Setting up Advanced Project Management
Each feature is switched on separately, so set up only what you plan to use. The table below shows which settings each feature needs.
| Feature | Projects Setup | Project Posting Groups | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retentions | Use Retention Invoice, Retention Description, Retention Journal Template/Batch Name | Retention G/L Account | Retention settings on each project |
| Percentage invoicing | Use Percentage Invoice, Revalidate Customer on Invoice | – | Use Percentage Invoice on each project |
| Forecast variance lines | – | Variance Item No. | Project Posting Group on items and resources |
| Split WIP and recognition | Split WIP & Recognition | WIP and recognition accounts for each group | Project Posting Group on items and resources |
| Capital projects | Project Dimension Code, Capital WIP Jnl. Template/Batch Name | – | FA Setup: Default Depr. Book |
| Purchasing from projects | – | Purchase Gen. Bus. Posting Group (optional) | – |
| Correcting project invoices | Corrective Cr. Memo Nos. | – | – |
| Reports | Report Logo, Progress Claim Logo | – | Company Information: bank details, GST registration no. |
Permissions
Assign the Advanced Project Management permission set to everyone who works with projects. It grants access to the app's tables, pages, and reports. Users still need their usual Business Central project, sales, and purchasing permissions.
Projects Setup
Open the Projects Setup page.
General FastTab
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Report Logo | The logo printed on the Contract Variation report. |
| Progress Claim Logo | The logo printed on the Progress Claim report. |
| Corrective Cr. Memo Nos. | A number series the app uses internally when you cancel or correct a posted project sales invoice. It is required if you correct project invoices. See Correcting posted project invoices. |
Advanced Project Management FastTab
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Use Percentage Invoice | The default for Use Percentage Invoice on new projects. You can still change it on each project. |
| Use Retention Invoice | Turn this on to deduct a flat-rate retention (the project's Retention %) on project invoices. Tiered retention calculations work without it. |
| Retention Description | The description on retention invoice lines. You can use these tokens: %1 project no., %2 bill-to customer no., %3 external document no., %4 sell-to customer no. For example, Retention held - %1 (%3). If you leave it blank, the G/L account name is used. |
| Split WIP & Recognition | Splits WIP and recognition postings by the project posting group on each item and resource. Turning it on also shows the Project Posting Group field on item and resource cards. |
| Retention Journal Template Name / Retention Journal Batch Name | The general journal batch used to post manual retentions and retention transfers. Use a batch that is reserved for this purpose, because the app deletes any lines already in the batch before it posts. |
| Revalidate Customer on Invoice | When you run Create Sales Invoice from a project, the app first revalidates the project's sell-to and bill-to customer, so the invoice picks up any recent changes to the customer's address or other details. |
Capital Projects group
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Project Dimension Code | The dimension used as the project dimension. When you enter a code here, every project automatically gets a dimension value with the same code as the project number, and that value is set as the project's default dimension. |
| Capital WIP Jnl. Template Name / Capital WIP Jnl. Batch Name | The general journal batch used to post project costs to fixed assets. The template needs a Source Code, and the batch needs a No. Series. |
Project Posting Groups
On the Project Posting Groups page, three columns are added:
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Purchase Gen. Bus. Posting Group | If you fill this in, any purchase line linked to a project in this group uses this general business posting group instead of the vendor's. Use it when project purchases need to post to different accounts, or with a different tax treatment, from overhead purchases. |
| Retention G/L Account | The account that retention held is posted to. It must be a posting account with Direct Posting turned on. This is usually a balance sheet account such as Retentions Receivable. It is required for retentions. |
| Variance Item No. | An item used for the budget adjustment lines that keep the budget in line with the forecast final cost. The item must have Purchasing Blocked turned on (so it can't be bought by mistake), and you can't unblock it while it is set on a posting group. |
Items and resources
The Project Posting Group field on the item card and the resource card sets the cost category of the item or resource. The app uses it to:
- Split WIP and recognition postings by category (see Split WIP and recognition).
- Spread forecast variances across categories (see Cost forecasting).
note
The field is shown on the card only when Split WIP & Recognition is turned on in Projects Setup.
Per-project settings
The settings on the project card that relate to each feature are described on the feature pages:
- Posting FastTab: Use Retention Calculation, Retention %. See Retentions.
- Invoice and Shipping FastTab: Use Percentage Invoice. See Percentage invoicing.
- Retention Details FastTab: Retention Claim %, Practical Completion Date. See Retentions.
- General FastTab: Project Manager 2/3, Final Claim, Site Location, Under Warranty, Warranty Expire Date. See Project administration.