Budget split by cost code, with split templates and the margin left
Share the contract or bid value out over cost codes by per cent, such as materials 50 % and labour 20 %. Start from a split template, change the shares for this job, and see the margin that is left. Apply Split turns the shares into the budget lines.
PLANSEvery plan
The problem it solves
- Your estimator prices a job with a rule of thumb, but the budget is typed again line by line from a spreadsheet.
- Nobody can say what margin is left once materials, labour, plant and overheads have their share.
- Each project manager splits the contract value a different way, so budgets cannot be compared.
How it works
- Keep your usual splits once under Cost Splits: each is a list of cost codes with a per cent. What is left of 100 % is the margin.
- On a draft building budget, open the Split tab. The Value to Split starts as the project's value; change it if the budget follows another figure.
- Pick a Split Template. Its shares are copied onto the budget, and you change any per cent this job needs.
- Each share shows its amount. The tab shows how much is shared out and the margin, as a per cent and an amount.
- Press Apply Split. Each share becomes the original amount of its cost code's line for the whole project, and the budget's chatter records what was applied.
- Add lines for places or other cost codes as usual, then send the budget for approval.
Everything it does
Split templates
- Name, order, and the shares: a cost code and a per cent, each cost code once
- Shared Out % and Margin % are worked out; a margin below zero shows in red
- Entity: empty means every entity uses it
- One template to start with, Contract (example). It gives Materials (General) 50, Site Labour 20, Plant and Equipment 5, Preliminaries and Site Overheads 5, Contingency 5, margin 15
- A template can be archived when you stop using it
- Changes are tracked in the template's chatter
The split on a budget
- Value to Split: starts as the project's contract value
- Split Template: copies its shares; the copy can then be changed
- Shares: cost code, per cent and amount (value to split x per cent), each cost code once
- Shared Out %, Margin % and Margin amount, in red when below zero
- Changed only while the budget is a draft; an approved budget changes by a revision
Apply Split
- Each share sets the original amount of its cost code's whole-project line
- A missing line is made; an existing whole-project line of that cost code takes the new amount
- Lines of other cost codes and lines for places are left as they are
- Stopped with a message when there are no shares, no value to split, or the shares pass 100 %
- Press it again after changing the shares; nothing is applied by itself
Tenders
- Tender Settings has a Usual Split of the Bid; new tenders start with it
- A tender's Split tab shows each share's amount next to what your priced items hold for that cost code
- A won tender makes a draft budget whose split is the tender's, already applied
Who uses it
Construction AdministratorKeeps the split templates under Cost Splits.
Construction ManagerPicks a template on a draft budget, changes the shares and presses Apply Split.
Estimator or bid managerSplits the bid on a tender and checks the margin before the bid is approved.
Where you use it
- Web: Construction > Projects > Configuration > Costs and Payments > Cost Splits
- Web: Construction > Projects > Finance > Costs > Building Budgets, the Split tab
- Web: Construction > Sales > Tenders, the Split tab, and Sales > Configuration > Tender Settings
- The SmartMy Construction app: a tender's split and margin can be read (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
- Not on the phone: templates and the budget split are set on the web
What you control
Settings
- Cost split templates: one example template to start with
- Value to Split: the project's value to start with
- Usual Split of the Bid for new tenders: none to start with
Approvals
- Building Budget: the split budget is approved in this chain like any other budget; the split has no approval of its own
Notifications
- None of its own: the budget's 80 % and 100 % alerts work on the lines the split made
Questions
Does Apply Split delete lines I typed?
No. It only sets the original amount of the whole-project line of each cost code in the split. Lines for places and lines of other cost codes stay as they are.Can the shares add up to more than 100 %?
A template may, and its margin shows red. A budget cannot: Apply Split stops and tells you the total.Can I split by place or block?
Not by place. The split fills whole-project lines. Add place lines by hand, or run each block as its own project with its own split.Can I change the split after the budget is approved?
No. The Split tab is fixed once the budget leaves draft. Change the approved budget with a budget revision.Who can make split templates?
Construction Administrators make and change them. Other Construction staff can pick them, and only Construction Managers work on budgets.Related features
MONEYBuilding budget with 80 and 100 % alertsOne budget per project, by cost code and place, approved once and changed only by approved revisions. Costs from site flow into it every hour. The project manager is told when a line passes 80 % and 100 % used.MONEYCommitments, forecast and over-budget checksEvery budget line shows what is already ordered or contracted, what is spent, what is still to come and where the line will end. A project purchase order that goes past what is left of its line needs a Construction Manager to confirm it.MONEYTender register: from the tender notice to a won projectEvery tender you might bid for sits in one register. It keeps the last day to submit, fee and EMD, documents, priced items and the split of the bid. The bid is approved before it goes, other bidders are ranked, and a won tender makes the project with its BOQ and budget.PROJECTS AND SET-UPProjects, places at any depth and cost codesEvery job is a project: a contract for a client, a development you build to sell, or a building for your own use. Each project is split into places as deep as you need (tower, floor, flat, or a road chainage). Costs are booked to your own cost codes.MONEYContracts over several projects, with the overall layerA job too big for one site, such as 1,000 apartments in ten blocks, runs as one project per block under one contract. The contract adds up the blocks: value, per cent done, budget, spent and billed, with a project for the shared works.
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