In AIMZ, Purchasing is defined as all planned or completed commitments in the form of agreements with suppliers or subcontractors who will deliver goods or services to the project.
This applies both to agreements you plan to enter into in the future and to purchases that have already been completed.
For each account or production code (prod. code) you can create one or more purchases. Conversely, one purchase can be linked to one or more accounts.
Two main types
Purchase is used for simple, one-off purchases where payment from the main contractor to the supplier happens once, and the contractual relationship ends after that.
Examples:
Ordering a smoke vent directly from a supplier, with the installation carried out by a subcontractor
Buying materials or consumables — for example a planned purchase of NOK 50,000 for fasteners
In practice, a purchase works like a budget item: you enter and adjust the amount yourself based on how much of the purchase should affect the final forecast. For this type there is normally no need to track changes or other provisions.
Contract is used for more extensive deliveries where there is a formal agreement between the main contractor and a subcontractor — typically fixed-price contracts, or contracts managed against a defined target sum.
This often applies to subcontracts where the work is carried out over time and payment follows an agreed payment plan.
Contracts are used when the agreement is based on a Norwegian Standard (NS) contract, and there is a need to continuously track changes, provisions and forecast development.
Purchasing takes over the budget's role
Before any purchases have been created for an account or prod. code, it is the budget that forms the basis of the final forecast.
The moment you create purchases for an account, the purchases take over this role. The sum of all purchases registered on the account now forms the basis of the final forecast for that account.
How to create a purchase
Click «+ Purchasing» in the top right. A dialog opens.
Name the purchase so it is easy to recognise in the overview.
Choose the purchasing type — contract or purchase.
Choose the supplier or subcontractor who will be the contracting party, or add a new supplier directly.
Optional: under More information you can also add:
A description explaining the content or purpose of the contract
Contract period — start and end date
Contract form — which contract form and any contract standard the agreement is based on, for example the NS 8415 contract standard
Contract owner — choose among the users in the project
Set the status — Planned if the contract has not yet been entered into, Purchased if it has been entered into and is active.
Add the accounts or prod. codes involved. For each one, enter a cost.
Add any options linked to the contract.
Note: options are not included in the final forecast until they are activated.