Job Budget Lines Sub-Tab

This section includes the fields and descriptions for the Job Budget Lines sub-tab.

Field Description
Description In this field, you can enter the description of the activity. If you have entered an activity number in the “Act. No.” field, Maconomy suggests the activity text from the Job Budgets window when you print quotes and order confirmations, but you can always change the text on the budget line. The original activity text is shown in the field “Activity Name.”
Line Type In this pop-up field, you select the type of the current job budget line. Selecting a value is mandatory. In the card part, the field “Default Line Type” in the island Line Creation defines the default value of this field, that is the value which is automatically suggested when you create the line. You may then select something else. You can choose from the following values:
  • Sum/Text — If you select this value, the current line can be used as a text line, simply adding a line of text to the budget, or as a sum line. A sum line is used as a grouping level when you use work breakdown structure as described in “Getting Started with the Java™ Client.” In both cases, no reference to activity or task may be specified on the line, and the line cannot be marked as a milestone.
  • Time — If you select this value, the current line is used for specifying a time activity. The activity number will change to the activity specified in the job parameter attribute “Default Time Activity” of the type “Budgeting.”
  • Outlay — If you select this value, the current line is used for specifying an outlay activity. The activity number will change to the activity specified in the job parameter attribute “Default Outlay Activity” of the type “Budgeting.”
  • Amount — If you select this value, the current line is used for specifying an amount activity. The activity number will change to the activity specified in the job parameter attribute “Default Amount Activity” of the type “Budgeting.”
  • Milestone — If you select this value, the current line is used for specifying a milestone. Any existing activity number will be removed, and the field “Milestone” will be marked (this field is not shown in the standard layout of the Job Budgets window).

Note that by changing the line type, you change the activity number. See the description of the field “Act. No.” for considerations with regard to changing the activity number.

If you specify an activity in the field “Act. No.,” this field will change to reflect the type of activity you entered, that is either “Time,” “Amount,” or “Outlay.”

Act. No. In this field, you enter the number of the activity you wish to plan for the budget line. When the activity has been entered, it cannot be changed. If the field is blank, the line is a text line which you can use for a description of the budget. If the field shows the sign “*,” the line is a sum line, which creates a subtotal when you print the budget with the standard layout from the Job Budgets window.

If a job budget text from the window Activities has been assigned to one of the activities used in this window, the standard text will be transferred to the window Job Budget Texts. You can subsequently edit the text so that it fits each job budget line in the window Job Budget Texts.

Empl. Cat. No. In this field, you can assign a certain employee category to the job budget. If no specific employee has been specified for this line, Maconomy will instead use the cost, intercompany, or billing price for the specified employee category for price calculations.

If the system parameter “Empl. cat. on job budgets required” is marked, it will not be possible to leave out an employee category number in this field, unless the field “Empl.” is also blank.

Empl. In this field, you can enter the number of the employee who is assigned to the activity. If employee control by budget or by approved budget has been selected for the current job, all employees for whom registrations are made on the job must appear in the job’s budget of the type specified by means of the system parameters “Use Fixed Budget Type for Employee Control” and “Budget Type No. for Employee Control.” If, for instance, the system parameter “Use Fixed Budget Type for Employee Control” has been marked, and the system parameter “Budget Type No. for Employee Control” indicates the budget type “Standard,” a job registration for a given employee is only allowed if the employee in question appears in the latest revision of the job’s budget of the type “Standard.”

Registrations are not limited to the activities entered for the employee in the budget. Employee control is selected in the window Jobs. See also the description of the window Employee Control for information about a better way of limiting the number of employees who can register on the job.

If an employee category has been specified in the field “Empl. Cat. No.,” this field must either be blank, or the employee specified must be a member of the employee category. If an employee is specified in this field, it will not be possible to specify that employees other than the one specified in this field should work on the job in the window Detailed Planning in the Resource Planning module. If, on the other hand, the field is blank, it is possible to plan for one or more employees belonging to the specified category (or all employees, if no category has been specified).

If the system parameter “Empl. cat. on job budgets required” is marked, it is not possible to specify an employee unless an employee category is also specified.

If the current job uses Traffic Control, and one or more teams has been selected for the job in the windows Timing Plans or Job Traffic Status, the employee specified here must be member of that team. For more information, see the windows mentioned and the window Teams in the Set-Up module.

Quantity In this field, you can enter the budgeted quantity for the budget line.

For time activities, the quantity is interpreted as hours. It is therefore totaled in the “Hours” field in the “Time” column in the Job Budgets window. If you enter a number of hours, it is automatically converted into a number of days which is inserted into the field “Quantity, Days.” The number of days is calculated by dividing the number of hours by the value in the field “Hours per Man Day” in the card part of the window Jobs.

If you wish to assign items to the job budget line in the Job Budget Item Lines window, the value here must be 1. You can then enter the quantity on the job budget item lines.

Quantity, Days The functionality of this field is similar to that of the field “Quantity” above. However, this field only applies to time activities, and you enter the budgeted quantity as a number of days instead of a number of hours. If you enter a number of days, it is automatically converted into a number of hours which is inserted into the field “Quantity.” The number of hours is calculated by multiplying the number of days by the value in the field “Hours per Man Day” in the card part of the window Jobs.
Estimated Time to Completion This field shows the number of hours required to complete the task on the planning budget line. If the activity on the current planning budget line is an amount activity, this field is blank. The value of the field cannot be edited, as it displays the most recent estimate made in the window Task Progress. The estimate of this field is considered valid as of the date specified in the field “Estimate Date” below. The value of this field is relevant only if that field is not blank.
Estimate Date This field shows the date for which the estimated time or costs required to completion on the planning budget line is considered valid. If the field is blank, it means that no estimated requirements for completion have been specified. The value of the field cannot be edited, as it displays the date of the most recent estimate made in the window Task Progress.
Estimated Cost to Completion This field shows the amount of costs required to complete the task on the planning budget line. The value of the field cannot be edited, as it displays the most recent estimate made in the window Task Progress. The estimate of this field is considered valid on the date specified in the field “Estimate Date” above. The value of this field is relevant only if that field is not blank.
Quantity Unstaffed This field displays the number of hours still remaining to be staffed for the current planning budget line. The value of the field can be edited by allocating the current task to one or more employees in the Resource Planning module.
Planned Start Date

Enter the date on which you plan to begin the activity.

Maconomy uses the prices valid as of this date when deciding which version of the price list assigned to the job, if any, should be used for price calculation on job budget lines. If you do not specify a date in this field, Maconomy uses today's date for the calculation of prices.

If you later change the value in this field, Maconomy will recalculate prices on job budget lines only if the budget has not been approved, and if the system is set up to update prices upon dimension change in the System Parameters workspace. You can also choose to have Maconomy recalculate prices by using the Recalculate Job Budget action. When you use this action, Maconomy will also use the price lists valid as of the date specified in this field, if any, for the recalculation.

By using the Transfer Job Dates action, you can prepopulate this field with the value of the Start Date field in the Jobs workspace for the current job. At the same time, the Planned Ending Date field is populated with the value of the Estimated Ending Date field in the Jobs workspace.

When you create requisitions or purchase orders from the current line, the date in this field is transferred to the Pref. Deliv. Date field in the tab of the requisition or purchase order and the Delivery Date field in the sub-tab. In addition, the specified date can be used in reports.

If you copy a budget with a planned starting date to a new budget with the same job number, this field will also be copied to the new budget. However, you should note that a date in this field does not influence the possibility of assigning periods to the budget line in the Periodic Job Budgets workspace.

When the Calculate Dates on Budget Sum Lines Only When All Sublevels Have a Date system parameter is enabled, the planned starting date is displayed only when all the sublevel lines have a date.

Planned End Date

Enter the date on which you plan to end the activity. The date specified will be of importance in the Detailed Planning workspace in the Resource Planning module; the date specified in this field will be copied to planning lines created based on the budget in question.

By using the Transfer Job Dates action, you can prepopulate this field with the value of the Estimated Ending Date field in the Jobs workspace for the current job. At the same time, the Planned Starting Date field is populated with the value of the Start Date field in the Jobs workspace.

When the Calculate Dates on Budget Sum Lines Only When All Sublevels Have a Date system parameter is enabled, the planned ending date is displayed only when all the sublevel lines have a date.

First Possible Starting Date Enter the first possible starting date of the activity. The specified date is for reference only, for example, for use in reports. Enter the first possible starting date of the activity. The specified date is for reference only, for example, for use in reports.

When the Calculate Dates on Budget Sum Lines Only When All Sublevels Have a Date system parameter is enabled, the first possible starting date is displayed only when all the sublevel lines have a date.

Last Possible Ending Date Enter the last possible ending date of the activity. The specified date is for reference only, for example, for use in reports.

When the Calculate Dates on Budget Sum Lines Only When All Sublevels Have a Date system parameter is enabled, the last possible ending date is displayed only when all the sublevel lines have a date.

Completed You can mark this field to show that the activity is completed.
Skill No. In this field, you can enter the number of a skill. If a specific employee has been indicated for the job budget line, a warning will be issued if the skills of the employee do not comply with the specification of this field and the below fields “Level” and “Requirement Type.”
Skill Name This field shows the name of the skill entered in the field “Skill No.”
Level In this field, you can enter the required level for the skill specified in the field “Skill No.” This means that an employee assigned to the task on the job budget line should possess the skill at this level or better. Note that if you specify a level which does not comply with the one specified for the employee on the job budget line, a warning will be issued.
Requirement Type In this pop-up field, you can specify to what degree employees should possess a skill level to be allowed to be assigned to the task. If an employee has been specified on the job budget line in the card part, Maconomy will issue a warning each time the skill requirement is entered or changed if the change means that the specified employee does not meet the skill requirement.

The default value of the field is “Mandatory,” but you can choose among the following options:

  • Mandatory — If you select this option, only employees possessing the skill at the specified level or higher should be assigned to the task.
  • Preferred — This option means that employees possessing the skill at the specified level or higher are preferred to employees who do not.
  • Undesired — This option means that employees that either do not possess the specified skill at all or possess the skill at a level below the specified level are preferred to employees who do.
  • Disallowed — If you select this option, only employees that do not possess the skill at the specified level or higher should be assigned to the task. This means that only employees that either do not possess the specified skill at all or possess the skill at a level below the one specified for the skill should be assigned to the task.
Exec. Company No. This field shows the name of the company carrying out the specified activity. The field cannot be changed.
Name This field shows the name of the executing company. The field cannot be changed.
Task In this field, you can specify the task to which the job budget line is to be assigned. If neither of the system parameters “Create Tasks from Job Budgets” or “Extended Task Creation from Budgets” has been marked, and a task list exists for the job, you must enter a task which exists in the task list in question. If dimension values have been specified in the task list, these dimensions are automatically suggested on new budget lines unless another value has been entered manually. If the window Task Lists specifies that derived dimension values should overwrite existing dimensions values, any manually entered dimensions will be overwritten. If either of the system parameters “Create Tasks from Job Budgets” or “Extended Task Creation from Budgets” has been marked, you can enter a task which does not already exist in the job’s task list. When you do, Maconomy will create the task in the job’s private task list, using the activity entered on the line as derived activity.
Location In this field, you can enter a value for the dimension Location. If you do not manually enter a value, Maconomy will attempt to derive a value, using the order of priority set up in the window Dimension Derivation in the G/L module. However, any manually entered value will be overwritten if Maconomy can derive a value for which overwriting has been selected. If no value can be derived, Maconomy transfers the value from the field “Location” in the card part of the window, and if no value has been entered in the card part, the standard value is transferred from the window System Parameters in the Set-Up module.

See the section on dimension derivation in the chapter “Introduction to the G/L Module” as well as the description of the window Dimension Derivation for further information about dimension derivation.

Entity The functionality of this field is similar to the functionality of the field “Location” above.
Project The functionality of this field is similar to the functionality of the field “Location” above.
Purpose The functionality of this field is similar to the functionality of the field “Location” above.
Spec. 1-3 The functionality of these fields is similar to the functionality of the field “Location” above.
Local Spec. 1-3 The functionality of these fields is similar to the functionality of the field “Location” above.
Activity Name This field displays the text defined for the current activity. The text is suggested by Maconomy as entry text when a line is created in this window. The entry text can be changed, and this is then displayed in the field “Description” in the table part of this window.
Task Description In this field, you can specify the task to which the job budget line is to be assigned. If neither of the system parameters “Create Tasks from Job Budgets” or “Extended Task Creation from Budgets” has been marked, and a task list exists for the job, you must enter a task which exists in the task list in question. If dimension values have been specified in the task list, these dimensions are automatically suggested on new budget lines unless another value has been entered manually. If the window Task Lists specifies that derived dimension values should overwrite existing dimensions values, any manually entered dimensions will be overwritten. If either of the system parameters “Create Tasks from Job Budgets” or “Extended Task Creation from Budgets” has been marked, you can enter a task which does not already exist in the job’s task list. When you do, Maconomy will create the task in the job’s private task list, using the activity entered on the line as derived activity.
Empl. Cat. Name This field shows the name of the employee category specified in the field “Empl. Cat. No.” above.
Employee Name This field displays the name of the employee specified in the field “Empl.”
Booking Type In this field, you can specify one of the booking types “Preliminary,” “Requested,” or “Confirmed.” The default value of the field is transferred from the field “Booking Type” in the island Resource Planning in the card part.

By specifying a booking type, you can indicate whether the planned hours should be considered tentative or permanent. Allocations of the booking type “Confirmed” are considered permanent, whereas less-restricted allocations are of the booking type “Preliminary.” Allocations of the booking type “Requested” are allocations that either could not be converted from “Preliminary” to “Confirmed,” or allocations that are to be reviewed by some other person before they are converted to “Confirmed.”

Any detailed planning lines based on the current planning budget line are automatically provided the booking type specified in this field, but the type can be changed in the window “Detailed Planning.” If you update the booking type on a line at a later time and reapprove the budget, Maconomy will check the associated detailed planning line to see if its current booking type matches the booking type specified on the planning budget line at the previous approval. If it does, the booking type on the detailed planning line is updated with the new booking type from the planning budget line, thus keeping the booking type on the planning budget line and the detailed planning line synchronized. If it does not, it means that the booking type on the detailed planning line was explicitly changed, and Maconomy will therefore not update the booking type on the detailed planning line when the planning budget is reapproved.

You can convert the booking type selected into another type. Note, however, that if the booking type is changed from “Preliminary” to “Confirmed,” the system will try to implement the change on the related detailed planning lines. Any allocations in the detailed planning that could not be changed from the type “Preliminary” to “Confirmed” because of conflicts with other confirmed allocations will automatically be assigned the booking type “Requested.” Conflicts arise if the conversion of the current allocation and other, confirmed allocations with the same employee would cause the planning time of the employee on the current line to be exceeded.

You cannot create more than three versions, one for each booking type, of budget lines which are similar, that is, have the same combination of job, activity, task, and employee and/or employee category.

First Possible Starting Date In this field, you can enter the first possible starting date of the activity. The specified date is for reference only, for example, for use in reports.
Last Possible Ending Date In this field, you can enter the last possible ending date of the activity.
Actual Starting Date In this field, you can enter the actual starting date of the activity. The specified date is for reference only, for example, for use in reports.
Actual Ending Date In this field, you can enter the actual ending date of the activity. The specified date is for reference only, for example, for use in reports.
On Hold If you mark this field, the current task is put on hold. This has the same effect for the current line as selecting the action “Put on Hold” has for the entire job. The field is unmarked if the action “Resume” is selected. For more information, see the action “Put on Hold.”
Put on Hold On This field shows the date on which the current job was put on hold, if the field “On Hold” above is marked.
Put on Hold By This field shows the name of the user who put the current job on hold, if the field “On Hold” above is marked.
Expected Resume Date In this field you can specify the date on which you expect the current task to be resumed, if it is currently on hold. The field is for information only.
Resumed If this field is marked, it means that the current task has once been put on hold, but has been resumed through the use of the action “Resume” or by removing the mark in the field “On Hold” for the current line. The field cannot be unmarked. For more information, see the action “Resume.”
Resumed On This field shows the date on which the current task was resumed, if the field “Resumed” above is marked.
Resumed By This field shows the name of the user who resumed the current task, if the field “Resumed” above is marked.
Plan Locked By marking this field, you specify that the current job budget line is “locked.” This means that Maconomy will show a warning if you try to delete or move the allocation on the line. Locking is typically used for fixtures such as customer meetings, and so on, which cannot be moved without affecting a third party.

When you mark or unmark the field in this window, all underlying detailed planning lines in the window Detailed Planning or Detailed Employee Planning in the Resource Planning module are updated accordingly. You can, however, mark or unmark individual planning lines in the windows mentioned.

Note that you cannot change this field if the budget is set up to use automatic resource allocation.

Automatic Allocation Method In this field, you can specify that the current task should be allocated automatically. The functionality of this field is similar to that of the Automatic Allocation Method field in the tab, but only applies to the current job budget line.
Remarks 1-10 In these fields, you can enter remarks regarding the current line.