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Project Tasks vs Cost Codes

  • 6 November 2020
  • 7 replies
  • 1822 views

Both Project Tasks and Cost Codes provide ways to break out project transactions into data subsets.  To better understand Acumatica’s design, would love some forum user feedback as to real world examples of the following:

  1. Project Tasks
  2. Cost Codes

Any explanation of the difference between these two data elements would be most helpful.

Additionally:

Are there instances where a single Project Task might be sufficient?

Our company is not engaged in vertical construction projects, so looking to better understand the difference between these two data elements and how they might be applied to natural gas pipeline installation projects (labor, equipment rental, materials), natural gas pipeline repair projects (labor & equipment rental), and billable service projects (labor only). 

7 replies

Heidi Dempsey
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Userlevel 7
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Hi Bob,

Project Tasks can be phases of a project or divisions of the cost codes. Cost codes are optional and additional detail for the work being performed. Yes, some customers do use just one project task, this all depends on how you want your costs and revenue tracked on your budget for reporting. There is a project key in our system that transactions look at to hit the budget which includes the Project, Task and Account Group(labor, equipment rental materials), and then Cost Code if included. All these options provide the detail you would like to track on a project.
B
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Userlevel 1

Thank you Heidi.

In looking at YouTube.com videos on Acumatica Construction, I observed that a configuration of one Project Task (Sub Job) in the Cost Budget, such as 01, could be sufficient. (certainly keeps transaction coding simple)

Also, it appeared that Cost Codes are perhaps the more common way to break out Costs into different categories (certainly consistent with our CEO’s expectations of which of the two -- Sub Jobs or Cost Codes -- would be used to break out costs).

Multiple Sub Jobs (project tasks) for cost budgets might come into play when you have a change order on top of the original contract (i.e. original contract = Sub Job 01, first change order = Sub Job 02, second change order = Sub Job 03, etc.), especially when you wish to track and report on these newly added costs separately.

Alternatively, if you have subcontractor arrangements - where you wish to track those costs in a separate grouping of costs - you might go with Sub Job 01 = main project Cost Budget, Sub Job 02 = 1st subcontractor cost budget, Sub Job 03 = 2nd subcontractor cost budget, etc.

Bob

johnshaddix38
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Userlevel 2
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Hi - For job cost tracking we are using the hierarchy of TASK > COST CODE

We have 6 different TASKS “groupings” and within each a # of various cost codes. 

The aggregate listing of all TASK > COST CODES build the COST BUDGET. 

 

John Shaddix | john.shaddix@momentum-glass.com
P
Rank

Hi Bob,

We use Tasks as our project phases (Tower 1, Tower 2, Tower 3, etc), Account Groups as our category (01 - Land, 02 - Soft Cost - 03 -Hard Cost, 04 - Finance, etc) and Cost codes as cost codes.  For tasks such as forming level 1, forming level 2, etc we use the assigned tasks within Activity.

 

It would be nice if Acumatica has a separate level for Sub-jobs so that Tasks could be try tasks within a job.

 

Ming

N
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Userlevel 1

The downside as I see it of this very limited use of Tasks (ie sub-jobs in Procore language) is that they are the only aspect of a project that can be scheduled, so any forecasting of cost or cash flow is very limited.  And assigning and scheduling resources is also very limited. 

A much more detailed Task list could start to alleviate this - but then your either have an overly detailed schedule of values for Customers (all task are both cost and revenue), or a disconnect between costs and revenue if you break the tasks up. 

A sub-task, and maybe even one more level for a 3 tier task system, with sub-task rolling up to the parent task would allow parent tasks to be revenue tasks (phases, cost codes, whatever works), and subtasks to be cost tasks, with schedule, resource allocation, and % complete tracking that all drive the parent Task.  Alternatively - a robust integration with MS Project ( or even a more robust Smartsheet integration) would allow data for tasks, resources, time entry etc to flow back into Acumatica.  Although I think all the pieces are pretty much there within Acumatica.

sharydye24
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In working with a customer that had installed the SmartSheet integration, we noticed that a byproduct of this customization project is that it added functionality within Acumatica for sub tasks.  Does anyone have experience using this sub task functionality (within Acumatica, not related to using SmartSheet)?

joelhoffman
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Userlevel 6
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@sharydye24 - To my knowledge, the new tab/fields added with the Smartsheet integration are only available/used in Smartsheet.  They are not extended to other areas of the application.

Joel Hoffman

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