Construction Team v1.17 - Batches, Office and Department, Availability by Period and Advances on the Invoice
Construction Team v1.17, our construction project management software, tracks material batches and expiry dates, shows the office and department on every record, and counts availability by period. A contract advance is now a line on the invoice, the price list has a column in the offer and the BoQ, and the client's and supplier's codes carry through to the documents.
Batches and expiry dates
Adhesives, dry mixes and paints have a batch number and an expiry date. Until version 1.17 these lived in a note or a separate spreadsheet. Now you turn on "Track batches" in the item card and the system keeps them for you.
When you receive such an item, two fields appear: batch and expiry date. If you leave the batch empty, it gets a number automatically. An expiry date before the date of the movement goes through with a warning, because goods can genuinely arrive already expired.
Issuing takes the quantity from the batch you pick. If you don't pick one, the system takes from the stock held outside batches first and only then from the batches. Example: stock is 70, of which batch L-12 holds 50. Issuing 30 takes 20 from outside batches and 10 from L-12.
A transfer between warehouses moves the batch too. Expiring batches and the value of the shortfall show in the BoQ availability.
Why it's useful: the warehouse sees what is about to expire before the material reaches the site, so you're not left with expired adhesive at the last moment.
Office and department on every record
Companies with several offices and departments wanted to see their numbers by unit. Office and department are now a field on all the main records, with a default and an access right.
There are office and department filters in sites, BoQs, contract annexes, certificates, accounting documents, transactions, the journal, financial analytics, contract analysis, stock and serial numbers. The selection goes into the page address, so a link to a filtered screen can be shared. Bulk actions update the office and department of many records at once, and the retainage report has a "No office" row.
An item has no office or department of its own. It enters the numbers through the warehouse it sits in.
BoQ availability and reservations by period
The BoQ availability table got "On hand", "Other reservations" and "Shortfall" columns, with a warehouse selector. The free quantity is now the real number, even when it's negative, not zero.
A reservation has a period of occupancy, and the free quantity is counted over its window. An "Expires on" date in the past is rejected, and an offer with an expired "Valid until" is not sent. The refusal for lack of stock names the item, so you see exactly what is missing.
Why it's useful: you see the shortfall before you promise material to a client, and two reservations for different weeks don't get in each other's way.
Contract advances on the invoice
An advance deduction is a separate line on the invoice, before VAT. An invoice created from an act or a payment certificate gets the line automatically, and a proforma from an act carries all the act's lines over to the invoice.
A contract can't be completed while there is an open advance, and it raises a warning about it. The "Result" indicator counts the advance in the month of the deduction, and a cancelled invoice with a deduction does not return the advance. How the rule works is described in the article on contract advances.
Price list in the BoQ and the offer
The offer and the BoQ have a column with the price from the price list. A new version of a list can start in the future, and validity is compared by day. The new-version label uses the day in Sofia.
In addition, the price list now has a common menu for accounting documents and acts, so you don't look for the same thing in different places.
Partner codes
The client has its own code for a material, and the supplier has another. The item file now has a "Partner codes" tab where you record them.
The client's or supplier's code is shown in the line items of the offer, BoQ, contract, annexes, act, invoice, proforma and supplier order. Excel import finds the item by the partner's code, and in the line items you can also enter a code by hand. The PDF has a "Both" mode and shows both your code and the partner's.
Why it's useful: the client gets a document with its own codes, and the supplier gets an order with theirs. You don't translate from one code to another by hand.
Daily log and site
The daily log records arrival and departure times and man-hours. The data goes into the PDF and into the log archive. The site got a "Project Owner" field, which shows in the card with the people on the site. Sub-sites have a new "Roof" category, and deleting a sub-site is blocked if it is linked to a document or a reservation.
Nomenclature
"Earthworks" has over 50 new items, and construction works are split into sections and into triples of material, labor and delivery. "Margin" is a new kind of item markup. Item import offers menus by name and gives an automatic code.
Other improvements and fixes
- A triangle in tables shows that there are more columns off to the side
- The button bar in forms sits at the bottom of the screen
- The work report and labor reporting are laid out better on a phone
- The site warehouse takes its address from the selected site
- Registration asks for a phone number as an option
- A payment certificate with negative VAT is rejected with its own message
- "Free" and "Release" in the inventory have the right meaning
- The zero in the hours field clears on focus
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Frequently asked questions
How do I track the expiry date of adhesives and dry mixes?
Turn on "Track batches" in the item card. When you receive stock, you enter a batch number and an expiry date, and issuing takes the quantity from the batch you pick.
What happens on issue if I haven't picked a batch?
The system takes from the stock held outside batches first and only then from the batches. With 70 in stock, 50 of them in batch L-12, issuing 30 takes 20 from outside batches and 10 from L-12.
How is an advance shown on the invoice?
The deduction is a separate line before VAT. An invoice created from an act or a payment certificate gets the line automatically, and a contract can't be completed while an advance is still open.
How do I filter records by office and department?
Office and department are a field on all the main records. The lists of sites, BoQs, accounting documents, transactions, stock and analytics have filters for them.