Glossary

Updated on 08 Jan 2024

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Glossary Term	Definition
anticipated close date	A value set when creating an opportunity. The purpose of this field is to allow the sales rep to record when they believe the client will decide to proceed with the work (i.e., sign the contract or the work order).
bid	Synonymous with an estimate.
catalog item	Within the Aspire system, a catalog item is a specific labor, material, equipment, subcontractor, or another item required to perform a service. It is not unusual for any landscape company to have hundreds or thousands of catalog items. Each catalog item has an associated unit that defines how that item is priced.
client	The term “client” is used to refer to customers of Aspire, LLC. Using this term allows Aspire team members to distinguish between Aspire’s clients and the customers of those clients.
contact	Within the Aspire system, a contact is a person with whom landscape businesses interact and contains information about those persons (i.e., contact information, location information, etc.).
contract	A contract is one of two types of Opportunities – the other type being a Work Order. Contracts tend to be for recurring jobs to be completed over a time period, which can be renewed yearly. Both contracts and work orders represent customer agreements for a landscape company to perform work.
custom fields	Aspire allows system administrators to add fields to track additional information about contacts or properties that are not otherwise built into Aspire.
customer	The term “customer” refers to the customers of Aspire’s clients – customers of the landscape businesses that utilize Aspire to run their businesses. See “client” for additional clarification.
earned revenue	Revenue that has been earned for each work ticket (can be aggregated up to the job) is based on the amount of work completed relative to the anticipated revenue estimated for the work ticket. Work completed is determined based on hours spent and the cost of materials that have been applied to the job. The calculation for earned revenue is as follows: *Earned Revenue = Percent Complete Total Estimated Revenue Percent Complete = Actual Cost to Date / Expected Total Cost on Estimate**
estimate	An Estimate is associated with an Opportunity (Job, Contract, Work Order). The estimate identifies the services to be performed to fulfill a given job, along with the associated cost for those services.
fictitious items	Fictitious items are catalog items not placed directly into inventory based on the purchase of the associated materials on a purchase receipt. Examples include self-owned equipment, miscellaneous irrigation items, chemical tank mixes, etc. In the case of self-owned equipment or miscellaneous irrigation items, you might record these as having come from inventory when applying the items to the job, allowing the inventory quantities to go negative and then reconcile during this inventory management process. In the case of chemical tank mixes, the mixture items will be entered into inventory based on the mixing of chemicals purchased, and then the mixture placed in inventory as explained more fully in the article Managing Chemical Tank Mixtures.
forecasting	Considering the future to anticipate resource needs, typically labor hours.
gross margin %	Calculation of gross margin % depends on the setting of the Show Gross Margin Less Sub-option on the Application tab of the Application Configuration screen. If enabled, the Gross Margin is calculated without subcontractor cost as follows: Net Gross Margin (%) = (Total Rev - (Labor Cost + Material Cost + Equipment Cost + Other Cost + Sub Cost)) / (Total Rev – Sub Cost) This compares with the standard gross margin formula: Net Gross Margin (%) = (Total Rev - (Labor Cost + Material Cost + Equipment Cost + Other Cost + Sub Cost)) / (Total Rev)
indirect time	Labor hours not costed to a job and are part of the overhead costs for the company.
item	See “Catalog Item”
job	Once the landscape company has won an opportunity (see “Win”), it is commonly referred to as a job.
net profit	The calculation to add net profit to a price that only includes overhead markup to determine the total price. Price with Profit = Price with Markup / (1 – Profit Percent)
one-time items	Items represent any resource having associated costs that can be applied to a job. There are five item types: labor, materials, equipment, subcontractors, and others. Aspire's item catalog maintains a list of items that may be applied to jobs, along with their associated costs and other basic information. One-time items are not maintained in the item catalog but determined on the fly and applied to a job or a purchase receipt.
opportunity	Within the Aspire system, an opportunity represents potential or actual work the landscape company will perform for a customer associated with a single contract or agreement. Typically, a landscape company will have many opportunities with any given customer over time. Examples of opportunities include maintenance contracts, enhancement/extra work, or installation/construction – each with all their associated services.
opportunity service	An opportunity service is added to a specific opportunity when creating the estimate for the opportunity. When an opportunity is won, work tickets are created for each of its opportunity services. The number of work tickets created for each opportunity service for a contract is determined by the number of occurrences of the opportunity service specified in the estimate. For work orders, Aspire creates one work ticket for each opportunity service.
opportunity template	In Aspire, you can create opportunity templates that provide a starting point for creating new opportunities. Opportunity templates are created based on existing opportunities. Once the template has been created, from an opportunity, the template can be modified to make it more general. While any of the opportunity information can be saved in a template, the most notable time savings is realized by defining the bid structure for specific types of jobs in templates.
opportunity type	The Aspire system supports two types of opportunities: contracts and work orders. Contracts tend to be for recurring jobs to be completed over a time period and that can be renewed from year-to-year. Work orders are typically used for one-time jobs. Both contracts and work orders represent agreements with customers for a landscape company to perform work.
over/under amount	Represents the difference between the amount of revenue you have invoiced and the revenue you have earned. (Invoiced Revenue – Earned Revenue)
pay code	Designated on the time entry record to indicate a special pay rate for the employees’ hours.
pay schedule	Within the Aspire system, pay schedules define the characteristics of an employee’s compensation pay schedule including hourly vs. salary, when/if overtime pay begins on a daily or weekly basis, and default pay code. Typically, several pay schedules are defined and then assigned to employees based on their role within the company (i.e. management, full time, part-time, etc.) Pay Schedules are created in the Aspire system under the Manage Lists option of the Administration screen. Once a payment schedule has been created, it can be assigned to contacts who are designated as employees.
percent complete	For T&M work tickets or opportunities: earned revenue / estimated price (if the estimated price is zero, divide by 1) For other work tickets or opportunities: actual cost / estimated cost
property	The physical location where opportunities will be estimated and work will be performed.
proposal	A proposal is a document describing work and associated prices that a landscape company delivers to a customer. Aspire generates proposals based on estimates specified for a given opportunity. Aspire allows clients to print proposals to be handed or mailed to their customers, or to email proposals in electronic form.
realize rate	Dollars earned (realized) per hour for a work ticket or opportunity based on the following formula: ([TotalRevenue] - (([MaterialCostEst] + [EquipmentCostEst] + [SubCostEst] + [OtherCostEst] + [MaterialMarkupEst] + [EquipmentMarkupEst] + [SubMarkupEst] + [OtherMarkupEst]) / (1 - Net ProfitPercent]))) / [TotalHoursEst]
revenue per hour	Calculated as follows: Total Revenue / Total Hours
schedule of values	A schedule of values allows you to define an itemized list of valued services to be represented on customer Fixed Price Open Billing work order invoices
service	Within the Aspire system, a service defines a type of work that a landscape company performs on behalf of its customers. It is not unusual for any given landscape company to offer a hundred or more services. Examples of services include; Weekly Maintenance, Irrigation Repairs, Plant Installation, Steel Edging Installation, etc.
sequence number (visit)	When you schedule multiple visits for a given route on the same day, each visit is assigned a sequence number. The sequence numbers for those visits determine the order in which the visit tiles appear on that day and route. When you change the order of tiles on the schedule board by moving them around with the mouse, Aspire renumbers the sequence numbers to enforce the specified order.
site audit	Aspire supports the management of site audits on properties comprised of property reviews (walk-throughs) to identify additional work that may be desired by the customer, to validate work quality, and/or to support ongoing work quality improvement. Site audits are performed on properties and are initiated by clicking the New Property Site Audit icon on the Properties screen.
sub	Subcontractor
takeoff item	(1) Within the Aspire system, a ticket represents an occurrence of a service performed for a customer. For example, a service might be defined as the application of fertilizer. When that service is assigned to an opportunity, and the landscape company “wins” the opportunity, a ticket is created for each fertilizer application on the associated contract. (2) The ticket can also refer to a request submitted to the AspireCare team for assistance using the Aspire system or requesting an enhancement to the Aspire system.
unit	Defines measurement units that determine how a catalog item is quantified. Here are some examples of units: each, cubic yard, linear foot, lb., ton, etc.
vendor	Within the Aspire system, a vendor is a company that provides materials, equipment, or services for a landscape company. No user interface is provided for entering vendors directly into the Aspire system. Rather, vendors are entered into the AP module of an accounting system (i.e. Quickbooks) and then automatically imported into Aspire whenever they are added/modified in the accounting system.
visit	A scheduled appointment for a Work Ticket on the Property for a day and route.
win	When a customer of a landscape company chooses to sign a contract or a work order, the opportunity can be marked as “won” within the Aspire system. Once the opportunity has been marked as “won”, it is often referred to as a job.
work order	A work order is one of two types of Opportunities – the other type being a Contract. Work orders are typically used for one-time jobs that do not have recurring schedules. Both contracts and work orders represent agreements with customers for a landscape company to perform work.

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