Arquimedes

The "Budgetary control of the job" module includes tools related to the budgetary control of the job in Arquimedes.

With this module, users can carry out the budgetary control of the job (financial control, purchasing control and cost centre control), accounting and allocation to work sections and items, as well as all the features included in the "Arquimedes" module. Various levels of control can be used. Each level includes the possibilities and checks of the previous one.

• in the "Accounts" section, the options for defining and managing data on supplier accounts, customer accounts, financial accounts, purchasing accounts, sales accounts, input and output VAT, supplier and customer income tax, and equivalence surcharge;
• in the "Purchase management" section, the options to create purchasing groups and supplies for the project, contract supplies, request and receive bids, view purchasing comparisons, generate contracts, and view project contracts;
• In the "Edit documents" section, you will find options for managing all project documentation: contracts, orders, delivery notes, invoices, and allocations.
• in the "Editing due payments" section, the options for setting the payment or collection deadline for an invoice;
• in the "View" section, the options to check the status of accounts with suppliers and customers, view a comparison of reference prices and supplied prices, view a summary of allocations for the project or items, check payments to subcontractors and suppliers, and view a history of supplies by document;

• in the "Export to accounting" section, the options for exporting to compatible accounting programs;
• the "Order generation" option works automatically;
• the "Agenda" option, to view orders, delivery notes, invoices, and due dates sorted by date, as well as to calculate cash flow;
• the "Settings" option, to edit the project options;
• and the option "Delete site control information", which, as its name suggests, deletes all information related to site control.

In the bar immediately below the menus, there is a set of quick access icons linked to site management, organised into two functional blocks.

• The first block brings together those focused on document management for the project: "Contract editing", "Order editing", "Delivery note editing", "Quick entry of delivery notes against supplier orders ", "Editing invoices received", "Editing suppliers" and "Construction site schedule".
• The second block groups together tools related to purchasing management: "Purchasing groups", "Site supplies", "Contracting supplies", "Purchasing comparisons", "Generating contracts" and "Site contracts".

The options that appear are the following:

• Values to use as reference
  • Price structure
    This allows you to choose between bill of quantities, sale or study, and determines the source of concept prices in purchase comparisons and documents (such as purchase orders, delivery notes, invoices and cost allocations). It also affects the calculation of site supplies.
  • Payments to subcontractors
    This allows you to choose between certified quantity or quantity completed, and serves as the basis for the programme to calculate payments to subcontractors at each stage of the project.
• Optional data
  • Copy allocated prices to reference structure
    When this box is ticked, whenever a supply price is awarded to a supplier in a purchase comparison, the price will be copied into the reference price structure for the concept representing the supply.
  • Include pro-forma documents in the reports
    Ticking this box includes documents defined as "Not firm" in the case of purchase orders; "Pro forma" in the case of delivery notes, issued invoices and received invoices in the windows and lists.
  • Include unpaid due payments in account status
    Ticking this box will include due dates that are not marked as paid in account statement lists. They will appear as "Unpaid" in the list. This is used to preview account statements.
  • With supplier filter in concept selection
    Ticking this box will display only those supplies related to the selected supplier. This will occur when clicking the "Concept selection" button in purchase orders, delivery notes, received invoices and supplier allocations.
  • With cost centre filter in concept selection
    Ticking this box will ensure that only concepts related to the cost centre appear when you click the "Concept selection" button when editing supply allocations.
  • With supplier filter in concept price
    Ticking this box will take the supplier into account when calculating concept prices, selecting only those related to the selected supplier, according to the "Price type" option. This option does not affect the "None" and "Metered price" fields. This will occur when clicking the "Concept selection" button in purchase orders, delivery notes, received invoices and supplier allocations.
  • Display orders in agenda
    With this box ticked, orders can be viewed in the calendar.
  • Display delivery notes in agenda
    With this box ticked, delivery notes can be viewed in the calendar.
  • Display invoices in agenda
    With this box ticked, both issued and received invoices can be viewed in the calendar.
• Warning level type
  Allows you to choose between no warnings or with warnings. When this option is enabled, the program will prompt you whilst editing supplies linked to more than one document, before making any changes to their values. This will occur when you click the "Edit supplies" button in purchase orders, delivery notes, received invoices and cost allocations.
• Default price type for concept
  Allows you to define the source of the price for concepts when editing documents. You can choose between none (zero price), last price, minimum price, average price, maximum price or concept reference price. Depending on the option chosen, the program will automatically apply the corresponding price when entering a new concept. These options are modified by the "With supplier filter in concept price" option.
• Indirect tax type
  Allows you to select between VAT or miscellaneous taxes, defined via the "Percentages" option in the "Display" section of the "Settings" menu.

You must define the supplier and customer accounts for document definition. If you wish to export data to the accounting system, you will need to define the remaining accounts. The accounts that can be defined are located in the "Accounts" section of the "Job control" menu, and are as follows:

• Suppliers. List of suppliers and subcontractors (external or in-house). It is possible to import .csv files containing data on these suppliers.
• Clients. List of customers to whom invoices are issued. It is possible to import .csv files containing data on these customers.
• Financial accounts. Accounts against which due dates are generated.
• Purchases. Accounts against which issued invoices are generated.
• Sales. Accounts against which received invoices are generated.
• Input VAT. VAT/IGIC account for received invoices.
• Output VAT. VAT/IGIC account for issued invoices.
• Income tax suppliers. Income tax account for received invoices.
• Income tax clients. Income tax account for received invoices.
• Equivalence surcharge. Account used by companies operating under this regime. These companies bear the supplier’s VAT and issue invoices with an equivalent surcharge percentage instead of output VAT.

When editing a document, there are options to import documents or supplies from others belonging to the same supplier, which streamlines the management of orders, delivery notes or invoices.

With the exception of contracts and issued invoices, the following options will be available for all other documents: "Import contracts", "Import delivery notes", "Import invoices", "Import charges", "Import supplies" and "Edit supplies". The buttons available vary depending on the type of document being edited. For these buttons to be active, you must first have created a document using the "Add new item to list" option on the bar.

From "Import supplies" and "Edit supplies", you can perform a "Partial supply selection", which allows you to split the quantity of the selected supply into two different quantities, leaving a portion to be used in another document.

The "Generate due dates" button only appears in the invoices received document type and allows you to generate due dates to calculate cash flow, export to accounting, or view the status of accounts with suppliers or customers.

Generate due payments from invoices

When creating a document from an invoice, you must specify:

• The financial account to be debited.
• The amount.
• The payment plan (cash, 30, 60, 120, 180 days, 30/60/90 or custom).
• The "Assign paid" box, which automatically marks the due date as paid.

Generate due payments from the "Edit due payments" section

In this case, you first select the relevant customer or supplier. The dialogue box that appears will display the due dates already generated from invoices, but it is also possible to create standalone due dates that are not linked to any invoice. These can be added via "Add new element to the list" by specifying the following:

• Due payment.
• Description.
• Amount.
• Associated financial account.
• Collection status.

Manually created due payments will appear in the list with no text in the "Invoice" column, thus distinguishing them from those generated automatically from documents.

• Account status
  • Suppliers
    This option displays the code, name, invoice amount, amount paid and balance for each supplier.
    Clicking the "See detail" button displays a breakdown of all invoices relating to that supplier, along with their respective due dates and payment statuses.
  • Clients
    As with suppliers, this option displays the same information.

• Price comparison
  This option displays a list of all supplies, showing their prices, quantities and total amounts, for both the reference bill of quantities (target or preliminary estimate) and the actual supplies. It also shows the variances between the reference bill of quantities and the actual bill of quantities.

• Summary of project charges
  This option displays the total amount spent on the project, calculated based on direct and passed-on charges categorised by phase, according to the date of each charge.
  
  
• Summary of charges for items
  This option displays the amount spent on each item, calculated from both direct and reallocated charges at each stage of the project.

• Payments to subcontractors and other suppliers
  This option displays a list of projected payments to subcontractors (based on certificates or the quantities completed for each item) and to suppliers (based on supply contracts and delivery notes received). The payments are calculated using the amount selected in the "Values to use as reference" option under "Settings" in the "Job control" menu.
  The dialogue box is divided into two tabs: "Subcontractors" and "Other suppliers". These tabs differ only in the "Generate subcontractor invoices" button, which allows you to create an invoice with the quantities completed by each subcontractor in the month of the certificate closure.

• Pending receipt materials and stock
  This option displays a list showing goods to be received and the corresponding stock levels.

• History of supplies in orders
  • Regroup supplies
    This option allows you to regroup supplies that have been ungrouped as a result of various operations performed on them, thereby reducing the number of entries in the "Supply history".
  • Orders
    This option displays, in a list sorted by date, the supplies included in orders, along with the information associated with each document.
  • Delivery notes
    This option displays, in a list sorted by date, the supplies included in delivery notes, along with the information associated with each document.
  • Invoices received
    This option displays, in a list sorted by date, the supplies included in invoices received, along with the information associated with each document.
  • Charges
    This option displays, in a list sorted by date, the supplies included in charges, along with the information associated with each document.

The data exported consists of the definitions of accounts and accounting entries. Therefore, before exporting, you must have already defined the accounts (see the "Accounts" section).

Sub-accounts may include: suppliers, customers, financial, purchases, sales, input and output VAT, suppliers’ and customers’ income tax, and equivalence surcharge.

Invoices and due payments are exported as accounting entries, although only accrued invoices and paid due payments will be exported. You can check the export status via the following options:

• Received invoice status
• Emitted invoices status
• Status of due payments to pay
• Status of due payments to charge

You can also undo the last export using the last option available in the "Export to accounting" section.

The programs to which data can be exported are as follows:

• SP CONTAPLUS®
• RP DIAMANTE®
• LOGIC WIN GLOBAL®
• PRIMAVERA®
• VISUAL CONTA®
• PRINEX 21®

Among the available options, you can choose to generate firm orders or offer requests (pro forma orders). It is also possible to generate charges at the same time. To do this, you must first select a cost centre (an item, a work section or the root work section).

After selecting one of the options and confirming, you must select the items to be included in the order. These items will be the same as those included in the selected cost centre, with their corresponding prices and quantities, which can be modified as required at this stage.

Next, you must select the supplier to whom the order will be assigned.

Finally, you must enter the description of the order.

The information displayed in the agenda depends on the options selected under "Settings" in the "Job control" menu: "Show orders in agenda", "Show delivery notes in agenda" and "Show invoices in agenda". See the "Job control options and settings".

The fields displayed in the agenda are as follows:

• Date. This can be edited by the user, in which case the events or lines in the calendar are reordered.
• Day of the week. Corresponds to the date. Cannot be edited directly.
• Document type. Whether it is an order, delivery note, invoice or due date.
• Document. Document code.
• Description. Summary of the document.
• Company. Name of the supplier or customer associated with the document.
• Account. Description or title of the financial account.
• Receipts. Incoming amounts.
• Payments. Outgoing amounts.
• Cash flow. Cash position. A positive sign indicates a positive cash balance.

• Delete the links between an item and all the bills of quantities to which it is linked
  Items that are linked to one or more bills of quantities, when clicked on using the right mouse button in the "Decomposition tree" window, will display a menu containing, amongst other options, "Unlink item". If this option is selected, all the links the chosen job may have with other bills of quantities will be deleted, as well as the reference to each of them which exists in each quantities subtable. Neither the item nor its quantities are deleted.
  
  
• Delete the link between an item and one of the bills of quantities to which it is linked
  A quantities subtable for each linked bill of quantities is present in the quantity details table of an item linked to one or more bills of quantities. By right-clicking the header of one of these subtables, a menu appears containing the "Unlink subtable" option. This option deletes the link and reference to the chosen item with respect to the bill of quantities to which the selected subtable belongs. Neither the item nor its quantities are deleted.

Before starting to record quantities, you must enter the data required for generating and processing certificates in the "Certification data" dialogue box under the "Certificates" menu within the "Quantities/Certificates" window.

This data includes the number of the first certificate, key dates (tender, award, contract formalisation, start and completion of works), the award coefficient, the total tender bill of quantities and the original net bill of quantities together with the approved modifications. The "Apply" button transfers the tender amount affected by the award coefficient to the table below.

1. If the item to be certified does not include any details, you can enter the figures directly in the "Items" section, in the relevant columns: "ExecQuant" or "PartialExecQuant" and "PartCertQuant" or "OrigCertQuant".
   
   The columns in this section also show the "ValuationPrice" (certificate price for the item), the "PartValAmnt" (partial amount for the month) and the "OrigCertAmnt" (cumulative amount).

Recording can also be done by "Percentage", and can be applied to a work section or item, using measurement or execution quantities for this purpose. The available options can be found in the "Certificates" menu, within the "Quantities/Certificates" window.

This method of on-site certificate issuance is common in cases where an item consists of several stages and extends over a period of time. For example, for the concrete floor item, 20% could be applied at the start, corresponding to surface preparation; 70% during the pouring of the concrete; and the remaining 10% once the work is completed.

In this case, first navigate to the "Items" section and select the item you wish to certify. Next, go to the "Certificates" menu and select the "Valuation item by quantities percentage" option. In the dialogue box, specify the percentage to be certified and choose between "Relative to the total budgeted" (the percentage is deducted from previously certified quantities) or "Add relative to the total budgeted" (the certified quantity is increased by the specified percentage). You can also specify the certificate method, choosing between "Modify total amount" (the amount is added to the certified amount field without a detail table, unless there is a previous certificate with details) or "Add new subtable" (the amount is added to a detail table). You can also add a comment to accompany the new subtable.

Another option is to certify by percentage for an entire work section, for which you must first hover over a work section without selecting any item. The percentage indicated will apply to all items contained within the work section.

Alternatively, you can set the reference quantity to be the quantity of work completed. To do this, use the "Certify item by percentage of completion" option. This is useful for the site manager who has been monitoring progress throughout the month.

Finally, another less common option is "Item executed by quantity percentage", which works by transferring quantities from the "Measurement" quantity table to the "quantity executed" columns in the "Items" section. This is useful for making production forecasts.

Once all the certificate quantities have been entered, the certificate must be closed. To do this, go to the "Certifications" menu (within the "Measurements/Certificates" window) and select the "Close certificate" option.

If this is the first time, you will be asked to enter the necessary data to configure the certificate closure (storage mode, certificate type, VAT, certificate date and price revision coefficient). It is advisable to select "Store detail lines" to know which data was entered in the "Certificate" tables. Similarly, to prevent the detail tables from being deleted every time a certificate is closed, it is advisable to select "Quantity to origin".

If the project contains at least one item with certificate pending review, the program will display a warning stating that if you proceed with closing the certificate, this flag will be removed from all items in the project.

The same procedure will be used to close the second and subsequent certificates.

Correcting to certified amounts

To make corrections, such as adding or removing certain quantities, if this is the last certificate closed with a source-based closure, you can make the changes and then close the certificate again using the "Close certificate" option in the "Certificates" menu.

If this is the last certificate closed with a partial closure, you must use the "Recover the last" button, make the changes to correct the quantities, and close the certificate again.

To make corrections, such as adding or removing certain quantities, if this is the last certificate closed with a source-based closure, you can make the changes and then close the certificate again using the "Close certificate" option in the "Certificates" menu.

If this is the last certificate closed with a partial closure, you must use the "Recover the last" button, make the changes to correct the quantities, and close the certificate again.

Corrections to certificate prices

To change the certificate price for an item, right-click on the item in question and select the "Item certificates" option. In the dialogue box, change the price in the "ValuationPrice" field.

Corrections to certificate data

To change the initial details of a certificate, you must edit the first closed certificate and go to "Certificate details" in the "Certificates" menu. The details that can be changed are: the dates of the tender, award, contract formalisation and commencement; the award coefficient; and the total tender bill of quantities. To finish, simply toggle the "Editable" option in "Closed certificates".

• "Closed certificates" option in the "Certificates" menu. Displays a table containing information about each closed certificate. Using the icons in the top-left corner of this dialogue box, you can print the report of the selected certificate and export the content to CSV format for use in spreadsheet programs.

• "Work section certificates" option, available from the "Certificates" menu or from the context menu that appears when you right-click on a work section.
  This allows you to view certificate details for the selected work section in the work section area.

• "Certificates" option, available from the "Certificates" menu or from the context menu that appears when you right-click on an item.
  This allows you to view certificate details for the item selected in the items section.

• "Cost breakdown structure" window.
  Selecting the columns relating to certificates provides information on the selected level in the tree. From the work section, you can view information about the project, such as the amount to be certified, unclaimed amounts or the bill of quantities overrun.

• Customisable reports of the "Certificate" type, via the "Print report" option.

Gantt chart editor interface

The Gantt chart editor consists of:

1. Top bar.
2. Horizontal scroll bar for moving along the time scale.
3. Vertical scroll bar for moving through the task list.
4. Name of the Gantt chart currently being edited.
5. List of activities showing duration, start and end dates, and cost.
6. Area showing the duration of the selected activity.
7. Area showing the section of the time scale displayed on screen.
8. Activity area where the various activities and their dependencies are represented by bars.
9. Container task (work section or sub work section).
10. Simple task (may be an item or a sub work section).
11. Critical task (or longest task) shown in red.
12. Dependency lines (or black arrows).
13. Table showing payment plan data or planned monthly investment (if enabled).

Managing charts

You can create one or more diagrams using the "Diagram management" option in the bar. You can also duplicate or delete them, or choose which one opens by default.

Display tools

To view the diagram in detail, there is a set of buttons on the bar that allow you to adjust the graphic display.

Delete and update tasks

A task can be deleted by right-clicking on it and selecting the "Delete task" option from the context menu.

To recover a deleted activity, you will need to manually add a new one, link it to the relevant cost centre and, finally, update it using the "Update tasks" button on the bar.

The "Update tasks" tool also allows you to synchronise the data for activities linked to cost centres when the quantities or cost of the associated items are modified. The tool allows you to choose between two options: adjust the output whilst maintaining the duration or adjust the duration whilst maintaining the output.

Set a start date and adjust the time frame

To start with a specific start date, place the mouse pointer over the bar of the first parent activity, right-click and select the "Task information" option. When you change the "Start date", all tasks will be moved at the same time.

The same action can be performed from the activity area by dragging the task to a specific date without releasing the left mouse button. To do this, you must have the "Show month and year labels" option enabled, which appears when you click the "Step" button on the bar or when you click on the area indicating the time scale range displayed on the screen.

In this case, the section displayed on screen may not be sufficient, and the full diagram may not be shown. You can adjust this using the "Span" button, either by clicking "Adjust" or by selecting a more specific time period (one month, two months, etc.).

Work calendar

Arquimedes allows you to create a work schedule for each diagram by clicking the "Work schedule" button on the toolbar.

Duration of an activity

By using the "Task information" option (accessed via the right-click menu), you can also rename a task or set a duration for it. There are four ways to set a duration for a task:

• You can manually (from the activities section) use the mouse pointer to move, expand or collapse tasks according to the scale selected via the "Step" button.
• By entering a start date and an end date.
• By entering the duration directly in days.
• By entering the output per day, calculated based on the work team.

Task amount

The cost of a task depends on the option selected in the "New Gantt chart" dialogue box; it may be based on the bill of quantities, sales, study or contract award cost. Furthermore, it may include overheads, profit and/or VAT, as specified in that dialogue box.

Earned Value Management (EVM)

The Earned Value Management (EVM) method is a cost control standard that enables the monitoring of a project’s costs and deadlines and provides the information needed to make decisions.

To view EVM from the site manager’s (contractor’s) perspective in Arquimedes, you must first create a Gantt chart with an "Items" level of detail. All tasks must be linked to cost centres (item type) with quantities and estimated costs, and must be updated in line with the items in the "Cost breakdown structure". It is also necessary to correctly allocate each item to its cost centre and enter the quantities actually completed to obtain the cost of completion for each phase of the project schedule. Furthermore, certificates must be finalised on the scheduled dates to record both the certified quantities and the amounts spent.

After completing all of the above, in the Gantt chart editor, click the "EVM (Earned Value Management)" option on the toolbar. A dialogue box divided into two parts will then appear; the upper part displays the EVM model variables in monthly periods, together with planned production ("PlanProd"), actual production ("RealProd") and cumulative certificates ("AccumVal"). The lower part is divided into three tabs. The first displays the graph with the EVM model. The second displays the graph with the SPI and CPI indices. The third tab shows the breakdown of tasks by month.