Introduction to the Aspire Platform

Landscaping and commercial cleaning businesses use Aspire to streamline, automate, and optimize processes. With precise bidding, real-time job costing, and live performance insights, owners improve margins and unlock new profit potential. For a video overview or to book a demo, visit our website.

The Aspire Platform

The Aspire platform is a secure, browser-based system where everyone in your organization can work and collaborate together. This article gives you a general overview of how you’ll navigate the Aspire platform.

Aspire has persistent elements that you’ll use every day and that are visible no matter what page you’re on. Let’s look at each one.

The Navigation Bar

The navigation bar is on the left side of the desktop interface, and it’s the main way you’ll navigate the platform. The navigation bar has five key features.

1. The logo

This is more than just a pretty picture! Clicking this takes you to the Dashboard where you can create and view charts and graphs that give an at-a-glance overview of how your company’s doing. Everyone can build and manage their own dashboard, so everyone gets the information and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that they need to do their jobs.

2. The Quick Menu

This nifty menu is your shortcut to common tasks you’ll complete in Aspire. Many of the options in the Quick Menu are also available in other areas in the Platform – it’s just quicker to use the Quick Menu sometimes. We have articles that talk about all of the options in the Quick Menu, so keep exploring articles to learn more.

3. Search Aspire

Click Search Aspire to easily find nearly anything in Aspire with a simple name or number search right within the Quick Menu. Use one of the prefix characters below to narrow the search to specific result types:

Click on a result to go right to the page or information you’re looking for. The search history helps you find information again if you go somewhere else in the platform.

4. Modules

Aspire’s modules are where you add, manage, and review information, and they’re where you’ll spend most of your time. The modules you have access to depend on your User Role and the Permissions assigned to your role.

The modules include:

• Activities - This is where you create and manage Appointments, Tasks, Issues, Emails, and Milestones in the platform. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Activities module.

• Calendar - This is where you keep track of Tasks and Appointments. You can even sync it with your Microsoft Outlook or Gmail calendars so you can view and track everything in one place. Learn more in our article about the Calendar module.

• Contacts - This is where you keep records of everyone your company works with, including customers, employees, vendors, and subcontractors. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Contacts module.

• Properties - This is where you keep records of all the places where your company does work. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Properties module.

• Opportunities - This is where you track potential or actual work that your company will perform for a customer and build Estimates. Over the course of your history with a customer, you’ll create many opportunities and estimates for their properties. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Opportunities module.

• Scheduling - This is where you assign jobs you’ve been hired to do to crews. This module is key to making sure crews get to their jobs with the correct materials, their hours are tracked appropriately, and they have accurate directions so they can give your customers timely service. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Scheduling module.

• Work Tickets - This is where you can view the specific jobs and tasks your company has been hired to perform for customers. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Work Tickets module.

• Reports - This is where you can select, summarize, and display information to provide understanding that supports decision-making, complete end of month processes, and much more. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Reports module.

• Invoicing - This is where you prepare, review, send, track, and receive payment for invoices for work you’ve completed for customers. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Invoicing module.

• Purchasing - This is where you purchase and track materials for work you’ve been hired to do, or buy inventory for later work. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Purchasing module.

• Equipment - This is where you add and track equipment your company owns, log meter readings, schedule and record service appointments, forecast and track fuel costs, and much more. Learn more in our collection of articles about the Equipment module.

5. The user menu

Click your user name in the bottom left corner of the screen to access the Administration, User Settings, and About Aspire pages, or to log out of the platform.

• Administration - This is where your company’s system administrators set up the building blocks of your Aspire system and determine how everyone else uses the system.

• User Settings - This is where you set up some basic aspects of your personal experience in the Aspire platform.

Visit our collections of Administration and User Settings articles to learn more about both.

Navigation bar

Along the top of every page in Aspire is a bar containing three things, plus an additional Weather item if you’re on the Dashboard.

1. Tabs and sub-tabs

As you use the Aspire platform, you’ll find some screens have tabs and sub-tabs that keep navigation organized and simple.

2. Notifications

Click this bell icon to view system notifications and alerts about things that need your attention.

Some alert types only appear when you have the right permissions.

Alert types include:

• Pending Batches - Click this option to visit the Invoicing > Invoice Batches tab with the list filtered to show Invoice Batches that have been created but not completed.

• Undelivered Emails - Click this option to view a list of emails that couldn’t be sent so you can try resending them.

• Emails with Unknown Contacts - When you sync your email account with Aspire, this notification lets you view emails that were sent to or received from email addresses that don't match any contacts in your Aspire instance. Click this option to view a list of emails with unknown contacts and assign them to an existing contact or ignore the error.

• Submittals Pending - Click this option to visit the Opportunities > Submittal Projects > Action Needed tab to view submittals not assigned to a specific opportunity, which need review and approval.

• Pending Estimate Approvals - Click this option to view a list of Opportunities with completed Estimates that require approval. Estimate approvals can be set up in Administration > Estimating > Workflows. Learn more in our article about Workflows.

• Expiring Payment Methods - Click this option to view a list of contacts whose cards on file are expiring soon. Clicking a contact in the list takes you to that person’s contact record so you can update their card on file.

• Rejected Electronic Payments - Click this option to view a list of electronic payments that couldn’t be completed.

• Failed Bank Deposits - Click this option to view and manage a list of bank deposits that couldn’t be processed through your synced accounting software.

• Clock Time Entry Record Conflicts - Click this option to review and correct crew member clock time conflicts.

• Work Ticket Time Entry Record Conflicts - Click this option to review and correct crew member reported clock time that conflicts with Work Ticket time clocked.

• Pending Time Correction Requests - Click this alert to view a list of time correction requests that crew members submitted through Aspire Mobile or Crew Mobile. Click on a list item to view the person's request and review and complete corrections.

• Exchange Sync Connection Error - If your linked Google or Outlook email account stops syncing properly, this error directs you to your User Profile where you can reconnect your email.

3. Resource center

This is a quick way to access all the awesome resources we offer to support your journey in Aspire.

4. Weather (Dashboard only)

When you’re on the Aspire Dashboard, the top bar shows the current weather in your location. Click on the weather, then click the pencil icon to edit your location and temperature preferences, or click the View Forecast button to open Weather Underground’s forecast for your area.

Now you know about the basics of navigating the Aspire Platform! Keep reading the articles in this section to learn more.