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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

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Posted on by Roger Noden

Need some advice on how to setup the following use case in Business Central:

We will be creating short films that we will promote; so they are not associated with a specific customer
We would like to track expenses against a budget for each film
We want to be able to report on each film individually (Profit/Loss, Budget vs Actual, etc.)
We also need to account for Film Cost Capitalization, Amortization, and Impairment.
This basically means that the project costs incurred in the ‘research phase’ are expensed as incurred, while costs incurred in the ‘development phase’ are capitalized once the recognition criteria are met.

I'm struggling on how to setup Job/Project Management in Business Central to handle this. Any suggestions?

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Sumit Singh 6,366 on at

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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

Hi @CU20051014-1,

This query raised in July 2021, I think we can skip these kind of queries which are too old to answer and the query poster is also not following the thread. The main disbenefit is this that it start flowing into the latest feed and all other experts also start answering that by mistake. It's just an humble suggestion.

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Sohail Ahmed 11,086 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

You can manage this in Business Central using the Jobs module, where each film is set up as a separate Job. Use Job Tasks to track phases like Research, Development, and Production. Record actual costs with Job Journals or POs, and track budgets per task.

For capitalization, post research phase costs as expenses, and development costs to a capitalizable G/L account. Later, transfer the total to a Fixed Asset and set up amortization. Use Job reports or Power BI for budget vs actual and profit/loss per film.

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Jeffrey Bulanadi 8,431 on at

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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

Hi,

BC’s Jobs module can handle this setup well, even without a customer tied to each film. The key is to treat each film as a standalone job and use task lines to separate phases like research and development.

Here’s how you can structure it:

Create a Job Card for each film. If needed, assign a generic customer (e.g., “Internal Projects”) to satisfy system requirements.

Define Job Task Lines for each phase:

Research Phase → Post expenses directly to P&L accounts

Development Phase → Post costs to a balance sheet account once capitalization criteria are met

Use Job Planning Lines to track budget vs actuals. You can set line types to Budget, Billable, or Both depending on how you want to monitor usage.

For capitalization and amortization, post development costs to a fixed asset or deferred cost account. Use Fixed Assets if you want to automate amortization; otherwise, manual journals work fine.

To track impairment, you can revalue the asset or post a write-down via general journals.

For reporting, use Job Analysis Reports and Dimensions (e.g., Film Title, Phase) to filter by project and phase.

This setup gives you full visibility into each film’s financials while respecting accounting treatment for different phases.

Helpful References
Project Management – Microsoft Learn
Walkthrough: Managing Projects with Jobs – Microsoft Learn
Project Management with BC – WMDYN365
Project Management User Guide – Prodware

If you find this helpful, feel free to mark this as the suggested or verified answer.

Cheers
Jeffrey

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Gerardo Rentería Ga... 23,570 Most Valuable Professional on at

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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

Hi, good day
I hope this can help you, and give you some hints.

Jobs - Dynamics 365 Business Central

Project management - Business Central | Microsoft Learn

Best Regards
Gerardo

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Jainam M. Kothari 12,126 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

May this can help : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92Tu3J6kNQ8

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Khushbu Rajvi. 19,137 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

hope this helps as well:https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/projects-manage-projects

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YUN ZHU 92,218 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

I think there is nothing wrong with using the standard Project module, you just need to add a dummy customer in the Customers section.

Hope this can give you some hints as well.

Thanks.

ZHU

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Ramesh Kumar 7,511 Super User 2025 Season 2 on at

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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

Ho Roger,

Based on the requirement I think standard Business central should be good to setup and process the project account. Please find the below link from Business central documentation which might help you

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-ca/dynamics365/business-central/projects-how-setup-jobs?tabs=current-experience

Thanks

Ramesh

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CU12121108-0 12 on at

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Using Business Central for Film Project Management/Accounting

Hello Dynamics Community,

Business Central is well-suited for managing film projects with these requirements. Set up each film as a Job in Business Central to track expenses, budgets, and report on Profit/Loss or Budget vs Actual. Use Job Task Lines to differentiate between research and development phases, aligning costs with capitalization or expense requirements. For Film Cost Capitalization and Amortization, configure Fixed Assets or General Journals to handle recognition criteria and impairment tracking. A specialized add-on like magis tv english alternative can complement your setup for advanced content-specific management, ensuring seamless workflows tailored for the film industry.

Best Regards!!!

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