In our last Microsoft Dynamics SL entry, we were providing an overview of the advanced project management modules available for the solution. The base project management functionality found in the Business Essentials edition of Microsoft Dynamics SL is all the project management most organizations will need, but if you are looking for unique or advanced project management tools, Microsoft Dynamics SL also offers a number of specialized project management solutions.
These advanced project management solutions, which include Project Controller, Project Allocator, and Flexible Billings, come with the Advanced Management edition ofMicrosoft Dynamics SL, and in our last entry, we looked at how these modules work with a “material costs” example. We’ll continue that look today with another example.
Let’s say that you have a particular project with labor costs of $800 for 40 units of time ($20 an hour). In the General Ledger (GL), you’ll have posts for Direct Labor and Labor Clear of $800, and in Project Controller, you’ll have a LABOR post of $800. The cost is $20 an hour, but you want to bill that at $100 an hour, so Project Allocator will be used to bill at the rate of $100 an hour. You’ll then get postings in the GL for $4000 to the Unbill AR and Unbill Rev accounts, and in Allocator to similar accounts. Flexible Billings then works as it did in the material costs example we discussed last time.
You can also use Allocator to bill a different rate for subcontracted labor than for in-house labor, such as $75 an hour. And you can have Allocator charge your costs for items such as travel costs at their actual number, with no markup.
