22 Work with a Project or Job

This chapter contains these topics:

22.1 Working with a Project or Job

You can review all of the information related to a project or job at any time during the progress of the work. When you review the information associated with a project, the information related to its subordinate jobs is included within it. You review projects and jobs to:

  • Determine where potential problems exist by focusing on projected budget and cost variances

  • Monitor the progress of subcontracts and material commitments

  • Identify financial errors, such as underestimating budget amounts

  • Track and identify other problems within a project or job

You can then adjust your projects or jobs as needed. In addition, you can review all of the supplemental information associated with your projects and jobs.

You can review such information as:

  • Actual amounts and quantities

  • Budget and commitment information

  • Projected final amounts and quantities

  • Percentage of completion information

  • User defined budget ledger amounts and quantities

Note:

Actual amounts and quantities are date-sensitive values. Projected final amounts, quantities, and commitments are period-sensitive.

You can also review additional information for each line item, such as detailed account and transaction information, for your projects and jobs.

In addition, if you find financial information that is applied to an incorrect account, you can transfer it to the correct account.

Complete the following tasks:

This section contains the following:

  • Reviewing a Project or Job

  • Reviewing Additional Information for Job Cost

  • Transferring Account Information for Job Cost

22.1.1 What You Should Know About

Topic Description
Sources of job cost information The financial and statistical information related to your jobs can come from the following sources:

  • Accounts Payable vouchers

  • Contract Management progress payments

  • Accounts Receivable invoices

  • Equipment time billing and location billing

  • General ledger journal entries and cost allocations

  • Payroll time entry

  • Inventory issues to jobs

  • Purchase order receipts

22.2 Reviewing a Project or Job

Navigation

From Job Cost (G51), choose Job Cost Inquiries

From Job Cost Inquiries (G5112), choose Job Status Inquiry

You can review all of the information related to a project or job at any time during the progress of the work using the Job Status Inquiry program. The Job Status Inquiry program provides:

  • User defined columns that you can set up to calculate account balance information specific to your business needs.

  • The ability to select specific ranges of cost codes, cost types, and category codes to review.

  • The ability to sequence cost code structures by cost code, category code, or alternate cost code.

  • Summarized account information per project or job.

  • Formats that you can set up to group your user defined columns to suit your business needs.

  • Paths that you can define to sequentially move through different formats

  • Six activity options that determine the type of information you review. For example, you can choose to view only information related to accounts with a level of detail of 5 that have projected over amounts.

22.2.1 Before You Begin

  • Set up the user defined columns, formats, and paths you use on Job Status Inquiry.

See Also:

To create a new column

Navigation

From Job Cost Menu (G51), choose Job & Budget Setup

From Job & Budget Setup (G5111), enter 29

From Job Cost System Setup (G5141), choose Define Inquiry Columns

On Define Inquiry Columns

Complete the following:

  • Action Code

  • Column Name

  • Description

  • Column Heading 1

  • Column Heading 2

  • Formula

Field Explanation
Formula The code value for the new ledger set up in UDC 51/IL - Inquiry Ledger Type.

To review a project or job

On Job Status Inquiry

Figure 22-1 Job Status Inquiry screen

Description of Figure 22-1 follows
Description of ''Figure 22-1 Job Status Inquiry screen''

  1. Complete the following field to review a job:

    • Job Number

  2. Complete the following fields to review a project:

    • Job Number

    • Project

  3. Complete the following optional fields to select a cost code range:

    • Display From: Cost Code

    • Display Thru: Cost Code

  4. Complete the following optional fields to select a cost type range:

    • Display From: Type

    • Display Thru: Type

  5. Complete the following optional fields to select a category code range:

    • Display From: Cat Code

    • Display Thru: Cat Code

  6. Complete the following optional fields to select an alternate cost code range:

    • Display From: Alt Cost

    • Display Thru: Alt Cost

  7. Complete the following optional fields:

    • Level of Detail

    • Sequence

    • Activity

    • P/C/I

    • Days

    • Subledger

    • Subledger Type

  8. Complete the inquiry column fields to select specific user defined columns.

  9. Enter in the parent job cost number.

  10. Enter a 1 in the Proj field

  11. Enter 4 in the Option field next to a detail line to review summarized account information per job in a project. There must be data in the AA column.

    Figure 22-2 Project Inquiry Details screen

    Description of Figure 22-2 follows
    Description of ''Figure 22-2 Project Inquiry Details screen''

  12. On Project Inquiry Details, review the account information.

Field Explanation
Level of Detail The level of detail identifies the summary and detail accounts in the general ledger and controls the totaling on screens and reports. The following are true about levels of detail:

  • The valid codes are the numbers 1-9 from least detailed (1) to most detailed (9).

  • Level 1 is reserved for the company and level 2 is for the job (business unit).

  • In the Job Cost system, a cost code header, which does not have a cost type, can be a level from 3-7. Such an account has no relationship to a G/L account with the same level of detail.

  • A cost type account, which has both a cost code and cost type, can be a level 8 or 9. Such an account has a direct relationship to the G/L account at the same level.

    Note: Ideally, you reserve levels 8 and 9 in the general ledger for only job cost detail. However, if this is not possible, attempt to leave at least level 9.

  • A level of detail is a summary level for the related accounts at the levels below it. For example, an account with a level 3 can be a summary level for accounts that are level 4.

  • You do not need to use every level of detail. You can skip levels as long as you are consistent.
Sequence Code Controls the sequence of the accounts that are displayed.

Valid codes are:

Blank – Cost code and cost type

1 – Category code 01

2 – Category code 02

3 – Category code 03

A – Alternate cost code
Activity Option Limits the display of accounts to a specific condition. This field includes or excludes information from the Account Master and Account Balances tables (F0901 and F0902, respectively) based on prior and current activity. The description of the condition is displayed on the left side of the form above the account information.

Note: The form displays header accounts related to the detail accounts that meet the condition in the Act field. This is true even if a header account does not seem to meet the same condition.
Cumulative, Period, or Inception Specifies the type of totals that are displayed. Valid codes are:

C – Cumulative (year-to-date).

I – Inception-to-date (job-to-date). With this code, projected costs include all budgets, commitments, and actual costs.

P – Period (financial period-to-date)
Project Level Inquiry Use this field to indicate whether you are inquiring on a single job or on a project that includes multiple jobs.

1 – Indicates that you are inquiring on a project number. The information displayed is a consolidation of all of the jobs for the project number.

0 – Indicates that you are inquiring on a single job. The information displayed is only for the job number you enter.

Blank – Same as entering 0.
Days Prior to Date The number of days prior to the date contained in the Thru Date/Period field. You can use this field to display information for an irregular period of time such as a five day workweek that occurs in the middle of a financial period. It relates only to actual amounts and unit quantities (ledger types AA and AU).

Note: The Days field affects only columns with formulas that include code 10, 30, or 50. It has no effect on any other columns.
Amount - Inquiry Column 1 The first column of information on the Job Status Inquiry screen (P512000).

Note: This is a generic description. However, you can assign a glossary item to the definition of a column from the Define Inquiry Columns screen (P51921). If such a definition is selected for the first column, this generic description is replaced with the glossary description.

22.2.2 What You Should Know About

Topic Description
Accessing additional information You can select options in the Job Status Inquiry program to access other programs, including:

  • The Account Ledger Inquiry program to display audit trail information for displayed totals

  • The Cost Account Details program to display more details about a specific account

  • The Contract Search program to search for contracts in the Contract Management system

  • The Project Inquiry Details program to determine which jobs make up the balance being displayed

  • The Account Ledger Inquiry program to transfer or reclassify a journal entry

  • The Account Balance by Subledger program

  • The Revised Budget Account Balance program

  • The Work Order Scheduling Workbench program

  • The Reduce Current Accruals program

You can also use functions to access different programs from the Job Status Inquiry program, including:

  • The Inquiry Formats Window to select a different inquiry format

  • The Inquiry Paths Window to select a different inquiry path

  • The Single Job Adjustments program for profit recognition purposes

  • The Contract Search program in the Contract Management system

  • The Change Request Search program in the Change Management system

  • The Parent Work Order Inquiry program

  • The Contract Search program in the Contract Billing system

  • The Enhanced Subledger Additional Selections window to view and change these values.
Additional inquiry programs In addition to the Job Status Inquiry program, you can use the following inquiry programs on the Job Cost Inquiry and Reports menu to review your project and job information:

  • Cost Type Summary Inquiry - Use this program to review the budget and actuals for project or job by cost type.

  • Original Budget Inquiry - Use this program to review the original budget information for a project or job.

  • Daily or Weekly Comparisons - Use this program to compare transaction information in any two ledger types over a period of one to seven days.

22.2.3 Processing Options

See Section 61.5, "Job Status Inquiry (P512000)"

22.3 Reviewing Additional Information for Job Cost

Navigation

From Job Cost (G51), choose Job Cost Inquiries

From Job Cost Inquiries (G5112), choose Job Status Inquiry

You can review additional details per line item, such as detailed account information and the original source of the information per transaction. You can also review the status of line item commitments, subcontracts, and purchase orders.

To review additional information for job cost

On Job Status Inquiry

  1. Complete the following required field:

    • Job Number

  2. Enter 2 in the Option field next to a line item to review the account details.

    Figure 22-3 Cost Account Details screen

    Description of Figure 22-3 follows
    Description of ''Figure 22-3 Cost Account Details screen''

  3. On Cost Account Details, review the information per account.

  4. Return to Job Status Inquiry.

  5. On Job Status Inquiry, enter 1 in the Option field next to a line item to review the sources of the account information.

    Figure 22-4 Account Ledger Inquiry screen

    Description of Figure 22-4 follows
    Description of ''Figure 22-4 Account Ledger Inquiry screen''

  6. On Account Ledger Inquiry, review the information for specific ledger types and time frames.

22.4 Transferring Account Information for Job Cost

Navigation

From Job Cost (G51), choose Job Cost Inquiries

From Job Cost Inquiries (G5112), choose Job Status Inquiry

If you find financial information that is applied to the incorrect account, you can transfer it to the correct account.

To transfer account information for job cost

On Job Status Inquiry

  1. Complete the following required field:

    • Job Number

  2. Choose Account Reclassification Inquiry for a line item.

    Figure 22-5 Account Ledger Inquiry (Transfer) screen

    Description of Figure 22-5 follows
    Description of ''Figure 22-5 Account Ledger Inquiry (Transfer) screen''

  3. On Account Ledger Inquiry - JE, revise any necessary information.

  4. Choose JE Reclassification for a line item.

    Figure 22-6 Journal Entry Reclassification screen

    Description of Figure 22-6 follows
    Description of ''Figure 22-6 Journal Entry Reclassification screen''

  5. On Journal Entry Reclassification, revise any necessary information.