Producing A Job
We also have a video which demostrates the production mod here.
Viewing your job through a producer's eyes.
The estimate that gets approved by the client becomes the budget for the job. Each line item will have one or more receipts or invoices associated with it. In the production window you can add the receipts as they come in so you can manage your budget against the actual money being spent. As the job is produced some line items will go over budget, and some will be under. In those situations you can take money from the under budget line items and add them to the over budget ones to try and keep things balanced.
Add a receipt.
- To add a receipt click on a line item and fill out the information. If you don't have a receipt in hand, but you know what the anticipated amount will be, for example an invoice from a crew person will most likely match the budgeted amount allotted for them, tick the This is an anticipated receipt box. This will color the receipt orange so you know its not in hand, but it will allow you to deduct the amount from the budget for the line item so you can predict how your budget is shaping up.
- If you'd like to add more receipts to the particular line item indicated at the top of the window click the Add Another Item button.
Adding overages.
There are two types of overages. The first is a client requested overage which means you'll get reimbursed for the additional expense. The second is when you need to spend more money beyond your budget to complete the job, but you won't be seeing a reimbursement for the added expense. This usually occurs when you missed something in your initial bid.
To add an overage click the Quick Add Item button. The item catalog will pop out from the right. Click on an item in the catalog and you'll asked what type of overage you are adding. When the item is added, it will be marked in the left column in blue for a client overage and black for an unanticipated expense that you have to absorb. If the overage is a client request, the amount be added to the budget amount. If it is an expense, it will not, so therefore any receipts under that line item will take away from your budget.
As the job moves forward.
As you can see, the Equipment line item under the Rentals category has a receipt under it that is colored orange. This indicates that the amount will be taken against the budget, but the invoice is not in hand yet. Under the Prop Purchase line item you can see multiple receipts, but the balance for that line item is still positive, so there's money there to shore up other parts of the budget.
Move money around.
To balance the unanticipated expense of the Second Assistant (Jeff), we're going to take money from the Prop Purchase line item and add it to the Second Assistant line item. To do this click on the negative balance amount that is underlined in the Balance column and Blinkbid will dim all the line items except those that have a surplus available. You can now click on the yellow highlighted amounts to take money from those line items.
After moving the money.
As you can see in the Adjustment column, that money was taken from the Prop Purchase line item and added to the Second Assistant line item.
Reclaim money.
If things change and you need to reclaim some money for a line item, click on the negative, underlined amount in the adjustment column.
Print overages for approval.
Overages typically need to get signed off on. To print a list of all the overages, this includes additional fees, click the Print button and choose Print Overages for Approval Signature.
When you get client approval for overages.
With the approval signature in hand click on the blue in the left column to mark it as cleared and approved for invoicing.
Production status.
As the production continues, you can click the Production Status button to see have Blinkbid give you a summary of what still needs to be dealt with before wrapping the job. To clear the red flags in the left column, simply click the Production Status button again.
The wrap.
When it's time to wrap the job, you can print category top sheets for you wrap number that you can place on top of all your taped up receipts. If your a producer you can click the Upload button so the studio can download your production information and create an invoice from the actuals. Or, if you the studio you can transfer the production actuals to the invoice for a final review and polish before sending to the client by clicking the Transfer to Invoice button. Any advances and fees will automatically be added to the invoice.