Change Orders

Goldenseal is change order tracking software that creates and manages change orders, and handles billing for the extra charges.

Use Change Order records to track changes that are made to a project, after an estimate has been accepted and work has started.

HINT-- Change Orders are an important part of the Goldenseal accounting software and project management software.

WEBSITE INFO LINKS
Billing Software | Change Order Software | Change Orders Software | Project Management Software

When to Use Change Orders

Use change orders whenever you change the price of a project after the contract has been signed or the estimate awarded.

NOTE-- You do not need to use a change order if changes are made before an estimate is awarded. In that case, either create an Allowance for the item, or simply change the cost in the estimate itself.

Change orders usually cover additional work that raises the total contract price, but they can also be used for changes that reduce the total price, or that don't change the price at all.

Change orders can be billed with a fixed price, or they can be based on actual time-and-materials expenses. For more about change order billing, click here.

Entering Change Orders

To enter a Change Order, follow these steps:

Choose Change Orders from the Income menu.
Click the New button, or choose New Record from the Edit menu.
Enter details for the change.

QUICK SETUP HINT-- You only need to enter a Brief Description and Gross Price.

Data Fields

Enter the following information for each Change Order:

Project-- Choose the project to which the change applies.
Brief Description-- Enter a short name for the change order. This text will be used when entering change order costs.
Gross Price-- Enter the dollar amount of change in the original project or order. If the price is reduced, enter a negative number.
Tax Rate-- Choose the sales tax rate for this order.
Total-- The total price with tax is computed automatically.
Details-- Enter a full description for the change order.

Entered-- The date you create the change order will be entered automatically.
Record Number-- A record number will be entered automatically.

More Info

Click the More Info button to enter the following details:

Billing Setup
Billing-- Choose the billing type for this change order.
Terms-- Choose the payment terms for this work.
HINT-- The payment terms determine the amount of markup you'll charge for work for this order.

Job Cost Setup
Category-- Choose the cost category where the change will be made.
Subcategory-- Choose the cost subcategory where the change will be made.
Location-- If you use cost locations within the project, enter the location where the change occurs.
Labor Hours-- Enter the number of labor hours to schedule for this item. If you use a breakdown, Goldenseal calculates labor hours automatically.
Crew Size-- Enter the usual crew size that you will use for this item.

Expenses To Date
Goldenseal shows you the expenses paid on this change order.

HINT-- When you enter expense transactions for a change, enter a change order into the Applies To field.

Calculated Fields

Goldenseal shows the following calculated fields for each change order:

Materials to Date-- Goldenseal shows the total cost of Material Purchases allocated to this change order.
Other Costs to Date-- Goldenseal shows the total cost of equipment, labor, subcontractor and other costs allocated to this change order.

Billing Types

Several billing types are available for change orders:

Fixed Price-- The entered price will be charged, regardless of actual costs.

All Costs-- The actual cost for equipment, labor and materials will be charged.
Cost with Maximum-- Actual time and materials cost will be used, but only up to the entered maximum amount.
Cost with Minimum-- Actual time and materials cost will be used, with a minimum amount as entered.
Cost minus Base-- Actual time and materials costs, minus a fixed amount.
Materials Only-- The actual cost for materials will be charged.
Materials with Maximum-- Actual materials cost will be used, but only up to the entered maximum amount.
Materials with Minimum-- Actual materials cost will be used, with a minimum amount as entered.
Materials minus Base-- Actual materials cost, minus a fixed amount.

Price Reduction-- The change reduces the total price of the project.
No Charge-- No charge will be made.

Change Order Status

When you first create a Change Order form, its status is set to Entered.
When you print the order, Goldenseal will change the status to Submitted.
HINT-- You can also change the status yourself, if you submit the order by some other means.
Upon acceptance by the other party, change the status to Approved.

When you enter expenses for a change order, Goldenseal changes its status to Started.
When you've used the Billing command to bill for an order, Goldenseal changes its status to Billed.
When the bill is paid, Goldenseal changes its status to Paid.
When the project is completed, Goldenseal changes the order status to Completed.
If a change order is canceled, change its status to Void.

Change Order Breakdowns

To itemize costs for a change order, enter Category or Item into the breakdown popup at the left side of the window.

Use a Category breakdown if you want to type in costs.
Use an Item breakdown if you want to include specific Cost Items or Assemblies in the order.

A change order can act like a junior version of an Estimate.

Using Change Orders

To print a change order document that can be signed by the customer or subcontractor, choose Print Forms from the File menu.

To assign expenses to a change order, follow these steps:

For a material purchase, choose Material Purchases from the Costs menu.
Choose Project in the Job Class field.
Enter the project account into the Job field.
Enter Change Order into the Applies To field.
Enter the specific change order into the Transaction field.

NOTE-- The only change orders that will be displayed are those that apply to the selected project. For other types of expenses, choose Equipment Hours, Labor Hours, Subcontractor Costs or Other Costs from the Costs menu.

To view accumulated expenses for a change order, follow these steps:

Choose Change Orders from the Income menu.
Find the specific change order.
Check the Materials to Date and Other Costs to Date fields.

NOTE-- Those fields show the expense amount, without including adjustments or sales tax. Goldenseal posts the sales tax separately so it can be used for billing. If you'd like to see it, use the Custom Layout command and add the Sales Tax To Date field to the layout.

When you have entered all expenses that belong to a particular change order and want to do
billing for the change, follow these steps:

Choose Billing from the Bank menu, and choose the Change Orders submenu.
Double-click on the project that includes the change order.
Put a checkmark in the Bill column next to each change order that is ready for billing.
When you have entered all completed items, click the Create Bills button to complete the billing process