Viewpoint Spectrum Reviews

Solid Construction Accounting Software

Pros:

The job cost history and time card history functions are both very detailed

Cons:

Change order management and subcontracts management are a bit confusing to navigate

Spectrum Review for Electrical Contractors

Comments: Spectrum has treated us well so far. However the migration and implementation was a terrible experience.

Pros:

Large upgrade from Procontractor, but I liked the functionality or workflow of Procontractor better.

Cons:

How each module is separate from the general ledger, becomes a pain!

General Usage of Spectrum for Construction

Comments: Its okay, but hard to get things accomplished some times. Too many stiff programs, not workable like excel spreadsheets are. I worked with Deltek products for Engineering and they're product for building jobs was Excel based and was easy to maneuver around so you were able to copy things and place them where you wanted them to be. It was like you had the whole job/report in front of you at once and could place things where you wanted them to be instead of putting in a transaction and finding out afterwards where it sits or how it looks by running a report. To set up a job with cost codes, etc in Spectrum is a bit scary if your not used to it. Once you do some things in the setup, it cannot be changed, or easily changed. It feels like a big production if its a big job with a lot of phase codes and a lot of moving parts. if it was as easy to create as an excel spreadsheet, it wouldn't be so hard and not as scary, then you wouldn't feel like your going to really screw it up.

Pros:

I had no choice in using Spectrum for this company and do not know about other programs for construction other than Sage products.

Cons:

I do not like the fact that you can't drill down from reports to get information without having to open up another tab to go searching for the info your requiring. Sage 50 was wonderful in that respect. You could find exactly why a number was appearing on the report and where it came from or why it was there. Many errors were caught that way and were able to be changed before they began to snowball.

Spectrum

Comments: Overall Spectrum has streamlined and made our entire experience easier start to finish. As long as the information going in is correct the end product is correct - garbage in garbage out. The support system is great as well as the external support such as the Viewpoint Network, connecting you to peers is fabulous

Pros:

Ease of use, eliminating multiple programs, live data update, split screens

Cons:

having to do multiple steps to update invoices, not being able to access all information in one module. Some of the reporting is convoluted.

Cobuilt

Comments: The overall experience has been a positive one. The benefit is the data is consistent and reliable.

Pros:

It was timeconsuming and somewhat tedious, but that could have been converting the data from our former software.

Cons:

The inability to customize reports without advance knowledge of Crystal Reports.

So far, so good

Comments: We switched from our old system in January 2023. The difference in the speed of the program has greatly improved our efficiency office wide. There are great tools for our program managers to track every aspect of their projects.

Pros:

Speed of processing. Help function is very easy to use and a great tool. Haven't had to call their help desk once. Integration from our old system was quick with minimal hiccups.

Cons:

Only issue we are having is with getting additional invoice forms created.

Review

Comments: looking back it wasnt what was best for our company, and would have not purchased it

Pros:

from accounting side, its really nice reporting structure

Cons:

cannot customize it for our specific use.training provided was very inadequate,felt like you were all in until it was sold, then felt left out

Poor Customer Service / Technical Support

Comments: Poor customer service and tech support and this happens over and over.

Pros:

value for moneyAvailability of APIs for time entry and project entry

Cons:

The technical support is very poor.We were told that Spectrum can not find what went wrong with their system unless we tell them that exact time that the system has issues.We were also told that logs are deleted at 11pm everyday.How is that even acceptable for a software that is used by external vendors?On top of all this, the tech support person was quite rude

spectrum review

Pros:

Security and I like the TC1 addition to Spectrum

Cons:

The reports are hard to customize and not easy to read

Viewpoint for Service Departments

Comments: Overall this software is very average.

Pros:

The ServiceTech app for the crews in the field has been very easy to transition to.

Cons:

It makes it hard for viewing pictures in the work orders because you can only look at one picture at a time. It also is hard to close work orders that wont be billed out to customers because you have to bill a $0 invoice.

The Complete Package.

Comments: Overall, the information gathering processes are quite involved leading me to believe that a small company can grow to be a larger company without the need of changing the software.

Pros:

The reports are laid out very professionally making them easy to understand and useful in making decisions.

Cons:

I was not involved in the implementation of the product and, as a result, I found the initial setup of the general ledger is way too detailed for an operation of this size. Consequently, the financial statements are very much overblown with insignificant details. The management of the business could function a lot simpler with 40% less effort.

Our software is cloud base so I can log into it anywhere on any device.

Comments: It is a nice package that process all your every needs for running a business.

Pros:

Able to process all the functionallity with a business software system.

Cons:

The support can be 48 hours or more and now the chat support is not as helpful. They want to pass you on to consultant.

Human Resources, Subcontracts and Purchase Orders

Comments: Spectrum is an excellent upgrade from our previous platform. While there are still improvements to be made to the HR, Subcontract, and PO sections I use, the product as it stands is very user friendly allowing our entire administrative team to see all changes and updates in real time.

Pros:

I love the search feature which allows partial word search of employee name, vendor name, or even addresses! Having all attachments digitally available through various access points is great too!

Cons:

Some areas in the employee section and lower-tier subcontract section do not allow for attachments to be added, which is problematic and requires items to be saved where they do not necessarily make the most sense. Tracking for 1095 C forms is terrible, I do not use this at all because of the inefficient upload and download for each each employee needed to track monthly. There are many changes I would make in the employee area, making it easier to record and track employee benefit information. I use a separate Excel spreadsheet to track hires, terms, benefits, required mailings because Spectrum does not meet my needs. In the Subcontract area, the character limitations in the description of each phase code requires me to download the printed form into Adobe and add detail/make edits before sending to vendors.

Viewpoint Spectrum Overview

Comments: Overall experience has been great! I enjoy the Help feature as well, whenever i need assistance finding, generating and overall questions - this is a great tool. mostly, all you need to keep track of all your projects are in one pie!

Pros:

Features and functionalities are easy to navigate, while maintaining and keeping track of all pieces of the projects together.

Cons:

some features can be explore more in order to give better results, such as some of the reports.

Viewpoint Spectrum

Comments: The job costing and reporting features are much better than the software we used prior.

Pros:

I like the help feature the most. If I get stuck on anything, I know I can use the help feature and find my answer.

Cons:

It could be a little more user friendly. When we first started using Spectrum, we struggled with learning how to operate it.

Viewpoint Spectrum review

Comments: Tracking and document imaging has saved us in paperwork

Pros:

Training was so easy, customer support and education are awesome. It is extremely user friendly.

Cons:

Intergration wasn't bad at all. We just have such a narrowed field being in road contruction and bridge building. It took work to get them to understand what we needed once there it was a breeze.

Gaylor Electric

Comments: Overall spectrum is simple and easy to learn. It has been enjoyable and a valuable tool for our company.

Pros:

The thing I like the most about spectrum is how easy it was to learn the program.

Cons:

The thing I like the least about spectrum is how it doesnt feel/look very sleek

Better than the competitor

Comments: Great! Spectrum has been awesome to implement and clients love the features.

Pros:

It is modular so you only use what you need

Cons:

Some modules are not as intuitive as others

16 Years Later

Comments: I have used various programs over the years and I find Spectrum to be one the most efficient.

Pros:

Spectrum is a fully intergrated software incorporating Job Costing, A/R, A/P, Payroll and Document Imaging. Utilizing the software is relatively easy and the reports are very on point.

Cons:

The software constantly times out and closes our sessions. We have contacted support many times and as of today the issue has not been resolved. The only other issue is that certain tasks are a little labor intensive.

Long time users!

Comments: We continue to use this program because of all its features and it is user friendly.

Pros:

It is a very easy system to use.User friendly

Cons:

The maintenance price is high. Customer service has not been the same since 2020.

Service Billing Review

Comments: It works. My only comparison is Maxwell. I would not rate this platform better or worse than Maxwell. Each program has/had its issues.

Pros:

I assume that Payroll and Job Cost are why this product was purchased. I do not use those modules. I do like the Contract module (other than actually creating Contract invoices - that's not so good).

Cons:

Work Order and Service Contract are the units I use. Cost reports cannot be collapsed, information saved to the Cloud constantly disappears (not deleted - just, poof, disappears) when work orders are loaded on the local machine. Work order invoicing (especially batch processing) is lacking. Contract invoicing is awful.

Expensive but mostly user friendly

Pros:

AP, AR, Multiple company setups, intercompany transactions,

Cons:

Job costing does not work well, major failure. Difficulty with credit transactions in AP and AR. No ability to match AR and AP from same customer easily

ERP ...Not that easy

Comments: I am disappointed in the product, we were over sold, over promised, and under delivered.

Pros:

It was a great sales job, but not a good fit after the fact, Should have gone with VISTA

Cons:

The navigation, report development, interaction with other software.. very difficult

Payroll Processing

Comments: Viewpoint Spectrum provides a vast majority of online help guides which is quite useful. Overall, the system works well and is easy to learn.

Pros:

The ability to go back to a previous process midway to make corrections.

Cons:

Spectrum does not allow one set future date changes to salaries, insurance premium activation dates to deactivate after a certain time frame. Spectrum doesn't allow one to activate bank account information during the onboarding process (only once a payroll has started). Currently, the system will not allow two users to process two different payrolls simultaneously.Viewpoint spectrum system doesn't allow one to void a direct deposit payroll check without creating a manual one that will also need to be voided later (would rather have a better streamlined process).

Great Software

Comments: We have been using Spectrum for over 17 years now and have found that it gives us the necessary information needed in order to operate a successful construction business and joint venture business

Pros:

The most impactful feature for our company is job costing and ability to create multiple companies

Cons:

The feature that could be most improved is being able to easily create customized reports.