Projects

The ERPNext Projects module manages internal and customer projects. Time, purchases, material issues and invoices are assigned to a project, so costs, revenue and margin per project become visible. It suits pure service projects as well as projects with materials and equipment.

Projects, tasks and templates

Projects consist of tasks with owners, dates and dependencies, shown as list, Kanban or Gantt chart. Project templates can create recurring tasks automatically, e.g. when a project is created from a sales order.

Time tracking

Employees log time via timesheets on project and task, including with a start-stop timer. Each line carries a costing rate and, if billable, a billing rate. Activity types such as consulting, installation or travel time can carry different costing and billing rates, also per employee. Time can also be logged on the go from a smartphone, and reminders for missing time entries can be set up.

Materials and costs

Purchases, material issues and expenses are assigned to the project. The project report shows costs, billed work and margin.

Budgets and funded projects

Each project can have its own budget, separate from the cost centre budget. Purchase orders, material requests and postings can be checked against the budget, with a warning or block when it is exceeded. Approval workflows can control who may release spending from the project budget. This also works for funded projects, where grants and spending are tracked per project and reported to the funding body.

Billing

Time from timesheets is pulled directly into a sales invoice. Alternatively, milestones or fixed prices are billed via sales orders.

Reports and utilisation

Project progress can be maintained manually or calculated from tasks, for example by completed tasks or task weight. Reports show who logged how many hours on which projects and how fully the team is utilised. Time reports can be emailed automatically every day or week to project managers or customers.

How it connects to other modules

1. Selling: A sales order creates the project; time is invoiced.
2. Buying and Stock: Purchase orders and material issues are booked to the project.
3. HR: Employee time and expenses flow into the project.
4. Accounting: Projects are an accounting dimension on all postings.

Frequently asked questions

How is logged time invoiced? Billable time from timesheets is pulled directly into a sales invoice. Time already billed is marked and not charged twice.

What is the difference between billing rate and costing rate? The billing rate is the hourly price for the customer; the costing rate is the internal hourly cost. Together they give the margin.

Can projects combine services and materials? Yes. Time, purchase orders, material issues and expenses are assigned to the same project and analysed together.

Can I set a budget per project? Yes. Budgets per project warn or block when costs exceed the budget.

Can a project be created automatically from a sales order? Yes. A project is created from the sales order, and a project template adds the standard tasks.

Can hourly rates be set per employee or activity? Yes. Activity types and activity costs hold costing and billing rates per activity and, if needed, per employee. They are suggested automatically in the timesheet.

Can customers receive a regular time report? Yes. Time reports can be sent as an automatic email report every day, week or month. phamos uses this itself in implementation projects so everyone involved can see the time spent.

Can funded projects be managed? Yes. A funded project is set up as a project with its own budget. Spending and time can be assigned to it and reported to the funding body.

How can I see my team's utilisation? Timesheet reports show logged hours per employee, project and period, along with the share of billable hours.

Can a project be sold by one company and delivered by another? Yes. ERPNext manages several companies in one system, including across countries. Work can be recharged between the companies with intercompany invoices.