Delimiters in the Work Breakdown Structure
When you plan your work breakdown structure, you can specify that WBS level numbers include delimiters. A delimiter is any special character (usually a period) used as a separator.
Contract numbers can have a maximum of two delimiters. Phase and task numbers can have one delimiter.
Firms often use a delimiter to separate a contract number into a base number and a sub-number. They use the sub-number for additional work orders, representing costs beyond the scope of basic services.
A firm may, for example, have a base contract 97014.00, with sub-contracts 97014.01 and 97014.02. When you use sub-numbers, you have the option of printing a separate invoice for each sub-contract.
- . (period)
- : (colon)
- - (dash)
Reasons to Use Delimiters
| Business Goal | How to Use Delimiters |
|---|---|
| Distinguish one piece of work from another | Firms often use a delimiter to separate a contract number into a main number and a subnumber. For example, they use the subnumber for additional work orders.
A company may, for example, have a contract 97014.00, with sub-contracts 97014.01 and 97014.02. |
| Track work on one phase of a contract completed by different teams | Different roles within your firm often require different contract data. |
| Break a contract into more than three levels of detail | For very large contracts, you may want to use delimiters to specify two more levels of breakdown. |
| Quickly and easily group similar contracts by contract number on reports | If you create a contract with several sub-contracts using delimiters, you can specify the base contract number and run a report that will include all the sub-contracts.
For example, if you have a contract 90012, and two sub-contracts 90012.001, and 90012.002, you can run a report that includes all contract with the base number 90012. |