PowerPro 2026
The PowerPro team is pleased to
announce the release of PowerPro 2026
We have worked hard to bring you this update. Let’s explore
the improvements and additions this new version brings!
See our FAQ for steps on how to update to 2026 here
Compliance
Records of Results for partial Course Completion
With PowerPro 2026 RTOs can issue Records of Results for
partial Course Completions. In the past the RTO could only Issue Statement of
Attainment for partial Course Completions. Well, that is history now:
Gender field compliance alignment
The Gender field is adjusted to align with Standard 2.5 and
with the upcoming VDS specifications:
Other Compliance Improvements
·
All FTP communication is locked to TLS explicit
and passive mode for security reasons
·
Added support for these titles: “Prof”, “Rev”,
“Hon”, “Mx”
·
The ASQA Student Survey Data Report now supports
student number capping, single client listing and better randomizing.
·
The Units listed in the Record of Results can
now be sorted by Unit Start Date (new sorting option)
·
Primary and Secondary Emergency Contact fields
are now part of the Trainer Profile
·
Latest list of Postcodes from Australia Post
(PowerPro and Web Plugin)
Automation
Event driven SMS Alerts
With PowerPro 2026 RTOs can configure messages to to be automatically
sent as SMS to Students (or to specific recipients such as Trainers, staff
members, etc) based on events such as Course start, Course Completion, overdue
Invoice, etc. The most obvious examples are:
·
Two days before the the Course Starts: Send SMS
reminders to all Clients in the Course
·
Client completes an accredited course: Send SMS
with Learner Feedback link
·
Client Invoice is overdue
As per image above, SMS Alerts are configured in the new Advanced
tab.
Below is an example of of an SMS Alert requesting feedback
for Accredited Course completions including the Learner Feedback link for our
test RTO:
·
Alerts can be configured for specific Course
Types: Full Qualifications, Short Courses and Nob-accredited Courses
·
Alerts can be sent in the morning or in the
afternoon
·
A list of relevant fields is available to
personalise and contextualise your messages
·
The Preview button allows you to see what the
message looks like by merging it with sample data. Also allows you to see the
number of SMS credits such message is likely to use
·
This functionality is only available in PowerPro
Sky, Neo and Duo. It is not part of the legacy PowerPro RTO locally hosted
version.
The SMS credits are displayed in the status bar of PowerPro
as follows:
The status bar SMS Credits field is a link which is
convenient should you need to top up the SMS credits.
For each SMS sent a corresponding Enrolment Contact Log is
created. This allows the RTO to know what, when and to whom the message was
sent:
A User Guide for the SMS Alerts is currently under
development and should soon be available from the Help>User Guides
area of PowerPro.
User Experience
The new Admin Panel
The Admin Panel aims to replace the PowerPro charts backdrop
with a new cross-system view of important data containing quick links to the
relevant application areas. The Admin Panel lists:
·
Today’s Enrolments
·
USIs requiring verification
· Certificates to be issued
Since the above screenshot is hard to see, these areas are
visually compiled below:
Fields underlined in the Admin Panel (and throughout
PowerPro) are links to their relevant application screen/action. For example,
you can double click on the Client Name field in any list in the Admin
Panel to edit Cient details or to Verify/Locate the Student USI. The same
applies to the Company/Organisation field. Clicking on the Program
Name field will open the Enrolment window filtering on that Course and
focusing on the relevant Client. Follow the underlined fields to explore this
functionality.
Despite our excitement about the Admin Panel, we kept the
existing statistic charts for those users more focused on numbers than daily
operations. Use the following drop-down menu to toggle between the Admin Panel
and the Statistical view:
The Statistical data now includes your Top 10 Year to Date
Companies and Suburbs:
Enrolment Tags
This one has been on the wish list for a while. A few years
ago, we introduced the concept of Client Tags – a colour coded tag system
linked to clients for easy profiling, grouping, etc. While this function has
been quite popular, several clients reported they would have preferred the tags
to be associated with the Enrolment instead. This update brings that
functionality at last:
Enrolment tags are configured in
Configuration>Application Options>Enrolments>Enrolment Tags.
Moodle Interface menus
RTOs using Pukunui Moodle as their LMS will enjoy the new
Enrolments>Moodle Menu:
Other User Experience improvements
Improved Dashboard to filter on Training Type
The dashboard not only received a facelift but also includes
the option to filter Accredited/Non-accredited Training.
Extra logins allowed as Read-only
PowerPro 2026 allows users to login beyond their licence
limit. These login sessions are read-only allowing users to see the data
only.
Note: These login sessions also use a licence therefore
potentially blocking regular users from logging in. The “Terminate Session”
function is still available should you need to “bump out” a read-only session.
Automatic Enrolment Withdraw Date
The Course Enrolment Withdraw date is now set (and cleared)
automatically by PowerPro based on the Enrolment Unit results. PowerPro computes
this field every time a unit outcome is updated.
Upload Manager window
The Upload Manager window becomes visible as soon as there
is an upload in course. This assist identifying issues should a document fail
to upload for any reason.
Create new SMS / Email Templates
The Template Manager includes buttons to create new SMS and
Email Templates.
Enrolment Contact Log mouse hint
Positioning your mouse over an Enrolment Contact Log will
expand the Contact Log text content avoiding the need to open the Contact Log
window.
Custom question labels size
Web Form custom questions can now be 1,000 characters long.
This allows the RTO to elaborate on their custom questions therefore improving clarity
in the enrolment process.
Richer Data View of Enrolment Files
A new XML view renders the Enrolment files in a structured,
indented and colour coded format resulting providing easier access to the
Enrolment data. This applies to:
- Enrolments>Web
Enrolment>View Enrolment Data
- Web>View
Downloaded Files
Single support tool (AnyDesk)
For simplicity reasons we have narrowed down the remote
support tools to AnyDesk. This has been by far the most popular support tool
over the last few years.
MailMerge Clients
Added trainer_mobile and trainer_email fields
to the Enrolments>MailMerge Clients action.
Web Plugin ongoing updates
Hey, Ben here. I was asked to give all of our RTOs a bit of
an update on the status of the Web Plugin.
If you were not already aware, I work with Pedro in Development and have been
working on the Web Plugin for over 3 of my nearly 4 years (next month!) at
PowerPro.
I really do not like to brag, however I do think the successes and strides
forward we have made with the Web Plugin software deserve to be known and
celebrated.
As you may know the Web Plugin updates a little differently to the PowerPro
application. This means I do not have a giant list of features that are rolling
out with the 2026 update, as they have all already rolled out (the new ones
that are tied to ’26 functionality are locked behind a version check).
Coming
alongside the 2026 update
Functionality tied to the 2026 update with regard to your Web Enrolments
is:
·
The ‘Title’ update (New title options, these
have been imported into the Enrolment Notes field, so they did not interfere
with the AVETMISS reporting, prior to the 2026 update)
·
The beginning of VDS alignment with the ‘Gender’
field (regardless of whether you use the inclusive Gender option or not)
Since the 2025 update
In case you missed it, Pedro (on the PowerPro side) and I (for the Web
Plugin) put our heads together to bring you a free LLND system into PowerPro /
the Web Plugin. This was a gesture made to ensure the compliance requirements
of our clients’ RTOs, so additional systems were not needed to be purchased,
and the data could be tracked/stored in PowerPro.
Without going into technical detail:
·
The inclusive gender rework, to allow RTOs to be
considerate of all of their students, and ensure our systems align with our own
beliefs and views as a small, but diverse organisation
·
Sweeping rebuild of
o
XML reader systems
o
The LLND system
o
Upload system
·
Componentised every field on the enrolment form,
to ease the experience of the current system that makes things more easily
updated and easier to troubleshoot
·
a CSS overhaul to help smooth the experience on
mobile devices
·
the new ‘Embed mode’ for when you are using the
Web Plugin embedded in iframes
Multiple back-end settings to allow customisation of the system and user
experience.
Alongside all that, as with any piece of software, many bugs were purposely and
maliciously squashed in the making of the current version of the Web Plugin.
The
Server Transition
You may remember last year we started to experience some issues with the
web hosting provider last year, and decided to move hosting providers. The team
spent many long nights (outside of business hours), working towards this
change, so I’d like to thank them for their contributions, and you, our RTOs
for your patience while we made that transition.
This transition has helped us achieve a much more reliable, and more secure
experience for the Web Plugin users.
Looking
Ahead
I would like to take the opportunity to reaffirm my commitment on the
Web Plugin to ensuring the interface that YOUR clients are using, is as
pleasant of an experience as we can provide. I am committed to removing any
issues that arise, please just shoot us an email for the attention of Ben, and
let me know what the issue is (or feel free to raise it on the phone with us if
the urgency level is high).
The Web Plugin was originally developed by a partnered team back in 2012/13. Almost
a decade later, I took over the project, and it has been one of my babies since
then (alongside the USI tool, the API, the TGA integration (I love all my
children equally)).
The Web Plugin is headed towards the end of its viable life due to some of the
outdated back-end systems and structures (do not panic, it is not going
anywhere just yet).
If I (or another member of the team) have not already spilled the beans to you,
we are excited to announce that the team is working on a new real time (as
opposed to using Enrolment data files) online enrolment system that uses the recently
developed PowerPro API to get your enrolments straight into PowerPro. This will
enhance the flexibility and efficiency of the enrolment process while providing
an improved user experience to your students and corporate clients.
While the current enrolments system is still subject to smaller
ongoing updates namely reflecting Compliance requirements and bug fixes, my development
focus is on the new system.
We are still in fairly early stages of the development process and hope we will
be able to roll this out early in 2027.
I hope you will look forward to its introduction as much as I do.
What’s on the horizon
During the rest of 2026 our development plan is the following:
·
Complete the Integration with NCT Moodle LMS
·
Develop Web Plugin 2.0
·
Plan and design transition from AVETMISS 8.0 to
VDS (including AVETMISS 8.1)
·
Maintain PowerPro 2026
·
Maintain the PowerPro API
Thank you
We’re on the same team: you use the software daily and suggest
improvements. We listen, moderate, develop and deploy solutions. Thank you for
your continued support, let’s keep up the good work.
The PowerPro Team