Hayat Projects — construction and engineering projects
hayaterp.com ↗Hayat Projects is the opt-in Hayat ERP module for contractors and engineering firms — projects for clients with WBS, BOQ and budgets, the site diary, material requests and site stores, progress measurement, interim payment certificates (IPC / running bills) with retention, mobilisation advance and tax, variation orders, subcontractors and their measured bills, the Gantt schedule and project P&L. Who it is for, who does what, switching it on, demo data and how money reaches the accounts.
Hayat Projects runs a construction or engineering contract from the bill of quantities to the last retention release: the BOQ and its budget, what the site does every day, how much work is measured as done, the payment certificates you raise on the client, the subcontractors you pay, and the project's real cost and margin. Client bills are normal Sales invoices, subcontractor bills normal Purchasing bills and stock issues normal Inventory movements, so the customer and supplier balances and the trial balance always agree with the rest of Hayat.
Who it is for
| You are | What Hayat Projects does for you |
|---|---|
| Building or civil contractor | BOQ with rates and budgets, site diary, measured progress, monthly IPCs to the client with retention, advance recovery and tax, variation orders, project P&L. |
| Contractor working through subcontractors | Subcontract work orders against BOQ items, their measured bills with retention and deductions, retention release, committed cost. |
| MEP, fit-out or engineering firm | Work packages on a Gantt chart with milestones, material requests from site, timesheets and plant hours charged to BOQ items. |
The menu and the project page
| Menu item | What it is |
|---|---|
| Projects | Portfolio figures and the list of projects; + Project / New project |
| Material requests | Requests from all sites, to approve and fulfil |
| Payment certificates (IPC) | The register of every certificate raised on clients |
| Variation orders | Every VO, its lines and approval |
| Subcontracts | Subcontract work orders and their bills |
| Project reports | The eight reports below |
| Project settings | Default percentages, the overrun alert and posting accounts (proj.manage only) |
Each project opens on a page with tabs: Overview (contract, % complete, certified, received, retention, advance, cost by category against budget, margin, alerts), WBS & BOQ, Schedule, Site, Costs, Billing (IPC), Variations and Subcontracts.
Who does what
| Permission | Typical person | Can do |
|---|---|---|
| proj.view | Everyone on the project | See projects, BOQ, budgets, site records, certificates, subcontracts and reports. Every other permission needs this one too. |
| proj.manage | Project manager, planning engineer | Projects, WBS, BOQ and import, budgets, milestones, variation orders, subcontract work orders, approving and fulfilling material requests, direct purchases, paying site wages, the site store, settings, demo data. |
| proj.site | Site engineer, foreman | The site diary and photos, material requests, consumption, plant hours, timesheets, site expenses, progress measurement; marking milestones done. |
| proj.bill | Quantity surveyor, project accountant | IPCs (create, certify, cancel), advance and retention-release certificates, client receipts, subcontractor bills and their retention release. |
Suggested roles (Settings → Roles): Project Manager (all four), Site Engineer (view + site), Quantity Surveyor (view + site + bill), Project Accountant (view + bill). See Roles.
Switch it on
Hayat Projects is opt-in: a new business starts without it, and until it is on every screen says Hayat Projects is not part of your subscription.
- Hayat team (super admin): in admin.hayaterp.com → Subscribers, open the business, tick Hayat Projects under Modules and click Save modules. See Switch modules on or off.
- Business admin: in Settings → Roles give the proj permissions to the right roles, and those roles to the users. The menu group Hayat Projects appears at their next screen load.
- Project manager: fill the Project settings, then add the first project and its BOQ.
- Optional: to have variation orders approved by someone, your admin adds an approval rule for Project variation order in Approval workflows. Without a rule a VO is approved as soon as it is submitted.
Try it with demo data
With no projects yet, a user with proj.manage sees Load demo project on the Projects screen (also in Project settings). It adds the client Crescent Builders & Developers (Pvt) Ltd and project DEMO-TWR, a 12-storey tower: three WBS nodes, nine BOQ items with budgets, four milestones (one overdue), three site diaries, measurements, timesheets, excavator hours, a material request, a draft variation order and a steel-fixing subcontract with Al-Noor Steel Fixing Contractors. When your chart of accounts is ready it also certifies an advance certificate and IPC 1 through Sales and posts a subcontractor bill through Purchasing. It does nothing if DEMO-TWR already exists.
Settings
Project settings (proj.manage). The percentages are defaults for new projects; each project can have its own.
| Setting | Means |
|---|---|
| Retention % | Held from each IPC until completion |
| Mobilisation advance % | Of the contract value, billed on an advance certificate |
| Advance recovery % per IPC | Of each certificate's work done, until the advance is recovered |
| Sales tax % on services | Added to each certificate |
| Income tax withheld by clients % | What the client deducts at source from each payment |
| Cost overrun alert at % of budget | When actual + committed cost reaches this, the project manager is told |
| Post plant recovery | Own plant hours also credit Plant Cost Recovery |
| Retention release needs completion | Retention can be released only on a completed or closed project |
| Accounts | Which account each posting uses |
How money reaches the accounts
Hayat Projects keeps no ledger of its own. The project Costs tab is an analysis of the postings below, by project, BOQ item and category.
| What happens | Where | Posting |
|---|---|---|
| IPC certified | Sales invoice to the client | Dr Accounts receivable / Cr Contract revenue (and Sales tax payable for the tax line) |
| Advance recovery and retention on an IPC | Sales receipts against that invoice | Dr Mobilisation advances / Dr Retention receivable / Dr Advance income tax (withheld) — Cr Accounts receivable |
| Advance certificate | Sales invoice | Dr Accounts receivable / Cr Mobilisation advances from clients |
| Retention release certificate | Sales invoice | The receivable moves from Retention receivable back to Accounts receivable |
| Client pays | Sales receipt | Dr cash / bank / wallet / Cr Accounts receivable |
| Material issued from a store to the project | Inventory issue | Dr Contract costs – materials / Cr Inventory |
| Direct purchase for the project | Purchasing bill | Dr the category's contract cost / Cr Accounts payable |
| Subcontractor bill | Purchasing bill + supplier credit notes | Dr Contract costs – subcontract / Cr Accounts payable; retention Cr Retention payable; deductions reduce the cost |
| Site expense | Paid at once | Dr the category's contract cost / Cr cash or bank |
| Daily-wage timesheet | On entry, then paid | Dr Contract costs – labour / Cr Site wages payable; paying: Dr Site wages payable / Cr cash |
| Own plant hours | Journal | Dr Contract costs – plant / Cr Plant cost recovery (when switched on) |
Timesheets marked Payroll are cost rows only — payroll already posts the salaries. Receipts taken directly in Sales against an IPC's invoice count as received too.
Hayat Projects adds these accounts to your chart the first time it needs them. Each can be pointed to another account in the settings.
| Code | Account | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1172 | Retention Receivable (Clients) | Asset |
| 2275 | Mobilisation Advances from Clients | Liability |
| 2280 | Retention Payable (Subcontractors) | Liability |
| 2285 | Site Wages Payable | Liability |
| 4660 | Contract Revenue | Income |
| 4665 | Plant Cost Recovery (Internal Hire) | Income |
| 5310 | Contract Costs - Materials | Expense |
| 5320 | Contract Costs - Labour | Expense |
| 5330 | Contract Costs - Plant & Equipment | Expense |
| 5340 | Contract Costs - Subcontract | Expense |
| 5350 | Contract Costs - Site Overheads | Expense |
Document numbers: IPC certificates, VO variation orders, PMR material requests, SWO subcontract work orders, SCB subcontractor bills, PWG wages payments, PEX site expenses, PIS stock issues.
Alerts
Every 12 hours Hayat Projects checks each project and notifies the proj.manage users and the project manager when actual + committed cost reaches the overrun alert % of budget (at most weekly per project), and when a milestone is overdue.
Reports
Project reports filter by project and dates and download as CSV.
| Report | Shows |
|---|---|
| Project profit & loss | Contract, variations, revised value, revenue, cost by category, margin and margin %, % complete |
| Budget vs actual (BOQ) | Per BOQ item: amount, budget, actual, committed, remaining, used %, overrun (one project) |
| Cash flow by month | Billed, received, costs, net and cumulative |
| IPC register | Every certificate with its deductions, net, received and balance |
| Retention (clients & subcontractors) | Held, released and outstanding on both sides |
| Cost by category & source | Cost per project by category and where it came from |
| Progress by BOQ item | Quantity done, %, value done, certified and uncertified (one project) |
| Subcontracts | Value, billed, remaining, committed and retention held per subcontract |
Committed cost is the open quantity of active subcontract lines × rate, plus the estimated value of open material requests.
In Hayat Reports two datasets are added: Project costs and Project progress (BOQ).
Hayat AI (optional, see Settings → AI): ✨ Draft from scope turns a scope of work into draft BOQ lines, and ✨ Risk notes on the project page lists the risks it sees in overruns and late milestones. Both are suggestions; nothing is saved until you import or act.
Getting started in order
- Fill the Project settings.
- Add the project with its client and contract terms.
- Build the WBS and BOQ (or import it from CSV) and the budgets.
- Add milestones and create the site store.
- Let the site keep the diary and measure progress.
- Raise the advance certificate and IPCs, and set up subcontracts.
Hayat Projects pages
| Page | For |
|---|---|
| Project, BOQ and budget | The project and client, WBS, BOQ, CSV import, AI draft, budgets, the BOQ lock, milestones and the Gantt chart |
| Site diary and progress | Diary and photos, measurements, material requests, site store and consumption, timesheets and wages, plant hours, site expenses, direct purchases, the cost ledger |
| IPCs, retention and subcontractors | Advance certificate, interim and final IPCs, certification, client receipts, retention release, variation orders, subcontract work orders and bills |