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HOMEBUILDER:  SETUP PAGE

Learn how to gather together configurations from around the HomeBuilder system into one centralized place.

The HomeBuilder Setup Page

Open the page, "HomeBuilder Setup" by searching for it or by navigating to a Roles Center (i.e., Homebuilder - Setup - HomeBuilder Setup).

"HomeBuilder Setup" has the local scope (i.e., defined for each Company).

Note

Options for the fast tab "Lot Deposit Values" are explained in the section "Lot Installments". Options for the FastTab "Budgeting" are explained in the section "Lot Budgeting and Costing".

FastTabs Available in The HomeBuilder Setup Page

Once the basic Business Central Setup is complete, you can work on the Homebuilder-specific configuration of the system.

No. Series for HomeBuilder FastTab

This section contains fields with No. Series for HomeBuilder-related documents.

In addition to all the base No. Series that you must configure to use Business Central, you must also set up the following No. Series that are used by HomeBuilder. In page "No. Series", add and define a number series for the HomeBuilder-specific documents:

 

No. Series What it numbers Required
Vendor WO No. Series Vendor Work Orders — the documents sent to a trade telling them what to do on which Lot. Work Orders are raised from Planning Lines, including those created by colour chart selections and by after-sales deficiency claims. Yes
POE No. Series Purchase Orders for Extras — the purchase documents raised for upgrades and extras after the color chart selection process. Yes
Inspection No. Series  After-sales Service Inspections — the QCI, PDI and warranty-period inspections raised against a Lot. Yes
Service Issue No. Series Service Issues — the individual deficiencies recorded under a Service Inspection. One inspection typically raises many Service Issues, and each is numbered from this series. Yes, when a Service Issue is created
Cost Re-allocation No. Series Cost Re-allocation documents — required for the automated process that recharges one or more other Lots with costs originally posted against a different Lot. For that process
Lot Selection Pkg. No. Series Lot Selection Packages — assigned when a colour chart selection is created for a Lot. For that process
Purchase Request No. Sereies Purchase Requests — the internal request documents raised before a purchase is committed. Yes, when a Purchase Request is created
 

Tip

The Vendor WO, POE and Inspection series are checked together whenever HomeBuilder validates its own setup, so all three have to be filled in before those parts of the system will run at all, not just before you first use them. The remaining four are checked by their own processes, at the moment a document of that kind is created.

 

Note

A missing No. Series does not stop you saving the HomeBuilder Setup page. It stops the document from being created later, with an error naming the setup field.

Where a series has "Manual Nos." enabled on the standard "No. Series" page, a user can type the number instead of taking the next one. This is available for Service Issues, and is the reason some builders number deficiencies to match a third-party inspection app rather than letting HomeBuilder allocate.

Note

Because these seven series are set per company, they have to be configured again in each company you create. If you are standing up a second legal entity from a Template Company, check the No. Series FastTab before assuming it came across.

Lot Code same as Job No.
  • When set to 'Yes', the system keeps "Job No." the same as the "Lot Code" for Lots (which are represented by the Business Central table "Job"). Secondly, ensure that the Lot Codes are unique within the company scope.

  • If you set this flag to 'Yes', the base Business Central number series for Jobs must allow manual entry, because HomeBuilder writes the Lot Code into "Job No." itself rather than taking the next number from the series.

    Two things are therefore checked when you turn the flag on:

    1. A No. Series must be named in "Job Nos." in "Jobs Setup", and that series must exist.

    2. That series must have "Manual Nos." set to 'Yes'. If it does not, the system stops with: “You have checked the flag 'Lot Code same as Job No.' in the HomeBuilder Setup. To allow entering Job No. manually, please activate 'Manual Nos.' in No. Series for jobs.”

    Fix it on the standard "No. Series" page by ticking "Manual Nos." on the series named in "Jobs Setup", then set the flag again.

    Secondly, ensure that Lot Codes are unique within the company scope — with this flag on, two Lots that share a code would be two Lots trying to share a Job.


Dimensions (For HomeBuilder) FastTab

In order to give quality financial reporting for virtually no effort, create the following four dimensions:

  • Cost Group.
  • Cost Detail.
  • Lot.
  • Phase.

You do not need to enter Dimension Values manually. They will be added automatically during implementation sessions.

On the HomeBuilder Setup page, ensure that these dimensions are in the relevant fields under the Dimensions Fast Tab.

On versions of HomeBuilder older than those running on BC21, the Cost Group and Cost Detail Dimensions must be Global 1 and Global 2 in Base BC - General Ledger Setup.

💡Tip

Once you have added the dimensions to the setup page, you can change them until you start to transact in the system, at which point they are locked and the field appears "greyed out".

⚠️WARNING

Once these dimensions are locked in place, they can only be changed by a HomeBuilder consultant.

"Lot Deposit Posting" FastTab

Account Type

  • Defines "Account Type" ('G/L Account' or 'Customer') in Cash Receipt Journal Line or Bank Deposit Line upon actions "Add to Cash Receipt Journal" and "Add to Bank Deposit" in the page "Lot Installments".

G/L Account No.

  • Defines "G/L Account No." to be used for posting Lot Deposits in a Cash Receipt Journal or a Bank Deposit in case "Account Type" is a'G/L Account'.

"Budgeting" FastTab

Budget Amount Rule

Defines the rule of calculation of "Budget Amount" in Lot Budget Lines. The rule takes the following options:

  • Planned|Estimated.
    • Use Planned Amounts if they exist (the reason is that Planned Amounts come from Vendor Contracts, where estimates are just intended to be initial estimates created before quotes are obtained.)
    • The calculation is – if "Planned Amount" is not zero, then "Budget Amount" is equal to "Planned Amount"; otherwise, it is equal to "Estimated Amount".
  • Planned.
    • "Budget Amount" is equal to "Planned Amount".
  • Estimated.
    • "Budget Amount" is equal to "Estimated Amount".
  • Estimated+Planned.
    • "Budget Amount" is equal to "Estimated Amount" + "Planned Amount".

Serves as a default rule to be assigned to the newly created Cost Detail.

Same Budget Rule for all Cost Details

When the flag "Same Budget Rule for all Cost Details" is set to 'Yes', all Cost Details are assigned with the "Budget Amount Rule" specified in the HomeBuilder Setup, and the column "Budget Amount Rule" becomes read-only in the "Cost Details" page.

Allow Planning Overage and Allow Budget Overage

The titles explain the functions of these 2 toggles.

"Operations" FastTab

  • Print Component Description in POE.

    • If set to 'Yes', the system prints the component description in the print-out of the Purchase Order for Extras (see section "Purchase Orders for Extras").

  • Use tiles for selection choices.

    • When set to 'Yes', a user makes lot selection choices using a tile view of Items.

  • Start a Task with the Current Date.

    • When set to 'Yes', the system does not open pop-up windows for entering "Start Date" on starting a task, but uses the current date instead.

  • Complete Task with the Current Date.

    • When set to 'Yes', the system does not open pop-up windows for entering "Completion Date" on task completion but uses the current date instead.

  • Default Customer Template

    • This Field specifies the Customer Template that will be used when creating new Customers. Click on the dropdown and select the Customer Template that will be used as a default.
    • To create new Customer Templates, search Customer Templates, and fill in the fields that you want the Template to populate when you create a new Customer.
    • Related topics:

Posting FastTab

  • Don't Consume Planning Lines.

    • Posting will not affect Planning Lines.

  • Don't Use Cheque Distribution.

  • Don't create Planning Lines on Closing.

    • HomeBuilder will not create Planning Lines during the Closing of the Lot.

  • Check Vendor Invoice No. in all companies.

    • The System will look for the same invoice number in other Companies to avoid double billing.

  • Diff. Customer than Lot on Sales Inv.

    • Sales Invoice can be issued to a different Customer than the one assigned to the Lot.

  • Lot Mandatory on Purchases.

    • The System will require Lot information on Purchases.

"Vendors" FastTab

  • Local Vendors creation not allowed.
    • When set to 'Yes', the creation of local Vendors is not allowed. It is assumed that local Vendors have to be created by dispatching Global Vendors to companies.
  • Local vendors modification is not allowed.
    • When set to 'Yes', modification of local Vendors is not allowed. It is assumed that local Vendors will be modified from Global Vendors.

"Global Settings" FastTab

  • Global Items in Use.
    • Signifies that you are maintaining items in the global scope, in other words, in one place for all companies, using the page "Global Items".
  • Allow local Item changes.
    • Determines if you are allowing for changes in local (company scope) Items even though the flag "Global Items in Use" is set to 'Yes'.

The page HomeBuilder Setup has one action: "History". Click it to navigate to the page "HomeBuilder Setup History".

The Page "HomeBuilder Setup History"

This page shows the history of changes in HomeBuilder Setup. It specifies the User and Date/Time of a change.