Setting Up All Applicable Project Master Screens
At a minimum, enter data on the Basic Info tab of the Manage Project User Flow, including any needed charging criteria screens, the Mods screen, and the Government Contract Info subtask.
The charging criteria screens include the Link Projects/Accounts/Organizations screen, the Link Project/Accounts screen, and the Link Projects/Organizations screen. These screens are needed depending on your selections in the Charging group box on the Basic Info tab of the Project User Flow.
On the Manage Project User Flow, enter projects from the top down. This means that, if you have a project with two levels (a summary level and a detail or cost-collection level), you must enter the summary level before the detail level.
When you enter the summary, or top, level, on the Project Levels subtask of the Manage Project User Flow, you must enter all the information that describes the number of levels that the project has, and the length and description of each level. Remember that the Length of the top level is fixed at the number of digits that you entered on the Project Segment Lengths tab of the Configure Project Settings screen. The length of any other levels (level 2 and below) can vary from project to project.
An example of what might go in the level table for a two-level project is as follows:
| Level | Length | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Project |
| 2 | 3 | Task |
For a four-level project, the table might look like the following:
| Level | Length | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Project |
| 2 | 2 | Task |
| 3 | 3 | Location |
| 4 | 3 | Work Order |
Other information that is required for project setup:
- Account Group: You must select a group from the ones you set up on the Manage Project Account Groups screen (in Step 1).
- Active: You must decide whether or not this project is active. If you do not select this check box, you can enter cash receipts only against this project, but no other activity is allowed. There is an option on many of the report screens to exclude inactive projects. Do not select this check box if the project is essentially over. During initialization, always select this check box.
- Allow Charging: Select this check box if you want this node of your project to allow charging. If this node of the project is a rollup level, leave this check box blank to prevent charging at this level. If you select this check box, charging is allowed by all the transaction screens. Select this check box at all levels of the project where charging occurs, including the revenue and billing levels.
- Charging Criteria: You can select one of five charging methods:
- Limit charging to the Account Group: To use this method, select the Active and the Allow Charging check boxes. This limits the accounts that can be charged on the project to the account within the Project's project account group. This is the most liberal charging method.
- Limit Accounts: Select the Limit Accounts check box to restrict the accounts that can be charged to a project. All accounts in the project's project account group are automatically eligible for project charging. Use this check box to place additional restrictions on project charging for certain accounts. You must initialize the Link Project/Accounts screen to establish the account and project combinations that are eligible for charging on this project.
- Limit Orgs: Select the Limit Organizations check box to limit the organizations that can be charged to this project. You must initialize the Link Projects/Organizations screen to establish the org and project combinations that are eligible for charging on this project.
- Limit Accounts to P/O/A: The Limit Accounts to P/O/A check box appears as an option in this screen only if you have not selected the Validate Project Charging by Organizations check box on the Projects tab of the Configure Project Settings screen. It allows charging only if the project and org combination exists in the PROJ_ACCT_ORG table. This is the summary method of charging, and it is one of the most restrictive methods.
- Limit which Orgs can charge specific Accts: The Limit which Orgs can charge specific Accts check box appear as an option in this screen only if you selected the Validate Project Charging by Organizations check box on the Projects tab of the Configure Project Settings screen. This is the detail method of charging, and it is the most restrictive method. It allows charging only if the project, account, and organization combination exists in the PROJ_ACCT_ORG table. If you do not select any methods in this area of the screen, the default limits charging to the Project Account Group Accounts.
- Project Classification: A set of system-supplied classifications is provided to control how certain reports are sorted, and which processes can be applied to the project (for example, COGS is driven from a classification of WIP or INVENTORY).
- Project Type: You must select from the types you set up on the Manage Project Types screen (in Step 1).
- Billable Project: If you plan to post revenue or billings against the project, you must select this check box; if it has no revenue or billings, do not select the Billable Project check box.
- Project Work Force Required: If you select the Project Work Force Required check box, you must set up the Project Work Force screens. Project Work Force screens include Manage Employee Work Force, Assign PLC to Employee Work Force, and the Link PLC Rates to Employee/Vendor screen. This check box enforces a hard edit on timesheet entry. If you select it, and no work force is found, you cannot enter labor against the project. If you do not select this check box, you can still set up a work force to be used for labor category defaults on the timesheet, but the workforce is not required
- Owning Organization: This is the organization that manages the project. If you post revenue to the owning organization, this organization is used for the posting. The receivable and unbilled information always uses the owning org when you post.