Job planning lines are the third level of the job hierarchy in Business Central. Instead of creating them manually, you can copy job planning lines from one job task to another. This saves time when you have similar work across job tasks or jobs.
You start the copy function from the job card by selecting the job task you want to copy planning lines to. You can copy lines from another job into the current one, or copy lines from the current job out to another job.
The Include planning line types field controls which lines get copied. Choose Budget and Billable to copy all planning lines. Choose Budget to copy only budget and budget-and-billable lines. Choose Billable to copy only billable and budget-and-billable lines.
You can apply a date filter to limit what gets copied, and you can choose whether to copy the quantity along with the lines.
What job planning lines are and how to copy them
Job planning lines are the third level of the job hierarchy. Rather than entering every line by hand, you can copy job planning lines from one job task to another. This is useful when the same resources and quantities apply across multiple job tasks.
To get started, open the job card. Select the job task line you want to copy planning lines to, then choose the copy function. The system uses the line you have marked as the destination.
Copying from one job to another
When you run the copy function you have two directions to choose from. You can copy job planning lines from another job into the one you are working on, or you can copy the lines from the current job to another job.
In this example we choose to copy from, using the same job number and job task 3,000 as the source.
Choosing which planning line types to copy
The Include planning line types field lets you decide which lines come along:
- Budget and Billable copies all planning lines.
- Budget copies all planning lines of type Budget, as well as Budget and Billable.
- Billable copies lines of type Billable, as well as Budget and Billable.
In this example we copy both types.
Date filter, destination and quantity
You can enter a date filter to copy only lines within a certain period. Leave it blank to copy all of them.
Under Copy to, the system has already filled out the job number and the task line to copy to. This is the line you marked before you started the copy function.
Under Apply, you decide whether to copy the quantity. In this case we choose to do that.
The result
After running the function, the lines copy across successfully. The two job tasks now hold the same planning lines, with the same two resources. Both job tasks show two hours, budgeted and billable, for Simon and John.
Q&A
What are job planning lines in Business Central?
Job planning lines are the third level of the job hierarchy. They hold the planned resources, items and quantities for a job task.
How do I copy job planning lines from one job to another?
Open the job card, select the job task line you want to copy to, then choose the copy function. You can copy lines from another job into the current one, or from the current job out to another job.
What do the planning line types Budget and Billable mean when copying?
Choosing Budget and Billable copies all planning lines. Choosing Budget copies lines of type Budget and Budget and Billable. Choosing Billable copies lines of type Billable and Budget and Billable.
Can I limit which lines get copied by date?
Yes. You can enter a date filter to copy only the lines within a chosen period. Leave the filter blank to copy all lines.
Does copying job planning lines also copy the quantity?
Only if you choose to. Under Apply you can decide whether the quantity is copied along with the lines.