Equip yourself with the right tools at Aptora University.

The Most Extensive Total Office Manager® Training.

March 2025 Student Enrollment Begins Now!

Welcome to Aptora University, where our exclusive, hands-on seminar is designed to help you master Total Office Manager. With only 50 spots available, this three-day training offers an immersive learning experience led by industry experts, providing you with the practical skills to streamline your workflow, increase efficiency, and drive business success.

This is a unique opportunity to learn directly from professionals who understand the real-world applications of Total Office Manager. Don’t miss your chance to secure one of the limited spots and gain valuable insights to elevate your business. Act fast and reserve your place today!

Days
Hours
Minutes

Pricing

Invest In a Smoother, Problem-Free Tomorrow
$ 2500 All Access Pass
  • Single Day Training $1000
  • 20% discount on all additional tickets for employees of the same company
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Before You Come

Prerequisites

The systems we will be working with will require a certain level knowledge and experience for the students to get the most out of the training. We recommend that attendees have the following skills before attending the advanced classes. 

  • A good understanding of inventory, including invoice item types and how they affect financial reports. 
  • You should be comfortable explaining what the Chart of Accounts is, including account types and how they affect an income statement and balance sheet. 
  • You should be comfortable explaining debits and credits and how they are used to explain changes to financial reports. 
  • Attendees should be comfortable with basic concepts related to work orders, schedule board, timesheets, invoices, and related systems in Total Office Manager. 
  • It is important to understand the basics of handling work orders and invoices in our mobile app.

Intended Audience

The ideal attendees are managers and those designated as the Total Office Manager Admins. The TOM Admin is the person(s) who is tasked with learning the most about Aptora software and providing support and training for your company.  This session is not ideal for dispatchers or service technicians.

What to Expect

  • Hands on lessons by a software expert with 25+ years of contracting and bookkeeping experience. 
  • Additional trainers will be on hand to provide instant answers to individual questions. 
  • Specific questions and problems will be addressed on a one-on-one basis. 
  • We will cover advanced features and reporting.

Topics

  • Inventory Accounting, Adjustments, and Review 
  • Understanding the Perpetual Inventory System
  • Mobile Schedule Board
  • Accessing remote files and creating remote documents 
  • Save time and increase efficiency with filters and advanced search
  • Create Smart Lists to manage workloads
  • Performance Dashboards
  • The essential bookkeeping functions required to use this system
  • Setup and usage for technicians and office staff

What to Bring

  • Bring your own laptop if you would like to log into your own instance to address questions or issues with one of our trainers.
  • Networked computers will be provided to simulate a real multi-user environment.
AptoraU #2

Itinerary

March 2025 Session:

Day 1: Accounting deep dive, inventory, sales tax, invoicing, open Q&A

Day 2: Banking, payroll, project management, marketing, asset tools, networking

Day 3: Introducing TOM Next Gen, FSM App, dashboards, software optimization

*Click Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday above to see the full daily agenda.

Session I

7:00 AM to 8:00 AM: Breakfast Provided

8:00 AM to 10:00 AM: 

Accounting Review

  • Hand Out Free 650 Page TOM Manual 
  • Key Preferences and Settings 
  • Chart of Accounts Best Practices 
  • Departmentalization Setup 
  • Income Statement Review 
  • Balance Sheet Review 
  • Understanding the Cashflow Statement 
  • Accrual versus Cash Accounting Methods 
  • Demystifying Debits and Credits 
  • Understanding Financial Ratios 

Contact Management 

  • Setting up Customers, Jobs, & Locations 
  • Create User Defined Searches 
  • Customer, Vendor, and Employee History 
  • Managing Contact Logs, Notes, and Alerts 
  • Tricks for Batch Updating Contacts 
  • Customer List Cleanup Techniques
 

10:00 AM to 10:15 AM: Morning Break

 
Session II

10:15 AM to 12:00 PM: Lunch Provided

Inventory Management 

  • Free Inventory Management Book 
  • Why Track Inventory (Pros & Cons) 
  • Inventory Accounting Basics 
  • Invoice Item Types Overview 
  • Make it Easy to Find Parts 
  • Item Numbers and Item Aliases 
  • Using Item and Task Categories 
  • Establishing Stocking Lists 
  • Setup Warehouses and Reorder Points 
  • How to Price Items & Services 
  • Tracking Usage and Reordering 
  • Fixing Inventory Count Issues 
  • Flat Rate Pricing Setup and Management 
  • Applying Markups & Bulk Price Updates 
  • Bar Code Setup, Scanning, and Tips 
  • Inventory History and Reports 

 

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM: Lunch Provided 

Session III

1:00 PM to 3:00 PM:

Sales Tax Setup and Management 

  • Sales Tax Preferences 
  • Sales Tax Payments 
  • Sales Tax Adjustments 
  • Sales Tax Reports 

Invoicing and Estimating 

  • Sales versus Invoices 
  • Estimating Jobs and Creating Proposals 
  • Entering Invoices, Sales, and Credits 
  • Progress Billing & AIA Billing 
  • Percentage of Completion Billing 
  • Using Credit Hold to Protect Collections 
  • Holding Items with Item Reservations 
  • Invoicing Reimbursables for Jobs 
  • Selling Equipment 
  • Customizing and Printing Invoices 

 

3:00 PM to 3:15 PM: Afternoon Break

Session IV

3:15 PM to 5:30 PM:

Accounts Receivable 

  • Using Credit Hold to Protect Collections 
  • Perform Third-Party Billing 
  • Handling Customer Payments and Credits 
  • Managing Deposits & Undeposited Funds 
  • Using Customer Credits or Refund Checks 
  • Credit Card Setup and Processing 
  • How to use Batch E-Pay 
  • Customer Statements and Late Fees 
  • Locating & Customizing Related Reports 

Accounts Payable  

  • Purchase Order Management and History 
  • Receiving Items and Item Receipts 
  • Enter Bill for Received Items 
  • Receive Items and Enter Bills 
  • Vendor Bills and Auto Recall 
  • Handling Returned Items & Vendor Credits 
  • Paying Bills and Bill Payment Checks 
  • Writing and Printing Checks 
  • Printing Checks and Vouchers 
  • Understanding the Related Reports

5:30 PM: Adjourn for the Day

 

Aptora Staff Will Stay to Answer Any Questions

Session I

7:00 AM to 8:00 AM: Breakfast Provided

8:00 AM to 10:00 AM:

Banking 

  • Credit Card Setup and Processing 
  • Bank Funds Transfers and Adjustments 
  • Making Journal Entries the Correct Way 
  • Performing Bank Reconciliations 
  • How to Reconcile Credit Cards 
  • Understanding Reconciliation Reports 
  • Understanding Banking Reports 

Schedule Management 

  • Work Order Management 
  • Sending Bulk Emails and Texts 
  • When and How to Appointments 
  • Schedule Board Settings and Usage 
  • Scheduling Workflow 
  • Work Order & Schedule Reports 

10:00 AM to 10:15 AM: Morning Break 

Session II

10:15 AM to 12:00 PM:

Service Agreement Management 

  • Entering Service Agreements 
  • Scheduling Planned Maintenance 
  • Invoicing Service Agreements 
  • Batch Renew Service Agreements 
  • Service Agreement History & Reports 
  • Setup Deferred SA Revenue 
  • Escrow Accounting and Reports 
  • Industry Best Practices and Trends 

Payroll and Timesheets 

  • Entering Billable and Unbillable Time 
  • Payroll Items and Templates 
  • Performance Based Compensation 
  • Managing Benefits and Time off 
  • Processing Tips and Direct Deposit  
  • Common Payroll Setup Problems 
  • Setup and Run Payroll Reports 

Project Management & Job Costing 

  • Basic Setup and Preferences  
  • Impact of Inventory vs. Non-Inventory 
  • Job Costing for Purchases 
  • Job Costing Labor 
  • Job Costing Commissions 
  • Job Costing Additional Overhead 
  • Job Costing Labor Burden 
  • Job Costing Revenue 
  • Explaining the Job Costing Reports 

Financial Reports and Dashboards 

  • Income Statements 
  • Department Overhead Allocation 
  • Balance Sheet 
  • Statement of Cash Flows 
  • Understanding the Executive Summary 
  • How to use the Bookkeeper’s Summary 

12:00 PM to 1:00 PM: Lunch Provided 

Session III

1:00 PM to 3:00 PM:

Sales & Marketing 

  • Sales Opportunity Manager Setup 
  • How to Enter and Track Sales Leads 
  • Create Marketing Lists the Easy Way 
  • Marketing Campaign Setup 
  • Tracking ROI on Marketing Campaigns 
  • Reading and Customizing the Reports 

Asset Manager  

  • Setting up Assets 
  • Asset Contact Log 
  • Tracking Depreciation 
  • Tracking Asset Repairs & Maintenance 
  • Leasing Assets 
  • Assets Report 

3:00 PM to 3:15 PM: Afternoon Break

Session IV

3:15 PM to 5:30 PM: 

Miscellaneous Tools & Utilities 

  • Revealing Little Known Settings 
  • Scanning the Database for Issues 
  • Memorized Transactions 
  • Setting and Using Reminders 
  • Document Manager & Document Links 
  • Advanced Techniques for Searching 
  • Utilities for Data Cleanup 
  • Bulk Editing of Records 
  • Exporting Data to Excel and Reimporting 
  • Tips and Tricks for Importing Data 
  • Custom Reports & Data Views 

Day 2 Wrap-up 

  • Cover any Topics Not Covered 
  • Answer any Remaining Questions 

Solving Accounting Problems 

  • Where Reports Get Their Information 
  • End of Month, Quarter, and Year Tasks 
  • Fixing Common Accounting Problems 
  • Fixing Common Sales Tax Issues 
  • Fixing Common Payroll Difficulties 
  • Professional Accounting Reviews 

5:30 PM: Adjourn for the Day 

5:30 PM to ???: Drinks with James and Company – Open Bar

Section I

7:00 AM to 8:00 AM: Breakfast Provided

8:00 AM to 10:00 AM:

Aptora Mobile II® FSM App  

  • Basic Installation and Setup 
  • Important Security Settings 
  • Key Preferences 
  • Work Order Process from Start to Finish 
  • Entering Timesheets 
  • Invoicing Basics 
  • Credit Card Processing and Payments 
  • Q&A and Open Discussion 

10:00 AM to 10:15 AM: Morning Break

Section II

10:15 AM to 12:00 PM:

Customer Access Portal™  

  • Features and Capabilities 
  • Basic Installation and Setup 
  • How to Manage Users (your customers) 
  • How your Customers Use the System 
  • How the System Operates Internally 

Contractor Compass® Dashboards 

  • Basic Installation and Setup 
  • Getting Total Office Manager Ready 
  • Understanding the Company Dashboard 
  • Using the Technician Scoreboard 
  • Know Where the Numbers Come From 
  • Explaining it and Getting Staff Excited 
  • Troubleshooting Data Issues 
  • Usage and Best Practices 
  • How to Mount Dashboards on Your Walls 
  • New Marketing List Generator Feature 
  • New MailChimp® Campaign Synchronizer 

12 PM to 1:00 PM: Lunch Provided


Section III

1:00 PM to 2:45 PM:

Introducing Total Office Manager – Next Generation® 

  • What is Aptora 360? 
  • How You Can Get it and When 
  • Main Differences in Old vs. New 
  • How to Use it. What You Need to Know 
  • Live Software Demonstration 
  • The Major Improvements 
  • Explaining the API (with examples) 
  • The Status of our Beta Testing 
  • Work That Still Needs Completed 
  • Schedule of Release Dates 
  • What is Needed to Upgrade 
  • New Software Options 
  • Aptora’s Software Roadmap (the future) 
  • Exciting Announcements 

2:45 PM to 3:00 PM: Afternoon Break

(Attendees May Leave Now to Catch Flight)

Section IV

3:00 PM to 4:00 PM:

Making the Software Faster* 

  • Understanding the Database 
  • Database Optimization and Maintenance 
  • Speed Settings to Improve Performance 

Open Q&A and One-on-One Help* 

  • Questions and Answers 
  • Open Discussion on Any Topic 
  • Private Confidential Help Available 
  • We will work with any student who needs personal attention or help with any software issue. 
  • You can remote into your own network and show us issues you are having and get answers to your specific questions. 

*Attendees may leave early if needed to accommodate their travel plans. 

4:00 PM: End of Workshop

Class Goals

Hear Attendee Success Stories Firsthand

Crawford Services Inc

Crawford Services

Tommy Thompson

“Excellent opportunity to cram a huge amount of knowledge into your head. Still working through my notes many weeks later. If you are on the fence on going to Aptora U… Go!”

Hood Heating, Air, Plumbing, and Electric

Luke Hood

"We have been TOM users for 7 years now, migrating multiple companies in multiple different software systems. This week I attended an Aptora University class with three days of in-depth training on a fully functioning database. I was amazed at how much the software can do, and how much more we can utilize it to improve workflow, job costing, reporting, payroll, invoicing, accounts payable and purchasing. James, Arika, and Bryant went above and beyond just training though, we were able to discuss best practices and get feedback from other users on how they use different features... Not only would I recommend this software, but I would also highly recommend attending the Aptora University class to the point that I plan on attending again after I have time to implement some of what I learned. Thanks again, James!"
Air Conditioning & Heating Inc

Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc.

Christine Bryan

"Thank you so much for offering the training class (Aptora University) this week. I enjoyed the class and all who participated. The presentation, Q&A and interactions were extremely insightful. I appreciated being able to interact with the staff and others who use the software as well. The training course has really helped me to take what I know to a new level in using the software. I highly recommend others who are using it to participate whenever they have the opportunity. We, at Air Conditioning & Heating, Inc., have been using TOM for 5 years and Aptora Mobile for over a year. We are extremely pleased with what it has to offer and the ability to grow with us. The support has also been amazing. Anytime I have questions, they are quickly answered. I don’t just feel like a client, I feel like a friend."