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Job Cost Transfer FAQs
Summary: Answers to frequently-asked questions about transferring job costs in Clients & Profits. Clients & Profits allows unbilled costs to be easily and quickly moved from one job to another. The job cost transfer function even leaves an audit trail that documents everything. This FAQ answers frequently-asked job cost transfer questions asked by Clients & Profits users. To learn more about job cost transfers, the Job Cost
Transfers section section in the online User Guide offers a comprehensive discussion of profitability reports.
Q. Which is better, unposting the original record and changing the job or adding a job cost transfer?
Job cost transfers move only dollar amounts between jobs and tasks, they do not move the original costs like unposting and editing the job would do. Job cost transfers create a negative entry on a job showing the dollar amount moved and a positive amount on the job to which it was moved. The primary benefit of job cost transfers are their ease of use. For example, sometimes a cost is added to the wrong job, and the vendor has been paid. It's easier to use Job Cost Transfers to move the cost to the correct job. By transferring the cost you don't have to go through the process of unposting the check, unposting the a/p invoice, redistributing the a/p invoice, and then reposting everything.
Q. The amounts in the Job Cost Transfer window are different than the net cost amounts. Why?
The transfer amount is a cost's gross amount. The gross includes markups, commissions, or the bill rate per hour on hard costs and time. You can include the net amount in the transfer by choosing the option to "Transfer net amounts". But you don't see the net cost amounts in the Job Cost Transfer window.
Q. Why do I get a message that the job has no costs? I know there are costs since I've partially billed them.
Only completely Unbilled costs can be transferred. If a cost's billing status is anything other than Unbilled, it can't be transferred. However, a work around is to open the Viewpoint > WIP window on a job ticket and manually edit the status to Unbilled, then the cost will show up in the Transfer Job Costs window.
Q. How do job cost transfers affect the General Ledger?
They don't affect the General Ledger at all; they affect only jobs and tasks. The journal entries from the original transactions do not change in the General Ledger. If you need to change the G/L accounts affected by a transaction, either unpost, edit, and re-post or add an adjusting journal entry.
Q. How can I transfer time/hours?
You shouldn't use the Job Cost Transfer function for transferring time. If the time was added to a job by mistake, then it is easily edited through the time sheets. For accurate cost accounting and profitability analysis, it's important that you track every hour spent on each job. If there is a situation where some time can't be billed from a job it doesn't mean it should be transferred. If it is transferred, the job would show less time was spent on it--which overstates the job's profit. The hours and the cost amount should always stay on the job for which the time was spent. In this situation, it's fine to use Job Cost Transfer to move only the gross unbilled amount of a time entry to a job from which it can be billed. The original job is less profitable because there are costs and hours on it without corresponding billings; the job that can be billed becomes more profitable.
Note: The actual number of hours can never be moved using job cost transfers. They can be moved only if the time entry is edited.
Q. Can I transfer a cost from a task to another task on the same job?
No. You can't transfer the cost between tasks on the same job ticket using Job Cost Transfers. Instead, edit the original transaction (time entry, expense, or vendor invoice). Or, add a negative Expense Report removing the cost from one task and a positive Expense Report moving the cost to another task.
Q. Can I transfer a cost from a task to a different task on another job?
Yes, this is the essence of job cost transfers. If you transfer a cost from a job to a different job, the same task must be used on the different job. If the job you're transferring to doesn't have that task, it is automatically added to that job during the transfer.
Q. I'm ready to close a job and have unbilled costs on it, what should I do?
Either close the job writing off the remaining Unbilled costs or transfer all Unbilled costs to another job to bill them. Find the job ticket from which you want to move Unbilled costs. Choose WIP. Select the toolbar button "Transfer" to transfer this job's unbilled amounts to another job then enter the job number. There's an option to "Transfer net amounts", if desired.
Q. How can I review the job cost transfers done last week (or some other time period)?
Click the Print toolbar button in the Transfer Job Ticket Costs window (or File > Print Cost Transfer Reports). Enter the desired date range. Or, choose Snapshots > Job Ticket Costs then select the Job Ticket Costs category on the left. Enter a range of dates (i.e., the time period during which the job cost transfers were entered), select the Transfers cost type (uncheck the other cost types), then click Print.
Q. If I accidentally transfer the wrong cost, how do I unpost it?
Unfortunately, job cost transfers can't be unposted. Instead, you'll need to transfer the cost back to the original job. Use the memo field in the Job Cost Transfer window to explain in detail why the transfer is being reversed. This will create a clear audit trail on the job's cost reports.
Q. How can I add a job cost transfer for a partial cost amount?
You can't, but there is a work around. Job cost transfers are designed to move an entire cost amount from one job ticket to another job ticket. The work around is to use expense reports. Add a negative expense report to the original job ticket and task for the amount you would like to transfer. Then add a second expense report for a positive amount to the new job ticket and task to which you want to transfer the cost.
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