An introduction to Project Management in SAP Business One 9.2

Back in January, we published a blog post on some of the new features appearing in SAP Business One 9.2. At that point, this version of the software was only available through SAP’s Early Adopter Care Program – you had to be customer or partner to try it out.

Now, though, SAP Business One 9.2 is on general release, and we thought it’d be worth returning to one of those features for a more in-depth blog post. Specifically, we’d like to introduce the new Project Management module, which should make it a whole lot simpler for users to track and manage the different tasks and stages in their projects.

What is Project Management in SAP Business One 9.2?

Historically, SAP Business One projects have served simply as a way to pull together various items of financial data. Now, with the introduction of the Project Management module, the new version allows users to define the different stages, tasks and sub-projects in each job, complete with their owners, timeframes, stage-by-stage budget and accounts data, associated resources and documents, and completion status.

For an idea of the look and feel of the module, as well as a demonstration of how it might be used, check out the video from SAP below.

 

 

The benefits of this new feature should be fairly self-explanatory. Perhaps most importantly, it means users can gather information on each aspect of a project – including activities, planned and final costs, and issues in need of resolution – in one place, facilitating greater visibility and better decision-making. Moreover, features like stage dependencies and sub-projects make it easier than ever to manage projects effectively from start to finish.

When should I use it?

For many companies, and particularly those without a project management solution currently in place, the new feature should come as a compelling reason to upgrade to SAP Business One 9.2. Having a single, centralised view of each project will do a lot to make their lives easier, and getting started with the Project Management module is a quick and simple process.

For those in need of advanced project accounting functionality, however, a more powerful job costing solution or add-on may be necessary. A contract engineering or service-led business, for example, might require features like web timesheets, project and milestone billing, and sophisticated resource management tools. This would be outside the scope of Project Management in SAP Business One 9.2.

One of our partners, Enprise, has created a useful side-by-side comparison chart of the module and their own job costing solution (a SAP Business One add-on). You can view it here – or, for more information on job costing in the engineering sector, read our {{cta(‘3bd214ed-69aa-483a-a92e-691a48bf1e3c’)}}.

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