Walkthrough: Managing Projects with Jobs
This walkthrough introduces you to the project management features in jobs. Jobs are a way for you to schedule the usage of your company's resources and to keep track of the various costs associated with the resources on a specific project. Jobs involves the consumption of employee hours, machine hours, inventory items, and other types of usage that you may want to track as a job progresses.
This walkthrough covers the setup of a new job in addition to some common tasks such as handling fixed pricing, making payment by installments, posting invoices from jobs, and copying jobs.
About This Walkthrough
This walkthrough demonstrates the following tasks:
Setting Up a Job
With the budget structure set up for jobs, creating a job is straightforward. This walkthrough covers the following procedures:
Setting up job task lines and planning lines.
Creating job-specific prices for items, resources, and general ledger accounts.
Invoicing from a job.
Handling Fixed Prices
In jobs, you can handle fixed prices and the prices for services or goods that are agreed upon in advance with customers. In this walkthrough, you can do the following:
See how contract and invoice values are determined.
Allow for extra work in the schedule that has not been invoiced.
Copying a Job
This part of the walkthrough focuses on how to copy part or all of a job in order to reduce manual data entry and improve accuracy. It includes the following:
Copying part of a job to a new job.
Copying job-specific prices.
Copying planning lines.
Making Payment by Installment
When a large, expensive project lasts for a long period, the customer often makes an agreement with the company to pay by installments. This scenario shows how you set up payment by installments and covers:
Creating payment by installments for a job.
Invoicing payments to customers.
Accounting for usage in a job set up for payment by installments.
Roles
This walkthrough includes tasks for the following roles:
Project Manager
Project Team Member
Prerequisites
Before you can perform the tasks in the walkthrough, you must do the following:
Install the CRONUS International Ltd. demonstration database.
Create sample data by using the steps in the following section.
Story
This walkthrough focuses on CRONUS International Ltd., a design and consultancy firm that designs and fits new infrastructures, such as conference halls and offices, with furniture, accessories, and storage units. Most of its work is project oriented. Prakash is a project manager at CRONUS. He uses jobs to give him an overview of each ongoing job that CRONUS has started, as well as the jobs that are completed. He is usually the one who sets up deals with customers and enters the core of the job, which is task and planning lines in addition to prices, into Microsoft Dynamics NAV. He finds that creating, maintaining, and reviewing information is straightforward. Prakash also likes the way Microsoft Dynamics NAV enables copying jobs and payment by installments.
Tricia, a project team member who reports to Prakash, is responsible for monitoring the job day-to-day. She enters her own work in addition to the work performed by technicians on every task. She records the items that they have used and the costs that they have incurred.
Preparing Sample Data
To prepare for this walkthrough, you must add Tricia as a new resource.
To prepare the sample data
In the Search box, enter Resources, and then choose the related link.
On the Home tab, in the New group, choose New to create a new resource card.
On the General FastTab, enter the following information:
No.: Tricia
Name: Tricia
Type: Person
Choose the Base Unit of Measure field, and choose New to open the Resource Unit of Measure window. In the Code field, select Hour. Choose the OK button.
On the Invoicing FastTab, enter the following information:
Direct Unit Cost: 5
Indirect Cost %: 4
Unit Cost: 10
Gen. Prod. Posting Group: Services
VAT Prod. Posting Group: VAT 25
Choose the OK button to save the changes.
In the next procedure, you create a job journal batch for Tricia in order to post her usage.
To create a Job Journal batch
In the Search box, enter Job Journals, and then choose the related link.
In the Job Journal window, choose the Batch Name field. The Job Journal Batches window opens.
On the Home tab, in the New group, choose New to create a new line with the following information:
Name: Tricia
Description: Tricia
No. Series: JJNL-GEN
Choose the OK button to close all open windows.
Setting Up a Job
In this scenario, CRONUS has won a contract with a customer, Progressive Home Furnishings, to design a conference and dining hall. The customer is based in the United States and the project will require special software. The project manager reaches an agreement with the customer and creates a job that covers the agreement.
To set up a job
In the Search box, enter Jobs, and then choose the related link.
On the Home tab, in the New group, choose New to create a new card.
On the General FastTab, enter the following information:
Description: Advising on conference hall setup
Bill-to-Customer No.: 01445544
On the Posting FastTab, enter the following information:
Status: Order
Job Posting Group: Setting Up
WIP Method: Cost Value
On the Duration FastTab, type today's date into the Creation Date and Starting Date fields. These dates will help apply currency conversions when the job is invoiced.
On the Foreign Trade FastTab, set the currency code to USD. If you select USD in the Invoice Currency Code field, then the job will be invoiced in U.S. dollars and planned in the local currency of CRONUS. If both fields are left blank, then both invoicing and planning will be in the local currency of CRONUS only.
You can customize the pricing for customers on a per job basis, depending on the agreements you have set up. In the next procedure, the project manager specifies a cost for Tricia’s time, sets the price for the required software, and adds in the travel costs that the customer has agreed to pay.
To customize pricing
On the Home tab, in the Prices group, choose Resource.
In the Job Resource Prices window, enter the following information:
Code: Tricia
Unit Price: 20
Choose the OK button to close the window.
On the Home tab, in the Prices group, choose Item.
In the Job Item Prices window, enter the following information and customized price:
Item No.: 80201 (Graphic Program)
Unit Price: 200
Choose the OK button to close the window.
On the Home tab, in the Prices group, choose G/L Account.
In the Job G/L Account Prices window, enter the following information and the cost of travel, for which the customer has agreed to pay cost plus 25 percent:
G/L Account: 8430 (Travel)
Unit Cost Factor: 1.25
Choose the OK button to close the window.
The final steps in setting up a job are adding the job tasks and the planning lines that are part of each task. The planning lines determine what is invoiced to the customer.
To add job tasks
On the Job card for the new job, on the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Job Task Lines.
The following table describes the information that you should enter in the fields.
Job Task No. Description Job Task Type 1000
Consulting on hall setup
Begin-Total
1010
Consultation meeting with customer
Posting
1020
Development
Posting
1090
Consulting Total
End-Total
To show that some tasks are subcategories of other tasks, on the Actions tab, in the Functions group, choose Indent Job Tasks.
A planning line can be one of the following types:
Schedule: Added to the schedule, but not invoiced.
Contract: Invoiced, but not added to the schedule.
Both Schedule and Contract: Invoiced and added to the schedule.
In this walkthrough, the project manager uses Both Schedule and Contract. He creates three planning lines for task 1010, and two planning lines for task 1020.
To create planning lines
Select line 1010, and on the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Job Planning Lines. Enter the following information:
Line 1
Line Type: Both Schedule and Contract
Planning Date: (today’s date)
Type: Resource
No.: Tricia
Quantity: 40
Line 2
Line Type: Both Schedule and Contract
Planning Date: (today’s date)
Type: Resource
No.: Timothy
Quantity: 40
Line 3
Line Type: Both Schedule and Contract
Planning Date: (today’s date)
Type: G/L Account
No.: 8430 (Travel)
Quantity: 2
Unit Cost: 400
Choose the OK button to close the window. The totals are updated in the Job Task Lines window.
Select line 1020, and on the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Job Planning Lines. Enter the following information:
Line 1
Line Type: Both Schedule and Contract
Planning Date: (today’s date)
Type: Resource
No.: Tricia
Quantity: 80
Line 2
Line Type: Both Schedule and Contract
Planning Date: (today’s date)
Type: Item
No.: 80201 (Graphic program)
Quantity: 1
Choose the OK button to close the window. Totals are updated in the Job Task Lines window.
Calculating Remaining Usage
Tricia, the team project member, has been working on the job for a while and wants to register her hours and usage on the job. She has not worked more hours than was agreed upon with the customer in advance. She uses the Calculate Remaining Usage batch job to calculate remaining usage for the job in a job journal. For each task, the batch job calculates the difference between scheduled usage of items, resources, and general ledger expenses and the actual usage posted in job ledger entries. The remaining usage is then displayed in the job journal from where she can post it.
To calculate remaining usage
In the Search box, enter Job Journals, and then choose the related link.
In the Job Journal window, in the Batch Name field, open the Job Journals Batches list. Select the Tricia job journal batch.
On the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Calc. Remaining Usage.
In the Job Calc. Remaining Usage window, on the Job Task FastTab, choose the Job No. field, and select the relevant job number, typically job J00010.
On the Options FastTab, type J00001 in the Document No. field. This makes future tracking of the posting easier.
Enter today’s date as the posting date.
Choose the OK button. This will generate job journal lines derived from the planning lines that Prakash created for the job.
Choose the OK button in the confirmation window. The generated lines are added to the job journal.
Make sure that all the document numbers are J00001. On the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Post. Choose Yes to confirm the posting.
The lines are now posted. Choose the OK button to close the windows.
Creating and Posting a Job Sales Invoice
Next, Tricia can create a new invoice for the whole job or for part of a job. She can also attach the invoice to another invoice for the same customer for the same job. In this case, she invoices for the whole job, because the project is now completed.
To create a job sales invoice
In the Search box, enter Jobs, and then choose the related link.
Select the job that you created earlier, and on the Actions tab, in the Functions group, choose Create Job Sales Invoice.
On the Job Task FastTab, clear any filter on Job Task No. in order to invoice the job. In the Job No. field, select the relevant job.
On the Options FastTab, fill in the posting date and define whether you want to create one invoice per task or just a single invoice for all tasks.
Choose the OK button to create the invoice and choose the OK button in the confirmation window.
After Tricia creates the invoice, she can access it from Sales & Marketing under Order Processing and do additional processing.
To post a new sales invoice
In the Search box, enter Sales Invoices, and then choose the related link.
Open the invoice for Customer No. 01445544. You can see the information that was entered from the planning lines.
On the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Post. Choose Yes to confirm the posting.
To view the posted invoice
Open the job.
On the Job card, on the Navigate tab, in the Jobs group, choose Job Planning Lines.
Select any of the planning lines that have been invoiced, and on the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Sales Invoice/Credit Memo. In the Job Invoices window, on the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Open Sales Invoice/Credit Memo.
Tricia has a question about the prices, costs, and profits that are relevant to this particular job, so she accesses that information in the Statistics window.
To open the Statistics window
In the Search box, enter Jobs, and then choose the related link.
Select the job, and on the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Statistics. You can review detailed information about the job prices, costs, and profits in both local and foreign currencies.
Choose the Close button to close the Job Statistics window.
Handling Fixed Prices
CRONUS International Ltd. has been contracted to set up conference rooms. As the project manager, Prakash wants a good overview of the tasks required for the job with the associated budgeted and incurred costs for each task. In addition, he wants to know the total contracted price for the job and the amount that has been invoiced to this point. He has reached an agreement with the customer regarding fixed pricing for the job.
To manage fixed pricing in jobs
In the Search box, enter Jobs, and then choose the related link.
Select the Guildford job number, and on the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Jobs Task Lines.
Select line 1120, and in the Schedule (Total Cost) field, right-click the amount and choose DrillDown.
By reviewing the Job Planning lines, Prakash determines that he will also need Tricia for 30 hours for this stage of the project. He agrees on a fixed price with the customer.
Close this window.
In the Job Task Lines window, select line 1120.
On the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Job Planning Lines.
On the Home tab, choose New to create a new line with the following information:
Line Type: Both Schedule and Contract
Type: Resource
No.: Tricia
Quantity: 30
Choose the OK button to close the window.
In the Schedule (Total Cost) field, right-click the field, and choose Drilldown again in the Job Task Lines window. View the changes to the schedule. You see that 30 hours have been added to the schedule.
Choose the OK button to close the windows.
After Tricia has been added to the schedule for this task line, she works 25 hours on the job. She enters these hours into the job journal.
To enter hours in the Job Journal
In the Search box, enter Job Journals, and then choose the related link.
On a new line, enter the following information:
Line Type: (blank)
Posting Date: (today's date)
Document No.: J00002
Job No.: Guildford
Job Task No.: 1120
Type: Resource
No.: Tricia
Quantity: 25
On the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Post.
A few days later, Tricia works for another 10 hours on the job. She has now worked 35 hours in all. Because the agreement is for 30 hours with the customer, only five of these hours will be charged to the customer. Tricia will manually add the additional five hours she worked to the schedule.
In the Job Journal window, on the Home tab, choose Calc. Remaining Usage.
In the Job Calc. Remaining Usage window, on the Options FastTab, enter the following information:
Document No.: J00003
Posting Date: (today's date)
On the Job Task FastTab, enter the following information:
Job No.: Guildford
Job Task No.: 1120
Choose the OK button to run the calculation. There are five hours of work remaining for Tricia. The Line Type field is blank, which indicates that only the usage remains to be posted because the work has already been scheduled.
In the Job Journal, create a new line with the following information. Make sure that both job numbers are sequential with those that you have already used:
Line Type: Schedule
Job No.: Guildford
Job Task No.: 1120
Type: Resource
No.: Tricia
Quantity: 5
By using the Schedule line type, there are updates to the scheduled costs and prices, but no updates to the contract costs and prices that are invoiced to the customer.
On the Home tab, choose Post. Choose the OK button to close the window.
Open the Jobs list.
Select the GUILDFORD job. On the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Job Task Lines.
Select line 1120 and in the Schedule (Total Cost) field, right-click the amount. Choose DrillDown to view the information.
Changes are automatically entered on the line for Job Task No. 1120. In the total cost of scheduled work, five additional hours of work by Tricia has been added to the schedule.
Choose the Close button to close the window.
Right-click the amount in the Contract (Total Cost) field and choose DrillDown to view the information.
In the total price for the contract, only the original contracted 30 hours are included, because this is what was agreed upon with the customer.
Copying Jobs
Prakash has reached an agreement with a customer, Selagorian Ltd, to set up 10 conference rooms. The agreement resembles an earlier job. Therefore, it will save time to copy that earlier job.
In the Copy Job window, you can select the job and task lines that you want to copy. You can also select to copy the source job ledger entries, which creates planning lines based on actual usage, or you can copy the source job planning lines, which copies the original planning lines to the new job. You can then choose what planning line or ledger entry line type that you want to include, selecting only what is relevant to this new job. Finally, you can select the job that you want to copy to and define whether prices and quantities should be copied as well.
To copy a job
In the Search box, enter Jobs, and then choose the related link.
On the Home tab, in the New group, choose New to create a new job. Enter the following information:
Description: Setting up 10 Conference Rooms
Bill-To Customer No.: 20000
On the Actions tab, in the Functions group, choose Copy Job Tasks from.
In the Copy Job Tasks window, enter the following:
Job No.: Guildford
Job Task No. From: 1000
Source: Job Planning Lines
Incl. Planning Line Type: Schedule + Contract
To Job No.: GuildfordSetting up 10 Conference Rooms
Select the Copy Dimensions and Copy Quantity fields.
Choose the OK button to copy the job and then choose the OK button to close the confirmation window.
By comparing prices, job task lines, and job planning lines for the two jobs, you can see that the information was successfully copied.
Making Payments by Installments
CRONUS International Ltd. has just landed a large project that will take a year to be completed. Because it requires the dedication of many resources, the project manager sets up the contract so that the customer pays part of the price up front, part when the project is halfway completed, and the final payment upon completion.
To set up a new account
In the Search box, enter Chart of Accounts, and then choose the related link.
In the Chart of Accounts window, on the Home tab, choose New to create a new card.
On the New G/L Account card, enter the following information:
No.: 6630
Name: Job Payment
On the Posting FastTab, in the Gen. Prod. Posting Group field, select MISC. Choose the OK button to close the window.
In the Chart of Accounts window, select No. 6630 Job Payment, and on the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Indent Chart of Accounts. Choose Yes to confirm.
The following procedures show how to create a new job, set pricing, and then set up payment by installment. In the job task lines, you can create specific lines dedicated to the payment by installments. All work completed on the job that is added to the schedule will be entered on the usage lines. For each payment task line on the planning lines, the line type is Contract, which means that the customer will be invoiced. Enter a new line for the down payment. On the usage task line, you can enter the information for the items and resources that have been used in this project, which will increase the schedule, such as employee hours and items used on the job.
To make a payment by installment
Create a new job.
On the new Job card, fill in the following information:
Description: Redecoration of Reception Area
Bill-to-Customer No.: 30000
Job Posting Group: Setting up
WIP Method: Cost Value
On the job card, on the Home tab, in the Prices group, choose Resource. Enter the following information:
Code: Tricia
Unit Price: 10
Choose the OK button to close the window.
On the Job card, choose Job Task Lines.
The following table describes the lines that you will create.
Line Job Task No. Description Job Task Type 1
1000
Payment-Down Payment
Posting
2
2000
Usage
Posting
3
3000
Payment - Midway
Posting
4
4000
Payment - Completion
Posting
In the Job Task Lines window, select task 1000, and on the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Job Planning Lines.
Create a planning line with the following information:
Line Type: Contract
Planning Date: (today's date)
Type: G/L Account
No.: 6630
Quantity: 1
Unit Price: 5000
Choose the OK button to close the window.
In the Job Task Lines window, select task 2000, and open its Job Planning Lines.
The following table describes the planning lines that you will create.
Line Line Type Planning Date Type No. Quantity 1
Schedule
(today’s date)
Resource
Tricia
120
2
Schedule
(today’s date)
Item
70104
10
Choose the OK button to close the window. In the Job Task Lines window, you can see the schedule amounts have been updated.
In the Job Task Lines window, select task 3000.
Create a planning line with the following information:
Line Type: Contract
Planning Date: a future date
Type: G/L Account
No.: 6630
Quantity: 1
Unit Price: 5000
Choose the OK button to close the window.
Create a similar planning line entry for job task 4000.
Now that the task and planning lines have been entered, Prakash creates an invoice for the first payment. He does this from the job task lines to make sure that the invoice only contains the lines for the first payment. You can open the sales order from the planning lines or the task lines.
To create an invoice
In the Job Task Lines window, select line 1000, on the Actions tab, in the Functions group, choose Create Sales Invoice.
In the Create Sales Invoice window, set today’s date as the posting date, specify Per Task, and choose the OK button to create an invoice with the default information. Choose the OK button to close the confirmation window.
On the Home tab, in the Process group, choose Sales Invoice/Credit Memo. On the sales invoice, you can see that only the down payment is included in the invoice. You can now send this to the customer as agreed.
Next Steps
This walkthrough has taken you through some of the basic steps of working with jobs in Microsoft Dynamics NAV. You have learned about how to create a new job, how to copy a job, and how to handle payments. Also, you have seen a demonstration of how to track hours and create invoices.
See Also
Other Resources
Business Process Walkthroughs
Set Up Jobs
Schedule and Manage Resources
Monitor Progress and Performance
Invoice Jobs