Smart Contractor
Job Progress Entry Form

To enter Job Progress information, click on Job Progress in the shortcut menu, then click on Enter Job Progress.

The Job Progress entry form is used to update the completed status of items in a job. The status of items must be set to "Work Started", or "Completed" before they can be added to an invoice (in the Invoice Entry form).

The Job Progress entry form can also be used to enter actual job costs and labor hours when you are not using QuickBooks integration for purchasing and payroll data. See the Progress entry versus Purchase and Labor Hours entry topic for information on whether to use the Job Progress entry form to enter job costs.

The Job Progress entry form displays the list of job items on the left side of the form, and the prompts for the job item progress information on the right side of the form.

To select an item:
Click on an item to select it, or press the arrow keys to highlight it:
  • Press the right arrow key to move "in" one level,
  • Press the left arrow key to move "out" one level,
  • Press the up and down arrow keys to move up and down.

You cannot add or delete job items in the job progress form, you can only update the status of existing job items. To add or delete job items, use the Edit Job Estimate form.

Important: You must set the item status to "Work Started", or "Completed" for an item to appear on an invoice in the Invoice entry form.

The Job Progress entry form has the following prompts:

Name:
You can edit the name of the item.
Product:
This is the name of the specific product to be purchased for this item. Select from the list, or type the name and press [Enter] to create a new entry.
Vendor/Sub:
This is the name of the supplier or vendor where this item will be purchased, or the name of the sub contractor if the item will be Subcontracted. Select an item from the list, or type a new one and press the [Enter] key to create a new entry.
Estimated:
The "Estimated:" box displays the estimated count and cost for the item that was originally entered in the job bid information.
Copy Costs To Actual Button
Click the Copy Costs To Actual button to copy the estimated costs to the actual cost prompts on the screen. This allows you to either accept the estimtated costs as the actual costs, or to modify them as necessary in the prompts below.
Actual Count:

Enter the actual item count.

This prompt will be disabled if you are using QuickBooks integration for purchasing data.
Count Unit:

Select the actual item count unit.

This prompt will be disabled if you are using QuickBooks integration for purchasing data.
Actual Materials:

Enter the actual material cost per unit. This is the contractor's cost - before markup.

This prompt will be disabled if you are using QuickBooks integration for purchasing data.
Actual Equipment:

Enter the total actual equipment cost for this item. This is the contractor's cost - before markup.

This prompt will be disabled if you are using QuickBooks integration for purchasing data.
Act. Subcontract:

Enter the actual subcontract cost for this item. This is the contractor's cost - before markup.

This prompt will be disabled if you are using QuickBooks integration for purchasing data.
Actual Other:

Enter the actual other costs for this item. This is the contractor's cost - before markup.

This prompt will be disabled if you are using QuickBooks integration for purchasing data.
Total Hrs:

Enter the total actual labor hours used by all employees to complete this item (not hours per count unit). Estimated labor hours are entered as hours per item count unit, but actual labor hours are entered as a total for the item. This allows you to enter total labor hours directly from employee time sheets, without having to calculate hours per item count unit.

This prompt will be disabled if you are using QuickBooks integration for payroll data.

Note: You only need enter labor cost information here if you are not entering labor hours information in the Labor Hours entry form. See Labor Costing Notes below for more information.
Labor Rate:

Enter your actual total cost per hour (including taxes, insurance, etc.) for the labor to complete this item. See Labor Costing Notes below.

This prompt will be disabled if you are using QuickBooks integration for payroll data.

Labor Costing Notes

The prompts for Total Labor Hrs and Labor Rate will be disabled if you have not entered labor estimates for the item in the Edit Job Estimate form. In this case, the program assumes that labor costs are included in the estimated and actual material costs.

If you have entered estimated labor costs, you can either enter the actual labor costs here in the job progress form, or you can enter labor hours in the Labor Hours entry form.

Note: If you enter actual labor costs in the job progress form and enter labor hours in the Labor Hours entry form, the labor costs from the labor hours entered will override the labor costs entered in the job progress form.

See the How Do I... Track Job Costs topic for more information.

Change Order:
If the actual cost is greater than the estimated cost, the program will ask if you want to create a change order. Select or enter a change order here to indicate that the item is a change ordered item.
Scheduled:
The Scheduled box displays the date and duration for which the item was originally scheduled.
Actual Start:

Enter the actual start date.

Note: Changing the actual start date of a critical path item will automatically re-schedule following items!

Days Completed:
Enter the number of days completed on this job item to date. This may exceed the originally scheduled duration. Days Completed is used to record the actual item duration.
Inspection Scheduled For:
If this is a scheduled inspection, this prompt will appear. Enter the time of day scheduled for this inspection. This will allow the scheduled inspection to appear in the Inspection Schedule Report.
Item Status:

Select the item status. You must set the item status to "Started" or "Completed" to allow it to be added to an invoiced in the Create Invoice form.

Note: The program will not let you change the status of an item whose status is "Partially Invoiced", and the program will not let you change anything other than the Journal Notes if the item statue is "Invoiced".

Once an item has been set to "Completed", the item can be added to an invoice. Use the Invoice entry form to create invoices.

Note: When you change the Status of a "group item", the program will automatically...

  • set the sub-items to the same status as the "parent" item, and
  • update the actual count, cost, start date, and days of each sub-item to their estimated amounts.
Set To Completed Button
Click the Set To Completed button to automatically set the item status to Completed, and set the days completed equal to the number of days scheduled for the item.
Item Note:
Enter any notes pertaining to this item to be printed on the customer's job listing and invoice. The prompt for these notes appear here, and in the Edit Job Estimate form.
Journal Note:
The Journal Notes prompt allows you to enter journal notes for your internal use. These notes will not be printed on any customer correspondence or documentation. The prompt for these notes appear here, and in the Edit Job Estimate form. These notes are also printed on the Job Notes report.
To Save Changes:
Click OK, or move to another job item by clicking on it.
To Cancel Changes:
Click Cancel.
To Exit the form:
Click Exit once to close the job. Then click Exit again to close the form.