Projects · Getting started · 6 min read

Set up Projects for the first time

What to prepare, in order, before your team runs the first project.

Before you begin

You need an administrator who can grant roles, and the permission project.configure to change project settings. The built-in Project manager role does not include it, so add it to the person who sets the module up.

The first time anyone opens Projects > Projects > All Projects, the system prepares your company automatically: three feature profiles (Light, Enterprise, Construction / Engineering), 24 project types, cost codes 01 Labor to 07 Other, the lookup lists and eight templates. Nothing is created twice if you open it again.

Steps

1. Open Projects > Projects > All Projects once, so the starter configuration is created.
2. Open Projects > Configuration > Project Settings (or the cog on All Projects). Set the Project code prefix (for example DXB), the Default revenue recognition, the Default retention % and the Working hours per day. Save.
3. In the same page, choose the twelve project accounts (labour cost, labour clearing, project expenses, expense clearing, project revenue, unbilled revenue, loss provision expense, loss provision, retention receivable, retention payable, customer advances, bank for advances). A blank account shows Automatic with the code the system will use; set them yourself if your chart of accounts is strict.
4. Decide whether time and expenses post to the ledger as soon as they are approved. Tick Post time and expenses when approved if yes; otherwise an accountant posts them in a batch.
5. Open Projects > Configuration > Cost Codes. Review codes 01 to 07, add your own, and enter a GL account prefix where ledger cost should map to a code.
6. Open Projects > Configuration > Project Types and Project Templates. Check which feature profile and billing method each type gives. Add your own templates for work you repeat. See Configure project types, templates and settings.
7. Open Projects > Configuration > Resources and add people, equipment or vehicles you plan against, with capacity and rates.
8. Open Administration > Applications > Project Management > Features and switch off what you do not use (Bill of quantities, Subcontracts and claims, Change orders, Project procurement, Baselines and earned value, Project revenue recognition). Under Fields, set whether Customer PO, Contract number, Project location and Project description are hidden, optional or required.
9. In Administration > Roles, give people their roles: Project manager for people who run projects, Project member for people who only work on tasks and log time. Give budget, billing and approval permissions to different people on purpose, so work always has a second pair of eyes.
10. Create the first record: follow Create a project from a template.

What happens next

New projects take their code prefix, recognition method and retention from these settings. The tabs a project shows follow its feature profile. Cost and margin figures stay hidden from anyone without the cost or margin permissions.

Good to know

• The permissions that matter most: project.view, project.create, project.edit, project.close, project.task.edit (tasks, time, expenses), project.budget.edit and project.budget.approve, project.cost.view, project.margin.view, project.billing.create, project.change.approve and project.resource.assign (approves time).
• project.close and project.change.approve are sensitive: assign them with care.
• Switching a feature off refuses new changes but keeps existing records readable.
• Built-in types, templates and codes cannot be deleted; untick Active instead.