New in 2008, BillQuick now offers up to four levels in the project hierarchy for your clients. Of course, only one project per client is required, and only one level per projects. Under the client, the four project levels are:
When would a company need more than one project level?
Most commonly, an architectural, engineering or IT/computer consulting firm will break down the scope of work in a project into a second level called a Phase. Some of these professionals may follow a management style that prefers to break the scope of work down further into Segments and possibly Sub-Segments. These are the third and fourth levels in the project hierarchy.
One common scenario for use of Segments is Change Orders. Inevitably a client of an architect, engineer or consultant requests a change to the project. In a house building project, a client may ask for a small change like lighting changes in the family room or a larger change like a special small building to take care of plants for the garden at the back of the property. Rather than change the scope of the entire project, a segment is added to handle the change. This allows the architect to track the budget, profitability, etc. for the original project and for the change order separately. Change orders often are done on a time and materials basis and at premium rates.
Another common scenario is an architect or engineer may want to track Services and Expenses separately for each phase. In this case, they will create a segment for each, complete with a contract amount, budget, percent complete and other items.
In summary, segments and sub-segments are powerful features for many clients. When discussing their information requirements, be sure to ask about these project levels. With a little planning, they can add tremendous management information.
Check out the demo about the Project Hierarchy and how to set one up in under a minute.
