About project periods
Important
This content is archived and is not being updated. For the latest documentation, see Microsoft Dynamics 365 product documentation. For the latest release plans, see Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform release plans.
Applies To: Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R3, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 R2, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012 Feature Pack, Microsoft Dynamics AX 2012
Project periods are used primarily with project timesheets, but they are also used when you work with estimates and invoice subscriptions.
Project periods for timesheets
Project periods are used to define the length of a timesheet period. They are also used to generate timesheet reports, including missing timesheet reports, and to calculate hour utilization. Workers are required to submit a timesheet at the end of a period.
It is not mandatory to assign periods to workers, but we recommend that you create and assign project periods to workers who register hour transactions. These project periods make it easier to track hour transactions that are entered for the same period.
You must assign a period type and a period frequency to each project period that you create. For example, if hours are reported weekly, create a period type, and assign the period frequency Week to it.
The period frequency options that you can choose from are derived from the ledger periods that are created in Microsoft Dynamics AX. You can choose from four period frequencies that can be assigned to timesheet periods:
Weekly
Bi-weekly
Semi-monthly
Monthly
Project periods for estimates
Project periods are used by the estimate system to recognize revenue for an estimate period in Fixed-price projects. The project period that you assign to an estimate is used to specify the estimate frequency. For more information, see About estimate periods and About estimates.
Project periods for invoicing subscriptions
To invoice a subscription, a project period is required. This is because invoicing does not necessarily follow the period code interval that was defined for a worker. For example, the timesheet period that is specified for workers might be one week. However, if invoicing is performed monthly, and a week spans two calendar months, that week must be split. For more information about invoicing subscription transactions, see Invoice subscription transactions. For more information about splitting timesheet periods, see Generate timesheet periods.
Setting up periods
Setting up periods consists of the following tasks:
Create period types, and then generate periods for the period types. You can split periods as required. For example, a week that extends across two months can be split into two periods.
Important
Periods must be split before worker periods are created.
Define a period code for each frequency that workers submit hours for in various projects. For example, one project might require weekly timesheets. Another project might require bi-weekly timesheets.
Associate the periods that you generated with workers based on their individual period codes.