Available in Sage 50 Premium Accounting and higher.

Phases

Related topics

Setting up a job ID with phases

Setting up a job ID with phases and cost codes

Using job reports

Using cost types with cost codes in phases

Set up a job

Set up job cost codes

Set up job phases

Perform other job costing tasks

Read the job costing overview

Phases are simply a distinct part of a job. They give you an additional level of detail in a job. You do NOT have to use them to use Sage 50's Job Costing feature. However, they are available if you want to track your job-related expenses in more detail.

Before defining phases, you may want to think about the various stages of the different jobs that your company performs and then break them down into specific parts, parts that apply to most or all of your jobs. These would be your phases.

A landscaping job

This could be divided into

  • Grading
  • Planting
  • Maintenance

These would be your phases.

A catering job

This could be classified into

  • cooking
  • delivery
  • arranging the food

A graphics design job

You could set up phases for:

  • Design
  • Graphics
  • Photography
  • Copywriting
  • Typesetting
  • Printing

You can use phases alone, or you can use phases with cost codes (these usually define distinct costs associated with a phase, such as materials, labor, or equipment). If your phases have associated costs that you want to track separately, you should use cost codes in phases. Tell me more about cost codes. The level of detail is up to you, however.