Expert Project
Frequently Asked Questions

Below is a listing of frequently asked questions about Expert Project (as well as some questions that "should" be frequently asked).

1. What industries is Expert Project suitable for?
2. Will Expert Project run on my computer?
3. Where can I obtain an evaluation copy?
4. What are the licensing options?
5. Can I install Expert Project on both my office computer and home computer?
6. What support is offered with my purchase?
7. What is your policy on updates?
8. Can I request additions/changes to the program?
9. What are the training options?
10. Does Expert Project have a comprehensive help system?
11. Can more than one person work on the same project at the same time?
12. Are the files portable so I can email them to others or work on the estimate at home?
13. Can I copy and paste information from other windows based software such as Excel or Lotus 123?
14. Can I export data from Expert Project?
15. Are there limits to the number of items, cost records, resources etc that I can enter?
16. How are my actual costs input?
17. Does Expert Project allow me to estimate a forecast cost to complete for each cost code?
18. Can I estimate variations from within Expert Project?
19. Can I track the costs and production for areas of work?
20. Can I produce progress claims from within Expert Project?
21. Will Expert Project warn me when important actions need to occur?
22. Does Expert Project include Earned Value Analysis or Cost/Schedule Control System Criteria (C/SCSC) calculations?
23. Does Expert project come with a document control module?
24. Where can I find out more information?

What industries is Expert Project suitable for?

Current users of Expert Project perform work in civil, mechanical and electrical engineering, telecommunications, pipeline construction, mining, tunneling, railway and other construction related fields. Companies using Expert Project range from large multi-national mining and engineering companies, government construction departments with hundreds of users, and local authorities, to small and medium sized engineering firms and single user contractors.

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Will Expert Project run on my computer?

Minimum and recommended computer requirements are outlined below:

¹Please contact Pronamics for advice on the compatibility of other CPU Brands.

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Where can I obtain an evaluation copy?

An evaluation copy of Expert Project may be requested by either filling out the Evaluation request form on this web site or by contacting Pronamics.

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What are the licensing options?

Expert Project may be purchased outright for a set purchase price. Please contact Pronamics for current pricing and volume discounts. Licenses of Expert Project may be registered either to the computer that the program is installed on (Standalone) or registered to a server computer (Network registration). There is no difference in the software installed only the method of registration.

A standalone registration allows exclusive access to Expert Project at any time and allows the license to be portable (not connected to a network). Standalone registrations are recommended for laptop computers and high priority users; e.g. a Project Manager who uses Expert Project frequently or a user that requires access away from a network.

Network registrations allow all owned licenses to be shared concurrently between multiple users; e.g. if a company owns 5 licenses they may have Expert Project installed on for example 13 computers but only 5 users would be able to access the system at any point in time.

 

Both of these registration methods may be used in combination in an organisation and may be changed from one method to the other at any time. Having the ability to register Expert Project to individual computers or share the purchased licenses on a network allows your Expert Project licenses to be as flexible as you require them to be.

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Can I install Expert Project on both my office computer and home computer?

Yes. As long as the two installations of Expert Project are not used concurrently they are considered one license.

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What support is offered with my purchase?

Pronamics offer a 12 months maintenance plan included with the purchase of Expert Project. The maintenance plan includes access to 24hr * 7day telephone product support staffed by professional engineers and ALL updates to the product for the 12 month period. After the initial 12 months you may elect to continue the maintenance plan for a further year. Please contact Pronamics for pricing.

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What is your policy on updates?

As part of our commitment to product development and our responsiveness to client suggestions and feedback, we aim to release about 3 to 4 updates per year. These updates (whether they are major or minor updates) are provided at no extra charge to clients who have an active maintenance plan. Updates are usually made available via an internet download. At least one update will be provided on CD per year.

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Can I request additions/changes to the program?

Of course! Expert Project has grown to become the most comprehensive and yet user friendly project cost management systems available, through our staff listening and responding to the suggestions made by our clients. Additions to the software from user suggestions are made available to all clients at no cost with a current maintenance plan as part of our regular product updates.

 

Requested additions or changes that are company specific or are requested to be implemented as a priority may incur a fee for development.

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What are the training options?

A free training voucher for participation in a scheduled, hands-on, 1 day training course is included with your purchase of Expert Project. Training courses are held in various locations on an as needed basis and in-house courses, courses for small groups or individuals and courses with special content are available by request. For more information on the Expert Project training course and to make an enquiry please see the Expert Project Training page.

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Does Expert Project have a comprehensive help system?

Yes, our help systems are the most comprehensive in the industry. Expert Project's help system has been developed using the latest Microsoft® help technology enabling you to quickly browse or search for the information you require. We have even developed an Intellihelp^© system enabling you to interactively click though menus and windows within the help system to graphically locate information.

The help system provides information at a number of levels: globally regarding the program as a whole, window specific information, and function and field specific information. The help system is completely context sensitive enabling you to find help for whatever window you are working in from within Expert Project simply by pressing a '?' button from a toolbar or by pressing the F1 key.

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Can more than one person work on the same project at the same time?

Yes. Expert Project includes multi-user support so multiple users may work on the same project at the same time. Expert Project also contains protection so that multiple-users cannot edit the same information at the same time.

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Are the files portable so I can email them to others or work on the estimate at home?

Yes. Each project has its own set of files which may be copied to other computers via a network, emailed or copied using CD's or floppies. Expert Project also includes a function to zip and unzip files when copying or to automatically zip your current project and attach it to an email, making transferring projects even more convenient.

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Can I copy and paste information from other windows based software such as Microsoft Excel® or Lotus 123?

Yes. Most data entry windows in Expert Project allow data to be copied and pasted directly from other standard Windows® software that copies tabular data using the Windows® clipboard. For example if you have received a schedule (bill of quantities) from a client electronically, you can copy and paste this data into Expert Project's Contract Items window, or if you have a spreadsheet containing resource rates you can copy and paste these into Expert Project.

 

When first setting up a project, if the estimate was created using Expert Estimation, all relevant estimate information can be imported into Expert Project in one operation.

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Can I export data from Expert Project?

Yes. Information from most data windows may be copied and pasted to and from other standard Windows® applications via the Windows® clipboard.

All reports may be exported to either the Windows® clipboard, spreadsheet (via .CSV file) or Microsoft Excel®.

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Are there limits to the number of items, cost records, resources etc that I can enter?

No. Expert Project allows virtually unlimited numbers of items, costs, resources and Cost Estimate lines in forecasts. The only limitations are the space available on your computer and its speed; i.e. a very large project running on an old slow computer will take longer to perform calculations and display data than the same project running on a newer quicker computer. See the Will Expert Project run on my computer? question above.

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How are my actual costs input?

Actual costs may be entered periodically using the Resource Timesheet window. The resource timesheet is laid out in a format similar to the paper based forms that most companies use to track their daily resource usage. The costs of resources entered from the resource timesheet are used as the first estimate of the project's actual costs. This estimate of the costs may be compared with the project's budget allowing the Project Manager to obtain an immediate indication of how the project is performing day by day.
Costs which are not appropriate to record using the resource timesheet (such as fees, office rent and other overhead type costs) may be entered directly into Expert Project's Cost Explorer window.

When invoices are received from suppliers, the estimated (accrued) costs entered may be confirmed by reconciling the invoice value against the estimate of the resources value used. By using this method of recording costs, the Project Manager gains an IMMEDIATE indication of how the project's costs compare with the budget. Recording the costs periodically on-site enables you to take corrective action (if required) sooner than if you were using conventional accounting methods where the data is not made available to the manager until days (and even months) after the cost was incurred; time really is money!

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Does Expert Project allow me to estimate a forecast cost to complete for each cost code?

Yes. Expert Project allows you to forecast your Cost to Complete for each budget cost code in a number of ways. A full Cost Estimate may be produced for the forecast to complete using the same powerful Cost Estimate window that is available in Expert Estimation. If the project was originally estimated using Expert Estimation and imported into Expert Project, you have the option of using the original tender estimate as the baseline for your forecast cost to complete. The forecast may also be automatically generated using one of three standard forecasting formula (where the forecast cost to complete is based on the performance of the cost code to date for the project).

 

Your periodic forecasts to complete are retained for future reference as the project progresses.

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Can I estimate variations from within Expert Project?

Yes. Variations to the project may be estimated using the same powerful Cost Estimate window that is available in Expert Estimation. Your variations may be cost coded for producing your project's budget cost for the variations. Claimed and anticipated selling rates may be nominated for the variation item, or the selling rates may be calculated by applying percentage margins to the costs or using selling rates applied to the estimates resources.

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Can I track the costs and production for areas of work?

Yes. Expert Project includes a Tracking module for tracking the actual production and costs for work tasks, and comparing these with target costs and production for the task.

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Can I produce progress claims from within Expert Project?

Yes. Expert Project allows you to produce a Progress Claim which may be either generated automatically based on the actual Progress quantities entered to date for the selling items, or the quantities to claim for each claim item may be entered manually.

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Will Expert Project warn me when important actions need to occur?

Yes. Expert Project includes a Project Action List (PAL) window that will appear each time the project is opened. The Project Action list advises when important events are due to occur so that action may be taken, such as when a Progress Claim is due to be submitted, or when you are required to notify the client of an Extension of Time claim.

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Does Expert Project include Earned Value Analysis or Cost/Schedule Control System Criteria (C/SCSC) calculations?

Yes. Expert Project has earned value analysis calculations enabling you to compare your Budget Cost of Work Scheduled (BCWS) with your Budget Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) and Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP), producing both your Schedule Performance Index (SPI) and Cost Performance Index (CPI) for your project .

Expert Project also contains numerous other analyses allowing you to view the performance of your project as globally or in as much detail as required.

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Does Expert Project come with a document control module?

Yes. In Expert Project it is called the Information Management System (IMS). The Information Management System allows you to record all information flowing in and out of your project (whether the information is a document, a phone call, a fax, email etc). Information documents may be categorized, the document text and keywords may be recorded, a link to the original file can be created for easy access, a distribution list may be set up and a person may be nominated to action the information document.

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Where can I find out more information?

More information may be found in the following pages of this web site, or by contacting Pronamics.

Expert Project	The Expert Project page provides an overview of what the software can be used for and how it works.
Features	The features page provides a detailed look at the features that make Expert Project the project cost management system of choice for professional project managers.
Training	Included with your purchase of an Expert Project license is a voucher to attend a scheduled one day hands on training course. This page contains details of what will be covered in your training session.
Evaluate Expert Project	To experience Expert Project yourself an evaluation may be requested here.

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