---
title: How a project flows
summary: See the whole path of a project from company setup to payment, with the two chains for materials and for contract work.
order: 4
menu: Dashboard
who: Everyone. Each step needs its own permission, so you may see only some of the screens.
---

A project in Superwise moves in three stages. First you set up the company and the project. Then you plan. Then you buy, build, record and pay. This page shows the order and links to the book for each step.

## Stage 1: set up the company

You do this once, before the first project. Most pages are under **Company settings** in the left menu.

1. Add your people, roles and departments. See [General](../general/index.md).
2. Add suppliers and contractors as organizations. See [General](../general/index.md).
3. Add the materials, labour types, equipment and tools you use. See [Site monitoring](../site-monitoring/index.md).
4. Prepare planning masters such as templates, work items, packages and working calendars. See [Planning](../planning/index.md).
5. Set company defaults, for example numbering and currency. See [Company setup](../company-setup/index.md).
6. Connect other systems if you use them. See [Integration setup](../integration-setup/index.md).

## Stage 2: plan the project

Do these for each project. Choose the project in the project picker first.

| Step | What you do | Book |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Budget | Set the planned cost of the project | [Budget](../budget/index.md) |
| BOQ | Write the bill of quantities (BOQ), which lists the work items, quantities and rates | [Project BOQ](../project-boq/index.md) |
| BOM | See the materials the BOQ needs, as a bill of materials (BOM) | [Project BOM](../project-bom/index.md) |
| Estimate | Work out the cost of the project | [BOQ estimation](../boq-estimation/index.md) |
| Service requests | Ask for extra work or changes | [Service requests](../service-request/index.md) |
| Schedule | Plan the tasks and dates | [Schedule](../schedule/index.md) |
| Documents | Keep drawings and files | [Documents](../documents/index.md) |

## Stage 3: buy, build, record and pay

### Chain 1: materials

Use this chain to buy materials from suppliers.

1. A site engineer raises an indent, which is a request for materials. See [Material indent](../material-indent/index.md).
2. The buyer sends a request for quotation (RFQ) to suppliers. See [RFQ](../request-for-quotation---rfq/index.md).
3. Suppliers send quotations. You compare them. See [Quotation](../quotation/index.md).
4. You place a purchase order (PO) with the chosen supplier. See [Purchase order](../purchase-order/index.md).
5. The supplier delivers. The store records the delivery. See [Material delivery](../material-delivery/index.md).
6. The accounts team records the supplier bill. See [Purchase bill](../purchase-bill/index.md).
7. The company pays. See [Payments](../payments/index.md).

You can skip steps 2 and 3 and go from an indent to a purchase order. Many companies do this for small buys.

### Chain 2: contract work

Use this chain to hire a contractor for a piece of work.

1. You send a request for proposal (RFP) to contractors. See [RFP](../rfp/index.md).
2. Contractors send proposals. You compare them. See [Proposals](../proposals/index.md).
3. You give a work order to the chosen contractor. See [Work order](../work-order/index.md).
4. The site team measures the work done. See [Measurement book](../measurement-book/index.md).
5. The contractor raises a running account (RA) bill for the work done so far. See [RA bills](../ra-bills/index.md).
6. The company pays. See [Payments](../payments/index.md).

### What you record on site every day

These records do not belong to one chain. They feed the project cost and the reports.

| Record | Book |
| --- | --- |
| Progress of tasks | [Schedule](../schedule/index.md) |
| Equipment rentals | [Equipment rental](../equipment-rental/index.md) |
| Labour | [Labour report](../labour-report/index.md) |
| Petty cash | [Cash expense](../cash-expense/index.md) |
| Staff attendance | [Staff attendance](../staff-attendance/index.md) |
| Materials moved between projects | [Material transfer](../material-transfer/index.md) |
| Materials supplied by the client | [Material supply](../material-supply/index.md) |
| Materials used | [Material consumed](../material-consumed/index.md) |
| Materials in the store | [Material inventory](../material-inventory/index.md) |
| Tools | [Tools](../tools/index.md) |
| Problems on site | [Issues](../issues/index.md) |
| Quality and safety checks | [Checklists (quality and safety)](../checklists-(quality-safety)/index.md) |
| Notes and credits against a supplier | [Debit and credit notes](../debit-credit-notes/index.md) |

### See the result

| What you need | Book |
| --- | --- |
| All reports | [Reports](../reports/index.md) |
| Daily summary | [Daily summary](../daily-summary/index.md) |
| Schedule summary | [Schedule summary](../schedule-summary/index.md) |
| Talk to the team | [Messages](../messages/index.md) |

## Rules to know

- Almost every record belongs to one project. Check the project name before you create a record.
- Many records need approval before the next step. A purchase order must be approved before you record a delivery against it. See [Approvals in plain words](approvals-in-plain-words.md).
- Each step can be done by a different person. Your role decides which steps you see. See [Roles and access](roles-and-access.md).
- Records link to each other. For example, a purchase order can come from an indent, and a bill is checked against the order and the delivery.

## Related pages

- [Words we use](words-we-use.md)
- [Start by role](../start-by-role/index.md)