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Stage 4: Core Configuration

Core Configuration is where a large share of configuration time is spent: configuring Vista to the client. If the client has multiple companies, that means configuring multiple companies as well (not a one-company-only stage).

Testing & Training is often comparable in effort and is the most important stage for outcomes. Plan for both.

Use the data pyramid to show build order, name module owners from the Onboarding role matrix, sync visibility and assignees into Company Tracker, and keep HQ / module setup trackable there. Export the plan when you need a start-to-finish, implementation-specific PDF of the work.

phase_key: core_configuration

What this stage accomplishes​

  • The team shares a common sequencing story for foundational configuration (data pyramid: financial foundation through jobs / costing, then Service last when in scope).
  • In-scope modules have owners (default assignees from the Onboarding role matrix, adjusted as needed). Owner means accountable that setup is correct for how they do their job.
  • Company Tracker hide/show and assignees match this company’s scope and Stage 4 ownership so HQ / module work can be executed and tracked.
  • The team has a recommended HQ Module Setup order for executing Tracker actions.
  • The team can export an implementation-specific plan PDF (tasks for a user or overall), not just product help.

Typical work / artifacts​

  • Data-pyramid sequencing agreement (tiers from financial foundation through Service when in scope, including what each tier unlocks)
  • Vista module guide aligned to Onboarding module scope (in scope vs not selected) with assignees
  • Company Tracker visibility sync (hide out-of-scope modules) and assignee sync from Stage 4 ownership
  • Execution of HQ / module setup work in Tracker and Vista using the recommended order below
  • Optional: Export Plan PDF (per user or overall) as the start-to-finish implementation handout

Data pyramid (build order)​

Show the client the build order. Lower tiers unlock upper tiers. Do not skip the foundation and expect jobs, billing, or Service to behave.

Tier 1: Financial foundation (most important)​

GL accounts (Chart of Accounts) and Departments are the two most important setups. They are the core of structure. Everything else hangs off this layer.

Tracker detail for COA work: GL Chart of Accounts.

Tier 2: Core business records​

Vendors, customers, and employees. Needed to start testing those areas of the software.

Tier 3: Jobs and transactional costing / billing​

Layers that deepen setup so testing can go further:

  • Jobs reference the related customer.
  • With vendors, start charging cost to the job.
  • With the customer, bill against the job.
  • With employees, charge time to the job.
  • Same idea for equipment costing and material costing as those areas come in.

Tier 4: Service work​

Service is a separate animal. If the client has Service, treat it as a fully dedicated separate area and configure it last. There are some customer tie-ins, but for the most part Service comes last when it is in scope. If Service is not in scope, leave it out of the active plan (visibility sync hides it).

Module ownership​

Stage 1’s role matrix feeds this stage. In the Vista module guide, use Apply default assignees to pull those leads into module defaults, then adjust per module (AP, AR, CM / Cash, Payroll, Billing / JB, Inventory, and the rest as scoped).

  • One person can own multiple modules, or ownership can split. Typical pattern: Payroll is owned by the payroll person, not usually the Controller; AP may sit with the AP lead; Billing / JB may be separated; Inventory depends on the client.
  • Owning setup is not the same as doing every data entry. The owner is accountable that setup is correct for how they need to do their job. Example: a payroll person with unions is responsible that unions (and rates) are set up correctly; that same person later tests that setup.
  • Ideally the owner still enters or updates enough records to stay familiar with maintaining the area. Things can change because it is a new ERP; ownership stays the accountability anchor.

Step 2 only sets module ownership for sync. It does not write Company Tracker action assignees until you run Sync assignees in the Company Tracker bridge below.

Company Tracker bridge​

Company Tracker is a large list of potential setup tables / tasks that can occur in an implementation. Stage 4 is the Playbook bridge that connects this stage to that plan of record. Day-to-day action work lives in Tracker; detailed HQ setup articles stay in the Tracker docs (linked in the spine below). Module overviews live under Vista.

Sync and navigation actions​

  1. Sync visibility (hide / show): Default assumption: Tracker shows everything. Sync hides modules the client is not doing (for example Equipment or Inventory) so those tasks do not even appear on Company Tracker for this company.
  2. Sync assignees: Uses Stage 4 module ownership. Updates Company Tracker tasks so the correct people are assigned (Replace existing or Add to existing, per the product dialog).
  3. Open Company Tracker: Jump into the Tracker itself to work milestones and actions.

Product how-to for the sync panel: Complete the Core Configuration Stage. Plan-of-record mechanics: Manage companies, milestones, and actions.

Cores and milestones​

  • Cores map roughly to Playbook stages (examples: prerequisites, core configuration, integrations, training). Think: cores ≈ Playbook stages.
  • Milestones are module groupings under a core. Under the Core Configuration core you will see groupings such as General Ledger, Cash Management, Job Cost, Payroll, and so on. The Payroll milestone holds the payroll setup tasks; users update status there. The page also filters by status, priority, assigned to, and related fields.

Export the plan​

Call this out. Exporting the plan is a real differentiator, not a nice-to-have PDF button.

From Company Tracker, Export Plan generates a PDF of tasks (for a particular user or overall). That document is a start-to-finish implementation guide: what to do and how, with exact steps and instructions to implement Vista for this company.

Trimble Help is excellent detailed product help, but it is not implementation-specific. Users still have to interpret product screens into an implementation path. Robonauts / TUDS carries implementation-specific knowledge, including paths that use other products such as TAD for data import. The exported plan is that knowledge packaged as the working checklist.

How-to for the export dialog: Manage companies, milestones, and actions. (This is the milestone / action plan PDF, not the Playbook stage / package export.)

Use this Headquarters Module Setup spine as the recommended configuration order when executing Tracker actions after visibility and assignees are in place. Company Tracker may surface a subset of HQ actions at any time; the full Phase 1 spine is documented here for process reference.

  1. HQ Groups
  2. HQ Company Setup
  3. HQ Payment Terms
  4. HQ Tax Codes
  5. HQ Units of Measure
  6. HQ Frequency Codes
  7. HQ States
  8. HQ Hold Codes (AP-related)
  9. HQ Liability Types (payroll)
  10. HQ Insurance Codes (payroll)
  11. HQ Earn Types (payroll)
  12. HQ Material Categories
  13. HQ Materials
  14. HQ Contacts
  15. HQ Compliance Codes
  16. HQ Compliance Groups
  17. HQ Reviewers
  18. HQ Reviewer Groups

Module overviews (Tracker Module Setup linked where shipped: HQ, GL, CM, JC, AP, AR, JB, PO, SL, IN, EM, HR; others TBD): GL, CM, JC, AP, AR, JB, PR, HR, PO, SL, PM, IN, EM, MS, SM, VA.

Exit / moves to next stage​

Core Configuration is complete when foundational sequencing, module ownership, and Tracker visibility / assignees are in place for ongoing HQ / module setup. The implementation then moves to Integrations.

In the product​

In Mission Control, complete the Core Configuration workspace (data pyramid, module guide, and Tracker sync for visibility / assignees). For step-by-step UI, see Complete the Core Configuration Stage. For Company Tracker plan work and Export Plan, see Manage companies, milestones, and actions. For shell navigation and Playbook package exports, see Run the Implementation Playbook.