Frequently Asked Questions?

What is the History of PC-Plod?

During the 1980s and 1990s what is now PlodCo Pty Limited developed invoicing, payroll and related systems for what was then Pontil Pty. Limited, a drilling company owned by Tom Browne.

When Tom Browne started Tom Browne Drilling Services Pty Limited (TBDS) in 2005 he asked the same development team to develop new systems for the new company. Given changes in technology the new systems were written from scratch using drilling industry knowledge accumulated by the development team. As TBDS has expanded, so has the PC-Plod system to meet the company's requirements.

In 2006 John Nitschke Drilling approached TBDS and duly purchsed a copy of the then invoicing system. TBDS and PlodCo Pty Ltd (now PlodCo Pty Limited) agreed that PC-Plod be developed as an industry-standard system and a suitable vehicle be put in place to market PC-Plod to other drilling companies. This was done using PC-Plod at Pinnacle Drilling as a test case and a number of other Drillcos were also installed.

In 2011 the Dubsec team adapted Plod to run as a Cloud Service. A number of Drillcos were installed using Plod in the Cloud.

In 2012 it was recognised that Plod had become so succesful it was becoming a distraction from the core businesses of DubSec and TBDS. PlodCo Pty Limited was established as a free-standing company to further develop and market the Plod system rebadged as PC-Plod. TBDS would have their own version, TBDS-Plod, which PlodCo would continue to support.

Who owns PC-Plod?

Copyright is jointly held by PlodCo and TBDS in such a way that PlodCo is free to act as if it were the sole owner of PC-Plod (including sales to other users),and TBDS is free to act as if it were the sole owner of TBDS-Plod (for its own purposes).

Customers purchase annual licences from PlodCo to use PC-Plod year by year.

What about confidentiality?

Other than the fact that PlodCo develops and supports the system as used at TBDS; Tom Browne, TBDS, or its staff have no interest in PlodCo and no access to PlodCo client data.

Having said that, you should consider that all of our customers (including TBDS) use basically the same system. The operational procedures and features of PC-Plod will tend to become common knowledge between all users of the system.

Does PC-Plod work with Vista and Windows 7?

Does PC-Plod handle Stock/Purchasing?

Not yet.

How soon will I be installed and running with PC-Plod?

This depends on the size and complexity of your operation, your commitment to installing quickly, the availablity of staff at your end, and the readiness of your general ledger to accept automated input.

We should allow one day to get the contractual arrangements in order.

Quickest approach is to get you started on Plod in the Cloud. We can switch to an in-house install once hardware is available, your key staff are up to speed, and the regular entry of daily Plod Sheets is under control.

It usually works out that we can be producing live invoices within a week or two of commencement.

It works out best if you run PC-Plod for invoicing for, say, a month before starting the payroll. This gives your staff a chance to become familiar with PC-Plod and bed down your paper-flow and procedures before committing to live pays.

Full integration of PC-Plod sales and payroll to your general ledger tends to take a little longer as staff become accustomed to the encoding regime required to ensure that all input is allocated the correct Job Numbers and GL Accounts.

Having said that, in the case of single rig operations, we have been able to get invoicing and pays up and running ready for thier next fortnightly pay run.