01What it is
Project costs answer one question: how much will this project cost to the end. The forecast is the total of approved costs, costs awaiting approval, drafts, subcontractor commitments and what is left to spend from the budgets of unfinished jobs.
Some costs are created by themselves and are approved at once: labour from approved attendance at the employee's rate, stock issues and returns, the purchase invoice from an order for a job and a settled subcontractor milestone. Such a cost changes at its source, not on this screen.
A cost entered by hand starts as a draft. It counts towards the forecast at once, and towards the approved part only after another person with the permission approves it.
- FORECAST TO THE END
- Not how much was spent, but what the project will cost.
- FOUR SOURCES
- Labour, stock, purchase invoices and subcontractors count by themselves.
- FOUR EYES
- Nobody approves or rejects their own cost.
02What it is for
Overruns show early
The warning appears when the forecast is higher than the budget, not at the last invoice.
Cost approval
A cost submitted for approval is approved or returned for correction by another person.
Labour without retyping
The crew's approved attendance becomes a cost at the employee's rate.
Retentions under control
The forecast shows subcontractor retentions due back and their dates.
03Main options
The screen shows one project: tiles with the budget and forecast, the list of costs, the forecast panel and the new cost form.
Four figures for the chosen project
You choose the project in the filter above the list.
- Budget
- Approved
- Cost to complete: left to spend on the jobs and subcontractor commitments
- Forecast, highlighted when it exceeds the budget
Every cost with its source and review state
An automatic cost shows its source under the title, a manual one its document number.
- Columns: date, title, job or the whole project, supplier, amount, review
- Review filter: draft, submitted, approved, rejected
- Search by title and document number, sorting and CSV export
What the forecast is made of
A panel under the list and a tab on the cost record.
- Budget and approved costs
- Submitted, awaiting approval, and drafts
- Subcontractor commitments
- Left to spend on the jobs and retentions due back with their dates
A cost entered by hand
The cost is saved as a draft.
- Required: title, project and amount
- A job of that project or the whole project
- Date, category, supplier, document number and description
- A document number cannot repeat within the company
04Tasks step by step
- STEP 1Open Modules › Finance › Project costs and pick the project in the filter.
- STEP 2Choose New cost in the Actions menu, enter the title, amount, date and document number.
- STEP 3Pick a job or leave The whole project and save. The cost is created as a draft.
- STEP 1Open the cost record from the list.
- STEP 2Choose Submit for approval in the action menu.
- STEP 3The cost is now submitted and waits for another person's decision.
- STEP 1Open the record of a submitted cost entered by someone else.
- STEP 2Choose Approve cost and add a note if you wish.
- STEP 3If something does not add up, choose Return cost for correction and enter the reason. The author fixes the cost and submits it again.
- STEP 1Pick the project in the filter and compare the Budget and Forecast tiles.
- STEP 2In the Budget forecast panel, see which part of the forecast is the largest.
- STEP 3When the forecast exceeds the budget, a warning with the overrun amount appears above the list.
- STEP 1You correct a labour cost in the attendance entry and a stock cost in the stock movement.
- STEP 2You correct a purchase invoice in the liability on the order, and a subcontractor cost in its milestone.
- STEP 3The cost in Project costs changes by itself.
05Actions
The most common tasks around project costs.
New cost
An invoice, material or service entered by hand.
Submit for approval
A draft or rejected cost goes for a decision.
Approve cost
The cost joins the approved part.
Return for correction
A rejection always comes with a reason.
CSV export
The project costs from the current filter in one file.
06What it connects to
Choose a module to see where project costs come from.
Projects
You set the budget on the project, and its record has a Costs tab and the Add a cost action.
Go to the topicProjectsJobs
The budgets of unfinished jobs make up the Left to spend on the jobs line of the forecast.
Go to the topicJobsAttendance
Approved attendance becomes a labour cost at the employee's rate.
Go to the topicAttendanceLiabilities
The invoice number on an order for a job creates a purchase invoice cost.
Go to the topicLiabilitiesSubcontractors
A subcontractor order counts towards the forecast, and a settled milestone becomes a cost.
Go to the topicSubcontractorsCost categories
You set the categories for manual costs in Settings.
Go to the topicCost categoriesDaily dashboard
The Budget in progress tile shows how much of the budget of projects in progress has been used.
Go to the topicDaily dashboard