PM Project Phases Form

Use this form to assign phases/cost types to projects and enter/modify original estimates for those phases/cost types. Phases entered here update the Job Phases (JCJP) and Job Cost Header (JCCH) tables. These are the same tables that are updated by the JC Job Phases and JC Original Estimates programs in the Job Cost modules. However, data entered in this program is considered “pending”, and therefore will not be accessible in Job Cost until the project has been interfaced. At the time of interface, the Job Cost by Period (JCCP) and Job Cost Detail (JCCD) tables will be updated with the original estimates using the start month of the contract.

Phase/cost type estimates can be entered directly into this program or imported using the PM Import program.  Estimates may be imported from several standard estimating packages using specific import routines. Others may be formatted to fit a generic text, comma separated value import.

Tasks

Adding Phases - Initialization or Manually

Phases can be added manually in the grid or initialized using the Project Phases Copy feature (File menu). Using the copy feature, you can select all of the phases you want initialized to the project. Once initialized, the phases are added to the project and can be modified as necessary. (For more information about the Project Phases Copy feature, see Related Topics below.)

Each phase added to the project must be linked to a contract item. Initialized phases are automatically assigned to contract item ‘1’, which may be overridden.

Note: If the Auto-Add Contract Item and Update Contract Item Amount box is checked (in PM Company Parameters), and you assign a contract item that does not exist for the contract, it will be added automatically. Estimate amounts entered for the phase/cost types will be updated to the contract item's original amounts. If the box is unchecked, contract items must exist for the contract before they can be assigned to a phase.

You may also override the projection minimum percent (defaulted for each phase from JC Phase Maser), which determines the minimum percent completed needed before cost projections can be calculated for the phase in Job Cost. If left at zero, the percentage specified for the job or in JC Company Parameters will be used.

Estimate totals (by cost type) are displayed in the informational section at the bottom of the Info tab (or at the end of the Grid tab). Totals displayed will depend on which cost types you selected for display in PM Company Parameters (CT Display tab). You can have up to ten cost types displayed; however, you might consider showing only those cost types for which you standardly enter estimate information. The Phase Total column displays the total estimate amount for all cost types defined for the phase (including those not displayed).

Deleting Cost Types

You can delete a cost type from a phase as long as the cost type has a zero balance in every month. If you try to delete a cost type with balances not equal to zero, you will receive an error message informing you which detail does not meet the 'net to zero' requirements. You must make any necessary adjustments before you can delete the cost type. In addition, if the cost type exists in PMSL (Subcontract Detail) or PMMF (Material Detail), but it has not been assigned a SL, PO, MO, or Quote number, the subcontract and/or material detail record will be deleted along with the cost type.

Deleting Phases

You can delete a phase and its cost types, as well as associated subcontract and/or material detail from a project at the same time if:

  • no subcontract number is assigned to the subcontract detail for the phase/cost type (in PM SL Detail)

  • no PO, MO, or Quote number is assigned to the material detail for the phase/cost type (in PM Material Detail)

  • project has not been interfaced

  • If the project has been interfaced, you can still delete a phase if:

  • all cost types for the phase net to zero and you delete each cost type manually (in PM Cost Types Detail)

  • no subcontract or material detail has been interfaced.

Estimating Phases

Estimating phases can be imported from a third-party estimating software package.

Phases will be validated against the JC Phases, and if they do not exist, you will receive a warning that the phases do not exist. The phase will still be added, and modifications can be made to the phase detail, but you will not be able to add sub-phases unless you add the phase to the JC Phases.

If you do not add the phase to the JC Phases, it will not affect the PM to JC interface; all phases for the project will be added to the JC Job Phase file when the project is interfaced, regardless of whether they exist in the JC Phases or not.

Additional Information

JC Job Phases / PM Project Phases

There are several fields that are on both the JC Job Phases and PM Project Phases form. When a change is made to one of these fields, the other form is automatically updated.

Cost Types tab

Use the Cost Types tab to assign cost types to project phases, and enter estimate detail.

Information entered here automatically updates JC Original Estimates , but it isn't accessible in the Job Cost module until the project has been interfaced using PM Interface. Once interfaced, new phase/cost types entered in either PM Cost Type Detail or JC Original Estimates will automatically update the other.

Note: If the Auto-Add Contract Item and Update Contract Item Amount box is checked (in PM Company Parameters), any estimated costs entered for a phase's cost types will be added to the original amounts of the contract item assigned to the phase.

Adding Cost Types

You can enter cost types manually or by initialization. Manual entry is typically useful when you are only adding one or two cost types to a phase. Initialization, however, allows you to automatically add cost types to the phase. Just click the Initialize Cost Types button to populate the grid with all cost types set up for the phase in JC Phases Maintenance, along with the assigned unit of measure and Bill Flag, Item Unit Flag, and Phase Unit Flag settings. All values (units, hrs/unit, hours, cost/hour, unit cost, and amount) are set to 0.00, and the Update flag set to Y (Ready to Update). You can delete any cost types you do not need, modify flag settings, and enter estimate detail as necessary. If you are not ready to interface estimate data to Job Cost, you will need to change the Update flag to ‘N’ (Not Ready to Update). Once phase/cost type detail is updated to Job Cost, the Update flag is set to ‘I’ (Interfaced) and neither the flag or estimate detail can be changed here. You can, however, change the detail as necessary in JC Original Estimates, and the changes will automatically be updated here.

Note: Phase/cost type detail entered in JC Original Estimates will be updated for the project in this form. The Update flag will be set to ‘J’ (Job Cost) to indicate the information was set up in Job Cost. If changes or modifications are made, the flag will then be set to ‘Y’ and you will need to interface the detail for it to be updated to Job Cost.

Roles Tab

Use this tab to assign roles to project phases. Roles are set up in HQ Roles and represent the different functions performed by users on a project (e.g. project manager, concrete coordinator, electrician, etc.). Assigning roles at the project phase level will allow users to filter the phases they work on by role when entering progress and cost projections in JC Progress Entry and JC Cost Projections (once project is interfaced to Job Cost).

  • Roles must be assigned at the job level (in PM Projects) before they can be assigned at the phase level.

  • Users not assigned a role will be able to access all phases in both JC Progress Entry and JC Cost Projections.

For each role you assign to a phase, you must specify the process (Progress Entry or Cost Projections) to which the role is associated. For example, if the role only posts job progress, you would assign a process of Progress Entry for each applicable phase. The user assigned to that role will be able to access the specified phases in JC Progress Entry, but not in JC Cost Projections. For roles that post in both Progress Entry and Cost Projections, you will need to set up an entry for each process per phase.

Note: You can also initialize phases to users/roles using JC Job Phase Roles Initialize (accessed by selectingFile > Job Phase Roles Initialize).

Subcontract Detail

You can enter subcontract detail for phases on a project by clicking on the Subcontract Detail button at the bottom of the form. All phases set up for the project that are assigned either of the cost types designated for subcontracts in PM Company Parameters (SL Params tab) are automatically set up in PM Subcontract Detail. You can add, modify, or delete the detail as necessary. More

Material Detail

You can also enter material detail for phases on a project by clicking on the Material Detail button. All phases set up for the project that are assigned either of the cost types designated for materials in PM Company Parameters (Material Parameters tab) are automatically set up in PM Material Detail (with a Material Type ofP-Purchase Order. You can add, modify, or delete the detail as necessary. For information about entering material detail for a project, see Related Topics below.

Note: Once a project has been interfaced, and costs/revenue posted to it, changes to any of this information should be made through a Change Order. If a change must be made to original estimates, it can be made in Job Cost.

Setting up a project - Phase Setup Step

Project Phase Status Change