Spectrum Construction Software by Dexter + Chaney

The program is GREAT. If you have tons of cash that needs to be spent because you need the write-offs, you can't go wrong with Spectrum! The rest of you need to make sure you are prepared to spend $100K in your first couple years!!!!!

Pros

Funny functional program that has the potential to be the last accounting platform you ever have to purchase. VERY powerful

Cons

These guys are VERY misleading about the total cost of ownership. VERY expensive program. VERY expense maintenance agreement that is required. VERY expensive implementation. VERY expensive professional services. Every little thing you need to do to get this program setup for your business is going to cost you THOUSANDS of dollars.

would be nice to have more options rather than updates simply being taken away due to a few vocal users.

Pros

project management and billing well designed and supported; customer service almost always on target with analysis or calls back.

Cons

accounting features and options not available for cash management, some procedures and sequence of input for draw requests and change orders very tedious and convoluted.

I love how easy this software is to use. Having the "help" at the top is so easy to use, because whatever you are in and have questions about it you just click on the help button and it takes you to exactly what you are working on and helps you through it. This has been a huge help with new employees

Pros

Ease of use, can set it up exactly they way you like

The Spectrum software is the most powerful accounting program we have found for construction.

Pros

Easy to use, always on top of changes needed to comply with the ever changing world.

The software is very functional for project based accounting.

Pros

Web based provides unbarred access
Easy to learn. Entry in the modules is logical and intuitive
Reports can be exported and are organized well
Customer support is very responsive to questions and concerns

Cons

Document imaging is somewhat cumbersome when uploading multiple images
If I move too fast in the system, I'm logged off automatically and have to log back in and re-enter data.

Pros

The ability to create custom reports to fit the needs of your business.
They are willing to listen to what you have to say and are willing to make changes to fit your company's needs.
Able to accomplish several tasks from within a company.

Cons

A lot of items have drop downs, however when creating a Work Order, you cannot have a drop down list for Mechanics that working on the equipment.
Would be nice to have the Mechanics section auto fill if the mechanic is creating a work order.
Help link could use a little improvement and better examples/descriptions

I love this software! The report options are endless!

Pros

For years my company used Mas90. While it was a good software, we needed something geared more toward job costing and our service department, that could also handle the growth of the company. We have also recently ventured toward multi-state payroll, multi-company. We are able to switch companies with ease - no logging out!

Cons

We have been using Spectrum since 2012 but have only touched the surface with its functionality. However, there support staff is wonderful as well as their training options.

Pros

Very easy to use and there are many different ways to view information which helps keep things changing which allows us to uncover things we weren't seeing in the past.

Cons

Report customization within the program instead of using Crystal Reports would be much better. That's about the only con that I have for this program. We love it!

My primary focus in accounting is making sure jobs are appropriately costed and billed. I love the variety of canned reports spectrum has to offer. It saves me time exporting data in excel for review by department PMs.

Pros

If I can not find a report that fits my needs I can easily building Queries.

Cons

Spectrum is like a new Cadillac so many features it takes a lot of time to learn them all.

Pros

Spectrum is easy to navigate through even if you are a beginner user. From learning the basics to extremes, this software can do it all! They even created custom reports specific to our needs.

Cons

I haven't really ran into anything that effects me from doing my job. Sometimes Spectrum runs a tad slow, but that's just a matter of logging out and back in.

The Service Contract module is not user-friendly. Calls to support have resulted in more research needed on their part to get the answers we need to use the module.

Pros

I appreciate the ease of moving from module to module. You definitely need to know Accounting to use the financial modules.

Cons

Every module is an additional cost & additional cost for training/support. Although, the support team is very responsive.

While the product has great features for costing, the reports and review capabilities are limited. It is very difficult to drill down on certain types of transactions and get enough information.

There are also many issues with Canadian Payroll and a lack of support with knowledge.

The new upgrade also has many bugs and requires a significant amount of time with developers to take corrective action. While this is free of charge, does not seem to respect that my time spent costs the company money. I don't trust the accuracy of posting in Spectrum.

Pros

It is really great for costing. It provides simple job costing for labour, equipment, and cost management. There is free product support (US based) and (most of) the people there are extremely helpful and want to help y ou find a solution.

Cons

-The biggest flaw is the very small field space for memo lines. We have to keep many backup journals
-If any payments are made other than through the AP module, it is really difficult to drill down on a prior transaction.
-Posting errors for payroll (such as posting to the wrong job or equipment number) can only be corrected by completely voiding and re-entering the entire payroll. There are obviously times where an employee is going to mix up information. We can do a correcting journal entry so the costs are correct, however, labour cost reports don't pick up Journal Entries.

There are a lot of features and different uses but it seems to be a software mostly applicable for accounting. As far as a project management tool it lacks some of the major necessities. There is no access for the guys in the field so it has some downfalls there.

Pros

- Lots of features and breakdowns as far as the money side goes.

Cons

- Needs to be more accessible to the guys in the field, that meaning foreman.
- Entering names into a project can be difficult at times
- The software itself is very slow

My primary concerns when looking for a new ERP platform were:
1) Integration with our HCSS and Command-Alkon software
2) Web-based platform that I could access just about anywhere
3) Intuitive for our people so the learning curve would be smaller
4) Better reporting options
5) Robust Job Costing

Pros

We have only been live for a month but so far Spectrum has lived up to its billing. Our people that use it daily have already remarked about how easy it is to use and how much time it is saving.

Cons

So far none other than self inflicted ones. What I mean by this is that our older system was a mess and conversion was made more difficult by that. I would put more time on the front end than you think you will need to make sure you are brining over as clean of data that you can.

Additionally, the price was a little misleading at the beginning as the implementation can be anywhere from an additional 50% - 100% of the actual software cost. I think it is worth it 100% but just something to account for in your shopping and comparison process.

Advice to Others

Start early, ask tons of questions, and get permission to talk to references who have switched from your platform to the new one (I talked to 2 different companies). These calls will do wonders for getting you ready in ways you didn't even know you needed.

I recently started my position with a contracting engineering company, so I have not been using the software for very long. However during my 5 months of employment so far, I have experienced no issues. I've been very satistified with all aspects of Spectrum that I have been exposed to thus far. I have no complaints.

Spectrum software is very functional and easy to use. The fact that it is web browser based gives versatility that many other products do not have. We can also run it anywhere we have an internet connection. Implementation went fairly seamlessly for us upgrading from another software suite. The reps are very responsive when we need help. Tech support has been great when we need it. Now that we are two years down the road from implementation, we probably only call Tech Support several times per year, but they are there when we need them!

Pros

Web based
Robust

Likes Best

It is user-friendly (quite easy to use and to train others to use). There are constant updates (service paks) that keep the product current. There is always something new that enhances existing modules. If we ever have problems, they are addressed quickly.

Likes Least

The HR module is lacking in many ways. We run many HR functions outside Spectrum (spreadsheets, files, etc). User securities could be improved on (ease of setup).

Recommendations

As long as you are not looking for heavy HR usage, this is a great product and will do everything you want it to do.The modules all work well together for the greatest functionality (except HR).

Likes Best

Spectrum did a great job with tracking our union info, as we had a few different unions, all with more than one local. The standard reports were easy to use, although could use a bit of tweaking for saved templates. Payroll was an easy step-by-step process.

Likes Least

We were only allowed 2 people to be authorized for support calls. We had more licenses than that, and everyone that works on the system should be allowed to call with their own issues. The report writing feature could be much more user-friendly. We had to create our custom reports directly in Crystal Reports, which takes much training. Other software I've used have used Crystal in the background, but with an intuitive, easy writer built into the software. This was a much better software before they moved from an installation to a web-based system.

Recommendations

I used this at my last job. Our company was already using this when I started my position, but it was an installed system. There are probably better software solutions for our company, but since switching isn't cake, we stayed with them even when the new web-based system had several issues. I'd recommend really looking around if you're just starting or looking for a change.

Likes Best

This product offers plenty of customization capability and provide any type of user a unique working experience. Its full featured reporting and document management offers a great piece of mind. The application, with little customization, can support a wide variety of industries. The multi-company support capability offers a solution that can grow as you do.

Likes Least

The dashboard has some limitations and the configuration can take some time depending on information you need. Deployment of bug fixes often results in the introduction of new issue that may take a little time to get resolved after the patch was applied. The add-on can drive up the cost quickly

Recommendations

Be sure all the features you need are included in the package to avoid additional future charges. Shop around on pricing but be mindful of the processes and objectives having and using this software will provide.

Likes Best

I like that the product is able to be used online, so I can access my data anywhere. As a company, Dexter + Chaney is very professional and responds to consumer feedback.

Likes Least

I don't like that the dashboard doesn't read from multiple companies at once. I don't like that it's very expensive to add on extra components.

Recommendations

I would say to do a few trials of the software and have someone sit down with you to go through every step of your current system and determine what you're trying to achieve before making a decision.