Set up project posting groups

A project posting group names the accounts a project posts to: work in progress while it runs, deferred income while it is billed ahead of completion, and sales and cost of goods sold when it completes. Each project chooses a group on the project form; a project without one uses the default group.

Projects use these accounts only when your company takes its accounts from posting groups. Until then, the project accounts in default accounts apply (Project Work In Progress, Project Deferred Income, Project Sales, Project Cost of Goods Sold and Project Account Receivable).

Steps

1. Open Settings › Posting Settings › Project Posting Groups

   In the menu on the left, select Settings, then Posting Settings, then Project Posting Groups.

   

   1. Project Posting Groups in the Posting Settings menu.
   2. What the groups are for, and the link to Posting Groups Switch-over.
   3. New group.
   4. The default group, General. Ready to post lists any accounts it still needs. Select Edit to finish it.
2. Fill in the code and the four accounts needed for posting

   Select New group (or Edit on an existing group).

   

   1. Code. Required.
   2. Description.
   3. The four accounts marked (needed for posting): Work in progress account, Deferred income account, Sales account and Cost of goods sold account.
   4. Receivable account: optional. Leave it empty and project invoices post to the customer's own receivable.
3. Add the optional accounts you need

   Further down are accounts used only by some kinds of projects. Leave the ones you don't use on None.

   Account	What it holds
   Contract asset account	Revenue earned but not yet billed.
   Retention receivable account	Amounts the customer holds back until completion.
   Advances received account	Money received before work is done.
   Accrued costs account	Costs incurred but not yet billed by vendors.
   Onerous contract provision account	Expected losses on a loss-making contract.
   Capitalisation (asset) account	Internal projects in this group move their work in progress here on completion, instead of to cost of goods sold.

   

   1. Capitalisation (asset) account.
   2. Manufacturing accounts (only if you use manufacturing): Capital expenditure expense account, Warranty provision account, Warranty expense account, Labour applied account, Machine applied account and Overhead absorbed account.
   3. The warning listing accounts still needed for posting. You can save now and add them later, but project postings that need them are refused until they are set.
   4. Create group (or Save when editing).
4. Give each project its group

   On the project form, choose the group in Posting group. Projects left on Default posting group use the default group.

If something goes wrong

Message	What to do
Enter a code.	Fill in Code.
Missing: Work in progress account, … (in Ready to post)	Select Edit on the group and choose the missing accounts.
The accounts could not be loaded.	Try again in a moment.

Next

• Set up project settings: resources, roles, locations, readiness and optional project features.