Changes Introduced in Project and Job Costing 5.4

Project and Job Costing 5.4A introduced the following new features:

You can enter contact information for a Contract customer.
You can generate item or summary invoices for fixed price projects that use a billings and costs or accrual-basis accounting method. In earlier versions, you could produce only summary invoices for fixed price projects. You set the A/R invoice type on the Project tab of the Project Maintenance form (in Contract Maintenance).
You set a basic or standard style for projects. The contract style now functions as the default setting for projects you add to the contract. In previous versions, you set the style only at the contract level.
You can change the tax group for each project within a contract. You can specify a default tax group for a contract. and either accept or change the tax group for each project within the contract.
For fixed price projects that use a billings and costs or accrual-basis accounting method and an item invoice type, you can change the tax classes in the Equipment Usage, Material Usage, Material Return, and Timecard transaction-entry forms (as for time and materials projects).
You can add a new category or resource to a project at any time. Previously, if you wanted to add a category or a resource to an open project, you had to post the change using a revise estimate transaction. You now give permission to add a category and resource by assigning a new security authorization "Add a New Category And Resource " to a user.

The G/L Integration form was new in version 5.4. It includes all the G/L integration fields that used to be contained on the Integration tab of the PJC Options form in previous versions.

The option Append G/L Transactions To Existing Batch was renamed Create G/L Transactions By. The option provides a third choice, Creating And Posting A New Batch, to create and automatically post a new batch in General Ledger.
The Transactions tab of the G/L Integration form lets you specify the type of information from PJC transactions to use for the entry description, detail reference, and detail comment field in G/L transactions.

The Integration tab of the Options form contains options exclusively for integration with Accounts Receivable. It lets you choose to post an invoice batch in Accounts Receivable automatically when you post a billing worksheet in Project and Job Costing.

You can post job-related timecards directly from US or Canadian Payroll. Actuals are updated when you print the payroll checks.
You can set up records in Project and Job Costing for employees from US or Canadian Payroll, or both payroll programs, if you use them. You can also set up employee records solely for Project and Job Costing (using the payroll type None).
You can enter timecards in Project and Job Costing only for employees whose currency matches the functional currency.
Timecards you export to US or Canadian Payroll can include expense accounts.

You can use the new Costs form to post miscellaneous cost transactions to any project category, so you do not have to create a vendor invoice in Accounts Payable.

A new Material Allocation form lets you track material usage separately from material that is stored for a project. You enter material allocation transactions to remove material resources from storage. The Stored column on the Contract Maintenance form shows the amount of material held in storage for a project.

The Billing Worksheet form includes the tax reporting currency.
You can generate a billing worksheet for a fixed price project that uses the completed project accounting method and has no cost transactions. If a project's total cost is negative, Project and Job Costing creates a credit note for Accounts Receivable.

If you use the option Clearing Billings And WIP During Revenue Recognition (in PJC Options), Revenue Recognition immediately recognizes losses.
Revenue recognition is much faster.

You can specify options for checking Project and Job Costing tables and data.
The program checks for closed or completed projects used in unposted job-related transactions in other programs.

The Transaction History form contains a new Application field that lets you restrict the display to transactions that originated in an application you specify.

You can print the Architect's Certificate for Payment documents, G702 and G703, using the AIA Report form (located in the PJC Analytical Reports folder).

A new Committed Costs Audit Report tracks changes to commitments effected by Purchase Orders and Accounts Payable transactions. (Expensed and allocated tax amounts on the retainage portion of invoices may be commitments, depending on your settings for the Report Tax options in Accounts Payable and Tax Services.)

You must explicitly allow a user to view setup forms. Previously, a user having only timecard-entry authorization could see setup forms.

You can enter a negative percentage for cost plus projects, or set up a project where estimated revenue is less than estimated cost.

You can include opening balance transactions on the Transaction Detail report, strengthening the audit trail to your actuals.