Schedules are a great way to manage work that includes multiple phases, stages, or just lots and lots of calls to action. Many clients begin their workflow with the creation of an Estimate and Job, and then adding the Schedule later.
This article will teach you how to add a Schedule to an existing Estimate or Job.
From the Estimate page
- How the Schedule is set up is up to you - it can be based on the structure of the Estimate, or based on the structure of one of the Schedule Templates in your system. For this example, we're basing our Schedule on the Estimate.
- If you base the Schedule on the structure of the Estimate, it will by default only include time-trackable Internal Services. Click the Include External Expenses button if you want rows for those items as well. These can then be associated to a time-trackable service, and assigned out as a call to action for a team member.
- The Schedule Name and Description will pull from the Estimate, but can be edited here as needed.
- You also have the option to pick another member of your team to be the manager of this Schedule.
Click Submit when you're ready.
You will land on the newly created Schedule. From this view, you can easily in-line edit row content, move rows, and even add more rows of Tasks should you need them.
Helper text in each field lets you know what content to add where. You do not need to fill in every field, only those that will be pertinent to you and your staff.
To break the Tasks into smaller components you can:
- Add new Tasks
- Copy a current Task
Once you have a new Task, assign it an amount of time to complete, a person to work on it (Assignee) and add any other pertinent information.
What do those Task Types mean and where are they pulling from?
The Task Types listed here (Internal, Prospecting and Shared) pull from the List Maintenance area of the system. From the List Maintenance area, you can choose to have fewer Task Types available, add more, or change the wording so that makes more sense for your agency.
- Internal Tasks refers to work you expect to be done by your team.
- Prospecting Tasks refers to tasks that relate to the sales cycle. Follow-up Tasks that you create from a Note will be classified by default as as Prospecting Tasks.
- Time Line Tasks are standard tasks to be completed by a single individual.
- Shared Tasks are to be performed by multiple people, for the same estimated amount of time.
As you add data in the Grid View of your Schedule, a couple of things to note:
- In order for a Task to be set to a status other than Draft, it must be assigned to a person or role. This is done in the To field.
- A Task's Start Date cannot be later than its Due Date
- The PCT field (percent complete) will not be editable if the Task is in Draft status.
- The Actuals content is not editable from here, as it is pulled from the related Timesheets. If the values are wrong, please edit the Timesheets.
From the Grid View, you have options to print the Schedule. Alternately, from the Gantt View, you can share a link of the Schedule. In both cases, use the tick boxes on the far left of each row to determine which rows of the Schedule to show or share. To switch to the Gantt view, select Gantt View on the right-hand side of the screen, beside the Grid View button.
Gantt View
From the Gantt View, you can easily add in dates for any Task. Click set dates now and the system will add in dates for you. Then use your mouse to drag the dates as needed.
Create Task Predecessors and Dependencies with a few clicks as well by connecting the dots at the beginning and end of tasks.
To learn more about task dependencies, check out this article: Create and Manage Task Dependencies
From the Job page
On any Job in your system that does not yet have an associated Schedule, you will see an Add New button in the top right, from which you can pick Add Schedule. The process is then the same as creating a Schedule from an Estimate.
What's the Difference?
The main difference is that a Job is required to start tracking time, so if you want your team to be able to track time to these Schedule-level Tasks, make sure a Job exists and is live.
We hope this article was helpful! For more step-by-step articles, videos, and webinars, check out the rest of our Help Centre. You can also contact us at support@functionpoint.com with any questions, concerns, or comments. We're happy to help.
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