MEI
MEI Bureau Cloud Business logic

For the client

Business logic of the unified office

Plain-language rules of how construction work moves from bid to closed contract who owns each step, what must never be duplicated, and what the new software must guarantee.

Central idea: the projet / contrat number is the single hub. Bids become contracts only through award. Everything else - extras, costs, stock charges, invoices - hangs off that number.

Roles that stay

Who does what in the office

We keep the desks. We stop shipping four separate applications.

Concern Today (legacy) MEI module Owns
Bid before award GProjet Bids & contracts Soumission Syy###
Award → create contrat GProjet transfert Bids & contracts Projet 0yy### / Cyy###
Project office (docs, dessins, sous-trait, dénonciation) GProjet Project office Follow-up on contrat
Change orders & letters Extra6 Change orders Extras, approval, correspondence
Budget from extras Extra6 ? JobCost Change orders ? Cost control Pushes budget; cost module consumes
Live costs, WIP, profit JobCost6 Cost control Transactions, travaux en cours, reports
Progressive invoice creation Facturation Progressive Billing service Creates invoices / amounts billed
Counter, stock, purchasing, A/R - A/P PVConst Yard & counter Ops money that can feed job costs

Lifecycle steps

What must happen - step by step

Phase 1-2

Bid

  1. Create soumission with division, secteur, channel.
  2. Estimate (dossier / workbook).
  3. Enter our price ? list shows as "closed" for filtering.

Rule: a closed bid is still not a contract.

Phase 3

Award

  1. Authorized user runs Transfert en contrat.
  2. System allocates project number (residential vs commercial pattern).
  3. Copies parties / contacts; contrat becomes visible to all modules.

Rule: only award creates the shared hub.

Phase 4

Structure the job

  1. Open phases (if used).
  2. Set initial budget, holdback %, extras billing mode.
  3. Optional baseline étapes from change-order module.
Phase 5

Execute (parallel)

  1. Office: documents, drawings, subcontractors, notices.
  2. Extras: submit ? accept $ ? approve ? letters ? budget push.
  3. Yard: PO / receive / POS; transfer JobCost-flagged G/L lines.
  4. Costing: post costs, import payroll, update WIP.
Phase 6

Bill

  1. Billing service creates progressive invoices.
  2. Cost control prints with retenue / companion documents.
  3. Change-order module reprints only if already billed; cannot delete billed extras.
Phase 7

Close

  1. Mark job finished (blocks new cost posting).
  2. Archive cost history.
  3. Produce profit / compliance letters as needed.

Change orders

Extra workflow the client will recognize

Extras use parallel flags (not one status dropdown). Letters are not "print only" printing often commits workflow state.

Draft→ Soumis→ Accept $→ Approuvé→ Budget sync→ Factur

Flags that matter

  • Soumis - submitted to client / engineer
  • Accept $ - commercial dollar acceptance
  • Approuvé - internal approval of the change
  • Rappel - follow-up while waiting
  • Factur - billed (terminal for delete)

Money hand-off to cost control

  • Baseline étapes (CHANGE=A) ? initial budget
  • Extras (CHANGE=B) ? budget ordre / changements
  • Sync typically when leaving the extras screen (batch of saves)
  • Amounts follow JobCost sign convention

Boundaries

Must-not rules (non-negotiable)

These prevent double invoices, orphan costs, and conflicting "source of truth".

Must not

Change orders must not create invoices

Extras stage / reprint billed documents. Invoice creation belongs to the billing service.

Must not

Yard / POS must not compute WIP or profit

Counter feeds cost lines when G/L is JobCost-flagged. Profitability stays in cost control.

Must not

Bids module must not replace costing

Award creates the contrat and project office. Cost posting, WIP, and état des bénéfices stay in cost control.

Must not

Cost control must not own change-order letters

It may see extras dollars and FactExtra modes. Formal correspondence & approval live in change orders.

Hand-offs

Critical business hand-offs to preserve

From To When What moves
Bids (award) Shared contrat Transfert confirmed Number, client, contacts, folders
Change orders Cost budgets Leave extras screen Initial + ordre budget rows
Yard A/P receive Job costs Terminer (auto if flagged) Cost lines, provenance PDV
Yard A/R distribution Job costs Clerk confirms modal Cost / revenue lines, provenance CAR
Billing service Print / reprint Invoice created Invoice list + amounts billed

Vocabulary

Words that confuse - clarify for the client

Word In bids In change orders In cost control In yard
Projet Awarded contrat Same hub Same hub Same hub on sales / POs
Soumission Pre-award bid - - Quote on an existing projet ? PO
Extra Flag / amount Full change-order app FactExtra / budget changement -
Avis Bid / project notices Letter packs JC notices Suite pattern

Design decision: do not reuse one "Soumission" screen for both bid packages and yard quotes without renaming.

Happy path

Checklist the office already follows

  1. Estimator creates soumission and builds the estimate dossier.
  2. Bid is won ? Transfert en contrat creates the shared projet.
  3. Cost clerk opens the job: phases, budget, retenue, extras mode.
  4. During the job: PM records extras & letters; purchasing / counter charges jobs; cost control posts remaining costs & WIP.
  5. Accounting bills via progressive billing; cost control prints (retenue).
  6. Extras budget sync keeps change-order dollars in cost budgets.
  7. Job finishes ? termine / archive; profit letters as needed.