Project Accounting in Business Central: Projects (Jobs), Job Costing and WIP
How the Projects module, formerly Jobs, structures tasks and planning lines, compares budget with actual cost, calculates WIP including Percentage of Completion, invoices by milestone or by time, and when Project Operations fits better.
Business Central handles project accounting in its Projects module, which older versions and Dynamics NAV called Jobs. Each project is split into project tasks, and each task carries planning lines typed Budget, Billable, or Both Budget and Billable, so job costing compares budgeted cost and price with actual usage posted from project journals, purchases and time sheets. Work in process is calculated with one of five standard WIP methods: Cost Value, Cost of Sales, Sales Value, Percentage of Completion or Completed Contract. Customers are invoiced at the end, on an invoicing schedule, or line by line from planning lines. Project firms that need resource scheduling across a large delivery organisation are usually better served by Project Operations.
Is the Business Central Jobs module the same thing as Projects?
Yes. Microsoft renamed Jobs to Projects in Business Central, and the documentation now uses Projects throughout, although several Microsoft Learn addresses still carry the old word (for example Create a project card for a project and specify tasks). If you are coming from Dynamics NAV, the Jobs module you know is the ancestor of what you will use: project cards, tasks, planning lines, project journals and WIP. The functionality moved forward, the name changed.
Business Central is Microsoft's ERP for small and mid-sized organizations, and projects sit inside it next to finance, sales, purchasing, inventory, resources and time sheets, so project costs post to the same general ledger as everything else. Microsoft's project management overview lists the three jobs the module does: creating projects and scheduling resources, providing budget information and monitoring progress, and tracking machine and employee hours with time sheets.
How is a project structured in Business Central?
In two layers. The first layer is project tasks: every project needs at least one task, because all posting refers to a task, and tasks can be indented into a hierarchy with heading and total lines. The second layer is project planning lines under each posting task, which specify the resources, items and general ledger expenses the task will use and what you will bill for them.
The structure is where good job costing starts or fails. Tasks that match how you quote and how you invoice give you meaningful budget versus actual figures; tasks that only match how the project manager thinks about the work force the finance team to rebuild the picture in a spreadsheet. We design the task template together with the people who quote, deliver and invoice, before the first project is created.
| Element | What it holds | Why it matters for job costing |
|---|---|---|
| Project card | Customer, bill-to and ship-to, status, person responsible, WIP method, posting group, default location | Sets how the whole project posts and who approves its time sheets |
| Project tasks | A hierarchy of posting, heading and total lines; every posting refers to a task | The level at which budget, actuals and invoicing are compared |
| Planning lines | Resources, items and G/L accounts with quantities, costs and prices, typed Budget, Billable, or Both Budget and Billable | The budget and the contract value that WIP and invoicing calculate from |
| Project journals and purchases | Actual usage of resources, items and expenses | The actual cost side of job costing |
| Task Billing Method | One customer for the project, or different customers per task | Lets one project invoice several paying parties |
What do the Budget and Billable planning line types mean?
They separate what a project will cost you from what you will charge for it, which is the core of job costing. Microsoft defines the three types on the project card article: Budget lines provide estimated usage and costs, typically in a time and materials project, and cannot be invoiced; Billable lines provide estimated invoicing to the customer, typically in a fixed price project; Both Budget and Billable lines give budgeted usage equal to what you want to invoice.
The Apply Usage Link toggle on the project links posted project ledger entries back to the planning lines, so you can see remaining quantities per line. It also activates warehouse handling, planning, assembly to order, item tracking and reservations for the project, which matters for firms that pick materials for site work.
| Commercial model | Typical planning lines | What the budget versus actual view shows |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed price | Budget lines for estimated cost, Billable lines for the agreed price or milestones | Margin erosion as actual cost runs against a fixed contract value |
| Time and materials | Both Budget and Billable lines, or Budget lines with usage billed as posted | Hours and materials consumed against the estimate, and what is still unbilled |
| Mixed | A fixed fee task plus time and materials tasks under one project | Each task judged on its own model, rolled up at project level |
Which WIP methods does Business Central support, including Percentage of Completion?
Out of the box, Business Central supports five methods of calculating and recording work in process, described on Microsoft Learn under WIP methods for calculating and recording project progress. WIP lets you estimate the financial value of a project in the general ledger while it is running, so costs posted before invoicing do not distort the financial statements. Each method is a combination of a Recognized Costs setting and a Recognized Sales setting, and you can create your own project WIP methods from those settings and set one as the default in Projects Setup. Once a method has been used to create WIP entries it cannot be changed or deleted, so the choice deserves care before go-live.
Percentage of Completion recognises sales as the billable total price multiplied by a completion percentage calculated from actual total cost against budgeted total cost. That calculation is only as good as the budget: if Budget and Billable lines are not entered correctly for the whole project, the recognised figures are wrong. When a project is set to Completed, the Calculate WIP task reverses the WIP postings and posts the final recognition instead.
| WIP method | Recognized costs | Recognized sales | In plain terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost Value | Cost Value | Contract (Invoiced Price) | Cost recognised as the customer is invoiced; sales follow invoicing |
| Cost of Sales | Cost of Sales | Contract (Invoiced Price) | Cost recognised as the customer is invoiced; sales follow invoicing |
| Sales Value | Usage (Total Cost) | Sales Value | Costs as reported; sales in proportion to reported costs |
| Percentage of Completion | Usage (Total Cost) | Percentage of Completion | Costs as reported; sales by completion against the cost budget |
| Completed Contract | At Completion | At Completion | Nothing recognised until the project is complete |
How do WIP methods relate to IFRS 15 revenue recognition?
Business Central gives you the mechanics; the accounting policy is yours. IFRS 15 Revenue from Contracts with Customers sets a five-step model and distinguishes performance obligations satisfied at a point in time from those satisfied over time, which is typical for services. Which of those applies to your contracts, and how progress should be measured, is a judgement for your finance team and your auditor, and this page does not give accounting advice.
What we do on the system side is translate the policy your finance team has agreed into configuration: which WIP method each project type uses, how budgets must be maintained for the method to calculate correctly, which accounts receive WIP and recognition postings, and how often Calculate WIP and Post WIP to G/L run in the period close. If a contract needs a recognition pattern the five standard methods cannot express, that is designed as an AL extension and tested against worked examples your finance team signs off.
How are projects invoiced: by milestone, by time or at the end?
All three are supported. Microsoft's article on creating a project sales invoice explains that you can invoice after the project is finished or at intervals based on an invoicing schedule, and that invoices can come from a whole project, from project tasks or from individual planning lines.
In practice, milestone billing on a fixed price project is modelled as Billable planning lines with planned dates, invoiced when the milestone is reached. Time and materials billing transfers quantities from planning lines to the invoice as work is posted. The Project Create Sales Invoice batch job invoices many projects in one run, and the Get Project Planning Lines action on a sales invoice combines lines from several projects for the same customer into one invoice. Credit memos for Billable or Both Budget and Billable lines keep the project planning in step with what was actually charged.
- Fixed price with milestones: Billable lines per milestone, invoiced on the schedule.
- Time and materials: usage posted from time sheets and journals, billed from planning lines with a quantity to invoice.
- One invoice across projects: Get Project Planning Lines on the sales invoice.
- Several paying customers on one project: the Task Billing Method field on the project card.
How do time sheets and resources feed project costs?
Resources (people and machines) carry costs and prices, and time sheets record hours against project tasks and planning lines. Approved time sheet lines post to the project journal, which creates the actual usage that job costing and WIP calculate from. If time sheets are used on a project, the project card must name a person responsible, who approves time for the tasks on that project, as described in Create a project card.
The design questions here are practical: whether everyone records time in Business Central or some hours arrive from another system through an integration, how resource prices vary by customer or project, how purchases for a project are coded so they land on the right task, and who approves what before the period closes.
When does Project Operations or Dynamics 365 Finance fit better than Business Central?
Business Central Projects suits small and mid-sized organizations that run projects alongside a standard finance, sales and inventory operation: consultancies, engineering and installation firms, agencies and companies with a project side to their business. It keeps the ledger, the projects and the time in one system.
Dynamics 365 Project Operations is built to connect sales, resourcing, project management and finance teams in one application, as Microsoft's Project Operations documentation puts it. For larger project-based organisations on finance and operations apps, project management and accounting is documented under Project Operations rather than under Dynamics 365 Finance. Our Project Operations implementation guide covers that side, and the Business Central vs Finance and Operations comparison covers the broader ERP choice.
| Signal | Business Central Projects | Project Operations with finance and operations apps |
|---|---|---|
| Organisation | Small and mid-sized, projects next to a standard operation | Larger project-based organisations, often several legal entities |
| Resourcing | Resources, capacity and time sheets per project | Resource management across a large delivery organisation |
| Sales to delivery | Quotes and projects in the ERP, CRM connected through Dataverse | Sales, resourcing, project management and finance in one application |
| Finance depth | Business Central general ledger, WIP methods and project posting groups | Finance and operations finance with project management and accounting |
| Extension model | AL extensions | X++ extensions and Power Platform |
How does Solzet implement project accounting in Business Central?
We start from how you quote, deliver and invoice, not from the module. The assessment maps your commercial models, your revenue recognition policy as your finance team has set it, your approval rules for time and purchases, and the reports management reads. From that we design the task templates, planning line conventions, WIP methods, posting groups, resource prices and time sheet approvals, then test them on a set of real past projects run through a test company before go-live.
Where you also run Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement, the CRM connects to Business Central through the Dataverse connection so opportunities and customers do not have to be keyed twice. Gaps the standard module does not cover, such as an industry-specific billing rule or an extra approval step, are built as AL extensions that survive Business Central updates. Professional services firms will find the wider picture on our professional services industry page, and the implementation service is described on Dynamics 365 Business Central.
What do people ask us?
Does Business Central still have a Jobs module?
The module is now called Projects. It is the same area that older Business Central versions and Dynamics NAV called Jobs: project cards, project tasks, planning lines, project journals, WIP and project invoicing. Some Microsoft Learn addresses still use the word jobs, but the product and the documentation say Projects.
What job costing features does Business Central have?
Projects split into tasks, planning lines typed Budget, Billable, or Both Budget and Billable, resources with costs and prices, time sheets, project journals and purchases that post actual usage, budget versus actual reporting per task, five standard WIP methods, and invoicing from planning lines, on a schedule or at the end of the project.
Does Business Central support percentage of completion?
Yes. Percentage of Completion is one of the five standard WIP methods. It recognises costs as they are reported and recognises sales as the billable total price multiplied by actual total cost divided by budgeted total cost, capped at the billable total. It needs complete and correct Budget and Billable planning lines for the whole project to calculate correctly.
Is Business Central project accounting IFRS 15 compliant?
Compliance depends on your accounting policy and how the system is configured, not on the module alone. IFRS 15 sets the principles; your finance team and auditor decide how they apply to your contracts. Business Central provides the WIP methods and posting setup to record the policy you choose, and we configure and test that setup. We do not give accounting advice.
Can we invoice by milestone in Business Central?
Yes. Milestones are usually modelled as Billable planning lines with planned dates on a fixed price project and invoiced when each milestone is reached, either per project or in a batch with the Project Create Sales Invoice job. Time and materials work can be invoiced from planning lines as usage is posted.
When should a project-based company choose Project Operations instead?
When resource management across a large delivery organisation, sales to delivery in one application and finance and operations finance matter more than keeping everything in one mid-market ERP. Smaller and mid-sized organisations that run projects next to a standard finance and inventory operation are usually well served by Business Central Projects.
Which Dynamics 365 solution does Solzet recommend?
We recommend the right solution: Dynamics 365 (Customer Engagement, Business Central or Finance and Operations), Power Platform, or a custom-built CRM. One team for CRM, ERP and the integration between them. For project accounting that means Business Central Projects for small and mid-sized organisations, Project Operations with finance and operations apps for larger project-based groups, and the integration with your CRM designed by the same team.
Where should you go next?
Dynamics 365 Business Central
Business Central online implementation, AL extensions, integrations and support, delivered by Solzet.
Project Operations implementation guide
What to settle before implementing Dynamics 365 Project Operations for a project-based organisation.
Dynamics 365 Finance
Finance implementation on finance and operations apps for larger and multi-entity organisations.
Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations
Finance, Supply Chain Management, Commerce and Project Operations, implemented and extended in X++.
Professional services
How Solzet approaches CRM and ERP for consultancies and other project-based firms.
All Solzet guides
Decision guides on Dynamics 365, ERP, Power Platform and integration.
Which solution is right for your business?
Tell us what you need. A senior consultant replies within one business day with a recommendation (Customer Engagement, Business Central, Finance and Operations, Power Platform or a custom-built CRM), not a sales script.