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Project management has always been a tricky problem for traditional accounting software to manage. Dynamics 365 Business Central offers options for managing projects using a process called Jobs. To read more about how to set up a sample project, visit the Microsoft documentation here.
A Job in Business Central has several required levels which Microsoft calls layers. These layers allow for subdivisions within the tasks of an individual project which can provide more details about a specific task. Things like budgeting, quotes, and registration can easily be tied to a task which helps inform a user with how a task is progressing. The first default layer consists of job tasks, which allows the project creator to specify the various tasks that a project will consist of.
For example, a job which requires having a meeting with a customer, may have a task to complete that meeting. Job tasks is a mandatory layer that is required with any job since any posting of resources or item would be impossible without them first having a place to go to.
The second default layer consists of job planning lines which can be used to specify more detailed resources, items, and expenses. In the example of having a meeting with a customer, the job planning lines would be used for internal processes like preparation for that meeting or coordinating with other coworkers to provide better service to a customer. The planning lines layer consists of three different types. The budget type provides an estimated usage and cost for a job. Usually this is used in a time and materials type project since it is literally a budget and the planning lines of this type cannot be invoiced to a customer. The second type is billable which provides estimated invoicing to a customer, which would be used primarily in a fixed price project. Finally, a job planning line can be given the type of budget and billable which provides budgeted usage equal to what you want to invoice.
Resources are also recorded using job planning lines. You assign resources by creating job planning lines for the job. These resources can be adjusted on the fly to associate costs of goods and prices for labor done. If large changes are required, a batch job can be associated to the job and run. Prices can also be set up to have alternate pricing options for certain resources. There can be several different pricing options for a given resource and a standard option for pricing can be selected from the list of alternates. Batch jobs can also be set up to manage these alternate prices.
Jobs can also manage time sheets. There is a built-in time sheet batch job that can be used to set up time sheets for a specific number of time periods or weeks. These would then be run automatically over the specified period. A time sheet can copy and reuse the planning lines from the job without losing any information between the time sheet and the job itself. Time sheets can then be approved by a project manager and posted to the associated job journal or resource journal to keep track of what resources are being used on the job itself. Time sheet lines can even be reused across multiple time sheets in case the information contained in one needs to be reused across multiple periods. Finally, all time sheets can be archived for future reference or use.
As previously mentioned, a budget can be set up for each job. The budget can be used to plan resources that are allocated to each job to make sure that a given job is staying on track. The budget can be divided up based on specific activity levels which allows for a more informative breakdown of the budget. The budget amounts can be compared with the actual usage that is recorded in the job journal to help control the project as it runs and manage the actual costs to its completion. By managing in this way, it will become easier to avoid underestimation of costs in the future which should make budgeting a lot more effective.
Jobs can also manage a given project’s supplies of items, services, and expenses. Inventory quantities can be associated with a job to track when supplies are being used. Job specific purchases can even utilize purchase orders and purchase invoices to track when money is being spent and when. If a purchasing process does not require that a physical transaction be recorded separately, a purchase order may be processed using Job G/L Journals. Depending on what type of project is being run, supplies can be easily purchased and tracked using job lines.
As a job progresses, materials are consumed and must be posted to a specific job. Business Central manages this using Work in Progress which helps estimate the financial value of jobs while they are ongoing. Work in Progress can be calculated using the cost value, sales value, recognizable cost, percentage of completion, and the completed contract. There are several alternate methods for this estimate, and the correct estimate can be selected at any time. The Work in Progress can be estimated at any time, and it can be estimated several times during the course of a project. Finally, the Work in Progress can be posted to the general ledger after it has been calculated.
Finally, jobs often have multiple costs during the course of a project due to resource usage and other expenditures. As the job progresses, these transactions are automatically posted to the job journal. All of these costs are important to record prior to invoicing the customer for them. The entire job can be invoiced from the job task lines page. If there are only specific lines which are going to be invoiced to the customer, the planning lines page can be used to invoice only lines flagged as billable. Invoicing can be completed after certain intervals or after the project is completed.
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These are just some of the ways that job functionality can be used in Business Central. Overall, jobs provide versatile project management functionality inside Business Central. Interested in implementing project management capabilities in Business Central? Get in touch with our consulting team.
