Fixed Price contracts Managing Service Contracts

230 You can put this project into a hierarchy, as a child of a Parent Project, and assign a Project Manager. Enter the general duration by completing Start Date and End Date. The Administration tab displays information about Planned Time and the Time Spent on the project according to the task work completed. By checking the box Warn Manager, you configure the system to automatically send the project manager an OpenERP Request every time a task is closed. In case a project takes too long, it can also be escalated to another project. In Project Escalation, enter the project that will be used for escalated tasks. Define a generic Reply-To Email Address linked to all automated mails; this allows you to receive replies directly in OpenERP. You can also link to a Working Time category, which will be used to calculate the Project’s time line, i.e. through a Gantt chart. The status of a project can take the following values: • Open: the project is being carried out, • Pending: the project is paused, • Cancelled: the project has been cancelled and therefore aborted, • Closed: the project has been successfully completed. On the Members tab, add Members to the project; this is related to access rights too. On the Billing tab, you find information to invoice your customer. Select the Customer; the Invoice address will automatically be filled from the customer form. You also have to complete the invoicing data, such as Sale Pricelist and Invoice Task Work to directly invoice from task work done. OpenERP allows you to set a Max. Invoice Price for the project or subproject. The Invoiced Amount shows the total amount that has already been invoiced for the project concerned. If you want to automatically keep your customer informed about the progress of the project, check Warn Partner. Note: Warn Partner setup If you check Warn Partner, you should define a generic Mail Header and Mail Footer in the Billing tab that will be used in the automated email Extended view only. OpenERP prepares an email the user can send to the customer each time that a task is completed. The contents of this email are based on details of the project task, and can be modified by the user before the email is sent. OpenERP displays a number of variables at the bottom of this tab. Note: Study of Customer Satisfaction Some companies run a system where emails are automatically sent at the end of a task requesting the customer to complete an online survey. This survey enables a company to ask several questions about the work carried out, to gauge customer satisfaction as the project progresses. This function can also be used by ISO 9001-certified companies, to measure customer satisfaction. OpenERP also allows you to create your own surveys. The Task Stages tab allows you to define stages thath help you dividing your tasks. You can add a sequence number to set the stage order, allowing you to prioritize your task work, i.e. first you will have the Specification stage and then Development.

19.1.2 Managing tasks

Once a project has been defined, you can enter the tasks to be executed. You have two possibilities for this: • click the ACTION button Tasks to the right of the project form, then click New, • from the menu Project → Project → Tasks, create a new task and assign it to an existing project. Each task has one of the following states: • Draft: the task has been entered but has not yet been validated by the person who will have to do it, • Open: you can start working on the task, or taks is in progress, • Closed: task is completed, • Cancelled: task work is no longer required, 231 • Pending: task is waiting for response of someone else e.g. customer information. A task can be assigned to a user, who then becomes responsible for closing it. But you could also leave it unassigned so that nobody specific will be responsible: various team members instead are made jointly responsible for working on tasks they have the skills for. Figure 19.1: Tasks in Project Management Each user manages his or her own task using the various menus available. To open the list of unclosed tasks that have been specifically assigned to you, go to the menu Project → Project → Tasks. Or to open the unassigned tasks, go to Project → Project → Tasks and then click Clearbutton and then Unassigned button. Tip: Shortcuts Every user should create a link in their own shortcuts to the Tasks menu, because they will have to consult this menu several times a day. The Delegations tab allows you to define links between your tasks. From Parent Tasks set the tasks that are related to this task. Use this feature to define the order in which tasks need to be accomplished, i.e. task 2 may not be executed before task 1.

19.1.3 Invoicing Tasks

Several methods of invoicing have already been described: • invoicing from a sales order, • invoicing on the basis of analytic costs service times, expenses, • invoicing on the basis of deliveries, • manual invoicing. Although invoicing tasks might appear useful, in certain situations it is best to invoice from the service or purchase orders instead. These methods of invoicing are more flexible, with various pricing levels set out in the pricelist, and different products that can be invoiced. And it is helpful to limit the number of invoicing methods in your company by extending the use of an invoicing method that you already have. If you want to connect your Sales Order with Project tasks you should create products such as Consultant and Senior Developer. These products should be configured with Product Type Service, a Procurement Method of Make to Order , and a Supply Method of Produce. Once you have set this up, OpenERP automatically creates a task in project management when the order is approved. You can even take this further by adding a default project to your product. In the Product form, on the Procurement Locations tab, enter the default project to which the automatically created task from the sales order should be linked. You can also change some of the order parameters, which affects the invoice: