Please note: the job schedule tool is only available to those Buildxact users who are on a Pro or Teams subscription.
It is possible to create a schedule during estimating. This functionality was created to help users 'rough in' a schedule to establish a projected timeline for the build without having to create a job. Consider your estimate schedule as a first draft for your job schedule.
Any information included in the estimate schedule will flow through into a job schedule as soon as the job is created from the estimate. Once a job has been created, the estimate schedule is locked as 'read only'.
To understand more about creating an estimate schedule, see:
How do I create a job schedule?
If you have created a schedule as part of your estimate, a job schedule is automatically created once the Job is created.
If there is no estimate schedule for the job, you can create a job schedule in a couple of ways:
From the Estimate Costings (1) tab in Estimates, you can go through your estimate and click the T (for 'task') button (2) on any of the lines you want to appear on your job schedule. Your schedule is visible when you click on the Schedule tab (3) and will include any of those categories you selected in Estimate Costings.
You can create a schedule for a new job from scratch (as distinct from using the 'T' button in Estimate Costings) by following these steps:
Navigate to the Jobs section.
Select the job.
Click on the Schedule tab.
Click on 'Add category'.
Creating categories and tasks in the schedule
The schedule is set up with tasks that exist under categories that represent different components of the job. As with the estimate costings screen which has items that sit within categories, the schedule has tasks that sit within categories.
Creating categories and tasks from an estimate
As explained above under creating a job from an estimate - from within the Estimate Costings tab, click on the line item that you want to add to your schedule and select the 'T' button for any items you want to add as tasks in your schedule.
These will show in the job schedule with the category name as the parent task (1), and any items will show in the schedule as child tasks (2).
Some other features of the job schedule include:
Expand/collapse all (3)
Clicking on this button will collapse child tasks and show only parent tasks or expand parent tasks to show child tasks.
Today (4)
Clicking the 'Today' button centers the schedule on the current day's date.
Creating categories and tasks from within the job
Navigate to Jobs (1) and click on the Schedule (2) tab. Then click 'Add category' (3) to add a new category to the list.
The following features of the job schedule are designed to give you improved oversight and control of your project:
Assignees (4) - once you have assigned a contact to a task (see Using the task tool below) the assignees initials will appear here. Hovering your cursor over the assignee initials will expand the contact details.
Clicking on the three dots (5) in a vertical line will bring up the following drop-down menu and give you the option to edit your category or task, add categories or task above or below, duplicate or delete your category or task.
The '+' (6) button brings up the Add task window - which is covered in more detail under Using the task tool.
Using the task tool
The task tool in Buildxact comes with a number of useful features designed to help your job management run smoothly.
Edit a task or category
To edit a task/category in the schedule, click on the task/category within the schedule. The Edit task pop-up that appears allows you to:
add start and finish dates
color code tasks and categories
assign contractors/sub-contractors/tradespeople and view their availability
measure the percentage complete
send out reminders
add dependencies
See below for more detail.
Name or change the name of the task.
Color code your task (see the Color Coding your task or category section below)
Set the task start date.
Set the task end date. Note: the completion date for the entire job will be determined by the end date of the last task in the schedule. See also How do I mark a job as Complete? below.
Set the task duration (which will also determine the task end date if the start date is set).
Assign the task to a contractor/supplier/employee. See the Assigning tasks to a contact section below.
Advance the progress of the task using the + or - buttons, or type in the figure. See the Task progress section below.
Set when a reminder is to go out by clicking on the drop-down and selecting how long before the due date you want to send the reminder. Please note: You will not be able to set a reminder or send out a reminder until you have assigned the task to a contact/supplier/employee (see #6).
Include a reminder message, if necessary.
Toggle on the Email reminder.
Clicking on 'More options' gives you the ability to add internal notes and to add dependencies to particular tasks and categories, useful if there are any delays to your schedule. See the Dependencies section below.
Click 'Save' to save all your changes.
Dependencies
Dependencies can be set manually or automatically.
Manual dependencies
Set manual dependencies by clicking More options on the Edit task box and selecting 'Add dependency'. You can now fill out the dependent task and the type of dependency (finish to start or start to start). You can also reorder the task within the category. This functionality has been optimized for use on touch screen devices. You can break and delete the dependency by double clicking on the dependency line.
It's also possible to set manual dependencies by dragging the circle at the end of one task to the start of another task. As shown below.
Automatic dependencies
Automatic dependencies, where all tasks are dependent on the one before, are set by clicking on Settings and selecting 'Automatic dependencies'.
What does Highlight critical path mean?
A critical path is a sequence of tasks that can't be delayed without disrupting the timeline of the whole project. The critical path also determines the shortest time the project can take.
A task is considered critical if it has no buffer days or slack time and any delay would directly affect the project completion date. Slack time is the time that a task can slip without affecting other tasks or the project's completion date.
How do I mark a job as complete?
The job completion date is automatically based on the end date of the last task in the schedule, however, it's possible to manually complete the job by clicking on the Settings drop-down menu and selecting Mark job as complete.
Color coding your task or category
Clicking on a task or category row brings up the Edit task box. Click on the arrow to the right of the colored dot to select the color you want to apply to the category or task. This is a handy way of distinguishing between different types of tasks, for example, labor and materials.
Task progress
The progress of the task is set using the + or - percentage buttons in the Edit task screen, or by typing in the exact percentage complete.
The task will show on the schedule in shades of the color you have chosen to apply (or in grey, if no color has been selected). The shade will align with the percentage of the task that is complete. As shown below:
Assigning tasks to a contact
Clicking in the 'Search for assignee' box will bring up a list of your Buildxact contacts.
It's possible to assign more than one contact to a task.
Availability: your contacts will appear in your list as available (green) or unavailable (red) for the time frame indicated within the task. You can still assign a contact who is unavailable, their details will be indicated in red.
Multiple assignees/contacts: you can assign more than one contact to a task. These multiple assignees will show on your schedule under the Assignees column. If you assign a contact who is busy during the timeframe you have nominated for your task, their initials will appear as red.
Your contact will receive an email from you when they are assigned a task.
Using Templates
The use of templates in the job schedule is a way of saving the information you've put into a schedule so that you can reuse this information for another job. To do this:
Click on 'Templates' and select 'Save as a template'
Give your template a name. The text box tells you what is saved with your template.
Click 'Save' and your template will be saved so you can apply it to a new schedule if needed.
Delayed tasks
If a task is not completed on time or doesn't begin on time this will be reflected at both the task and category level by appearing in red on the schedule.
How do I view, download or email the job schedule?
View the schedule using adjustable zoom settings
It's possible to change the zoom level on the Gantt view of your schedule so that you can view the schedule as a whole or in sections.
To do this, navigate to your schedule and click on Settings.
The following pop up will appear. Select the zoom level (Small, Medium or Large) that you want to view.
Export/download/email the schedule in Gantt view
From within the job section, under the Schedule tab:
Click on the Share button.
Select Gantt from the dropdown menu.
You can choose to select the entire schedule as a Gantt chart or a select timeframe.
Choose the file type you'd like to use.
Click on Email, to send directly to a contact as an email attachment.
Click on Download to download to your computer.
Downloading/emailing/exporting the schedule in Task List view
To download the schedule in a task list view, simply click on Share, as above, and click on the drop-down menu for 'Select the type', where you will see 'Task list' as an option.
As for the Gantt chart above, select the file type you'd like to download your task list as and click on 'Email' or 'Download'.
Your task list will look like this:
To mark your job as complete, navigate to Settings and in the drop-down menu, select
Mark job as complete
