Project Money, Billing and Cash Flow

Materials from the store

Project → Materials: take cement, iron bars, blocks ... from your stock to the site (or bring back what was not used). The stock goes down and the cost goes to the project at the buying price.

Other costs

Project → Costs: equipment hire, transport, materials bought straight for the site, a subcontract paid at once ... Each cost is also an expense.

Invoicing the client

Project → Billing → Invoice the Client (needs Documents switched on):

• Work done (a progress claim): the amount of work done; the retention % is taken off and kept on the project.
• Release retention: at handover, invoice the retention kept. It is refused while defects are still open.

Record the client's payments on the invoice. The tab shows the contract, invoiced, received and retention kept.

Cash-flow forecast

Project → Cash Flow: week by week, money expected in (invoices due, the contract not invoiced yet spread to the planned finish, the retention at handover) and out (what is owed now, the usual weekly wages, subcontracts, the budget not spent yet), with the running balance and the lowest point, so you see early when money will be short. Reports → Cash-Flow Forecast shows all projects together.

Papers for the client

At the top of the project:

• Progress Report (this week or last week): progress, stages, the diary with photos, work measured, materials used and workers per day, ready to print or save as PDF.
• Final Account: contract and variations, invoices, retention, payments and the balance, with signatures.

None of them show your costs.