What's New in 2021 R5

What's New lists the enhancements and changes made in the 21.05 release. This release is available as of 5/19/2021. Android users can download the mobile app the same day as its release. For iOS users, apps take 24 to 48 hours following the release date to become available in the App Store.

General Information

Important: Please be advised that test and live versions of portal websites must have an SSL certificate applied as of the 2021 R6 release in June. If you update to the R6 release without having an SSL certificate applied, you will not be able to access your portal. For help, see How to Apply an SSL Certificate to Your Portal.
  • How to Update Modules

    • Customers hosted in a Viewpoint cloud solution receive the latest update automatically. For customers who update modules manually, see Update the Portal for help.

  • Application Help now available on Viewpoint Help

    • A beta version of Help for HR Management, Financial Controls, Field Management, and Vista Field Service is now accessible from Viewpoint Help. You can explore this version of Help to get familiar with the new content structure, search capabilities, and other options provided by Viewpoint Help. This content remains under construction but will replace the current Help site in a future release.

      To learn more about Viewpoint Help, including how to search, filter, and generate PDFs of Help articles, see About Viewpoint Help.

HR Management Highlights

The following customer suggestions were added in this release. For a list of defect corrections, see the Issues Fixed page.

  • Onboarding / Applicant Tracking and Personal Info
    • On Form W-4, the exempt checkbox is now disabled if an employee enters dependent amounts in Step 3 or Step 4.

  • Expenses

    • The Expense Posting Dashboard now lists approved expenses by submitted date instead of expense transaction date. Expense Admins can view up to six months of history without having to select an employee.

Financial Controls Highlights

The following customer suggestions were added in this release. For a list of defect corrections, see the Issues Fixed.

  • Purchase Orders

    • Pending PO's are now auto-processed after the final reviewer approves the PO. This removes the requirement to select the Process button when a Pending PO has been approved by all reviewers in the workflow.

      Tip: To restrict Pending PO's from being auto-processed by non-admins, enable the portal setting Restrict Pending PO Processing to PO Admins. PO Admins will be able to select Process when a PO has been approved.
    • New customization options available on the PO Dashboard allow you to quickly find the number of items waiting to be received and the number of items not yet invoiced.
      • Rem. Rec. Units (Remaining Receive Units): New column that shows the number of items not yet received.

      • Rem. Inv. Units (Remaining Invoice Units): New name for the Rem Units column; shows the number of items not yet invoiced.

    • Added new portal setting Allow receiving to Lump Sum Items to allow lump sum units to be added in receiving (Admin > Portal Settings > Purchase Orders > Receiving).

    • Allow users to view quick PO's and pending purchase orders for their jobs without giving them access to processed purchase orders. Use the new advanced portal setting Hide Processed Purchase Orders for members of this employee group (Admin > Portal Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Purchase Orders > Advanced Configuration) to select users who should be able to view the PO Dashboard but not processed purchase orders.

    • Portal setting Restrict Pending PO Processing to PO Admins has been moved from the General Configuration section to the PO Pending section under Admin > Portal Settings > Purchase Orders > PO Pending.

Field Management Highlights

The following customer suggestions were added in this release. For a list of defect corrections, see the Issues Fixed page.

  • Mobile Application
    • Improved error messaging when syncing portal settings on the mobile application.

  • Field Tickets

    • Bulk add time in the Payroll section of the field ticket.

      • To enable this feature, the Grid Timecard Layout must have EarnCode in the Row Group and Shift in the Column Group. See Field Ticket Configuration for details.

      • On the field ticket, the EarnCode lookup is based on the first employee listed in the Employee dropdown (the logged-in user may not be in the PR group selected for the field ticket).

  • Purchase Orders
    • Pending PO's are now auto-processed after the final reviewer approves the PO. This removes the requirement to select the Process button when a Pending PO has been approved by all reviewers in the workflow.

      Tip: To restrict Pending PO's from being auto-processed by non-admins, enable the portal setting Restrict Pending PO Processing to PO Admins. PO Admins will be able to select Process when a PO has been approved.
    • New customization options available on the PO Dashboard allow you to quickly find the number of items waiting to be received and the number of items not yet invoiced.

      • Rem. Rec. Units (Remaining Receive Units): New column that shows the number of items not yet received.

      • Rem. Inv. Units (Remaining Invoice Units): New name for the Rem Units column; shows the number of items not yet invoiced.

    • Added new portal setting Allow receiving to Lump Sum Items to allow lump sum units to be added in receiving (Admin > Portal Settings > Purchase Orders > Receiving).

    • Allow users to view quick PO's and pending purchase orders for their jobs without giving them access to processed purchase orders. Use the new advanced portal setting Hide Processed Purchase Orders for members of this employee group (Admin > Portal Settings > Show Advanced Settings > Purchase Orders > Advanced Configuration) to select users who should be able to view the PO Dashboard but not processed purchase orders.

    • Portal setting Restrict Pending PO Processing to PO Admins has been moved from the General Configuration section to the PO Pending section under Admin > Portal Settings > Purchase Orders > PO Pending.

  • Training
    • On the Manage Training page, expiration dates for training can now be set up to calculate automatically based on the Certification Period entered in HR Codes in Vista.

      • Create a UD field in Vista for training expiration dates (for example, udTrainingExpireDate).

      • Add that ud field name to the portal setting UD Field name to pull Expiration Date for Training Classes from HR Resource Training (Admin > Portal Settings > Training > General Configuration).

Vista Field Service Highlights

The following customer suggestions were added in this release. For a list of defect corrections, see the Issues Fixed page.

  • Offline Capability
    • Offline capability has been added to Vista Field Service. From the hamburger menu, select Enable Offline Access so that technicians can log service trips on a mobile device even when they do not have internet access.

  • Clock In / Clock Out
    • Technicians can clock in via Field Service only if there is an open pay period and PR Timecard Entry batch. See How to Open a Batch in the Portal for assistance.

    • Technicians can now select a Work Order, Scope, and Pay Type when clocking in from Field Service.

  • Work Order Dashboard / Work Orders
    • Trip details now display on the work order dashboard.

      • A new Trip Description section shows trip details (a separate label was added for the Work Order Description).

      • Trip details are pulled from SM Trips in Vista (Details field on the Info tab).

    • New portal setting Include Open Trips in Work Order Dashboard (Admin > Portal Settings > Field Service > General Configuration). Select this setting to include trips with a status of Open in the Work Order Dashboard. If this setting is not selected, technicians will not see trips until they are marked as Notified in Vista.

    • New portal setting Hide SM Summary (Admin > Portal Settings > Field Service > General Configuration). Enable this setting to prevent the summary of labor hours, equipment units, and items from displaying on the work order.

    • When adding equipment to a work order, the Equipment dropdown now shows up to 20 pieces of equipment. Previously, up to 10 pieces of equipment were shown.

    • Site Details now include the name of the technician assigned to a service trip and the trip date.

    • Paragraphs and line breaks are now supported when adding site notes to a work order.

    • General UI improvements were made to the Work Order History.

  • Scopes
    • Technicians are now prompted to confirm before adding a new scope to a work order.

    • Purchase orders created in Field Service now include the Pay Terms from AP Vendors in Vista.

    • Technicians can now search for equipment by number or description. Previously, they could search by description only.

  • Close Trips
    • Attach forms as separate PDF documents instead of as a single merged document on the scope or work order in Vista by enabling the new portal setting: Attach forms as separate attachments instead of one single merged document (Admin > Portal Settings > Field Service > General Configuration).