Viewpoint Spectrum Reviews

I am the administrator for Spectrum in our company and overall the Experience has been very good!

Comments: Ease of administration and our accounting team rarely has any issues with the software

Pros:

The support team is amazing. They are extremely helpful and are good at fixing the annoying bugs and getting to the root causes of our problems. The accounting and hr side of the software works extremely well and I have very few if any complaints or issues that I have to fix or call support for.

Cons:

The project manangement side of the software was never really completed so its less than impressive. But I think on the positive side since Viewpoint has purchased Spectrum I think that integrating it with their Team software will make a huge difference in this section!

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.

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.

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.

Viewpoint Spectrum: Would Recommend to Any Construction Co.

Comments: Overall it has been a great experience. I have no doubt I picked the right software. It is easy to use, the trainers were knowledgeable and easy to follow. The few times I have needed Tech Support, the response was quick and the issue was resolved. It does everything we need it to do.

Pros:

I really like the AP system. Very easy to enter data and make corrections. The support I receive from Viewpoint is very helpful. Now that the training is finished, I feel they still have my back. Also the Cash Management with being able to print MICR checks. Now we can order blank checks instead of having to order new checks for each account (53 of them).

Cons:

My least favorite module is AR. Entering information is easy, but if you make a mistake it is hard to follow how to make the correction. Maybe it is just me, but I think it could work a little easier.

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.

Spectrum Review

Pros:

Spectrum fit for us as we had outgrown Quickbooks. I love the document imaging and the cloud-based usage.

Cons:

You need to be well versed in Crystal reports to create any custom report = more money. Spectrum does not seem to review suggested features that users need despite having a place to put that.

Spectrum by Viewpoint

Pros:

The Job Costing/Tracking abilities are great!

Cons:

The Project Managers do not know how to use the software and are not interested in learning as it spins them out trying to follow all of the different reports/areas I need to pull up just to find a couple of numbers.

viewpoint expereince

Pros:

As an IT person, the SSO integration and the ease of user management. navigation seems well organized but takes time to know where things are at.

Cons:

the GUI, it looks too classic and would be nice to be more modern.

Least User Friendly Software I've Ever Encountered

Pros:

Nothing, honestly. I have to use this piece of shite software 40 hours a week and it never fails to fill me with absolute rage.

Cons:

I dislike just about everything about Viewpoint Spectrum. It seems like it was created in 1996 and hasn't been updated since. It lacks the most basic of features, such as MULTI SELECT. All processes take 5x as long as they should. They have a suggestions site, where they continuously mark suggestions that do NOT exist as "already exists". If they have a UX team, they must not be paying them enough. They seem to have a high turnover and do not attract talented developers.

Spectrum implementation in Construction Company

Comments: The system is strong but it could be more consistent. Training is touch for new employees because of the multiple steps and inconsistencies between modules. Ability to store documents and records is the true benefit.

Pros:

System is purposeful and structured. Users need to understand and follow all of the steps in a process, which sometimes at the beginning seem difficult. However overtime with an increased level of understanding the system becomes the system of record. Our favourite feature in our office is decreased reliance on paper. Our AP, cash management and AR departments are all paperless!

Cons:

Spectrum could make things earlier by having consistency between modules. There is currently inconsistently between the AP and AR modules. Consistency would be very helpful especially when learning the system. Help desk - we have incurred thousands of dollars using our implementation subcontractor to help identify fixes to issues. The help desk for months didn't answer the phone and unless your payroll wasn't being released there was no phone call back. Their sales brochure shows 'world class' support department. This non-level of service will cost you money.

Comments: Our business has two divisions - Commercial Construction and Service Maintenance. We’re based in Pennsylvania and have been operating for about 28 years. The computer system we had been using prior to switching to Dexter + Chaney was outdated for our uses. After carefully reviewing all the options, Dexter + Chaney was high on our list. One of the main functions we were looking for was something that would tie together both divisions of our company. We liked what the sales team told us about the software, and it seemed to better suit our needs than the system we had. We were told it had modules that would make it possible to tie in both of our divisions, with great customer support, reports that were easy to use, and to meet all of our needs, etc. We started with Dexter + Chaney in 2005 (about 8 years ago), having high hopes that Spectrum (or Forefront as it was called at that point) could perform all the functions we were looking for, and more. We spent several months preparing for the change over/familiarizing ourselves with the screens/and inputting information. Every Vendor/Employee/Client had to be reentered manually, which was very monotonous, but relatively simple. Some of the modules were similar to the program we had used prior, but others were more difficult and required calls to support. It took us several months to feel comfortable using Forefront, and probably a year+ until we felt like we really had a decent grasp of it. Since we’re a smaller business, we have the ability to notice problems with reports/programs more easily than a company with hundreds of employees. After we went live with Dexter Chaney we came across several issues, but attributed most of them to new user errors. As we have become more and more confidence with Spectrum, we have found several major bugs in the system that were unknown to Dexter + Chaney, or they had thought were resolved. On a few of these occasions, we had to really push for them to investigate and resolve the issues. One of the biggest problems we’ve seen is that the new Versions seem to be released before they are thoroughly checked, and there are repeat problems.

We have received some good, and some lacking, customer support. There are several really knowledgeable reps who have helped us through our problems quickly. We have also spoken to other reps and management in support that have been very difficult, ignoring our concerns and refusing to listen or respond to our calls/emails. At one point, we were not getting updates on a problem and logged onto their website to see if anything new was posted for our issue. We didn’t get an answer, but instead found a string of emails they had accidentally posted, making it clear that our problem wasn’t being taken seriously on their end. Something as simple as calling in to support has proven to be a hassle since Dexter + Chaney only allows 3 people on the contact list, and we have 6 regular users.

Some of the programs cannot be used to the full extent of what they are shown. Example: Payroll is set up so you can do multiple check sequences in one pay run for an employee. The problem is that it’s not set up to calculate the correct taxes/deductions if you do this. If they are paying a tax/deduction that reaches the limit in the first check, it will also be taken out of the second check, and there’s a possibility for the reports to be wrong. We purchased the Infolink module a few years ago to help us write reports in Excel using Database Query. We were told by the sales team that it would be easy to use and we could create reports with the exact information we wanted. The training we received on it barely covered the basics. It’s far from easy to use, and many of the reports that come up cannot pull the requested information. Overall, I would say Dexter Chaney is average at best. We are able to use Spectrum for most functions, but not as easily as we were promised. Support in general is lacking, as is our confidence in the product any time there is an upgrade. It’s not as good as we were led to believe.

Solid product across the board

Pros:

I find it easy to navigate through, most options are intuitive and easy to figure out, problems are easy to trouble shoot as far as reconciling and researching transactions.

Cons:

I wish report customization was available to the average user, not just to those trained in Crystal report writing, or for hire at prices that make it unattractive. The data is all there at the fingertips, its frustrating to not be able to pull down exactly what you want. That being said, there are a lot of canned reports available, they've done a fairly decent job of anticipating most needs, especially in the payroll area with work comp and payroll tax reports. I also would like to see payroll tax reports available to print/file out of Spectrum.

Spectrum Review

Comments: Visibility of job cost and the detailed reports have helped to simplify the reporting. Tracking contracts and change requests are important to us and are easy to do. Payroll processing time has been reduced and AP is so much better now that the invoices are routed. Automated purchase orders are now possible too.

Pros:

The job costing module is valuable to us for tracking the real time cost of our projects. I like the interactive menus that change depending on what features are being used. We are able to have custom reports designed.

Cons:

I have no comments to add here, its a good program.

Great product has some flaws but nothing we were not able to work around.

Comments: It's been a great product that we've used for the last 9 years.

Pros:

The way that as technology changes they system is updated to match.

Cons:

Vacation accrual system is not what I'd like it to be. I have to do my own spreadsheet to get it to work properly.

Like the Product Overall but Needs Help

Comments: Yet to be seen but we have not lost hope. We however need quality help from Spectrum.

Pros:

It works for subcontractors that bid Lump Sum and have complexity in their work. Contractors such as electrical, hvac and suppliers and installers of structural and miscellaneous steel require better accounting than many other subcontractors.

Cons:

Initial Implementation and training has been poor and very frustrating. There have been some good experiences but overall it has been negative and not productive experiences. We own other Trimble products but no one seems to know anything about the other products Trimble sells and we own. We changes to Spectrum for it was supposed to work better than our former accounting system, Computer Ease, but that switch over has not produced the promised results.

From an AR Perspective

Comments: Overall Spectrum is a time saver. It has helped bring project management into the loop of being able to resolve customer issues.
The best part is it has allowed me to be able to work from home two days a week for a year now!

Pros:

The navigation make it so you can figure out what you need to do next with a minimum amount of training on how to use the system. The customizable reports are a great asset. Billing reports are easy to pull together.

Cons:

Draw Request is my least favorite in this system. When you open draw request it shows you in the upper right in financials you have previous work. The total schedule of values is NOT showing. If you have amounts in both this period and materials stored the system will not give you a total of combined for the draw. Also when you are in the draw the entire line needs to highlight while scrolling down for the line you need. It gets very frustrating at times. When something is entered into job cost under the wrong phase, there needs to be a way to change the phase and not have to do multiple entries for negative to to incorrect phase and a positive to the correct phase. That would be ha huge time saver.

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.

Viewpoint Spectrum Overview

Comments: We are improving our use of the software's many features and use Spectrum's reports to track, report, and monitor financial and job performance on a weekly basis.

Pros:

As a construction accounting software package Spectrum offers solutions for most of our essentials. With help from a knowledgeable consultant we've been able to to modify or create the reports we need.

Cons:

Timesheet entry is missing mobile components and approval processes offered by third parties. Project and document management is not as robust as Procore. Scheduling for labor, tools, and equipment and comparing against estimate, budget, and actual doesn't functionally exist. We are spending a lot of time, money, and effort to research, source, purchase, and integrate third party applications.

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

Let's get organized

Comments: It's great once you know how to use the product.

Pros:

everything is easily accessible, in order. There are multiple ways to get the results you need.

Cons:

There aren't instructions in the software to assist me if I ever get stuck.

Ceci's review

Pros:

It's easy to use but there are some reports that we have to build ourselves b/c Spectrum doesn't produce them.

Cons:

the WIP isn't working for us and I'm not sure why. Haven't been able to figure this out.

So good so far.

Comments: As I mentioned in the title, so good so far.Viewpoint looks like specified for construction project management. My boss and our team members like this program now. Except for the cons that I typed.

Pros:

The best pros in Viewpoint are connection (Sync) and update. All the update is synced right away. So this was so helpful to me to work on a computer or mobile phone.

Cons:

Regarding Uploading and downloading the pictures.Our company stop using picture with Spectrum. Because of how hard it is to download and research it.I know you guys make "Tag". But it was not the solution to the work. Also, the Login system makes me so stressful. Every time I need to log in again and again. I hope you can handle this issue.

Spectrum Review

Comments: Our experience with Spectrum hasn't been the best. There was great support/conversations during the process to determine if we should go with the software. Then, upon implementation there was a drastic difference. We had a support person come to our facility for a week for a quick overview, but we had to get ourselves up and running. After a short time, the support person was "unavailable" for questions/issues. Our implementation process was done on our own. Most of the times when we called the support center, issues weren't resolved quickly. At times the person on the other end of the phone was less than courteous. We pretty much ceased calling for assistance and worked around any problems by ourselves.

Pros:

Easy to use. Reports and documents look clean.

Cons:

The Materials Management and Job Cost integration is very cumbersome regarding the Scale Ticket process. Much has to be done before importing ticket files into Spectrum, and it leaves itself open to errors due to the amount of steps needed to complete for job costs, special customer pricing, etc.

Spectrum 14.24

Comments: Like all programs that have a significant number of features, the more your staff learns about the software the better the ROI.
The user interface has a lot going on and can be overwhelming at first. However, there is a logic to it and once learned a diverse array of features can be accessed quickly.

Pros:

The ability to access many features from one screen. The connectivity of features on screen. For example, if a job is displayed, all of the customer information is available as well. No need to add software to each workstation, software runs within a browser (I've used Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox and my cell phone browser, I understand other browsers are supported as well) All reports can be emailed right from the display screen.

Cons:

Many of the reports must be customized to meet user needs. Some features are not located in an intuitive place. Financial statement writer is basic and pretty weak.