Classic - Project Management – Successware Help

What is Project Management?

Project Management is a tool generally used to manage large commercial construction jobs that span many days/weeks and consist of multiple phases. It is not typically used for residential installations or service jobs.

Project Management allows you to compare estimated cost and sale figures with actual cost and sale figures. This is the primary purpose of project management. This comparison is used to determine the percentage of completion for each phase of a project. With this we can determine the amount of revenue earned (based on the estimated sale amount). Project Management helps monitor performance and profitability of a project while it is in still progress.

Use Project Management if you want to…

Create cost and sales estimates
Record actual costs for a job/phase through the use of a/p invoices, timecards, and inventory and/or direct project cost adjustments.
Compares estimated figures to actual figures to determine a percent complete, revenue earned (based upon percent complete), over and under billings, and cost in excess of billings.
Utilize AIA Certificates

Keep in mind that an ordinary job:

Can span multiple days.
Can be used to process A/R and A/P retainage.
Can report cost via invoice item detail.
Can have multiple invoices.

Module Setup

Before you can begin to use the Project Management module of Successware there are three elements of setup that must be completed.

Project Management must be activated.
Users must be given appropriate permissions to use Project Management in User Group setup.
Some Reference Tables must have entries made in them to accommodate using Project Management.

Project Management Activation

The Successware Project Management module must be “turned on” through a special activation before it can be used. In order to obtain an activation, call Successware support at 888-251-7727 between the hours of 8:30am and 5:30pm Eastern Standard Time. Once the Project Management module is activated, it will be available to all users who have been granted permission to use projects.

User Abilities

The user group ability form (tab) for projects includes the following abilities.

View Projects
Create/Modify Projects
Delete Project
Lock Estimates and Change Orders
Unlock Estimates and Change Orders
Override Completion—allows the user to access to the Percentage of Completion spreadsheet.

Project Management Reference Tables

Before you begin to build projects in Successware, you will need to populate information in a new Reference Library table, as well as make some additions and modifications to some existing tables. When creating projects you will need to identify “phases” of the project. These phases must be added to the Phase Type table. Each Phase Type that is created will reference an existing Job/Call Type. If the Job/Call Type you wish to associate with a phase does not yet exist, it must be added to the Job/Call Type table before defining the Phase Type. The last table entry that needs to be added is information in the Job Cost column in the Expense Types table. If there are certain Expense Types that you wish to add to estimates by default, you can identify the Expense Types as Job Cost.

Job/Call Types

When creating Phase Types, you will be required to add an associated Job/Call Type to the phase. This Job/Call Type will form the basis for the job that is created for the phase. If there are jobs that you will perform in the course of project work that have not yet been defined in the Job/Call Type table, you must add them before creating your Phase Types.

Click on the 21 Icon
Click on the Setup button in the Main Menu
Click in Reference Library
Click on the Customer Service volume
Double-click the Job/Call Types reference table
Press Ctrl+Enter to place the table in edit mode
Press Insert to add a new entry
In the JobType column, enter a code for the new Job/Call Type
Tab to the Description field and type a description
Tab to the Job Class field and select a job class to which this Job/Call Type will belong.
Tab to the Department field and select a department.
Tab to the EstManHours field and type the total number of man-hours required to complete the job (You can estimate this value; it can be changed when a job is created).
Tab to the EstDays field and enter the number of days it will take to complete the job. This will determine how many calls the job requires. (You can estimate this value; it can be changed when a job is created).
Tab to the EstDayHours field and enter the number of hours that will be spent per day at the call.
Tab to the EstDayManHours field and enter the number of hours of work that will be done on the job in a workday.

NOTE: The EstDayManHours field will help determine if more than one tech is required. If the EstDayHours equals 6 and the EstDayManHours is 6, one tech could stay for 6 hours and get all 6 hours of work done. If the EstDayHours equals 6 and the EstDayManHours is 12, two techs would need to be there for 6 hours each to get 12 hours of work done.

Press Enter to save the line item.

Phase Types

Phases are managed in the ‘phases’ section of the project form. You must predefine the phases of the project. These phases will later be used to create the actual jobs. For now, you just need to define them so that the project can be estimated on a per phase basis.

The Phase Code is a two-character code used to uniquely identify phases of a project. It is recommended that you use letters for your phase codes (i.e., “RI” for “Rough-in”, or “IE” for “Install Equipment”). This two-character code will be automatically appended to the project number when creating job numbers for the phases. For instance, the project number ‘AA2424’ could have jobs with the job numbers ‘AA2424.RI’ and ‘AA2424.IE’.

When defining your phase types in the ‘Phase Type’ reference book, your phase code must be unique. The Phase Type must reference an existing Job Type and class. This Job Type and class will automatically be used for the job created for the phase.

NOTE: The same Phase Type cannot be used on more than one of the phases for a project (i.e., if the Phase Type ‘RI’ is used for the first phase of a project, it cannot be used for any of the other phases of the same project).

Click on the 21 Icon
Click on the Setup button in the Main Menu
Click in Reference Library
Click on the Customer Service volume
Double-click the Phase Types reference table
Press Ctrl+Enter to place the table in edit mode
Press Insert to add a new entry
Type a two character Phase Code (remember each Phase Type must have a unique Phase Code).
Tab to the Job Type field and select a Job Type for the phase.
Tab to the Description field and type a description for the Phase Type.
Press Enter to save the Phase Type.
Continue to add all desired Phase Types.

Expense Type

When creating estimates in Project Management the estimate automatically loads the preset Job Cost categories. These Job Cost categories are user defined within the Expense Type reference book. Within this reference book, you can specify which expense types are considered default Job Cost categories.

Click on the 21 Icon
Click on the Setup button in the Main Menu
Click in Reference Library
Click on the Accounting volume
Double-click the Expense Type reference table
Press Ctrl+Enter to place the table in edit mode
Highlight an Expense Type you want to designate as a default Job Cost category.
Press Enter to place the line in edit mode.
Tab to the isJobCost column and type an “X.”
Press Enter to save the line item.
Continue to mark any other Expense Types.
Press Esc to exit edit mode.

Project Manager

The Project Manager is the main screen that you will use to access projects that have been created through Successware. Use the Project Manager to view your projects in a list, and then double-click on a project to open and edit it.

Project Manager Filters

Estimating —when selected, will show a list of all projects that are in the ‘Estimating’ stage, as defined in the individual project’s progress setting.
Open —when selected, will show a list of all projects that have had their project progress setting set to ‘Sold/Open’
All —when selected, will show a list of all projects, regardless of progress. Estimating, Sold/Open, Closed and Cancelled projects will display.
Search —when selected, will allow you to find a particular project by typing its project number.

Creating A Project

The Process of creating a Project in Project Management module involves 5 main steps:

Creating the project
Performing initial project setup
Defining the phases of the project
Creating project estimates
Then, depending upon whether or not the estimate is accepted, the project status must be updated to either Open/Sold or Cancelled.

Creating a New Project

In order to begin a new project you must open an existing customer record. If the customer for whom you are creating a project does not exist you must create them.

Open the customer information screen of the customer for whom you are creating the project.
Right click on the customer information screen and select New project (or press Alt+Insert).

This will open the new project screen.

Setup

When you create a project, the first screen you will encounter is the Project Setup screen. The Project Setup screen is where the initial information about the project and how it will be constructed.

To begin the process of project setup, fill in the form fields. Note that many are required.
Choose the method you will use for creating estimates.
Checkmark whether you want to withhold retainage from your project’s AR invoices.
Be sure that the project progress indicator for estimating is selected.
Click the Apply checkmark to save the project setting, or click on the red X to cancel the project.

The Project Setup Window

Field	Description
Brief Description	Enter a brief description of the project (i.e., ‘City Hall Furnaces’).Required Field
Project/Job Number	When a project is created, like a job, it will automatically receive a job number. You may override the assigned job number and enter your own number. In order to differentiate automatically generated numbers from user-entered numbers, the number you enter must include at least one letter (alpha character). Required Field
Department	The default department for the project. This department will carry through as default to the jobs, quotes, invoices created for this project. Required Field
Project Manager	The employee responsible for the project. Required Field
Project Forman	This employee will be the default foreman for each phase created for the project.
Sales Tax Code	This code will be used on all invoices created for the project. Required Field
Customer/Project Sales Tax Exemption Number	Enter the tax-exempt number to be used on the project if necessary.
Lead Source	The lead source that generated this project. This lead source will carry through as default to the jobs, quotes, invoices created for this project.
Sales Person	The employee/sales person that is selling/sold this project. This sales person will carry through as default to the jobs, quotes, invoices created for this project.
Estimate Type	This specifies how you will maintain the project estimate. You can maintain estimates manually or automatically from quotes. Manual Estimate—for this type of estimate you will manually key in the estimated figures. Quoted Estimate—for this type of estimate you will enter either ‘Quick Quotes’ or ‘Cost-Plus Quotes’. These quotes can then be used to automatically update the estimate’s figures. (Quotes, while similar to A/R invoices do not post to receivables.) Required Field
Receivable Retention and Percentage	If this option is selected, invoices created for the project will default to this configuration for sales retainage.
Progress	Use this control to manually maintain the current progress of this project: Estimating –not open or sold; currently building estimates and selling. Open/Sold—estimate has been accepted; jobs can be created and processed for these projects. Closed/Finalized—these projects are finished, including paperwork. No transaction will be allowed for finalized jobs/phases/projects throughout the system. Canceled—these are projects that have not been sold. The estimate was not accepted. Any jobs that have been created for a project must be canceled before you can cancel the project. Required Field

Creating Phases

The next step in creating a project after initial setup is to identify the phases of your project. Once the project is marked Open/Sold, these phases will form the basis for your project jobs. Each phase will equal one job. For now you just need to define them so that the project can be estimated on a per phase basis. Your Project may contain as many phases as you require, however the same phase type cannot be used more than once in the same project.

Click on the Phases button at the top of the project window

Press Insert to add a phase
In the Type field, press the down-arrow key and choose a Phase Type.
Press Enter to save the phase. It will automatically be assigned a # of 1. The Job Number, progress and status will be updated when the jobs are created from the phases.
Continue to add all of the phases of your project.

NOTE: After you have entered all phases you can change the phase order by selecting a phase and clicking the up and down pointing hand buttons.

Creating Estimates

The project estimate consists of estimated hours, cost and sales figures. These figures will be compared to actual figures as the project progresses. This comparison will be used to estimate the percentage of completion and aid in determining over/under billing.

The project estimate is managed from the estimate section of the project form. Projects estimates consist of estimated labor hours, estimated cost, and estimated sale price.

Project estimates can be created in two ways:

Manual Estimates —these are estimates for which there is no detail, but only a value entered for total hours, cost and sale amount. If you are generating your estimates by hand or using another software application, the Manual Estimate will allow you to enter these values into the project.
Quoted Estimates —quoted estimates are created based upon project quotes. A project quote is built similarly to an AR invoice in that it allows the recording of cost and sales amounts using items from the PriceBook. Unlike AR invoices, quotes do not post to the General Ledger. Each line item on a project quote, whether you are using the Quick Entry or Cost Plus method, must be associated with a specific phase of the project.

Manual Estimates

For Manual Estimates, figures are manually entered; estimated hours and cost figures by expense type for each phase, and estimated sale price by part sale, labor sale and misc sale for each phase.

To manually enter the figures for a project estimate:

Click on the Estimate button on the project form.
Click on the Detail button of the estimate (The Quotes button is inaccessible if Manual Estimates has been chosen in the initial project setup.)
Select a phase from the phase drop-down list, or by pressing Ctrl+Left, or Ctrl+Right. This will access the figures for a single phase of the project.

NOTE: By default, the Detail page shows a total project summary. This summary cannot be modified directly. You can only modify the individual phase estimates.

Click the Refresh Categories button to loads the preset Job Cost categories. (These Job Cost categories are user defined within the Expense Type reference book. Within this reference book, you can specify which Expense Types are considered to be default Job Cost categories.)

Highlight the Expense Category you want to add cost to and press Enter to put it in edit mode.
Enter estimated hours (Labor Categories) and cost for each of the Categories/Expense Types.
If there are expenses beyond those that correspond to the default categories, press Insert to add a new Category and choose an Expense Type from the drop-down list in the Category

NOTE: You can leave hours/cost entries blank, or enter zero if desired. You can also delete any Category individually by line, or delete any category that contains zero cost by clicking the Clear Zero Entries button.

Once you have entered the cost information for the phase, enter the estimated part, labor, and miscellaneous sale prices for the phase in the edit boxes to the right of the grid.

Save changes to the phase estimate by clicking the Apply button.

Continue to add estimate information for each phase of the project by selecting the phase from the phase drop-down list and updating the cost and sales amounts.
Once all phases of the project have sales and cost recorded you can lock the estimate.

NOTE: Locking an estimate will prevent any changes to the estimate. The process of locking and unlocking project estimates and change orders is controlled with specific project user abilities. An estimate cannot be locked until all phases have cost and sales recorded.

Quoted Estimates

Another way of preparing project estimates is by recording sale items and cost detail on one or more quotes for the project. Project phases must be identified for each sale item on the quote. This sale and cost information can then be summarized into the project estimate. When using quoted estimate preparation, the estimate cannot be directly modified through the ‘Estimate | Detail’ section of the project form. Instead, you must modify the estimate’s quotes to change the estimate.

To create a quoted estimate:

Click on the Estimate button in the project form.
Click on the Quotes button in the estimate (The Quotes button is only accessible if Quoted Estimate is the selected Estimate type that was chosen during the initial project setup.)

From the ‘Estimate|Quotes’ section of the project form, you can:

Choose ‘New’ to add a new quote to the estimate. This will create a new quote. When you save the quote it will be added to the estimate. The figures will not be summarized into the project estimate until you ‘lock’ the quote.
Choose ‘Add’ to add an existing quote (from a sales job) to the estimate. This will open a window prompting for an existing quote number. Enter the number and click OK. If the quote is found and is not already assigned to a managed project, a window containing quote information will open for confirmation. Click OK, and the quote will be added to the estimate. If the quote is locked, it will automatically be unlocked. It must be modified to identify phases for each line item, after which it can then be locked and applied to the estimate.
Click Open to open an existing estimate quote for editing.

NOTE: Before the project quote is included in the summary estimate for the project, the individual quote must be locked. Once the quotes are locked, the individual sale prices, labor hours and costs will be applied to phases of the project based upon the phase # assigned to each line item on the quote.

Continue to add as many project quotes as are necessary to estimate the project.
Once all phases of the project have sales and cost recorded, return to the detail screen and lock the estimate.

NOTE: You cannot lock or unlock quotes for an estimate that has been locked. The estimate itself must be unlocked before the quotes can be unlocked and edited.

Creating Project Quotes

Project quotes are similar to the A/R invoice. These quotes can be presented to the customer for evaluation and the cost and sales figures can be used to complete project estimates and change orders. On project quotes, you must associate each line item with a phase of the project. The phase is a column in the line item grid for project quotes and invoices. The phase defaults to the first phase of the project or the phase of the line item focused when ‘New Item’ is selected. You can enter either the phase number (1,2,3…) or the Phase Type, or select from the drop-down menu. This phase relationship for the line item is displayed in the extended item information panel below the line item grid. Each line item must be associated with a phase before it can be locked. When you lock a project quote, the cost and sale figures will be summarized into the project estimate.

Phase for Quick Entry Quotes

Phase for Cost Plus Quotes

Viewing Project Estimate Information

To view the total cost and sale values for a project, click on the phase drop-down list in the Estimates screen and select <All Phases>. This will display the total cost for all categories as well as sale information.

Updating Project Status

Once your estimates have been sent on to the customer, the customer will decide whether or not you have the job. Depending upon whether or not the project has been sold or not, you will have to update the project status appropriately.

To update project status:

Open the Project Manager and click on the Estimating filter to display projects that are in the estimating stage.
Double-click on the project for which you want to update progress.
Navigate to the setup portion of the project by clicking on the Setup button, if necessary.
In the Progress section of the setup screen click on the Sold/Open radio button if the project estimate has been accepted.
If the estimate has been rejected and the project will not proceed, click on the Cancelled radio button.

NOTE: If the projects estimates have been rejected, but can be resubmitted, you can go to the estimates section, unlock, and make adjustments to your project estimates. The estimates can then be resubmitted to the customer. The project does not need to be cancelled and recreated.

Click on the Apply button to update the project

Maintaining a Project

Once the project has been opened, you will create an associated job for each phase of your project. Once the job is created for the phase, it can be scheduled, dispatched and information recorded for the job just like any other type of job.

The creation of timecard entries, miscellaneous wage entries and related inventory transactions and AP invoices will update the progress of your project by comparing the actual values to the project’s estimated values.

If there are changes to the scope of a project once the project has begun you will add these changes through the use of Change Orders. Change Orders allow you to adjust labor and other costs with either positive or negative entries.

Another aspect of maintaining the project will be billing of the sale. Successware will allow you to create scheduled or unscheduled billings.

Once all the jobs for a project have been closed and finalized, you can close/finalize the project.

Creating Jobs

Jobs for the project are created from the Estimates window of the project. A single project job must be created for each phase of the project.

The Job Class and Job Type will be pre-filled, based on the Job Class and Job Type of the Phase Type from which the job was created. These fields cannot be modified on the job.

NOTE: While the Job Class and type cannot be changed, the number of calls, and required hours for the job can be changed from the Job form.

The department number assigned to the job will be inherited from the default department of the phase’s Job Type. Otherwise, the default department of the project will be used.

To Create a Job for a Phase

Open the project and open to the Phases
Select the phase for which you want to create a job.
Select ‘create/open job’ from either the toolbar or the right-click on the menu and select it from there. This will open the new job in the job form.

NOTE: The job number for the newly created job will be the project number and phase type separated by a period (<project no>.<phase type>). For example, “P101.RI” might be a job or phase number for the project numbered “P101”. The job number for a phase of a project cannot be modified. The same phase type cannot be used on more than one of the phases for a project.

Tab to the Department field and edit it if necessary.
If you are going to schedule and assign project calls, Tab to the Number of Calls field and edit it if necessary.
If you are going to schedule and assign project calls, Tab to the Required Hours field and enter the number of hours that you estimated for this phase of the project.
Save the job.
If you are going to schedule and assign project calls, confirm that you want to create the required calls for the job. If not, respond “no” and only the default call will be created.

Scheduling Jobs

When working with project jobs you have a number of options when scheduling, assigning and recording job progress.

Scheduling can be done as you would normal jobs through the Call Center and job progress entries can be made to create timecard entries.

However, if you choose not to maintain your project jobs through the Call Center you can leave the calls unscheduled and create timecard entries for the jobs. Once the entries are complete, the actual date and times of the call will be recorded.

Change Orders

Change orders are managed from the change order section of the Project Manager. You can add a change order to the project at anytime before the project is closed. Change orders must be configured for ‘manual’ or ‘quoted’ preparation, similar to the project estimates.

Quoted preparation will allow for the negative entry of sales amounts, but not hours or cost. If you are making a negative adjustment to hours and cost, it must be performed through detail setup.

If you are making additions to the project, the recording of information through quoted preparation is the same and recording the original estimate.

Creating a Change Order:

Open the project and click on the Change Order
Press Insert to create a new change order.
In the Date field, enter the date of the change order.
Tab to the Description field and enter a description or reason for the change order.

Click on the checkmark button to save the change order setup.
Depending upon your choice of change order type, click on either the Detail or Quotes button.
If using Quotes, create the quote and lock it when finished. (Be sure to specify a phase for each line item entered on the quote).
If using Detail, choose the phase for which you are creating the change order.
Click the Refresh Categories button to import your cost categories.
Make adjustments to the categories as required.
Make adjustments to the sale items as required
When finished, lock the change order. (If you are using the quote method, you must move to the detail screen to lock the change order).

NOTE: If the change order will not be applied to the project estimate until it is locked.

Close the change order when finished.

Original and Current Estimates

The current estimate is calculated by adding change orders to the original estimate. Adding change orders will not change the original estimate but it will affect the current estimate.

To view the original estimate values and the current estimate values, click on the Click here to refresh button at the bottom of the Change Order or Estimates window of the Project.

Updating Project Progress

Successware updates project progress in three areas; labor, parts and sales. These progress updates are calculated by comparing estimated labor hours and cost, part and miscellaneous cost and sales totals against actual labor, part/miscellaneous and sales values. Successware uses the following source documents to collect this information.

Recording Actual Cost Activity

Labor—actual labor hours and cost are recorded based upon the project related entries made in:
- Timecard Entries—are used to record actual hours and for hourly and salaried employees, the cost of labor as well.
- Miscellaneous Wage Entries (non-commission)—piecerate employees have their actual labor cost applied to the project through the creation of miscellaneous wage entries. Bonuses and commissions are not counted toward labor cost.

NOTE: In order for salaried employees to have their wages count toward project labor cost, they must be set up to expense their salary by timecard entry. They cannot be set to expense their salary as Salary Split, as this automatically applies their wages to defined departments, not the project.

Parts—Part Cost is calculated based upon inventory transactions and accounts payable invoices related to the project jobs.
- Receipts—when receipts containing part items have a project job number specified on them, the part item cost will count toward the part cost of the project when posted.

NOTE: Items purchased/received for a job into inventory (with a warehouse specified) will not be included in cost. These items will eventually be requisition from inventory for the job and will show as cost at that time.

Requisitions—items requisitioned from inventory to a project job will count toward project part cost when the requisition is posted.
Returns—items that are returned to inventory from a project job will have their cost subtracted from project part cost at the time that the return is posted.
AP Invoices—AP invoice part items will be counted toward project part cost if the line item on the invoice specifies a project job number. If an item appeared on a receipt and was posted to a project job, the cost from the receipt will be overridden by the actual cost used on the AP invoice when it is posted.

Miscellaneous Costs—miscellaneous items that are included in a project will be added to total part cost as they are used on the project.
- Receipts—when receipts containing miscellaneous items have a project job number specified on them the part item cost will count toward part cost of the project when posted.
- AP Invoices—AP invoice miscellaneous items will be counted toward project part cost if the line item on the invoice specifies a project job number. If a miscellaneous item appeared on a receipt and was posted to a project job, the cost from the receipt will be overridden by the actual cost used on the AP invoice when it is posted.

Recording Actual Sales Activity

Sales activity consists of a project’s posted receivable invoices. Invoices are created for projects from the billing section of the project form. Once created, these invoices are just like other receivable invoices with a few exceptions:

Each line item of project invoices must be associated with a phase of the project. This identification is important. It allows Successware to calculate actual sales figures per phase of a project to compare to estimates.
Besides printing the invoice, you can also print the AIA Certificate and Continue Sheet from project invoices.

Project Billing

Project billing is managed from the billing section of the project form. You can predefine a billing schedule for each project that will help to ensure that invoices are prepared on time. When preparing the schedule, you make an entry for each invoice that must be prepared.

Project invoices are created form the billing section of the project form and are similar to ordinary A/R Invoices. On project invoices, you must associate each line item with a phase of the project. The phase is a column in the line item grid for project invoices. The phase defaults to the first phase of the project or the phase of the line item focused when ‘New Item’ is selected. You can enter either the phase number (1,2,3…) or the phase type, or select from the drop down menu. Each line item must be associated with a phase before the invoice can be posted. This phase relationship for the line item is displayed in the extended item information panel below the line item grid.

NOTE: Phases that have not yet been created as jobs, as well as canceled phases/jobs cannot be referenced on the line items. Jobs that are referenced on invoices, in turn, cannot be canceled.

A billing schedule is not required for multi-phase projects. Multiple invoices can be created for a project without ever creating a schedule.

Invoices cannot be created for ‘estimating’, ‘finalized’ or ‘canceled’ projects.

Printing Project Invoices

The print/preview option for the project invoices has two options:

Print Invoice —previews/prints the A/R invoice.
Print AIA Certificate and Continuation —opens the AIA Certificate and Continuation Sheet interface. Here you can review/modify the amounts stored (at the time of billing) for each phase of the project. These amounts stored are not carried forward in any way. They are only entered for printing the AIA Certificate and Continuation Sheet for the specific invoice.

Scheduled Billings

Scheduled billing involves two steps, creating the billing schedule and then creating the actual invoice.

Open the project and click on the Billing button.
Press Insert to create a new scheduled billing
Fill the following fields:

Field	Description
Estimated Sale	This is the amount to be billed on the invoice. This amount can be selected from the drop-down menu, which maintains the scheduled billing balance for the project and each phase. The phase balances are only valid if billing by phase and entering the option phase field as mentioned below.
Prepare Date	This is the date by which the invoice should be prepared/posted/delivered.
Phase (optional)	This field can be used if billing by phase. It will relate the estimated sale with a phase of the project and allow SuccessWare to calculate the estimated sale balance to be billed to assist with creating a billing schedule.

Press Enter to save the scheduled billing.

To create the actual invoice, right click on the scheduled billing and select Open/Create Selected Invoice, or press Alt+O.

Complete the invoice as you normally would, be sure to import timecard entries and verify/resolve all inventory tags.
Post the invoice when finished.

Continue to create your scheduled billings and create the invoices as needed.

Non-Scheduled Billings

You do not need to create scheduled billings. If you choose to simply create a billing as needed, open the billing window, right click and choose Create New Unscheduled Invoice or press Ctrl+C. This will open a project invoice that you can create as you normally would.

Billing Retainage

Once project billings are complete, if you have withheld retainage, you will need to bill for the retainage amount.

To bill for total retainage, all previous invoices must be posted, however, you can bill for retainage at the end of a phase if you wish.

Open the project billing window and create a new unscheduled invoice by pressing Crtl+C.
Enter the invoice date.
Save the invoice.
Right-click in the item grid and select Invoice Retainage Setup.

In the Invoice Retainage window, click the Bill Retainage

Check mark the Add/update retainage billing items for balance above.
Click Apply

The line item for retainage will show with a zero sale amount, however the balance of the invoice will reflect the retainage amount.

Post the invoice.

Closing Phases

In order for you to close a phase of the project, the job that was created for the job must be both closed and finalized. This requires that calls are completed, timecard entries are recorded and invoiced, all parts that were used on the job and included on the invoice are verified, and finally the invoice is posted.

If all of these things have been done, you can open the job, right-click on it and select Close Job. After the job is closed, you can right-click on it again and select Finalize job. If all of the requirements mentioned above have been met, you will be allowed to finalize the job, if not, you will be told what still need to be accomplished before you can finalize the job.

Closing a Project

In order to close/finalize a project, all of the phases must be closed and finalized. Before you finalize your project, be sure that you have completed all of your project billings. To close/finalize the project got to the Project Setup tab and select Closed/Finalized in the Progress area.

Project Reports

Work-in-Progress Report

This report requires an “As-of-date” to filter for projects/phases that:

Have cost or sales activity on or before the “As-of-date”, and
Are either open or have activity after the “As-of-date.”

Note that the Work In Progress report will summarize cost and sales information at either the project level or phase level. Individual project detail (parts purchased or pulled from inventory, timecard entries, and miscellaneous wages, not including commissions) can be obtained as an option on the project estimate report.

Open the Report Gallery
Click on the Management Reports group
Double-click on the Work in Progress
Set the As of (date) up to which you want to report.
Choose Project, Phase or both in the Detail Level section
Click Cost and sales activity tracking, if necessary.

NOTE: Project cost and sales tracking consists of monitoring both the earliest and most recent dates of cost/sales activity. Before you run a work in progress report, make sure this tracking is up to date. The report interface shows the last time the tracking was updated. Click the “Update” button to check and record the earliest and most recent activity on the project.

Click the Monitor button to view the report or the printer button to print the report.

Changing Percentage of Completion

The percentage of completion for projects/phases is determined by the actual cost vs. the estimated cost. Projects may run behind or ahead of schedule. From the Work in Progress report screen, you can access the Percentage of Completion spreadsheet by clicking the % Completion button.

This spreadsheet lists the phases of your projects based on your “As-of-date” as set in the report window. You can use this spreadsheet to override the percentage of completion as follows:

Phase	EstCost	ActCost	Orig%	Override	CompletionAdjustmentFactor
100001.RI	$1,000	$250	25%	50%	2

The phase above has an estimated cost of $1,000. The actual cost as of the “As-of-date” is $250 yielding the original percentage completion of 25%. If you override the percent complete and enter 50%, the phase will be 50% ahead of schedule with an adjustment factor of 2. The percentage of completion will be calculated as:

(ActCost X Factor) / EstCost, or, (250 X 2) / 1,000 = 500/1,000 = ½ or 50%.

The EstCost will be shown on the work in progress report as (EstCost/Factor), or 1,000/2 = $500.

This factor will be used when calculating percent complete from here forward in the specified phase. If the project returns to being “on Schedule” when compared to the estimate, the factor can be reset to 1.

Project Estimate Report

The Project Estimate report is meant as an internal document that allows you to review your estimates along with any revisions (change orders) that have been made. The original or revised estimate can be viewed in comparison to actual cost and sales based upon the progress of your project.

To open the Project Estimate report:

Open the project and click on the Estimates button.
Click on the printer icon.

In the Report Options section, choose whether you want to print the Original Estimate or the Revised Estimate.

NOTE: If you go to the Change Order screen and open an individual change order, you will also have access to the Estimate report. From there you will have the option to print the change order available to you.

In the Grouping section, choose whether to group By Phase, By Itemtype or both.
In the Detail Options section, choose whether to Compare estimate to actuals, Include actual cost detail, Include actual sale detail, or any combination of the three.
Click the Monitor button to view the report, or the printer button to print the report.

Project Beginning Balances

For situations when you are adding a project to Successware that is already in progress, you can make opening balance adjustments to a project. These opening balance adjustments can be made to both cost and sales information and will be counted toward project completion just as if they had been added using the standard methodology.

Requirements for Making Cost Adjustments or Opening Billing Balances

In order for you to make cost adjustments or enter opening billing balances, there are a few conditions that your project must first meet.

The phases for the project must be created.
The estimates for the project must be created
The Project Progress must be marked as Sold/Open
In order to make cost adjustments, the phase you are adding cost to must have it’s associated job created.

Cost Adjustments

You can use the cost adjustment entry feature of Successware to record costs that have not been recorded within via material receipts, a/p invoices, material requisitions, returns, timecard entries, or miscellaneous wage entries.

Cost Adjustments are made by expense type. A separate entry must be made for labor, parts, miscellaneous and any other expenses you have identified in your project estimate.

Open balance cost adjustments will be included in all calculations and reports when summarizing costs for projects.

To Make a Cost Adjustment

Go to the Phases screen of the project.
Right click in the Phases screen and choose Cost Adjustment or click the Plus and Minus button on the estimate screen toolbar.

Press Insert to add a new Cost adjustment
Press the down arrow in the Phase field and select the Phase to which you are applying the cost update. Note: If a job has not been created for a phase, it will not be available to be chosen from the list.
Tab to the Date field and enter the date that the cost was realized.
Tab to the Category field and choose the expense type for which you want to make a cost adjustment.
Tab to the Hours (for labor expense) and Amount fields and enter the cost adjustment amounts.
Tab to the comment field and enter a comment if necessary.
Press Enter to save the line.
Continue to add any required cost adjustments.

Note: Be careful when making cost adjustments to projects: If the related cost for an adjustment has already been recorded within Successware and associated with the project/phase via a timecard entry, miscellaneous wage entry, a/p invoice, receipt, material requisition or return, then this cost will also be counted toward project progress and therefore overstated on project reports.

Opening Billing Balances

Opening billing balances allow you to record amounts billed for phases of your projects, prior to the creation of the project itself. These amounts billed will not be included on Accounts Receivable invoices and therefore will not be recorded to the General Ledger. In addition to recording previously billed amounts for labor, parts and miscellaneous, you can also manually record amounts withheld for retainage as well as retainage billings.

To Record Opening Balance Billings

Go to the Billings section of the project
Right click in the background of the billings section and choose Add A New Open Balance Billing Entry.
Enter the date of the billing that you are recording.
Tab to the Phase field and choose the phase to which you are applying the billing.
Tab to the Part, Labor and Misc Sale fields and enter the amount billed for each type.
Tab to the retainage withheld and retainage billed fields and enter the amounts if any.

Click OK to save the billing entry.

Viewing updated cost and billing information

After entering initial cost and billing adjustments, the effects of these adjustments can immediately be seen in relation to progress of the project. By going to the Phases or Change Order screens for the project and clicking in the lower half of the screen, current project progress can be displayed.

Looking for a more interactive course on Project Management? Check out our Learning Management System (LMS)! Our courses are available to all Successware users. If you don't have a sign-in for our LMS, contact us at training@successware.com for a free account.

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