Jobs & Bill of Quantities
The Job is the most fundamental concept in JobNext. Every transaction, every report, and every cost entry in the system is tied to a Job. Understanding Jobs and their associated Bill of Quantities (BOQ) is the starting point for working effectively with JobNext.
What Is a Job?
A Job represents a project or site where your organization is performing work for a client. In construction, a Job typically corresponds to a single contract or project site. In facilities management, it might represent a building or campus being maintained.
Every transaction in JobNext — material purchases, subcontractor payments, employee timesheets, customer bills — must be associated with a Job. This ensures that all costs and revenues are tracked at the project level, giving you accurate job-level profitability analysis.
Different organizations use different terminology. Whether you call it a "project," "site," "contract," or "work order," it maps to a Job in JobNext. The system uses "Job" as the universal term.
Key Properties of a Job
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| Job Code | A unique alphanumeric identifier (e.g., JOB-2024-001). Once created, this cannot be changed. |
| Job Name | A descriptive name for the project (e.g., "Mumbai Metro Line 3 - Station 12"). |
| Customer | The client who awarded this contract. Selected from the Customer master. |
| Business Unit | The organizational division handling this job. See Organization Structure. |
| Accounting Centre | The financial entity under which this job's transactions are recorded. |
| Zone | The geographic or operational classification of the job. |
| Job Currency | The primary currency for all transactions in this job. See Currencies. |
| Start / End Date | The planned duration of the project. |
| Contract Value | The total value of the contract with the customer. |
| Status | The current state of the job: Active, On Hold, Completed, or Closed. |
What Is a Bill of Quantities (BOQ)?
The Bill of Quantities (BOQ) is a structured document that lists all the deliverables the client expects from the contractor. It is the contractual foundation of a Job, detailing exactly what needs to be delivered, in what quantities, and at what rates.
BOQs in JobNext are organized hierarchically, allowing you to group related items under sections and sub-sections that mirror the structure provided by the client or defined in the contract.
Think of the BOQ as the client's perspective of what needs to be done. It defines deliverables in the client's language and units. Later, you will create Scopes that define how your organization will actually execute each BOQ item.
BOQ Item Fields
Each line item in a BOQ has the following fields:
| Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Item Code | A unique identifier for this BOQ item within the job. Can follow the client's numbering scheme or your own convention. | 1.1.01, BOQ-A-001 |
| Description | A detailed text description of the deliverable, often matching the contract language exactly. | "Providing and laying RCC M25 grade concrete for foundation including formwork and curing" |
| Unit | The unit of measurement for the quantity (e.g., Cum, Sqm, Rmt, Nos, Kg, MT). | Cum |
| Rate | The contractual rate per unit that the client will pay. This is the rate at which you bill the customer. | 4,500.00 |
| Quantity | The total contracted quantity for this item. | 1,250.00 |
| Amount | The total value, automatically calculated as Rate x Quantity. | 56,25,000.00 |
Hierarchical Structure
BOQ items are organized in a tree structure. A typical hierarchy looks like:
- Section (e.g., "Civil Works")
- Sub-section (e.g., "Foundation")
- Item (e.g., "RCC M25 for foundation")
- Item (e.g., "Excavation for foundation")
- Sub-section (e.g., "Superstructure")
- Item (e.g., "RCC M30 for columns")
- Sub-section (e.g., "Foundation")
Only leaf-level items (the lowest level in the hierarchy) carry rates and quantities. Parent items serve as grouping headers, and their amounts are the sum of their children.
BOQ States
A BOQ progresses through two primary states during the lifecycle of a Job:
| State | Description | Editable? |
|---|---|---|
| CREATED | The BOQ has been entered but not yet finalized. Items can be added, modified, or removed freely. This is the initial state when you first create the BOQ for a job. | Yes |
| CONTRACTED | The BOQ has been finalized and locked, typically after the contract is signed with the customer. Rates, quantities, and descriptions are frozen. Scopes and billing are based on this version. | No (requires revision process) |
Once a BOQ moves to the CONTRACTED state, it cannot be reverted to CREATED. Any changes to contracted quantities or rates must go through the formal BOQ revision process. Make sure all items are verified before contracting.
BOQ and the Rest of JobNext
The BOQ touches many parts of the system:
- Scopes — Each scope is linked to a BOQ item, creating the bridge between client deliverables and execution activities. See Scopes & WBS.
- Customer Billing — RA Bills and other billing types reference BOQ items and their rates. See RA Bills.
- Estimates — Estimates are created for scopes (which link to BOQ), determining the cost to execute each deliverable. See Estimates & Budgets.
- Quotations — During the pre-construction phase, BOQ items may originate from quotation line items. See Standard Quote.
- Progress Tracking — Work progress is tracked at the scope level and rolled up to the BOQ level for client reporting.
For jobs with large BOQs (hundreds or thousands of items), you can import the BOQ from an Excel spreadsheet rather than entering each item manually. Navigate to the BOQ section of the job, click Import, and download the template to see the expected format.