With just the Projects feature enabled, you have access to basic project functionality in your NetSuite account. But depending on the functionality you need, the Projects feature may be insufficient. For advanced project capabilities, you’ll need the Project Management feature in NetSuite.
Overview of the Project Management Feature in NetSuite
The Project Management feature is located under the Projects section of the Company tab in Enable Features, directly under the Projects feature. To turn on Project Management, you must also have enabled the Projects feature. Project Management simply expands on the functionality of the Projects feature. The basic functionality is still there, enabling you to connect customers and transactions to specific projects; to track requirements, tasks, and time on projects; and to manage financial information for the project. With the Project Management feature, however, these capabilities are only expanded.
Using the Project Management Feature in NetSuite
Once you have enabled both the Projects feature and the Project Management feature in NetSuite, you have access to the following project capabilities.
Creating New Project Records
First, you have several options for creating new project records. With the Projects feature, you could create new project records from only the customer record. In addition to that method, the Project Management feature allows you to create a project record by navigating to Lists > Relationships > Projects > New. Project records may also be created automatically if you link them to service items. Then, whenever a service item is sold on a transaction, a related project record would be created. You can set up this relationship on each individual service item record under the Related Records subtab.
The Project Center
Another helpful aspect of the Project Management feature is the Project Center. The Project Center allows your project managers to have convenient access to the precise records and transactions that are related to their role. It also comes with a Home dashboard that is preconfigured with project-related reports and saved searches.
Project Dashboards
In the upper-righthand corner of any project record, you will see a View Dashboard link. Selecting this link will take you to a dashboard that is tailored to the specific project you are on. This dashboard provides at a glance (without requiring you to dig through subtabs and sublists) the essential information for this project. For example, a project dashboard contains basic project details, project KPIs, and links where you can easily enter time on the project or view things like a Gantt chart for the project.
Project Templates
You may find that you have recurring projects. To save time, the Project Management feature enables you to create and save project templates. To create a new project template, navigate to Lists > Relationships > Project Templates > New. Whenever you need to create one of your recurring projects, all you have to do is pull up the exact project template that you have saved in your NetSuite account.
Project Task Records
Another critical benefit of having Project Management enabled in NetSuite is that you can create specific project task records for your projects. Under the Schedule tab of the project record, select the New Project Task checkbox. Doing this will open a window where you can set the details for your project task. Some of the kinds of things you can do while on a project task record include assigning the task to specific individuals, setting date and budget information, and estimating time for this project task.
Conclusion
The Project Management feature in NetSuite provides increased capability for project managers. Although we have just begun to scratch the surface on the kinds of capabilities provided by this feature, these features should give you a good idea of the range of abilities there are. If you’re ready to keep learning about all things NetSuite, be sure to subscribe to the SuiteRep newsletter below!