Project Management Concepts
Project Management in Kezi ERP connects your daily work to your accounting system, ensuring you always know if a project is profitable. It involves planning, executing, and monitoring work to achieve specific goals within time and budget constraints.
🏗️ Core Concepts
1. Projects
The central container for all work. A project represents a specific engagement or job, such as "Office Building for ABC Corp" or "Q1 Marketing Campaign".
- Links to a Customer for billing.
- Has a specific Billing Type.
- Accumulates costs and revenues.
2. Tasks
Specific pieces of work within a project.
- Example: "Foundation", "Electrical", "UI Design".
- Assigned to specific employees.
- Track progress via stages (To Do, In Progress, Done).
3. Timesheets
Records of hours worked by employees on specific tasks.
- Billable: Charged to the client.
- Non-Billable: Internal cost only.
- Must be approved by a manager before affecting costs.
4. Budgets
Planned costs versus actual spending.
- Budgeted: What you planned to spend.
- Actual: What you actually spent (labor + expenses).
- Variance: The difference (Under/Over budget).
🔄 Project Lifecycle
Every project moves through a standard lifecycle:
graph LR
Draft[Draft] -->|Activate| InProgress[In Progress]
InProgress -->|Complete| Completed[Completed]
InProgress -->|Cancel| Cancelled[Cancelled]
Draft -->|Cancel| Cancelled
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Draft | Project is being planned. No timesheets can be logged. |
| In Progress | Work is actively happening. Timesheets and bills can be recorded. |
| Completed | All work finished. Final invoicing done. No new costs allowed. |
| Cancelled | Project stopped early. Activity frozen. |
💰 Billing Types
How you charge your client determines the project structure:
Time & Materials (T&M)
- Bill clients based on actual hours worked.
- Each hour has a rate (e.g., $150/hour).
- Best for: Consulting, software development, creative work.
Fixed Price
- Bill a set amount regardless of hours.
- You charge $20,000 whether it takes 100 or 200 hours.
- Best for: Construction, well-defined deliverables.
Non-Billable
- Internal projects with no invoicing.
- Best for: Training, R&D, internal tools.