Projects & Sub-Jobs

This guide will explore the benefits and practical applications of projects and sub-jobs within the Trak platform.

Why Use Sub-Jobs?

Sub-jobs are beneficial for various business scenarios:

Smaller Maintenance Businesses: If you have numerous jobs for a particular client, building, or site, sub-jobs allow you to consolidate all related tasks within a single project. This organization helps you track job performance, history, and outstanding tasks more efficiently.
Larger Jobs and Projects: For extensive projects, sub-jobs enable you to break down the work into clearly defined stages, such as units, levels, or phases. This segmentation facilitates better management of photos, files, costings, profitability, documentation, and timesheets without relying on complex spreadsheets.
Contractor Management: Businesses using multiple contractors can create sub-jobs for different trades within a single project. For example, a roofing company might have separate sub-jobs for scaffolding, fascia guttering, and roof installation, each managed by different contractors. This approach streamlines quality assurance, safety, documentation, purchase orders, and cost management.
Project Variations: When a significant variation arises within a project, creating a sub-job for it allows you to track photos, timesheets, expenses, costs, and quality assurance separately. This compartmentalization makes invoicing easier and ensures all relevant information is readily available.

Setting Up Sub-Jobs

To manage sub-jobs effectively, configure your defaults in the company settings under your name. You can set defaults for job descriptions, site addresses, contact information, and other custom fields to streamline the creation of sub-jobs.

Creating and Managing Sub-Jobs

Once a job is set up in the Trak platform, you can create multiple sub-jobs within it. The main project overview will aggregate information from all sub-jobs, providing a comprehensive view. You can also manage each sub-job individually, with different statuses, dates, and details.

When you add timesheet entries, photos, notes, or safety documents to a sub-job, they are saved against that sub-job and also reflected at the project level. This ensures seamless tracking of activities across the entire project.

Documentation and Permissions

The Trak platform allows you to manage files and documents centrally. You can choose to share documents across all sub-jobs or specific ones, enhancing efficiency and control over permissions. This is particularly useful when multiple contractors are involved.

Financial Management

Using sub-jobs provides a clear financial overview at both the sub-job and project levels. This capability helps you improve processes, understand costings, manage quality assurance, and keep track of all activities within your business.

Adding and Removing Sub-Jobs

Adding a sub-job is straightforward. Go to the sub-jobs tab and create a new sub-job. If you have an existing job that you want to convert into a sub-job, you can add it to a project anytime. Conversely, if a sub-job is no longer relevant, you can remove it, making it an independent job.

Viewing and Filtering Projects

To distinguish between projects and sub-jobs, the jobs tab displays a project icon for each project. You can filter to show only projects, helping you focus on the broader scope while easily accessing detailed sub-job information.

Creating a Project

Creating a project is simple. Start by creating a job as usual. Then, use the option at the top of the page to create a project. You can move the job to a project, create a new project, or add sub-jobs. Follow the prompts to set up your sub-jobs within the Trak platform.

Conclusion

Projects and sub-jobs are powerful features of the Trak platform that enhance efficiency and organization. Whether managing small maintenance tasks, large projects, contractor coordination, or project variations, these tools provide flexibility and control. For any questions or assistance with setting up projects, please contact us at contact@trak.co. Thank you for using Trak.