Project management consists most of the time in five classic main phases. Each of these phases are very important. First is the concept and initiation, second is the project definition and planning, third is the project launch, fourth is the project performance and control and fifth is the project closure.
- Project setup is the underlying structure that will most likely not change this includes cost type, task category and financial overview
- Project definition or creation is the first step to initiate a project
- Project planning is the organization of the project
- Project follow-up includes any manual changes, tracking, costs and margin monitoring
Cost type can be set on:
- Projects, Projects, Project management, Cost structure screen (header)
- Manufacturing, Technical data, Work centers, Work centers (management tab)
- Common data, Projects, Task category
- Setup, Users, Users (project management tab)
- Setup, A/P-A/R accounting, Expense notes, Expense codes
- Setup, General parameters, Parameter values (TC/PJM)
Cost type main objective is to value the time. Value the quantity budgeted, value the load planned, and value the time assigned to an employee.
- To value the quantity budgeted, set the cost type on the related budget line. This is only used as a default unit price and can be overridden.
- To value the load planned on a task, set the cost type on a work center if it is not set then the cost type on the category will be used.
- To value the time (planned or tracked) assigned to an employee, set the cost type on a user record.
- To monitor the margins, set the cost type on the product, this allows for reconciliation with the budget for material cost against stock consumption and purchased product that are managed "by order".
If cost types are not setup then the defaults from these parameters will be used:
- PCCCOD - used to value time and breakdown the cost if no cost type set on any level
- PCCCODDEF - used to to indentify cost type that will include material cost of no cost type on the product, no cost type on the task linked to the PO/EO/WO
- PCCCODFIN - used to identify the cost type that will include the amount of an expense note, a journal entry or BP invoice linked to the project.
Cost type must be up to date in terms of:
- Currency and conversion rates between the cost type currency and the project and company currencies
- Unit of measure and conversion factors between the cost type unit and the time unit set on the task operation
- Labor rates updated to the latest value
Else, the time valuation will not be correct.
