Record Consumption or Usage in Dynamics Business Central

This article is a guide on how to track the time and resources used on different parts of your projects in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Imagine your project as a house you’re building. Business Central helps you keep track of:

• People’s time spent: This is like tracking how many hours the carpenter worked on building the frame.
• Materials used: This is like keeping track of how many nails and boards were used for the frame.
• Other expenses: This could be things like renting special equipment or unexpected costs that arise during the project.

By tracking this information, you get a clearer picture of how much each project actually costs, which helps you stay on budget and avoid surprises. You can see how efficient your projects are; are people taking longer than expected on certain tasks? Are you using more materials than anticipated? See how profitable your projects are. Once you know the costs, you can compare them to the income you expect from the project to see if it’s making you money.

This information is helpful for both small projects and large ones. It allows you to manage your projects better, avoid wasting resources, and ultimately, be more successful with your business!

In this article

• To record usage for a project planning line of type Budget
• To create project journal lines manually
• To view project usage estimates and post updates
• Create inventory and warehouse pick documents for a project
• To review planning lines for a project ledger entry

Let’s get started…

From the Project Card page, you can open the Project Planning Lines page to review and record use on various parts of your project. This information is automatically updated when you modify and transfer information between projects and project journals or project invoices. This requires that you turn on the Apply Usage Link by Default toggle on the Project Setup page.

For example, for planning lines of type Budget, you can enter the quantity of a resource, and then specify the quantity to transfer to the project journal. If the type of the planning line is Billable, you can enter the quantity of the resource, and then specify the quantity to transfer to an invoice. To learn more about invoicing the customer, go to Invoice Projects. By comparing the original quantity, remaining quantity, or posted quantity you can quickly review use information.

The following procedures describe how to record actual (budgeted) quantities and costs with a project journal. Alternatively, you can use purchase documents to record purchases for a project.

To record usage for a project planning line of type Budget

• Choose the search icon that opens the Tell Me feature, enter Projects, and then choose the related link.
• Select the project, and then choose the Project Planning Lines action.
• Select a project planning line of type Budget or Both Budget and Billable for which you want to record usage.

  Note: You can also record usage for a project planning line of type Billable. Typically, you use these lines to create invoices, but you can also transfer the information to a journal.

• In the Qty. To Transfer to Journal field, enter the quantity to transfer. The default quantity is the value that you enter in the Quantity field. The Remaining Quantity field shows the quantity that remains to complete the project and transfer to the journal.
• Choose the Create Project Journal Lines action.

  Tip: If you are going to add more project planning lines for this project, wait with this step until you have added all project planning lines.

• On the Project Transfer Project Planning Line page, fill in the fields as necessary, and then choose the OK button. Hover over a field to read a short description.
• Choose the Open Project Journal action.

  On the Project Journal page, select the relevant line and then choose the Post action.

  Tip: To avoid mistakes, use the Preview Posting action to review the entries that posting will create.

• On the Project Planning Lines page, review the recorded usage by observing the Quantity, Remaining Quantity, and Qty. To Transfer to Journal fields.
• Repeat steps 3 through 8 to record additional usage.

To create project journal lines manually

• Choose the search icon that opens the Tell Me feature, enter Project Journals, and then choose the related link.
• In the Batch Name field, choose a relevant project journal batch.
• On a new line, enter document number, project number, project task number, type, and the quantity of the type being consumed.
• When the project journal lines are complete, choose the Post action.
  Tip: To avoid mistakes, use the Preview Posting action to review the entries that posting will create.

 

To view project usage estimates and post updates

You can view project usage up to the completion of a project in one step. To do so, you use the Project Calc. Remaining Usage batch job for all the tasks up to and including the end of a project.

This lets you track and compare your original estimates against actual results and make modifications or new entries as needed. For example, you may have estimated that a project required 10 hours, and to date, it has taken 15 hours. You can add the extra five hours to the existing journal line or create a new journal line to report these five hours as overtime, which is another work type. The appropriate cost and price are calculated, and you can then post to the journal.

Note: Item entries create item ledger entries and reduce the inventory quantity. The Post Inventory Cost to G/L batch job transfers the cost from inventory to the general ledger. Resource entries create resource ledger entries.

• Choose the search icon that opens the Tell Me feature, enter Project Journals, and then choose the related link.
• Select a relevant project journal, and then choose the Calc. Remaining Usage action.
• On the Project Calc. Remaining Usage page, enter the document number and posting date that is to be inserted in the journal, and then choose the OK button.
• Update the journal with any modifications that may be needed.
• Choose the Post.

Create inventory and warehouse pick documents for a project

Use the Create Inventory Pick and Create Warehouse Pick actions on the Project Card page. To create or register a pick document, use the Put-away/Pick Lines/Movement Lines or Registered Pick Lines actions.

You can use the actions under the following conditions:

• The Status of the project is Open.
• The Line Type of the project planning line is Budget or Both Budget and Billable.
• The Type of the project planning line is Item.
• Require Pick is enabled for the related location.
• Directed Pick and Put-away is disabled.

Note: Although the setting is called Require Pick, you can still post consumption directly from the project journal line for the location. If your location is set up to require pick processing but not shipment processing, you use the Inventory Pick page to organise and print the picking information. You also use the page to enter and post the result of the pick, which in turn posts the consumption of the items.

If your location is set up to require both pick and shipment processing, meaning that you have chosen both the Require Pick and Require Shipment fields on the Location Card page, use the Warehouse Pick page to handle the pick. Warehouse picks are similar to inventory picks. The difference is that rather than posting the picking information you register the pick. This registration doesn’t post consumption, it just makes the items available for posting. As a warehouse manager, you can use a pick worksheet to organise pick information before creating the individual warehouse pick instructions.

To review planning lines for a project ledger entry

After you have posted project journal lines, you can see the planning lines that are associated with the project journal entries that have been posted.

Note: This requires that the Apply Usage Link check box has been selected for the project.

• Choose the search icon that opens the Tell Me feature, enter Project Journals, and then choose the related link.
• Select a relevant project journal, and then choose the Ledger Entries action.
• On the Project Ledger Entries page, choose Show Linked Project Planning Lines action.