Project billing

What is "project billing"? Project billing is a process for organizations working in a Project management context that need to invoice customers for a project. Project billing is a complete overview of the billing process for a project.

Presenting a summary of the items to bill for a project, Project billing helps project managers make decisions about what to bill the customer. A Billing plan displays the list of sales orders linked to the project; specific icons indicate if a sales order line has been billed, and how - using scheduled invoices, using a milestone billing process, using a progress billing process, or using a standard invoicing process based on sales deliveries or direct invoices.

Project billing incorporates multiple interrelated areas of functionality:

• Scheduled invoices: An invoicing process for billing for a project according to an invoicing plan, either a predefined plan or a customized plan for the project.
• Milestone billing: An invoicing process that releases a scheduled invoice to a customer when a task is closed, or budget is delivered or closed, that is, when the milestone is reached.

Where a milestone has been missed or is due, indicators warn the project manager accordingly.

• Progress billing: An invoicing process for billing for a project according to its progress.

Progress billing uses the estimated progress percentage at the project level, budget level or task level for scheduled invoices to determine the amount to bill customers.

• Deliverables and direct invoicing: An invoicing process for billing for a project according to sales deliveries, or using a direct and manual invoicing method.

Using Project billing

Open: Projects > Projects > Project management

Open: Sales > Orders > Orders

Open: Sales > Deliveries > Deliveries

Open: Sales > Invoices > Invoices

Open: Sales > Invoices > Scheduled invoice generation

You access Project billing by clicking the Project billing icon in the General section of the project, Customer block. This icon is only available at the project level.

As a project manager you use Project billing to access the entire billing process for a project, that is, Project billing presents a summary of the items to bill for a project. Project billing is particularly useful for helping make decisions about what to bill the customer.

The Billing plan displays the list of sales order lines linked to the project. By default, only the lines at Pending or To be invoiced status are displayed, however you can include both invoiced and closed lines. You use the home section to filter and choose the order of the sales order lines to be displayed. Specific icons indicate if a sales order line has been billed, and how - using scheduled invoices, using a milestone billing process, using progress statuses, or using a standard invoicing process based on sales deliveries.

• To ensure the sales figures are your focus, quantities and the progress status details of the sales order lines are omitted by default from the Billing plan selection section. Select the Display quantities and Display status check boxes to include them; select the Forecast status check box to include provisional statuses in the Progress status section, and in the Billing plan selection section.
• To display just those sales order lines that are linked with a project milestone, select the Milestone only check box.

Billing plan selection section

The Billing plan displays the list of sales order lines linked to the project. You use the Billing plan selection section to display, group and sort the sales order lines linked to the project.

Specific icons classify the sales order lines into invoicing methods, as follows:

Project billing: Sales order line invoicing categories

• 1 - A Blank page icon indicates a standard invoicing process. Sales invoices linked to the project can be generated based on sales deliveries using the Invoice action in the Deliveries function (GESSDH), or by raising a direct invoice using the Invoices function (GESSIH).
• 2 - A Calendar icon indicates scheduled invoicing. Scheduled invoices are generated in the Sales module against the sales order line linked to the project. The scheduled invoices can be generated using the Invoice action in the Orders function (GESSOH), individually using the Invoices function (GESSIH), or by including the invoice as part of a bulk generation run in the Scheduled invoice generation function (FUNAUTINVSCH).
• 3 - A Report icon indicates a progress billing process. Progress billing is also set as the Billing mode for the project, and in the Cost structure and Task planning. The associated scheduled invoices are generated against the sales order line linked to the project using the generation functionality in the Sales module, fully driven by the progress of the project, budget, or task until its completion. You can change the start and end dates of the billing period.

Sales order lines with the Milestone check box selected indicate that at least one scheduled invoice line is linked to a project milestone.

Billing plan sections

Click a line in the Billing plan selection section to further filter the Project billing results.

• Click the project (root line) to display all Project billing results in their respective sections. The selected line is highlighted in the Billing plan selection and each filtered section.

  Progress status section: Sales order lines classified by 3 above. You use this section to manage the progress billing process.

  Scheduled invoices section: Sales order lines classified by 2 above.

  Deliverable/direct invoicing section: Sales order lines classified by 1 above.

  Invoices section: Sales order lines that have been invoiced, and those that are closed.

  Open orders section: Open sales order lines.

• Click a line in the project hierarchy to filter the Project billing results to only display in the respective section.

Select the Forecast status check box to include the invoicing forecast figures based on the invoicing terms defined for a sales order line.
Select the Display quantities check box to include the scheduled invoice quantity figures.

Click the Refresh status action for the following - see Progress billing > 2: Progress status (sub)process > step 2:

• To refresh the billed quantity and amount on Pending statuses for the whole project.

For progress billing, a popup message proposes to first refresh the estimated progress percentage on the project. These are read-only fields.

• To refresh the billed quantity and amount on Pending statuses, if the quantity or price of the sales order line has been modified manually, and to clear the Refresh requested check box.

Use the Actions menus from the project hierarchy for the following:

• To view the details of a budget or task level in the Cost structure or Task planning respectively.
• To view a linked sales order.
• To delete a billing plan for a sales order linked to a progress billing process - click the Delete billing plan action from the Actions menu on the sales order line.

Use the Actions menu from the lines in the Billing plan sections for the following:

• To view a linked sales order or sales invoice.
• To delete a billing plan for a sales order linked to a progress billing process - click the Delete action from the Actions menu on each line in the Progress status section.

Progress status section

Click a line in the Billing plan selection section with a Report icon (3 above) to filter for scheduled invoices linked to a progress billing process.

Billing plan selection section: Report icon and Progress billing filters

Progress status section: Sales order lines classified by a Report icon

Project billing integrates directly with the scheduled invoices in the Sales module to control or manage the issue of scheduled invoices according to the progress of a project, budget, or task until its completion. If a forecasted invoice (indicated by a blue arrow ) is displayed in the Progress status section you can update the dates and quantity fields, and therefore the amount of the invoice forecast directly.

Progress status section: Directly editable sales order line fields

Scheduled invoices section

Click a line in the Billing plan selection section with a Calendar icon (2 above) to filter for scheduled invoices.

Billing plan selection section: A Calendar icon will filter for scheduled invoices

Scheduled invoices section: Sales order lines classified by a Calendar icon

Project billing integrates directly with the scheduled invoices in the Sales module to control or manage the issue of scheduled invoices. Whilst you can modify scheduled invoices from the sales Orders function (GESSOH), you can also modify scheduled invoices directly from the Scheduled invoices section. If a scheduled invoice is at status To be invoiced you can update the dates, quantity, and percentage fields, and therefore the amount of a scheduled invoice.

Scheduled invoices section: Directly editable sales order line fields

You can update the estimated progress percentage of a milestone directly from the Scheduled invoices section.

You can close project tasks and budgets defined as milestones from the Scheduled invoices section by selecting the Milestone reached check box. This makes the scheduled invoices billable. To reopen a milestone, clear the Milestone reached check box.

Deliverable/direct invoicing section

Click a line in the Billing plan selection section with a Blank page icon (1 above) to filter for sales invoices linked to the project that can be generated based on sales deliveries.

Billing plan selection section: A Blank page icon will filter for sales invoices linked to the project that can be generated based on sales deliveries

Deliverable/direct invoicing section: Sales order lines classified by a Blank page icon

Invoices section

Click a line in the Billing plan selection section to filter for sales order lines that have been invoiced, and those that are closed.

Billing plan selection section: Invoiced line

Invoices section: Invoiced sales order lines

Open orders section

Click the project line in the Billing plan selection section to display open sales order lines.

Milestone billing

Open: Sales > Invoices > Invoices

Open: Projects > Projects > Project management

Open: Sales > Invoices > Scheduled invoice generation

A milestone is a project budget or a project task. Milestone billing is therefore an invoicing process that releases an invoice to a customer when a budget is delivered or closed, or a task is closed, that is, when the milestone is reached. This provides an efficient billing process that ensures the timely release of customer invoices.

Using milestone billing

1. Link the Milestone field (PJTMST) on an existing scheduled invoice line to a project budget code or a project task code.



Sales invoices (GESSIH): Scheduled invoice lines linked to a milestone

Once populated, you can use the Actions menu from the Milestone field to view the status of the linked project budget details or task details in the processing cycle.

2. Close the budget or task when the milestone is reached.

You can optionally assign a Category (SVICDNAT) to the scheduled invoice line and type in a free-format Reason (DESAXX), for example, to describe the reason for the milestone.

Sales invoices (GESSIH): Scheduled invoice lines milestone fields

You can also manage scheduled invoices linked to a project milestone directly from Project management. If you need to change the date of a scheduled invoice you can do this by editing the Invoice scheduled on field using any of the following methods:

• By changing the Invoice scheduled on field from the Task planning screen.



Task planning: Scheduled invoice linked to a project milestone

• By changing the Invoice scheduled on field from the Cost structure.
• By changing the Invoice scheduled on field from the Change status action for the project, a budget level, or a task.



Project management (GESPJM): Scheduled invoices linked to a project milestone

If you change the single Invoice scheduled on field (i above) from the Change status action for the project, a budget level, or for a task, all Invoice scheduled on fields in the Scheduled invoices table (ii above) are set to the new invoice date.
If you change an Invoice scheduled on field in the Scheduled invoices table for a single scheduled invoice (ii above), only the modified scheduled invoice is set to the new invoice date.​

General reminders

A scheduled invoice linked to a milestone can only be invoiced when the milestone is reached.

To warn a project manager where a milestone is due or has been missed, colored indicators draw attention to specific fields in the Cost structure and Task planning.

Sales order line: Project field (PJT) populated	Project milestone	Project milestone status
No	All project task codes and budget codes	Not closed Not delivered
Yes	Project budget code	Not closed Not delivered
Yes	Project task code	Not closed
Yes	Associated project budget codes	Not closed Not delivered
Yes	Associated project task codes	Not closed

Progress billing

Open: Sales > Orders > Orders

Open: Projects > Projects > Project management

Open: Sales > Invoices > Scheduled invoice generation

Progress billing provides an additional billing process that can be used alongside existing customer billing processes. Progress billing integrates directly with the scheduled invoice generation functionality in the Sales module to control the issue of scheduled invoices according to the progress of a project, budget, or task until its completion.

Before you start

The following must be complete and accurate for the progress invoicing process to determine the amount to bill customers and trigger an invoicing flow based on scheduled invoices:

1. The project level, a budget level and/or a task level indicate that the selected element will be billed using a progress invoicing process.
   • The Progress billing check box (PROBIL) at the project level, a budget level and/or a task level is selected.

     

     Cost structure: Budget level Progress billing elements

2. The progress of your project, budget level, and/or task level has been estimated.
   • The Estimated progress (%) field (PRCCPL) is defined, reviewed and refreshed on a regular basis, either manually or automatically, for the project, budget level, or task level.
   You must define and regularly refresh the estimated progress percentage of the project, budget level, or task level in order to trigger an invoicing flow based on scheduled invoices.
3. Products being sold are defined as non-deliverable service or generic items (Product categories (GESITG)).
   1. The product Category type Service or Generic check box is selected.
   2. The product category Deliverable check box is clear (Description section, Flow types block). This is a prerequisite for scheduled invoices.
4. An invoicing schedule exists for the non-deliverable items being sold.
   • The invoicing schedule is defined in the Invoicing terms function (GESINVCND) as either having a fixed percentage or an invoicing frequency.

Understanding the progress billing process

1: Overview

(1) A sales order line will be invoiced using a progress billing process only if the linked project, budget, or task is set to use progress billing. See Before you start > step 1.

(2) During the lifetime of a project, budget, or task, and across the expected billing periods, you must calculate, adjust, and validate progress statuses in order to trigger an invoicing flow based on scheduled invoices. See Before you start > step 2.

Reminder: Progress statusInformation that you can estimate and track at the project level, budget level or task level.

When a Progress status is validated, a billable scheduled invoice is created for the planned Invoice date.

(3) See 2: Progress status (sub)process below.

2: Progress status (sub)process

• A Progress status always corresponds to a billing period, that is, the period contains a Start date, an End date, plus an expected Invoice date.
• The first generated Progress status determines the first billing period. By default, the first billing period is determined by the first scheduled invoice definition for the sales order line.
• Subsequent Progress status generations will try to reuse the frequency from the previous Progress status generation to determine the new billing period.
  You must adjust your billing periods according to your customer needs and expectations.

1. For a sales order line, only one Progress status can be at Pending status.
2. Each time you refresh a Pending status:
1. The Estimated progress (%) field (PRCCPLCAL) is updated using the value obtained by the ESTBILINIT - Prog. status percentage initialization parameter (TC chapter, PJM group).
• This in turn automatically calculates and updates the Estimated quantity (QTYCPLCAL) and Estimated amount fields (AMTCPLCAL).
2. The "billed" fields - Billed progress (%) (PRCCPLENT), Billed quantity (QTYCPLENT) and Billed amount (AMTCPLENT) - are updated using values calculated from the "newly updated" Estimated quantity and Estimated amount fields. This is the estimated quantity and amount to be billed for the billing period, essentially a portion of the total quantity to be billed against the sales order line.
If the quantity or price of the sales order line linked to a Progress status has been modified manually, the Refresh requested check box in the Progress status section is selected. You must click the Refresh status action to adjust the quantity and amount to be billed for the billing period. The Refresh requested check box is then cleared.
3. As the sales order line is still at Pending status you can now manually adjust all dates and the "billed" fields: Billed progress (%) (PRCCPLENT), Billed quantity (QTYCPLENT) and Billed amount (AMTCPLENT).
   The "billed" fields will be automatically recalibrated to ensure the values between the percentage, the quantity and the amount balance correctly.
4. Once the "billed" fields contain values you can validate the Progress status - select the Validated check box.
   • The associated scheduled invoice is updated automatically with the calculated progress billing quantities and amounts.
     • This in turn sets the scheduled invoice planned Invoice date.
Validation is not permitted if there is no progress to bill for a billing period. Should this situation occur, you can manually adjust the dates of the billing period, or bill the customer in the next billing period.

3: Scheduled invoice process flows with, and without, progress billing

(1) You can define an invoicing forecast for a sales order line invoiced using a progress billing process, based on the invoicing terms defined for the sales order line.

During the lifetime of a project, budget, or task, and across the expected billing periods, you calculate, adjust, and validate progress statuses, which in turn dynamically adjusts your invoicing forecast.

(2) The scheduled invoices planned initially are split or merged each time a progress status is validated for a project, budget, or task. See 2: Progress status (sub)process > step 4.

The scheduled invoices always total 100% of the sales order line Ordered quantity.

(3) You can define project Milestones on scheduled invoices managed using a progress billing process. Progress billing then combines the two functional areas of progress billing and milestone billing.

A Milestone defined on an individual scheduled invoice is deleted if multiple scheduled invoices are merged into a single scheduled invoice to match with a validated Progress status.

Using progress billing

You access the progress billing functionality by clicking the Project billing icon in the General section of the project, Customer block. This icon is only available at the project level.

Project management (GESPJM): Project billing icon and project level elements

1. Using the Sales > Orders > Orders function (GESPSO), create a new sales order. For the progress billing process to create a billing plan on the project level at least one of the products being sold must be defined as a non-deliverable item (product Category type = Service or Generic). See Before you start > step 3.
2. Link the sales order lines with the project:

Project: Use this field to link the products being sold with a project. The project link can be the project code, a project budget code or a project task code, according to the expected link between the document and the project structure.

The project link must be set with the Progress billing check box selected. A project link set with the Progress billing check box selected can be applied to multiple sales order lines. See Before you start > step 1.

Invoicing term: Use this field to generate the default invoicing plan for the service or generic items and create a billing plan on the project level.



Sales orders (GESSOH): Sales order line project links

3. Open the Project management function (GESPJM) and click the Project billing icon in the project (General section, Customer block). This has the effect of triggering two updates:
1. A Progress status is generated for the sales order line at Pending status. This is indicated by both the Status field and the Gear color which by default is orange.

Reminder: Progress statusInformation that you can estimate and track at the project level, budget level or task level.



Progress billing: Progress status

2. A new Billing plan number is generated and written to the relevant lines in the sales order (Orders function (GESSOH)). The Billing plan number essentially establishes the link between the sales order line and the associated progress statuses.



Sales orders (GESSOH): Sales order lines billing plan link

4. As the progress status is still at Pending status you can now manually adjust all dates and the "billed" fields: Billed progress (%) (PRCCPLENT), Billed quantity (QTYCPLENT) and Billed amount (AMTCPLENT).
   The "billed" fields will be automatically recalibrated to ensure the values between the percentage, the quantity and the amount balance correctly.
• You cannot change the Project code on the sales order line once a Billing plan number is assigned to it.
• You cannot change the Invoicing term code on the sales order line once a Billing plan number is assigned to it.
• You can only change the Ordered quantity on the sales order line once a Billing plan number is assigned to it if the Progress status has not been validated and billed.
• You can only change the Gross price on the sales order line once a Billing plan number is assigned to it if the Progress status has not been validated and billed.
• You can only delete a sales order line once a Billing plan number is assigned to it if you delete the Billing plan. When a Billing plan is deleted the Billing plan number field on the sales order line is cleared. Sales order lines with no Billing plan number can be deleted.
5. Once the "billed" fields contain values you can validate the Progress status - select the Validated check box. The Status field is set to To be invoiced and the Gear color is changed (by default, to blue). This creates a billable scheduled invoice (Billable field = Yes) with a planned Invoice date.
• You can only change the Ordered quantity on the sales order line once a scheduled invoice is linked to a Progress status. However, once all the scheduled invoices are validated (100%) you cannot change the Ordered quantity on the sales order line.
• You cannot change the Gross price on the sales order line once a scheduled invoice is linked to a Progress status.
• If the price list associated with the sales order line is changed and you recalculate the sales order line, only those scheduled invoices that are not linked to a Progress status are updated.
6. Generate the scheduled invoice. You can either generate an invoice using the Invoice action in the Orders function (GESSOH), individually using the Invoices function (GESSIH), or by including the invoice as part of a bulk generation run in the Scheduled invoice generation function (FUNAUTINVSCH). The Status field is set to Invoiced and the Gear color is changed again (by default, to green).
• You can only create an invoice if the project has been launched.
• You can only create an invoice if the next planned Invoice date has been reached.
• You can increase the Invoiced quantity figure but not reduce the quantity to less than the validated quantity for the scheduled invoice.
7. Progress billing integrates directly with the scheduled invoice generation functionality in the Sales module to control the issue of scheduled invoices across the billing periods predefined by the invoicing terms defined for the sales order line, according to the progress of the linked project, budget, or task until completion.
• You cannot change the Progress status Billed quantity.
• The invoice Reference is updated in the scheduled invoice from the sales order lines.
• You can only delete an invoice if the SIVSUP - Delete invoices parameter (TC chapter, INV group) is set to Yes. You can, however, delete all unposted scheduled invoices starting from the last invoice to the first.
If your system is set up for French legislation (FRA) deletion of an invoice is not legally permitted.

Using progress billing with specific situations

Credit notes

Examples

Product delivery

Reminder: Progress billing processThe progress billing process is based on sales order lines and is restricted to non-deliverable items.

In the manufacturing sector, dissociating material flows, including product deliveries, and invoicing flows is often necessary if the project is long in time. In such cases you can use scheduled invoices, milestone billing and progress billing. The services sector has generally no dependency on material items.

Example

Limitations

The number of decimal places defined for sales units can affect the progress billing "billed" field calculations.

When the "billed" fields - Billed progress (%) (PRCCPLENT), Billed quantity (QTYCPLENT) and Billed amount (AMTCPLENT) - are calculated, rounding on the Billed quantity field can directly impact the results written to the Billed progress (%) and Billed amount fields. Sage therefore advises that you set the maximum 6 decimal places for sales units in the Units of measure function (GESTUN). This will also help prevent rounding errors when the "billed" fields are automatically recalibrated to ensure the values between the percentage, the quantity and the amount balance correctly following a manual amendment to a "billed" field.