Create and approve a change order

The work to carry out and the contract amount agreed are known at the beginning of the project. In many cases, the actual work deviates from the original budget. The change order makes it possible to track these deviations and implement a procedure where an estimate for the changes is created, an approval is obtained, and when the project change order is approved, a project task can be created. The project task number becomes visible in the project change order, and on the project task the change order is visible.

In this walk-through, you learn how to create a project change order estimate. When the estimate is complete, submit it for approval using the combined lifecycle and workflow. From an approved estimate, create a project task through the Create Project Task action.

About this walk-through

This walk-through covers how to create a project change order estimate, submit an estimate for approval, and use the Create Project Task action. It illustrates the following tasks:

• Setting up the sample data.

• Creating a project change order.

• Completing the estimate and submitting for approval.

• Using the Create Project Task action to create project tasks from an approved estimate.

Prerequisites

To complete this walk-through, you need:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

• CRONUS International Ltd. demonstration database.

• STAEDEAN Industrial Equipment Manufacturing RapidStart demo set.

Story

Prakash is the project manager at CRONUS International Ltd. Prakash encounters additional requirements in the project that the customer did not make clear earlier. Prakash estimates the additional work and asks David, the salesperson, to obtain approval from the customer. Prakash and David decide to keep the change order separate from the project's fixed price and complete the additional work on a Time & Material basis.

Setting up the sample data

The project change order number series

Change orders have their own number series, set in the Project Control Suite Setup.

Steps- Workflow setup

1. Choose the   icon, enter Workflows, and then choose the related link.

2. In the Workflows list, select New and then New again to start a new workflow.

3. Complete the following fields (this is an example, modify to match your business process):

   When Event	On Condition	Then Response
   Approval of a project change order is requested.	Approval Status: Open	Add record restriction.
   		Set document status to Pending Approval.
   		Create an approval request using approver type Approver and approver limit type Direct Approver.
   		Send approval request and create a notification.
   An approval request is approved.	Pending approvals: 0	Remove record restriction.
   		Release the document.
   An approval request is approved.	Pending Approvals: > 0	Send approval request and create notification.
   An approval request is rejected.	Always	Reject the approval request and create a notification.
   		Reopen the document.
   Approval of a project change order is canceled.	Approval Status: Pending Approval	Cancel the approval request and create a notification.
   		Reopen the document.
   		Show message "The approval request for the record has been cancelled."
   An approval request is delegated.	Always	Send approval request and create a notification.

The project change order reason codes

Change orders can be classified by a Change Order Code:

Process

Steps - Create a project change order

1. Open the Projects List: /Departments/Project Control Suite/Project Control Suite/Projects.

2. Select the project for which you want to create a change order and click Change Order in the ribbon.

3. In the Project Change Orders list, click New. On the new line, complete the following fields:

   Field	Description
   Project Change Order Code	Click the assist edit to select a number series. Click OK in the No. Series List to confirm.
   Description	Provide a short description for the change order.
   Comments	Use comments for a more elaborate description. The Comments field on the change order line indicates if comments exist (Yes/No). Drill down on this field or use the Comments action on the Navigate tab.
   Change Order Code	Select one of the change order codes to classify the change order.
   Estimated Resource Cost	Specify the total estimated resource costs.
   Estimated Material Cost	Specify the total estimated material costs.
   Estimated Equipment Cost	Specify the total estimated equipment costs.
   Estimated Expenses	Specify the total estimated expenses.
   Total Estimated Cost	Shows the total for the estimated fields. Calculated, not editable.
   App	Indicates if the change order has been approved. Set through the approval workflow.
   Enhanced Status	Shows the current lifecycle state.
   Project Task No.	Shows the project task number created from the change order.

Steps - Processing an approval

The following activity is based on the workflow described in Workflow setup.

1. From the Project Change Order page, click Request Approval and then Send Approval Request from the drop-down menu.

2. Accept the confirmation: "An approval request has been sent."

   Note
   The status of the project change order changes from Open to Pending Approval.

3. From the Related > Change Order > Approvals menu, open Approval Entries to monitor the status of the approval request, or select Delegate to delegate the request.

4. The approver sees an additional Approve option in the project change order.

5. Click Approve and select one of the following:

   • Approve: the status changes to Released. This makes the Process action visible, from which the Create Project Task wizard can be started.

   • Reject: the status changes to Open.

   • Delegate: the status remains Pending Approval.

Steps - Use the Create Project Task action to create project tasks from an approved estimate

1. When the change order has the Approved state, the Create Project Task action is available in the ribbon.

2. Click Create Project Task to open the wizard.

3. Complete the following fields:

   Field	Description
   Project Task No.	Enter a new project task number that is not yet in use in the project.
   Description	Provide a short description for the project task.
   Project Element	Select one of the project elements, when in use.
   Project Activity	Select one of the project activities, when in use.
   Invoice Template Code	Select the invoicing template for the change order project task to set the invoicing method. Leave blank to use the project invoicing method.
   Invoicing Method	Set through the selected invoicing template.
   Contract Amount	Enter an amount when the invoicing method for the change order project task is Fixed Price.
   Contract Amount (LCY)	Calculated when the invoicing currency or the project's currency differs from the local currency.
   Starting Date	Select the starting date for the change order project task.
   Ending Date	Select the ending date for the change order project task.
   Nr. of Days	Enter the number of working days for the change order project task.
   Project Posting Group	Select a project posting group for the change order project task when different from the project's posting group.
   Surcharge Model Code	Select a surcharge model code for the change order project task when different from the project's surcharge model code.
   WIP Method	Select a WIP method for the change order project task when different from the project's WIP method.
   WIP Total	Select a WIP Total code (Blank, Total, Excluded) for the change order project task when different from the project's WIP Total.

4. Click OK to create the project task. The project task number shows in the change order to confirm creation and prevent duplication.