Service Manager - Projects

Overview

The Service Manager can be used to manage projects. A project can be created for any task or process and ensures that the right steps are taken.

Projects support three indented levels as follows:

Milestones (grey): These are the project phases or major deliverables.
- Task Groups (blue): These represent key activities or work packages.
  - Tasks (green): The individual tasks or actions.

Top Row Buttons Explained

Info

When a Task (Transaction) is created from a Project, the Project Task is checked to ensure the Resource is not blank and the Status is not in a Complete or Cancelled group.

Button	Description
Output	Options to print, email or preview templates (e.g. Project Plan or Project Progress).
Email	Options to email internal or all subscribers.
New	Creates a service ticket.
Edit	Lets you edit the ticket.
Delete	Deletes the ticket.
Save	Saves any changes.
Actions	See Service Manager - Edit Views for details. The following functions apply to Projects and Components: Create Transaction: Quotation: Transaction items are created from the root level as follows: Project Milestone Items are added to the Quotation as Items and include the Description and Note. Qty = The number of hours. Unit Price = Hourly Rate of the resource (Setup Service Manager > Project Resources (tab)). Create Progress Invoice from Components > Customer Invoice: This function generates an invoice for the difference between the percentage complete and the percentage invoiced as follows: Components are added to the invoice as items. Qty = The percentage of the component that is completed. Completion % = Percentage complete less the percentage invoiced so far. Fixed Price = Total value of the project multiplied by the percentage completion as calculated above.
Start / Stop	Starts or Stops timekeeping.
Menu	Refresh: Updates the ticket with any changes. View/Edit Subscribers: Edits the email recipients. View Changelog: Displays a list of changes made to the ticket. Open Timekeeping: Opens the timekeeping module. Export Transactions Export Grid Email Excel Layout & Grids

Project (tab)

Buttons Explained

Info

These are the buttons on the Project tab.

Button	Description
View	Lists the tasks.
Actions	Batch Update: Changes all the selected entries when Update (button) is clicked and the updates are confirmed. Status: Changes the status for the selected entry or entries and Project Template. Tags: Adds or Removes the selected tags. Resource: Allocates the task to the select resources. Start: Sets the start date for the selected entries to the one selected from the calendar. End: Sets the end date for the selected entries to the one selected from the calendar. Days: Changes the entries' durations to the number of days entered in the adjacent block. Est Hrs: Sets the estimated hours to the number entered in the adjacent block. Billing: Sets the billing options to the one selected from the dropdown list. The options are: None, Fixed, Variable or Out of Scope. Required Date: Sets the required date for the selected entries to the one selected from the calendar. Move Dates by Days: Moves the Required, End or Start Days (as selected from the dropdown list) by the number of days entered in the adjacent block. Schedule: Shows the Scheduling Fields and the Schedule button (see below). Update Status from Template/s: Updates the Status options from the templates. (Changes to templates are not automatically applied to existing tickets.). Delete: Deletes the selected entries.
Add	Provides a dropdown list of templates for one to be added.
Edit	Lets you edit the project.
Schedule	Appears when you select Actions > Schedule. Works in conjunction with the Scheduling Fields (see below) and provides the following options: ASAP (From Project Start Date): Sets the start date to be as soon as possible. Does not affect dates that are fixed. The End date is automatically calculated. Works from the Start date and schedules the selected level based on one of these selections: Every day Exclude Sundays Exclude Weekends ALAP (From Project End Date): Sets the start date to be as late as possible. Does not affect dates that are fixed. The Start Date is automatically calculated. Works from the End Date and schedules the selected level based on one of these selections: Every day Exclude Sundays Exclude Weekends Set Start-to-Finish (SF) Predecessor: Creates all the predecessors based on the hierarchy. Clear Predecessor: Clears any predecessors. Set Audit Dates to Start Dates: Sets the audit dates (original planned dates) to match the start dates. Change the Scheduling Level: Sets a different scheduling level.
Show Notes (Icon)	Toggles displaying or hiding notes.
+ -	Collapses or expands the tree view.

Scheduling Fields:

Info

The scheduling fields and the Schedule button are hidden until you select Actions > Schedule. To hide them again, click the X (Close) icon.

Button	Description
Start	Sets the start date for the schedule, that is, the date on which the project will start or restart.
End	Sets the end date for the schedule which should be the due date for the project.
Level	Schedules at the selected level (None, Tasks, Groups, Milestones)

Warning

Scheduling is set by days.

When a template is added to a project, the days on the levels that are not used for scheduling are cleared.
The Level can be updated by clicking Scheduling (button) > Change the Scheduling Level. A confirmation message displays that the days missing from the new Level are cleared (e.g. if tasks were scheduled, and the level is changed to Groups, the days next to tasks are cleared).

Filters Explained

Filter	Description
Show	A dropdown list of milestones for you to select one or all.
Milestones, Groups and Tasks	Checkboxes. Check one or two levels to show only those levels. If none are checked, all levels appear. Milestones and Tasks cannot both be checked: checking one unchecks the other.
Hrs	Checkbox. If checked, the hours and variances appear.
Status Checkboxes	Only shows entries with the selected statuses. If none of the boxes are checked, all the entries appear. Hold your mouse over the checkboxes to see the name of the respective statuses. The filter works on the fixed Status Groups and not the statuses created for the Project Template.

Fields Explained

Info

The level indicator is colour-coded as follows:

Grey: Milestones
Blue: Groups
Green: Tasks

Tasks can be rearranged by drag and drop.

Fields marked in blue (✎) can be edited.

Field	Description
Field Chooser (*)	Add or remove columns.
ID	The system-generated number for the entry.
Component	The system-generated number for the component.
Parent ID	The system-generated number for the parent (e.g. Milestone or Group).
Order ID	The system-generated number that depicts the order of the tasks.
Tracker	The system-generated number for the Tracker.
Description	The description of the tasks.
Preview	Displays a preview of any notes.
Milestone	The name of the milestone. Blank if milestones are not used.
Tags	The tags that were selected for the task.
Group	The name of the group. Blank if groups are not used.
Billing	The billing option for the group.
Work Process (Lookup)	The selected Work Process / Select a Work Process. Work Processes is a fixed module that can be added to any Menu (e.g. Main Menu > Office > Processes).
Work Process	Description and hyperlink to the Work Process Documentation as filled in on the Work Process.
Qualified	Lists the Staff who are qualified to perform the task (from Work Processes)
Resource	The resource the task is assigned to.
Predecessor	The task or tasks that first must be completed before this task can start. Predecessors can be applied at the same level in the same group only. They are cleared when tasks are rearranged, and the predecessor ends up below the applicable task or if the task's dates are fixed.
Required	The date on which the customer wants the project to be complete.
Start	The start date of the task.
Due	The date on which production should complete the task.
Audit	This field contains the first Start Date of an entry and measures the days that the Start Date is Moved (d) from the original planned Date (hidden by default). Audit dates can be reset to match the Start Dates from Schedule (button).
Days	The number of days that the task should take.
Note	Any notes added to the task.
Est Hrs	The estimate number of hours the task will take.
Moved (d)	The number of days by which the dates were moved up.
Act Hrs	The actual hours the task has taken. Only displayed if the Hrs checkbox is checked.
Var Hrs	The difference between the estimated and actual hours (variance).
Status	The status of the task.
Created	The date on which the task was created.
Updated	The date on which the task was last updated.
Created by	The user who created the tasks.
Updated by	The user who last updated the tasks.
Clock	Displays a clock if timekeeping is active (started) for the task.
Menu (...)	A submenu that can also be accessed by right-clicking an entry with the following options: Add Sub-item (Ctrl + Enter). Insert Item Above (Ctrl + Up). Insert Item Below (Ctrl + Down). Duplicate (Shift + Alt + Down). Move Up (Alt + Up). Move Down (Alt + Down). Tasks > Create New Task. Add/Remove Tags. View/Edit Task. View/Edit Note. Delete Open Timekeeping Note: This menu is only active in edit mode.

Components (tab)

Info

Components can be added directly to the Project or imported from the Items on a transaction that is linked to the Project and linked to the Transaction Setting > Transaction used for Quotations.

Buttons Explained

Button	Description
Add Component	Adds a line for a component to be entered.
Import Components	Opens a dropdown list of available components to import them. Can only be used if there are no components.
Actions	Updates all the selected entries. The options are: Batch Update: Updates all the selected entries when Update (button) is clicked and the change is confirmed. Group: Changes the name of the group to the one entered in the adjacent block. % Complete: Sets the percentage complete to the number entered in the adjacent block (e.g. 25 for 25% complete). % Invoiced: Sets the percentage invoiced to the number entered in the adjacent block (e.g. 25 for 25% complete). Set % Invoice = % Complete: Sets the percentage invoiced to match the percentage complete. Order by Group > Description: Arranges the entries by group and then by description. Delete: Deletes the entry.
Edit	Lets you edit the components.

Fields Explained

Info

Fields marked in blue (✎) can be edited.

Field	Description
Field Chooser (*)	Add or remove columns.
ID	The system-generated number for the component entry.
From	The source transaction
Order ID	The system-generated number that indicates the order of the entry.
Description	The component's description (e.g. Wardrobe, Bar Cabinets, Kitchen Units).
Group	The name of the group that the component is in (e.g. Floor 1, Floor 2)
Total (exc)	The total VAT exclusive amount charged for the component.
% Complete	The percentage of the component that is completed.
% Invoiced	The percentage of the component invoiced.
% Var	The percentage difference between the completed and invoiced amount.
Total (Var)	The amount difference between the completed and invoiced amount.
Menu (...)	A submenu with the following options: Move Up: Moves the entry one line higher. Move Down: Moves the entry one line lower. Delete: Deletes the entry.

Gantt (tab)

Displays a list of tasks and marks off the days on the calendar.
The Gantt diagram only displays the levels that are affected by scheduling.

Data Pipelines for Output

The Data Pipelines for Service Manager Output Templates are listed in Output Data Pipelines.

Service Manager - Projects

Overview#

Top Row Buttons Explained#

Project (tab)#

Buttons Explained#

Filters Explained#

Fields Explained#

Components (tab)#

Buttons Explained#

Fields Explained#

Gantt (tab)#

Data Pipelines for Output#

Overview

Top Row Buttons Explained

Project (tab)

Buttons Explained

Filters Explained

Fields Explained

Components (tab)

Buttons Explained

Fields Explained

Gantt (tab)

Data Pipelines for Output