Whats new in project accounting and management in Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Operations (AX7)

Project accounting is a unique practice; like cost accounting or nonprofit accounting, it has complexities an accountant may never have heard of while earning a CPA.

Among them is earned value management, a practice common to professional services firms, like architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) firms, and software development companies. The idea is to measure the value you have generated for the client versus the budget you have or have not spent. For example, an architectural design produces considerable value, even if it is early in a project lifecycle and lower cost than construction work.

While there are specialized project accounting solutions for a range of industries, Dynamics 365 for Operations also offers rich project functionality, and the rest of this article will explore some of the most important areas.

Business Intelligence/Power BI content packs

With the Power BI content pack for Project management and accounting, practice and project managers have quick access to project-related data and key performance indicators (KPIs), including cost, revenue, and hours analysis.

The Power BI content pack also includes earned value management KPIs, such as cost report, revenue report, Cost performance index and Schedule performance index (see graphics).