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Entering a Project

To open the Project register, first ensure you are in the Job Costing module. Then, if you are using Windows or macOS, click the [Registers] button in the Navigation Centre and double-click 'Projects' in the resulting list. If you are using iOS or Android, tap the [Registers] button in the Navigation Centre and then tap 'Projects' in the 'Registers' list.

The 'Projects: Browse' window will be opened, listing the Projects that you have already entered.

In the list, the Status column will be blank for Active Projects, and will contain "√" for Finished Projects and "-" for Projects for which no more Project Transactions can be created. You can change the Status of each Project using the options on the 'Terms' card of the Project window.

If you are using Windows or macOS, you can change the sort order by clicking on the column headings. To reverse any sort, simply click once again on the column heading. The current sort order is marked by the column heading being coloured blue. If you are using iOS or Android, tap on the column heading and choose the sort order you need. Repeat the procedure to reverse the sort.

Searching in the list for a particular Project depends on whether you are using the Browse Filtering option in the Optional Features setting in the System module, as follows:

  • If you are not using the Browse Filtering option, first sort the list by the column that you want to use for the search. Then, enter the text that you want to find in the Search field in the top of the window (in the top right-hand corner if you are using Windows/macOS) and press the Return key (macOS) or Search (iOS/Android). The first record containing a match for your search string will be highlighted (if you are using Windows, a match will be highlighted as you type each character). For example, to search for a particular Customer Name, sort by Name before entering a Customer Name (or the first few characters) in the Search field.

  • If you are using the Browse Filtering option, all you need to do is to start typing a letter, word, number, or date in the Search field (there is no need to click in the field before typing). As you type each character, non-matching records will be removed from the list. There is no need to sort the list first.
If you are using Windows or macOS, there will be three buttons in the top left-hand corner of the 'Projects: Browse' window. These are part of the Limited Access feature. You can use them as follows (Windows versions of the buttons illustrated on the left, macOS on the right):


Lists all Projects.


Lists Projects belonging to members of the same Sales Group as the current user (i.e. Projects with at least one Member or Salesman belonging to the same Sales Group as that of the current user).


Lists Projects belonging to the current user (i.e. Projects where the Members or Salesman field contains the Signature of the current user).
You can also prevent a user from seeing all Projects in the list by restricting their view to their own Projects or to those of their Sales Group.

Please refer to the page describing the 'Access' card in the Person register for full details about the Limited Access feature.

To enter a new Project, select 'New' from the Create menu (Windows/macOS) or the + menu (iOS/Android). You can also use the Ctrl-N (Windows) or ⌘-N (macOS) keyboard shortcuts. Alternatively, highlight a Project similar to the one you want to enter and select 'Duplicate' from the same menu. If you don't want to open the 'Projects: Browse' window before creating a new record, you can also use the + menu in the Navigation Centre (all platforms).

The 'Project: New' window will be opened, empty if you selected 'New' or containing a duplicate of the highlighted Project. In the case of the duplicate, the Start Dates of the new Project will be the current date, not the date of the original one.

Since the amount of information stored about each Project will not fit on a single screen, the Project window has been divided into six cards. At the top of each is the header. This contains the Project Code, Description, Mother, Class and Phase. There are six named buttons ('tabs') in the header.

By clicking the tabs you can navigate between cards. The header is always visible, as a reminder of the Project you are working with.

If you are using iOS or Android, there will only be two tabs, marked 'Items' and 'Details'. 'Items' is the equivalent of the 'Down Payments' card in Windows and macOS. If you tap 'Details', you will see every card except 'Down Payments' arranged vertically on screen. You can scroll down to see each one, or you can jump to any card by tapping on any tab and selecting the tab you want to go to.

Complete the Project record as appropriate and as described on the following pages, then save it using the [Save] button (Windows/macOS) or by tapping √ (iOS/Android) and close the window by clicking the close box (Windows/macOS) or by tapping < (iOS/Android). Then, close the browse window using the close box or < again.

After saving, it will be possible to change and update the Project at any time, but you can specify that this can only be done by Project Managers. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Assign every member of staff to an Access Group in which you have granted Full access to the 'Disallow Changing Project if not Project Manager' Action.

  2. When entering a new Project, list the Project Managers on the 'Members' card in the Project window. You can assign up to five Project Managers to a Project. Be sure to assign at least one Project Manager to a Project before saving for the first time, otherwise it will not be possible to update the Project later.
After following these steps, only Project Managers will be able to edit Projects. If you need senior managers to be able to edit any Project, do not assign them to Access Groups in which you have granted Full access to the 'Disallow Changing Project if not Project Manager' Action.

After entering a Project, you can proceed as follows:

  • Enter a Quotation for the work required for the Project

  • Enter a Budget for the work required for the Project. In the Budget, you should also specify whether the work will be invoiced on an "Actual" basis (e.g. each hour worked will be invoiced) or on an "As Budgeted" basis (i.e. the Invoice will be for a fixed price agreed in advance)

  • If the Project is a complex one, divide it into Phases and enter a Schedule for the work

  • If necessary, issue an Invoice for a deposit and/or set up a schedule for invoicing in instalments

  • Record the work done as it is carried out. Depending on the nature of the work, you can do this using Time Sheets, Activities, Purchase Invoices, Expense records, Sales Orders and Deliveries, and Stock Depreciations. Each of these records will cause the creation of a Project Transaction

  • Create Invoices for the work carried out
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The Project register in Standard ERP:

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