I'm new to eConnect & trying to use eConnect for project accounting. the first thing I need to know is the hierarchy of creating a full project, i.e, contract, project, cost category, timesheet, etc.

I used eConect and created a contract successfully, but got stuck on project. Soem guidance and sampel codes aer appreciated.

 

thanks

Cory

 I have written an integration that creates and validates all of the elements required for a project.  If you can give me a few days, I'll try and summarize the elements and process. I have a few things due by the end of the month, so it might have to wait until 7/1.

There are a few caveats with eConnect and Project Accounting, one of which is that no two customers have PA configured in the same way.  So I can share what I did for my client, but you may have a few significantly different steps to meet your needs.

Steve

That would be great. I really appreciate it.

 Cory

Hi Steve,

I appreciate your help on this.

Thanks

Cory

 Hi Cory,

 Here are the steps that I used to create new projects.

1. Create AR Customer (taUpdateCreateCustomerRcd)
2. Generate PA Customer Alias (custom)
3. Create Customer Project Info (custom - zDP_PA00501SI)
4. Create Contract (taPAContracts)
5. Create Project Accounts (taPAAccountsSetup_ItemsTaPAAccountsSetup)
6. Create Project (taPAProjects_ItemsTaPAProjects)
7. Create Project Budget (taPAProjectBudgetMaster_ItemsTaPAProjectBudgetMaster)
8. Update Contract Status to Open (optional - custom)
9. Update Project Status to Open (optional - custom)
10. Update Budget Status to Open (optional - custom)
    

Once you have all of these items setup, you can then proceed to import transactions, such as timesheets, misc log transactions, etc.

Like I mentioned, there are alot of client-specific and PA configuration-specific assumptions.  For instance, my client already had all of the necessary cost categories setup, so I didn't have to automate that during the import of a project.  And I was able to rely on a ton of default values for the setup of many of the objects, so that made life relatively easy. In my case, the client provided an Excel file with 4 columns, and I was able to create everything based on those 4 values.  Your situation may require many more inputs and may be much more complex, as the way Project Accounting is used and configured can vary dramatically between two companies.

 Let me know if you have any questions about these and I'll share what I know...

 Steve

 

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your help. I have a better picture in mind for this now. I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but this is good enough to get me started. Have great weekend!

Cory

Hi Steve,

I've been having difficulty with this. I'm getting different errors. I attached one of them. This is when I try to setup a project. You can see the parameters I'm passing, but not sure why I'm getting the error I'm getting. any advice?

 

 

Microsoft.Dynamics.GP.eConnect.eConnectException: Sql procedure error codes returned:
Error Number = 4979  Stored Procedure taPAAccountsSetup  Error Description = Input variable contains an empty value
Node Identifier Parameters: taPAAccountsSetup                                 
PAsfid = 28
PArecordid = econ Proj
PAcosttrxid = TS
PAaccttype = 0
Related Error Code Parameters for Node : taPAAccountsSetup                                 

<taPAAccountsSetup><PAsfid>28</PAsfid><PArecordid>econ Proj</PArecordid><PAcosttrxid>TS</PAcosttrxid><PAaccttype>0</PAaccttype><PAAccount>44051ECON</PAAccount><USRDEFND1>testing usr fld 1</USRDEFND1><USRDEFND2>testing usr fld 2</USRDEFND2><USRDEFND3>testing usr fld 3</USRDEFND3><USRDEFND4>testing usr fld 4</USRDEFND4><USRDEFND5>testing usr fld 5</USRDEFND5></taPAAccountsSetup> ---> Microsoft.Dynamics.GP.eConnect.eConnectException: Error Number = 4979  Stored Procedure taPAAccountsSetup  Error Description = Input variable contains an empty value

   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---

 Hi Cory,

 Let me take a look at my code and see if I'm making the same eConnect call.  If so, I'll post the XML that my code generates.

 I'll try and check this evening.

Steve

 Hi Cory,

I've reviewed my code and XML, and I believe the problem is that you are specifying PAaccttype = 0, which is not a valid value, and is considered "empty" by eConnect.

 Valid values depend on the account category, specified in the list below.  Selecting the appropriate account types and accounts took quite a bit of planning with the PA application consultant and client prior to my coding, so you'll definitely want to work with your application / project accounting folks to make sure that you are selecting the proper values for your PA setup.

 Below the account type list is a small example of some of the XML generated by eConnect prior to the submit.

 

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Category	Description
Time and material	1=Work in progress 2=Cost of goods sold 3=Cost contra 4=Unbilled AR 5=Unbilled revenue 6=Accounts receivable 7=Project revenue sales 8=<OverheadtaPAChangeOrderEntryBudget> XML node
Time and material fees	7=Project sales 6=Accounts receivables 9=Project deferred revenue
Fixed price/cost plus	30=Work in progress 31=Cost contra 32=Accounts receivable 33=Project billings 34=Project expense 35=Project revenue 36=Project loss 37=Billings in excess of earnings 38=Earnings in excess of billings 39=Overhead
Fixed price/cost in addition to fees	30=Project work in progress 32=Accounts receivable 33=Project billings 35=Project revenue 37=Billings in excess of earnings 38=Earnings in excess of billings 40=Retention accounts received 10655=Project deferred revenue

 

 

<eConnect xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <PAAccountsSetupType>
    <eConnectProcessInfo xsi:nil="true" />
    <taRequesterTrxDisabler_Items xsi:nil="true" />
    <taPAAccountsSetup_Items>
      <taPAAccountsSetup>
        <PAsfid>27</PAsfid>
        <PArecordid>911111</PArecordid>
        <PAcosttrxid>EL</PAcosttrxid>
        <PAaccttype>2</PAaccttype>
        <PAAccount>1200-4-911111-   </PAAccount>
        <USRDEFND1>UserDefined1</USRDEFND1>
        <USRDEFND2>UserDefined2</USRDEFND2>
        <USRDEFND3>UserDefined3</USRDEFND3>
        <USRDEFND4>UserDefined4</USRDEFND4>
        <USRDEFND5>UserDefined5</USRDEFND5>
      </taPAAccountsSetup>
      <taPAAccountsSetup>
        <PAsfid>27</PAsfid>
        <PArecordid>911111</PArecordid>
        <PAcosttrxid>EL</PAcosttrxid>
        <PAaccttype>3</PAaccttype>
        <PAAccount>1850-4-911111-   </PAAccount>
        <USRDEFND1>UserDefined1</USRDEFND1>
        <USRDEFND2>UserDefined2</USRDEFND2>
        <USRDEFND3>UserDefined3</USRDEFND3>
        <USRDEFND4>UserDefined4</USRDEFND4>
        <USRDEFND5>UserDefined5</USRDEFND5>
      </taPAAccountsSetup>
      <taPAAccountsSetup>
        <PAsfid>27</PAsfid>
        <PArecordid>911111</PArecordid>
        <PAcosttrxid>EL</PAcosttrxid>
        <PAaccttype>6</PAaccttype>
        <PAAccount>1850-4-911111-   </PAAccount>
        <USRDEFND1>UserDefined1</USRDEFND1>
        <USRDEFND2>UserDefined2</USRDEFND2>
        <USRDEFND3>UserDefined3</USRDEFND3>
        <USRDEFND4>UserDefined4</USRDEFND4>
        <USRDEFND5>UserDefined5</USRDEFND5>
      </taPAAccountsSetup>
    </taPAAccountsSetup_Items>
  </PAAccountsSetupType>
</eConnect>

 

 

Hi Steve,

I keep getting error on

PAAccount  = Account number string does not exist. This is when I'm trying to setup a project. Not sure where this cmoes from. I put contract # & new project number they both failed. can you advise?  thanks

> Microsoft.Dynamics.GP.eConnect.eConnectException: Sql procedure error codes returned:
> Error Number = 4980 Stored Procedure taPAAccountsSetup Error Description = Account number string does not exist
> Node Identifier Parameters: taPAAccountsSetup
> PAsfid = 28
> PArecordid = econ Proj
> PAcosttrxid = TS
> PAaccttype = 1
> Related Error Code Parameters for Node : taPAAccountsSetup
> PAAccount = 44051ECON
> 
> Error Number = 4985 Stored Procedure taPAAccountsSetup Error Description = Invalid Project number. Project number does not exist
> Node Identifier Parameters: taPAAccountsSetup
> PAsfid = 28
> PArecordid = econ Proj
> PAcosttrxid = TS
> PAaccttype = 1
> Related Error Code Parameters for Node : taPAAccountsSetup
> PAsfid = 28
> PArecordid = econ Proj
> 
> Error Number = 4987 Stored Procedure taPAAccountsSetup Error Description = Invalid Account type. You can only assign Fixed Price/Cost Plus accounts when Project type is Fixed Price or Cost Plus
> Node Identifier Parameters: taPAAccountsSetup
> PAsfid = 28
> PArecordid = econ Proj
> PAcosttrxid = TS
> PAaccttype = 1
> Related Error Code Parameters for Node : taPAAccountsSetup
> PAsfid = 28
> PAaccttype = 1
> 
> <taPAAccountsSetup><PAsfid>28</PAsfid><PArecordid>econ Proj</PArecordid><PAcosttrxid>TS</PAcosttrxid><PAaccttype>1</PAaccttype><PAAccount>44051ECON</PAAccount><USRDEFND1>testing usr fld 1</USRDEFND1><USRDEFND2>testing usr fld 2</USRDEFND2><USRDEFND3>testing usr fld 3</USRDEFND3><USRDEFND4>testing usr fld 4</USRDEFND4><USRDEFND5>testing usr fld 5</USRDEFND5></taPAAccountsSetup> ---> Microsoft.Dynamics.GP.eConnect.eConnectException: Error Number = 4980 Stored Procedure taPAAccountsSetup Error Description = Account number string does not exist
> Error Number = 4985 Stored Procedure taPAAccountsSetup Error Description = Invalid Project number. Project number does not exist
> Error Number = 4987 Stored Procedure taPAAccountsSetup Error Description = Invalid Account type. You can only assign Fixed Price/Cost Plus accounts when Project type is Fixed Price or Cost Plus

 

 Hi,

 Here are the tables to check to verify that the records are setup in PA.  You can also check through GP, but this may help you quickly verify where the problem exists before trying to track it down in PA.

Cost Categories:  PA01001

Contracts:  PA01101

Projects:  PA01201

Project Budget + Cost Categories:  PA01301

Project Accounts:  PA43001

Based on the errors that you provided, it appears that at least 2 elements of your test project are not fully setup in GP:  the project ID, and a GL account that you are trying to pass in to PA Accounts Setup.

 For instance, if you go into Cards -> Financial -> Account, can you pull up account "44051ECON" ?  I suspect the account is either incorrect, or you need at least one dash in the account string.

Hope that helps,

 Steve