Project Management Functionality in Business Central and how to Set Up Project Management

In Business Central, you can perform common project management tasks, such as configuring a job and scheduling a resource, as well as providing the information needed to manage budgets and monitor progress. You can track machine and employee hours on the project by using time sheets. As a project manager, you have a good overview, not only of individual jobs, but also of the allocation of employees, machinery and other resources being used in all projects.
Before you can use Business Central to manage projects, you must set up resources, time sheets, and jobs. For more information, see Setting Up Project Management.
The following sequence of tasks describes, with links to the topics that describe them.

Some of the Dynamics 365 Business Central business functionality explain here –

Create Jobs

Create jobs, assign job tasks, and prepare job planning lines. When you start a new project, you must create a job card with integrated job tasks and job planning lines, structured in two layers.

Use Resources for Jobs

Allocate resources to jobs and manage resource prices. You record the usage of resources in the job journal to keep track of costs, prices, and the work types that are linked to jobs. You can also post the usage of a resource in a resource journal. Entries posted in a resource journal have no effect on the general ledger.

Use Time Sheets for Jobs

Create a time sheet with integrated job task and planning lines and post time sheet lines to a job journal.

Manage Job Budgets

Budget for resources to be used in jobs and compare actual item and resource usage to budgeted usage to improve the quality and cost efficiency of future projects.

Record Usage for Jobs

Review and record usage on various parts of your job, which is automatically updated as you modify and transfer information from job planning lines to job journals or job invoices for posting.

Manage Job Supplies

Purchase supplies for a job, either on purchase orders or invoices, and record item and time usage.

Understanding WIP Methods

Learn about WIP (Work in Process), a feature that ensures correct financial statements and enables you to estimate the financial value of jobs that are ongoing.

Monitor Job Progress and Performance

Post the consumption of materials, resources, and other expenses of job work in process (WIP) to monitor its financial value and to maintain correct financial statements even though you post job expenses before invoicing the job.

Invoice Jobs

Record job costs for resource usage, materials, and job-related purchases on an on-going basis and invoice the customer, either when the job is finished or according to an invoicing schedule.

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Setting Up Project Management

Before you can use Business Central to manage projects, you must set up resources, time sheets, and jobs. Then you can create jobs and schedule resources for projects as well as manage budgets and track machine and employee hours with time sheets. For more information, see Managing Projects. The following table describes a sequence of tasks, with links to the topics that describe them.

Set general information for jobs

Set up project management. 1. Choose the icon, enter Jobs Setup, and then choose the related link. 2. Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

Set Up Resources

Set up your resources and the related costs and prices, either for individual resources, resource groups, or for all available resources of the company.

To correctly manage resource activities, you must set up your resources and the related costs and prices. The job-related prices, discounts, and cost factor rules are set up on the job card. You can specify the costs and prices for individual resources, resource groups, or all available resources of the company.

When resources are used or sold in a job, the prices and costs associated with them are retrieved from the information that you set up.

You specify the default amount per hour when the resource is created. For example, if you use a specific machine on a job for five hours, the job would be calculated based on the amount per hour.

Create a card for each resource that you want to use in projects.

1. Choose the – icon, enter Resources, and then choose the related link.
2. Choose the New action.
3. Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

Set Up Time Sheets

Enable resources to report time usage for an individual or a machine and enable a manager to review the usage and its allocation.

Time sheets in Business Central handle time registration in weekly increments of seven days. You can use them to track the time used on projects, and you can use them to record simple resource time registration. Before you can use time sheets, you must specify which users will submit time sheets and how you want to configure time sheets.

Open the Set Up Time Sheets assisted setup guide from the Assisted Setup page.

The assisted setup guide takes you through the following steps:

1. Set up the participants in the time sheet processes. The first page in the guide shows you the number of users in your Business Central. It also shows other required and optional information.

1. Specify the first day of a work week in this organization. The first day of a work week will be the default first day for all time sheets.

1. Specify the person who administers time sheets. This person can edit and delete all time sheets. Optionally, add the same role to other people in the User Setup page.

1. Set up the resources who will use time sheets, and the people who will approve time sheets.

At the end of the setup guide, you can choose to let Business Central create time sheets based on your configuration.

Set Up Jobs

Create job cards and prepare job tasks. Set up prices for job items and job resources and define job posting groups.

As a project manager, you can set up jobs that define each of the projects that you manage in Business Central. On the Jobs Setup page, you must specify how you want to use certain job features.

For each job, you then specify individual job cards with information about prices for job items, job resources, and job G/L accounts, and you must set up job posting groups.

To set general information for jobs

Choose the – icon, enter Jobs Setup, and then choose the related link.
Fill in the fields as necessary. Hover over a field to read a short description.

That´s all. Hope you find it useful.