Contracts and Operations

You may want to configure the job costing system to allow you to manager larger jobs (contracts) which consists of a number of individually costed smaller jobs (operations). This option, available on Premie ronly, allows you to budget against the smaller jobs and analyse the individual operations to a greater degree.

If using Contracts and Operations then the ‘Maintain Jobs’ option allows you to maintain the operations of the job and a separate menu option, not configured by default, allows you to maintain the contracts.

Both the contracts and operations are held in the job file. In effect, as with stock locations in stock control, the job code is split into two sections – the contract code and the operation code, the operation code being pre-fixed with the contract code for which it’s a part. Transactions are entered against the operations and then accumulated to the contract – no transactions are posted directly to the contract itself.

Maintain Contracts

When selecting to maintain contracts the standard ADD, UPDATE, VIEW and COMPLETE options are available. The maintenance screen is usually configured almost identically to the standard maintain job options discussed previously – although the contract and operation screens are defined separately.

The major differences are that you will not enter the budget values against the contract; instead the budget values for the contract will be accumulated from the entered budgets for the operations. In addition after adding a new contract you will be prompted to enter the new ‘operation’ details for the contract – at which point, if confirmed, you will be transferred to ‘Maintain Operations’.

Maintain Operations

When selecting to maintain operations the standard ADD, UPDATE, VIEW and COMPLETE options are available and the screen is configured as per the maintain jobs options discussed previously. On selection of a maintain action you are asked firstly for the contract and then for the operation code - <F4-Select> is available as required.On update of the operation any amended budget values are accumulated to the contract.