You can invoice for a project without entering any billing schedule items. In fact, this is the method used most of the time by many Beyond clients.
This method requires the setup of project types, contract types, billing rates, and expense categories. Project types are used to identify billable versus non-billable projects and contract types are used to identify Fixed Price or Time and Expense projects, for example.
This is the general process for project invoicing when not using billing schedule items. Refer to the Project and Project Invoice topics for important step-by-step instructions and field descriptions.
On the Project screen, Main tab, specify required project information.
In Type, specify a billable project type. See Project Types.
You can use any predefined value in the Contract Type field. See Contract Types.
If you plan to add tasks for the project, leave the Task Required check box selected. Otherwise, clear the check box. Tasks are not required.
Note: If you clear the Task Required check box, the Task tab cannot be used for adding tasks. The system adds one default task to the project, and all time and expenses are automatically associated with that task.
If applicable, add project tasks on the Task tab.
The Reported % Complete field for each task can be maintained by the project manager or another user who is responsible for updating project information. This field is not required for invoicing without scheduled billing.
If a budget is created for the project, the Computed % Complete is calculated as Total actual project task costs/Total budgeted project task expenses. This field is updated automatically as time and expenses are approved.
Optionally, you can create a budget on the Budget tab. Budgeting is not required unless you want Computed % Complete to be calculated.
On the Billing Information tab, specify the required information.
In Billing Rates, you must specify a predefined billing markup for the project if the contract type is not Fixed Price. See Billing Rate.
In Billing Schedule Type, select None. Billing Schedule items cannot be entered and are not considered when invoicing for the project.
Time and expenses are entered and approved for the project.
When it is time to create an invoice for the project, the Project Invoice screen is used. Header information is specified, including the invoice date, and then the Update Detail button is clicked.
All approved time and expense entries for the selected project, with a transaction date that is on or before the invoice date, are automatically added to the Detail area of the invoice. The user can also add entries manually. The user selects the entries to include on the invoice.
Refer to Project Invoice for information about completing the invoice.
Note: The fact that labor hours or expenses are charged to a project does not determine whether the hours and expenses are displayed on a project invoice. They must also be marked up based on the billing rates schedule that is associated with the project or rate exceptions specified at the project level. If billing rates are not set up correctly, the billable values must be manually created in Project Transaction or in Project Invoice.