Material requests from the store
Material asked from your store for a project is committed on its budget when approved, at the items' cost. What the store sends becomes actual cost, and the store buys only what it does not have.
PLANSScale only
The problem it solves
- Cables, laptops or site material leave the store with no record of which project used them.
- People buy for a project what is already sitting in the store.
- The project budget shows material only when someone remembers to enter it.
- A request goes over the material budget and nobody sees it until the goods are used.
How it works
- A store request names the store, where the items go (Send To), by when, what they are for, and the items with quantities.
- Pick the Project on it; the Budget Category is Materials to start with. The form shows the estimated cost at the items' cost price.
- Send to the Store checks what is left on the budget line, and warns or blocks as your setting says. The request then waits in the Store request approval chain.
- Approved, the estimated cost is committed on the project's budget.
- The Store Keeper presses Send from Stock for what is there. When the transfer is done, its cost is actual cost and as much of the commitment is released.
- For what is missing, Ask Purchase sends a purchase request. Purchase makes the orders; the goods come into the store and are sent on.
Everything it does
The request
- From Store, Send To (a place in your stock), Needed By, What It Is For, items and quantities
- Project, Budget Category (Materials to start with) and Estimated Cost, set while it is a draft
- Statuses: Draft, To Approve, With the Store, Partly Sent, Sent, Rejected
- Quantities must be above zero; a reason is needed to reject
- Buttons on the request open its purchase requests, purchase orders, goods received and transfers
On the budget
- Estimated cost: each item's cost price times the quantity, in the project's currency
- Approved: committed once on the line of the category, else the line whose cost type is Material
- Each transfer done: actual cost of what was sent, and the commitment goes down by as much, never below zero
- A transfer is posted once
The store
- Store Keepers see each item's stock, what was sent, what is on the way and what is still to buy
- Send from Stock makes the transfer for what the store has
- Ask Purchase asks only for what is missing: asked, less sent or on the way, less stock, less what purchase was asked already
- The Store Keeper may raise the quantities to keep more in the store
- Purchase picks vendors and presses Make Purchase Orders on the purchase request
Who uses it
Project managerAsks the store for material for the project and sees it committed and spent on the budget.
Store KeeperApproves requests to start with, sends from stock and asks purchase for what is missing.
Purchase departmentTurns purchase requests into purchase orders.
Projects AdministratorSets budget control and the alert % for the entity.
Where you use it
- Web: Inventory > Operations > Store Requests, for Store Keepers
- Purchase > Purchase Requests, for the purchase department
- Projects > Money > Budgets > Budget Ledger shows each request and transfer with its project
- There is no Store Requests menu under Projects yet; requests are made where the store works
What you control
Settings
- Budget Category on each request: Materials to start with
- When a cost goes over: Off, Warn (to start with) or Block, per entity
- The Store request approval chain: a Store Keeper approves to start with
Approvals
- Store request: a Store Keeper approves to start with; add levels such as the person's manager or a department head
Notifications
- Store Request Sent: to the person who asked, when all or part is sent, in the app and as a phone notification
- Store Request Rejected: to the person who asked, with the reason
- Purchase Request From the Store: to the purchase department
- Project Budget Alert: to the project manager when the line reaches the alert % or goes over 100 %
Questions
At what price is material costed?
At each item's cost price in your stock, converted to the project's currency. The request shows this as Estimated Cost before you send it.What if the store sends only part?
Only what was sent becomes actual cost, and the commitment goes down by as much. The rest stays committed until it is sent.Can my team raise a request from the Projects app?
Not yet. Requests are made in the store's menu by Store Keepers. A My Requests menu in Projects is not built; tell us if your team needs it.Does returned material lower the cost?
No. Returns to the store are not posted back to the project. A Projects Administrator can correct the ledger by hand.Which plan has it?
Scale, with project budgets.Related features
MONEYProject budgets by OPEX and CAPEXEach project gets a budget by cost category, marked OPEX or CAPEX, approved before it counts. Time, expenses, orders, bills and store issues fill it by themselves, with alerts at 80 % and over 100 %.MONEYPurchase orders, bills and invoices on the budgetPut a project on a purchase order and it is committed on that project's budget when confirmed. Its vendor bill turns the commitment into actual cost, and customer invoices with the project count as revenue.MONEYProfitability per projectOne row per project with revenue, cost, margin and budget used, read from the project's budget ledger. Time is costed at each person's cost per hour, and filters show the projects losing money or over budget.ACROSS SMARTMY PROJECTSApproval chainsTimesheets, billing runs, expenses, budgets, stage overrides and subcontract work go to the right people in the right order, set up by you without code. Every decision is kept with who made it, when and why.
See your next project on it.
Tell us how many people keep time, how you bill your clients today (hours, fixed price, retainers) and what you use now. We will set up one of your real projects with you.