IFM Project Accounting

["Bob Tenney" <bobtenney@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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Kannan, The answer to your question depends on the way you define "project 
accounting". Here are some things you should consider:

  a.. If your project reporting is closely linked to manufacturing orders 
(MO's) then you should report from your MO databases using customized reports 
or the Contract Accounting application to do the job. Here are some "red flags" 
that tell you  that IFM is the wrong tool: (1) One-to-one relationship between 
MO's and projects; (2) Several MO's summarized into one project; (3) Need to 
report quantities; and (4) MO status (e.g. last operation, completion date, 
etc.).
  b.. IFM is a good project reporting tool when your projects are not closely 
linked to MO's  (e.g. product development projects, marketing campaigns, plant 
re-tooling projects).  Using MO's for these kinds of activities is cumbersome 
and may interfer with the day-to-day manufacturing activities that they are 
designed to track.
If you use IFM you need to make the project part of the account code. Adding 
the project to the Nature is usually  the better choice because it answers the 
"What" question and lets you have projects that span multiple companies. But, 
if you are sure that only one or two departments in the same company will be 
involved, adding the project to the Unit is OK. In either case, you should add 
the project in a consistent way. For example:

  If you add the project to the nature and Nature 1000 is salaries, then the 
Natures for salaries related to projects ABC and DEF should be 1000-ABC and 
1000-DEF respectively.

One more thing. If you use IFM for project accounting you really need to have 
FRx installed to do the reporting. This is important because FRx lets you use 
Excel worksheets to include project-related statistical data (e.g. hours) in 
your reports.

Bob Tenney
Bob Tenney Solutions, LLC
MAPICS - FRx - Crystal Reports
828-526-8976
Visit www.tenneypubs.com for books about
IFM, FRx, COM, Cost Accounting,
General Ledger Interfaces, and
Info WorkPlace
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