Project information is critical for job costing, project management and tracking billing and profitability. Every client has at least one project.
In BillQuick you can set up a new project in multiple ways. Most options are shortcuts that save time over the standard ‘from scratch’ option. Your setup options are:
- Add information about a project from scratch
- Clone a project record (or all phases of a project)
- Clone a phased project record
- Mass clone a project for multiple clients
- Automatically add a project when you set up a new client
Let’s look at two saving options that you may have missed.
Clone a Phased Project Record
A very common situation is you have a phased project and you need to add another phase. You could manually add another project record then make it a phase, or you can use the Create Phase shortcut.
1. Choose the Main or parent project for the phase.
2. Click the Create Phase button on the General tab.
3. On the Create Project Phase screen, enter the Phase portion of the ID, description and contract type. If you choose Fixed or Hourly Not To Exceed for the Contract Type, you will also need to enter a contract amount.
The new project phase does not need to have the same contract type as the parent project or the other phases. Each phase project record is separate, thus you can have a different contract type, track percent complete separately, assign a budget or service fee schedule to it.
4. Click OK. BillQuick inserts the new phase into the project phase structure.
That’s all it takes.
Automatically Add New Projects
Another shortcut that utilizes cloning is Auto Add New Project. This option is available on the Client screen.
The most common situation is when you set up a standard project for a new client. For example, an accounting firm often has new clients who want their 1040 tax returns completed. In BillQuick, the firm needs both a new client record and a new engagement for the tax return. Similarly, a law firm may gain a new client who needs contracts reviewed or created. This features lets them do both tasks at one time.
1. On the Client screen, enter the desired information for a new client.
2. Check the Auto Add New Project option.
3. Select the Project you want to clone. Usually this is a project record that you created as a template, but it can be any project record.
4. By default, BillQuick inserts the Client ID as the first portion of the Project Code. You can add to it or replace it with your own unique project code. As needed, you can extend the project ID by adding data in the Phase field.
5. Click Save. BillQuick creates both the new Client record and the new Project record at the same time.
