Microsoft Dynamics Business Central
Project Management

Project Management

In Microsoft Dynamics Business Central, you can perform common project management tasks, such as configuring a job and scheduling a resource, as well as providing the information needed to manage budgets and monitor progress. You can track machine and employee hours on the project by using time sheets. As a project manager, you have a good overview, not only of individual jobs, but also of the allocation of employees, machinery and other resources being used in all projects.

Before you can use Business Central to manage projects, you must set up resources, time sheets, and jobs.

Typical Functions supported:

• Create jobs, assign job tasks, and prepare job planning lines
• Allocate resources to jobs and manage resource prices
• Create a time sheet with integrated job task and planning lines and post time sheet lines to a job journal.
• Budget for resources to be used in jobs and compare actual item and resource usage to budgeted usage to improve the quality and cost efficiency of future projects.
• Review and record usage on various parts of your job, which is automatically updated as you modify and transfer information from job planning lines to job journals or job invoices for posting.
• Purchase supplies for a job, either on purchase orders or invoices, and record item and time usage.
• Learn about WIP (Work in Process), a feature that ensures correct financial statements and enables you to estimate the financial value of jobs that are ongoing.
• Post the consumption of materials, resources, and other expenses of job work in process (WIP) to monitor its financial value and to maintain correct financial statements even though you post job expenses before invoicing the job.
• Record job costs for resource usage, materials, and job-related purchases on an on-going basis and invoice the customer, either when the job is finished or according to an invoicing schedule.

When you start a new project, you must create a job card with integrated job tasks and job planning lines, structured in two layers.

The first layer consists of job tasks. You must create at least one job task per job because all posting refers to a job task. Having at least one job task in your job enables you to set up job planning lines and to post consumption to the job.

The second layer consists of job planning lines, which specify the detailed use of resources, items and various general ledger expenses.

The layer structure enables you to divide the job into smaller tasks, and therefore use more specific details in budgeting, quotes, and registration. In addition, it gives you insight into how a job is progressing. For example, you can track whether you are meeting designated milestones or if you are on target to meet budget expectations.