Input Needed: Automating Completed (%) in Revenue Budget

1. Do you prefer the current manual approach, or would you like it to be automated?

   1. I would like to see an option for both methods. Perhaps by Task/Cost Code. 

2. What issues or difficulties do you encounter with the current approach?

   1. We need a better mobile app experience

3. How do you calculate Completed % and Pending Amount/Quantity before billing?

   1. Feedback from subs and/or field personnel. Typically manual methods

4. Do you use any Acumatica forms or reports to support this process?

   1. I would like to see Progress Worksheets connected to %Complete

5. Do you export this information from third-party systems?

   1. Sometimes Yes, Procore, JobPlanner, Spreadsheets

6. What calculation method do you use (e.g., Cost-to-Cost, etc.)?

   1. POC=(Costs incurred to date/total estimated costs*100

   2. Cost to Cost

   3. Units of Delivery

7. Do you create a Cost Projection before billing?

   1. Sometimes, not always. Longer-duration jobs typically have Cost Projections

Hi Irina,

This would be great option.  My answers are below in blue.

1. Do you prefer the current manual approach, or would you like it to be automated?  Automated would be great if it were based on the costs in the Task versus Budget for the Task

2. What issues or difficulties do you encounter with the current approach?  It would be great to be able to see where the costs are at while in the Revenue tab so that we could make sure that costs are being covered.  We manually do some checks to verify.

3. How do you calculate Completed % and Pending Amount/Quantity before billing? Our Project Manager (Construction) considers how much each billing category is complete and then makes sure that he is also covering costs to come up with the amount to bill.

4. Do you use any Acumatica forms or reports to support this process?  We do use a custom Project Summary report that helps us see where actual costs are compared to budget & open commitments. 

5. Do you export this information from third-party systems? We export this from Acumatica into Excel to work with it more easily

6. What calculation method do you use (e.g., Cost-to-Cost, etc.)?  Actual Costs vs Budget Cost

7. Do you create a Cost Projection before billing?  Yes

1. Do you prefer the current manual approach, or would you like it to be automated?

   1. I would like to see an automatic calculation but allow the user to modify.

2. What issues or difficulties do you encounter with the current approach?

   1. Ability to update this in the mobile app.  Most of my clients are ok with the current approach but would like to see a “suggested” percent or amount

3. How do you calculate Completed % and Pending Amount/Quantity before billing?

   1. Some clients look at actual costs/budget, some look at actual costs and need to bill that plus a fee based on a percent, some based on milestones, some based on field completion (observation)

4. Do you use any Acumatica forms or reports to support this process?

   1. Sometimes the WIP schedule, sometimes custom reports or GI

5. Do you export this information from third-party systems?

   1. If any it is usually spreadsheets

6. What calculation method do you use (e.g., Cost-to-Cost, etc.)?

   1. A wide variety.  Sometimes based on cost sometimes observation on site.  Often clients are trying to project a % complete for a future date.  Example, billing due on 25th of the month, but needs projected to the end of the month.

7. Do you create a Cost Projection before billing?

   1. Not normally, they usually update this for WIP calculation at month-end.

1. Do you prefer the current manual approach, or would you like it to be automated? i like the idea of automating this but still allow the ability to manually approach this process.

2. What issues or difficulties do you encounter with the current approach? the biggest pain point I find is that the calculated percent complete based off costs may not always be accurate or what is actually happening on site.  If there would be a way to base this automation off cost projections so that it could calculate the actual percent complete with the additional factors provided by project personnel.  the other factor that comes up is that project billings need to be projected through the end of the month and those costs aren’t typically in the system yet because they have not incurred. 

3. How do you calculate Completed % and Pending Amount/Quantity before billing? when i was an end-user, the percent completes were provided by the project manager.  it was a combination of cost reviews as well as talking to his field staff - mostly manual/best guestimate

4. Do you use any Acumatica forms or reports to support this process? the project WIP report is helpful

5. Do you export this information from third-party systems? some clients export to excel 

6. What calculation method do you use (e.g., Cost-to-Cost, etc.)? percentage of completion 

7. Do you create a Cost Projection before billing? when i was an end user, this functionality didn’t exist in acumatica but a similar process was followed. 

Thank you!

Please help by answering the questions below or sharing any feedback:

1. Do you prefer the current manual approach, or would you like it to be automated?  I think having it manual is ok - but we need the related cost side to be much better.  Having a pre calculated current cost completed at the budget level and then rolled up at the project level will help augment it manually if not automate. 

2. What issues or difficulties do you encounter with the current approach?  The biggest issue is there isn’t a calculation of current cost completed with everything included.  If we dont have all costs, potential/pending cost, reflected its hard to know how much or percent to invoice the customer.  Also most customers cost budget structure does not relate in anyway to how the revenue budget is laid out.  Currently don't have multi ways of seeing cost budget lines show percent complete (Cost, Open Committed, Progress WS) and then a rollup at the top of the project. 

3. How do you calculate Completed % and Pending Amount/Quantity before billing?  Getting a total cost complete for the month is the first step.  Including all actual and potential items is also key.  Actual Cost posted (Easy, currently there), missing costs are (Cost not posted yet (Pending approval, On hold [AP, Timecards, Time Activities, Expenses, ect]), Inventory that is received but again not issued to the project (may or may not be allocated via Sales Order/Project Specific Inventory) Purchase Orders where some or all of its been paid through AP but no Receipt 

4. Do you use any Acumatica forms or reports to support this process?  Usually customized reports to bring in, but the base is typically either Project WIP, or a version of Project Summary GI.  

5. Do you export this information from third-party systems?  Quite a few customers do onto Excel to then bring in Customer Invoice Schedules and or manipulate the #’s due to missing costs.

6. What calculation method do you use (e.g., Cost-to-Cost, etc.)?Cost to cost is current but adding in the missing values of potential not captured by Acumatica. 

7. Do you create a Cost Projection before billing? That is the normal process if the project are big/long enough for the need to do a cost projection. . 

Thank you in advance for your input!

1. Do you prefer the current manual approach, or would you like it to be automated? - Automated

2. What issues or difficulties do you encounter with the current approach? - chance for error, customers want system to tell them for accounting purposes

3. How do you calculate Completed % and Pending Amount/Quantity before billing?

Take cost budget versus actual expenses and use that percentage to calculate revenue

1. Do you use any Acumatica forms or reports to support this process

Use cost reports

1. Do you export this information from third-party systems?
   Create Journal Entry 

2. What calculation method do you use (e.g., Cost-to-Cost, etc.)?

see above #3

1. Do you create a Cost Projection before billing?

yes

Hi Irina,

Thanks for posting and sharing.  I see a lot of opportunities for enhancements in Project Accounting; especially in terms as to how it relates to Engineered-to-Order (ETO) manufacturing-based projects.

Do you prefer the current manual approach, or would you like it to be automated?

In the ETO space, it’s common for client’s to base their billing on specific milestones (e.g., 10% on signing; 40% on design approval; 40% on Run-off; 10% on Shipment).  If there was a separate project tab that could be used to define milestone billings that would auto-generate invoices based on their respective percentages, that would be great, but complicated, since there are change orders that will need to be accounted for. 

I suspect that the milestone billing tab would need to indicate which milestones have been billed, along with the billing date, invoice number, and invoiced amount (at least that is what I’d envision). 

The other thing that would be useful is the ability to configure the system to allow milestone billings to post to an unearned revenue liability account directly.  Some manufacturers recognize revenue on shipment as opposed to using percentage of completion.  In these cases, running WIP reports and adjusting revenue has no value.  

What issues or difficulties do you encounter with the current approach?

In the ETO space, it becomes difficult to decide the best way to support progress billings.  Aside from the revenue recognition issue, there are conversations being had as to whether the milestones themselves should be used in the revenue budget, as opposed to the value of the goods being delivered.

Currently, we have to decide on one or the other, when it may be advantageous to having both.  

How do you calculate Completed % and Pending Amount/Quantity before billing?

Construction can be different than professional services and manufacturing, which are often based on milestones, or defined billing dates.  Construction companies will often base their completed % based on the work of their subcontractors, or based on their costs to date.  

Do you use any Acumatica forms or reports to support this process?

Milestone billing does not use any data to support the process. This is often event driven.  I can foresee a use of attributes and business events to drive the billing process.  Unfortunately, billing terms can vary from project to project, making the use of attributes difficult to use consistently.

Do you export this information from third-party systems?

No

What calculation method do you use (e.g., Cost-to-Cost, etc.)?

This would not be useful for milestone billing

Do you create a Cost Projection before billing?

If I were driving billing solely based on costs to date vs costs at completion, I could see this being useful, but again, that’s more of a construction-based approach. 

In addition to the above, I have a few other suggestions, which I’m sure we can add to the Ideas stack.

• Configuration Options that supports including Manufacturing WIP in the costs-to-date totals in the WIP report for the purposes of calculating earned revenue for those companies that use % Complete revenue recognition.  This comment may be based on my ignorance, but it’s my understanding that only project expense balances are used for calculating earned revenue in the WIP report. In project-based manufacturing, there may be significant outlays and costs incurred during the manufacturing process, which can last several months or even years. 
  • By definition, these costs are often capitalized into WIP inventory until completed.  Once the production order is closed-out, those costs would be moved to inventory, then recognized as COGS upon shipment. 
  • The accounting for project-based manufacturers gets complicated due to year-end considerations.  Accumulated manufacturing WIP, if expensed directly, would still reside in the production order. When the production order is completed and WIP is cleared, the FG value would be rebooked into COGS in its entirety, with the COGS-WIP account balance going negative to the extent that such costs were recognized in the previous year.  

It may well be that in these scenarios we would need to be creative in configuring Acumatica for project-based production orders for % Complete revenue companies.  I’d be curious to get guidance from the community as to how they’re dealing with ETO project-based manufacturers in this space.