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Here is a description of each of the scheduling fields and what they do:
Order Qty The Order Qty (Quantity) column can be used to accumulate total hours (or other measure) for this Budget/Activity. The Order Quantities for all the Bid Item Cost Columns which are assigned this Budget and have the same Unit as the Unit field for this Budget are totaled. If the Unit is "HR", all the Labor hours going into this Budget/Activity could be computed. This gives you a good idea of how many days you should schedule for this Activity.
Unit Order Unit to accumulate. (See Order Qty above.) Usually set to "HR" (Hours) or "MH" (man-hours) so that labor can be totaled.
Sch. Order Determines the order which Activities are performed, which may be different from the alphabetical/numerical order of Budget Codes, etc. Enter whole numbers. Low numbered Activities are started before high-numbered Activities. Note: You do not need to use every number. You may wish to leave gaps (or even number by tens) so there is room to include new Activities in the future.
Critical? Either Y (Yes) or N (No). If an Activity is marked critical (Y), it is assumed to be on the critical path, and performed after the previous critical Activities are completed. Non-critical Activities are scheduled in parallel (with the same Start Date as) the critical Activities before them in the scheduling order.
Always in Sch. Is this Activity always in every schedule? Y or N. Normally, Activities only appear in the schedule if their Budget is used, i.e., has a Total Cost other than zero. If Always in Sch. is Yes (Y), the Activity will be scheduled even if it doesn’t have a cost.
Duration The number of days this Activity takes to perform. A one-day duration means that the Activity will start and finish on the same day. This field is Bid-specific; the Duration is different for each Bid. The Duration is always measured in days.
Standard Duration The Standard Duration is the usual duration for this Activity. It is stored in the Price Book Budgets, not the Bid. If the Duration has not been filled in, the Standard Duration is copied to the Duration. (The Duration may, of course, be changed at any time.)
Start (Date) The first calendar date this Activity will be worked on. Can either be entered manually or scheduled automatically. The Start Date is Bid-specific, i.e., stored with each Bid. If you enter a date which falls on a weekend or holiday, you will be asked whether you want to keep the date as-is, or adjust it to the next work date.
Finish (Date) The last date this Activity should be worked on, i.e., it should be finished by the end of this date. Finish date is computed automatically from the Start Date and Duration (based on workday schedule entered in the Scheduling Information dialog). The Finish Date cannot be changed directly. Finish Dates are Bid-specific.
Sch. Code Code for this Activity in other scheduling program. For use with the Scheduling Export. Milestones Simplicity and Milestones Etc. do not require codes. This field is sent over to these systems, though, and may be used to sent whatever information you need.
Description for Schedule
Description for this Activity in scheduling reports and exports. If this field is left blank, the Budget Description is used instead. You may wish to use this field to clarify the Activity’s action: "Hang doors" would be the Description for Schedule, while "Doors" would be the Budget Description.
Except for the Start Date, Finish Date, and Duration, all fields are stored with the Budgets in the Price Book. This means that if you change them once, they are changed for all your Bids, past and future. This is usually what you want, so you don’t have to re-enter your work each time you do a new Bid.
See also: Budget List, Scheduling Overview, Scheduling Information dialog box, Auto-Scheduling, Export to Scheduling
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