your database size for the purpose of improving speed and performance within BIS, this process will allow for a data backup to be restored to separate folders, making the historical data and its related information readily accessible and available when needed. BIS allows
The “Delete Completed Jobs” form allows any or all “Completed” jobs that were in deleted Historical Years to be removed from the company database. Again, note that if a prior backup is restored to a separate folder, the job information will be available as needed. To access this, the user must go to Administrator, Delete
With the advent of the Historical data option in 2009, the overall size of BIS databases has increased dramatically. As a result, the increased size has shown to impact functional performance of certain tasks within BIS for companies with sizable databases. A “Delete Historical Fiscal Years” functionality has been added that gives companies an opportunity
Additional Medicare Tax Thresholds fields have been added for Head of Household and Qualifying Widow(er) to the Federal Tax Information FICA Medicare Tax tab in System Wide Parameters. Note these fields have been added in the event that those Filing Status threshold amounts were to be changed independently in future. The threshold amounts have been
The Summary of Contracts Report is a date sensitive report that provides an overview of the job contract, billings and costs information with projected completion information including earnings and profits. This report functions for jobs whether billed T & M, Unit Billing, or via Application for Payment or Contract Invoices. Depending on the type of
Relating to software, Multiple Document Interface (MDI) commonly refers to the graphic interface in which multiple display windows reside under parent windows. Such systems generally allow “child” windows to embed other windows inside them as well, creating a nested hierarchy. Builder Information System provides two MDI related options: MDI and Tabbed MDI. To access the
On rare occasions, a user may determine that they wish to simply restart the payroll entry process in Payroll Hours and Adjustments from scratch. Builder Information Systems has an administrative tool just for that purpose, the Reset Auxiliary Payroll Files. Note: This function clears out ALL entry information in Payroll Hours and Adjustments. To access,
There are occasions where a vendor may be added into BIS that was initially thought to be a short term “cash” matter only to have the relationship pivot into steady business. As a result, the 1099 status for AP transactions may need to be changed after the fact to reflect accurate 1099 reporting. To access
Payroll Hours and Adjustments – The Payroll Hours and Adjustments form is used to enter current payroll activity for each employee in preparation for processing payroll. The file will only maintain payroll records for a single pay period at a time; the period ending date must be the same for all saved records at any
The Subcontracts form is where the information for a job’s subcontracts is entered, modified, or deleted as needed, and progress information is entered for tracking. It is designed to facilitate oversight of subcontracts and subcontractors by either a job’s project manager or a supervision to ensure that the subcontract work is being completed as specified
On the Miscellaneous tab in System Wide Parameters check the “Allow Offset Transaction.” Save the change. Create a BIS Backup. Enter the Prior Period. Void the AP check. Create a Journal Entry that credits the Cash account and debits the AP Payable account (for the amount of the check.) Save JE. Enter the Current Period.
All BIS PDF manuals are easily accessible through the Help menu in BIS. Go to Help and select BIS Documentation in the menu. A list of all the available .PDF manuals will appear. Simply double-click the desired manual from the list to launch the PDF manual. Voila! All PDF manuals have a Table of Contents
Implemented starting in 2022 in the Vendors Master file is the ability of setting different 1099 Type and 1099 Payment or Deductions values per calendar year. The new 1099-NEC Nonemployee Compensation form for 2020 and 2021 was also added. The values to select from in the calendar year 2020 will not include the new 1099-NEC
The Billing Statements form is designed to prepare periodic customer billing statements, which detail both outstanding invoices and customer payments. Statements can be prepared for one, multiple or all customers, including or excluding those with a zero balance. When preparing billing statements, BIS will calculate and automatically create an invoice for any finance charges (interest)
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