Know whether each project is making money

What this module does

A controller asks why margin moved on a project between January and March. Without a dated trail, the answer takes two days of spreadsheet archaeology and a story that keeps changing as more people are asked. With one, the answer takes five minutes and lands the same way every time: scope change in February, a vendor quote came in 12% over budget in March, here is where the margin moved. The project manager keeps the controller call short and the project sponsor unsurprised. The story the controller takes back to the CFO is the same story the project manager tells the customer.

Key pages

Finance gives every project a dated record of what was planned and what actually happened. When the scope shifts or an estimate moves, the new version is recorded with a date and the old one is preserved. Actuals flow in from the same Business Central postings the finance team already trusts, with no manual reconciliation. At year-end the auditor is handed dated revisions, not a binder of spreadsheets and an apology.

A Project Manager reads status off the dashboard on Monday morning. The controller call at month-end is a five-minute look at the dates. Project sponsors and finance leads start the week in the portfolio view, where risk and progress bands flag the projects needing attention. Sales answers “where is my order's margin?” without putting the customer on hold.