The Equipment tab within each Employee Profile is designed to manage day-to-day processes, specifically, tracking and managing equipment and its usage for a specific employee. Equipment items (i.e. laptop computer, cell phone, company truck, etc.) are created and managed in the Equipment section of RedTeam. For more information about the Equipment section, see the "Manage Equipment" Wiki. Equipment usage, on the other hand, tracks specific usage of an Equipment item for accounting purposes.
In RedTeam, Equipment items are classified under a nested system, whereby the item is assigned to an Equipment Category, such as "Backhoe," and that Equipment Category is in turn nested under an Equipment Cost Pool, such as "Heavy Machinery." It is the Cost Pool which determines the rate for a group of related individual expenses. Cost Pools can be set to track equipment usage in 3 ways: Custodian Work Hours, Equipment Assignment Duration, and Actual Equipment Usage. The first two methods allow you to track the equipment's usage indirectly, by measuring the number of hours worked by the assigned employee, or by the length of time the equipment is assigned out to an employee, while the last option allows you to track equipment usage directly by manually inputting usage time under the assigned employee's profile. When a cost pool is allocated by actual usage, it is important to track and measure each usage of that item. This process takes place under the Equipment tab of individual Employee Profiles.
1. Add a Cost Pool
Cost Pools allow you to set up Rates and Allocation methods for costs related to Equipment. Once Configured, you can add or edit multiple Equipment Categories to link to each Cost Pool. The cost allocation for each pool can be set up in one of three ways, as described below.
Equipment Allocation Method Options:
Custodian Work Hours - Equipment will be allocated by the Rate entered based on hours an Employee who is assigned that Equipment item enters on their Timesheet for the duration that they are assigned the item.
Equipment Assignment Duration - Equipment will be allocated by the duration the Equipment item is assigned to a particular employee for all working days. Total amount is determined and allocated when the Equipment item is returned.
Actual Equipment Usage - Equipment will be allocated by the actual usage entered on the Employee's profile in the Equipment tab or from an Emplpyee's Progress Report when the Equipment Item is assigned to that Project.
IMPORTANT: When the third option is selected, Equipment Items linked to any Category that this Cost Pool is associated with will allow assignment of the Item to a Project in addition to an Employee. These Equipment Items may then be tracked on an Employee's daily Progress Report within a Project (RedTeam web and FieldShare app).
Steps:
From Configuration, select "Cost Pools".
Click the New (+) icon.
Enter a Description for the Cost Pool to be linked to one or more Equipment Categories later (eg. "Power Tools" or "Bulldozers").
Select an Equipment Allocation Method (see narrative above for descriptions of each option).
Enter the Unit of Measure (if Actual Equipment Usage), Rate, and Year for which this Rate applies.
Click "Save".
2. Add an Equipment Category
In RedTeam, Equipment items are classified under a nested system, whereby the item is assigned to an Equipment Category, such as "Backhoe," and that Equipment Category is in turn nested under an Equipment Cost Pool, such as "Heavy Machinery." It is the Cost Pool which determines the rate for a group of related individual expenses, while the Equipment Category helps you group equipment for tracking and reporting purposes. See the steps below to create a new Equipment Category.
Steps:
In the Configuration menu, under the Equipment heading, select "Equipment Categories".
Click the "New" icon to add a new Category.
Fill in a Description, or title, for the new category, and select a cost pool from the drop down list (click "+Add New" to create a new cost pool).
4. Click "Save" when finished.
3. Add Equipment Usage
As Employees use Equipment items that have been assigned to them, they can track this usage from their Employee Profile.
Steps:
From the Employees menu, click your name or the name of the Employee to add Equipment Usage, then click the Equipment tab and click the Manage icon.
Click "Equipment Usage".
Under Manage Equipment Usage, click the New (+) icon.
Enter the Start and Finish Dates for the period which the Equipment was used.
Description will auto fill based on Start and Finish Dates, but you can change it to be more specific if necessary.
If the Equipment Usage was part of a Project, fill in the Direct Costs details in the next section.
If the Equipment Usage was NOT part of a Project, fill in the Indirect Costs details in the bottom section.
When you have filled out the entire form, click Save.