Project > Work Structure

Tasks can be added and updated via the Projects > Project > Work Structure screen.

Project tasks are created in order for you to:

• Clearly define the separate pieces of work within a project

• Show staff which tasks they should be working on

• Use predecessors to create a project timeline

• Plan fees for each task and create a billing schedule

• Manage resource and expense costs for each task independently

• Use reports to analysis project performance in detail

Tasks can be added to a project via either the Project > Fee Allocation (Architects, Engineers, Quantity Surveyors), Estimates (Consultants), Work Structure or Gantt screen.

For basic task addition in order to allocate budgets and fees, the simplest method is via the Fee Allocation or Estimates screen.

Follow the instructions below for adding tasks where full task planning is required.

New Task

1. Click the New Task item.

2. Type in the Task Name you would like for this task.

3. Select the Task Type for this task. There are three different types of task categorisation:

1. • Non-Effort Driven should be used when you want to fix a task start and end date, and assign resources within these two dates.

   • If you do not want to fix task start and end dates, you can use the task type Accumulated Work, which will update the start or end date based on the task constraint selected and resource assignments made.
     This is sometimes referred to as critical path resourcing, as the worker with the longest resource assignment guides the task start or end date.

   • Alternatively, you can use Calendared resourcing which will set task start and end dates purely on resource assignments made. (The earliest resource assignment will set the start date, the latest resource assignment will set the end date).

Note: Once calendared resourcing has been used, task start and end dates will automatically update.
             Previous Non-Effort Driven or Accumulated Work task start and task finish dates will be replaced with dates effective from calendared resourcing.

See the topic Forecasting resources for more details on task types and resourcing options.

5. If the task start date needs to be driven by the finish date of a previous task, enter the predecessor task number in the Predecessor box.
   For more complicated predecessor requirements you can use the following codes, where X is the task number.

1. • X:FS – the task cannot start until the predecessor has finished.
     This is the default option and what happens if you do not enter any of these four codes.

   • X:FF – the task cannot finish until the predecessor has finished

   • X:SS – the task cannot start until the predecessor has started

   • X:SF – the task cannot finish until the predecessor has started

6. Select the Constraint appropriate to your task planning. The table below explains how the Task Start date is affected by each constraint.

7. Use the calendar button to set the Task Start date.
   This may forcibly change if this task has a predecessor and constraint type that conflicts with your selected start date.

8. If you know when the task must finish, use the calendar button to set the Task Finish date.
   If you don’ t know the finish date but do know how many days are required to complete the task, enter this number in the Planned Work days box.

9. Click the Save button to save your task.

Task detail

The Task Details section allows you to identify key characteristics of the task you have setup.

1. Select the task Status from the drop-down field.
   Task statuses are maintained via Admin > Project Settings > Task Statuses and affect the ability for staff to record time and expenses against the task.

2. If the task has been agreed with the client, enter the Task Probability % as 100.
   If the task is not yet approved, select the % probability of the task work being agreed.
   Task Probabilities are maintained via Admin > Project Settings > Task Probability and provides reporting analysis in reports such Resource Utilisation vs Target.

3. Select the Fee Type for this task.
   This selection is used for calculating work in progress values in the Work in Progress report.

4. The Complete days field is read only and updates automatically from all timesheet entries recorded against this task.

5. Optionally tick the task as a Milestone.
   This creates a visual image in the gantt bar and can be linked to invoice rules for billing purposes.

6. As this is a new task, leave the % Complete box as 0.
   Updating this value as the task progresses can provide reporting analysis in reports such as Project Performance - Based on percentage complete and Work in Progress.

7. Optionally tick the task a Speculative.
   Doing so identifies the task as not yet billable and provides reporting analysis in reports such as Resource Utilisation vs Target.

8. If you want all members of the project team to be able to log time and expenses to this task (as opposed to only team members specifically resourced to the task), then tick the box All project team can log time & expenses to this task.

9. Enter any task Notes you wish to record against the task.

10. Click the Save button to save your task details.

Clone Task

1. Select the task you wish to clone by clicking on the task number.
   

2. Click the Clone Task item.

3. All the details will now copied into the clone task.
   

4. If the original is a Moveable Calendar task then the copied task will be changed to Accumulated Work with days at 0 and no resource assigned.
   

Note: Parent Tasks cannot be cloned

Move Up / Move Down

Task can be reordered and parent-child relationships created.

If a task is not needed it can be deleted.

Note: Deleting a task does not delete any data (e.g. timesheet entries) associated with it.
             Tasks are 'soft-deleted' which means that data associated to them is not lost and can still be reported on.

1. Click the task sequence number.

2. Click the Move Up and Move Down items as appropriate to move the task up or down the list.

Outdent / Indent

A task can have a number of child tasks, which in turn can have their own child tasks.

Parent tasks cannot be resourced, but instead total up the number of resourced days for their child tasks.

Note: If a task is changed to a parent task, it will not be available in the timesheet section as an available option.
             Time should be logged to a child task.

Only leaf tasks (i.e. the lowest level) tasks can be resourced.

1. Select the task by clicking the appropriate task sequence number.

2. Click on the Indent item to make this task a child of the task above it.

3. Click on the Outdent item to remove the parent-child relationship to the task above it.

Note: Indenting a task will remove any of its parent task’s assigned resources and expense forecast items.

Delete task

1. Select the task by clicking the appropriate task number.

2. Click the Delete Task item.

Note: Deleted tasks can be restored via Admin > Undelete Data.

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