Introduction

The Machines form keeps track of all Public Works machines in the Municipalities possession. It also can keep track of other vehicles for the purpose of keeping track of the history of service. With this form you can see a history of the time cards that have been entered for each machine. This history is in reverse chronological order, so the newest appear at the top. As well as the time card history, you can also add and edit incidents of vehicle maintenance, or just view the most recent events. This help page will first deal with the fields and buttons before describing Time Cards, Service History, and Recent Service which are found in the middle section.

Fields

• Code: Each machine must have a unique identifying code. It can be up to 6 characters in length.
• Description: Key in a useful description here, so you will know if you chose the correct machine later on the Time Cards form.
• Serial No: Store the vehicle's or equipment's serial number here.
• GVW: If desired, you can store the Gross Vehicle Weight in this box.
• Purchase Date: This is a convenient place to store the date of purchase for future reference.
• Date Sold: Vehicles with a sold date will not be available for time cards.
• Location: This tracks where the equipment is usually stored or to which yard it belongs.
• Rate: Enter the Ministry of Transportation's accepted rate for this piece of equipment here.
• Time Cards: Vehicles that have their usage tracked by time cards must have this box checked. Do not remove the check if this vehicle is on the uncommitted Time Card Register.
• Account: The revenue account listed here is used in the Journal Entry section of the Machinery Register.
• Search: Quickly jump to a particular machine's record by selecting it from this list rather than moving through the records one by one or guessing its record number using the navigation buttons on the bottom left of the form.
   

Buttons

• New: Clicking this button will send you to a blank record where you can fill in the new machine's details and any service records that already exist.
• Delete: You will be asked if you chose the correct machine before it is removed.
• List: Click this button to see a list of all machines.
• Print: This button will let you preview a report on this machine.
• Close: You can use this button to close the form.
   

Time Cards

The middle section in the picture above shows the time cards that have been recorded for the selected vehicle. This is linked to the payroll system's time cards where the payroll clerk can pull up the job and the hours will be brought over from the machinery system. Along the bottom are four yellow fields that either show more information about the currently select time card entry, or show a total: The first yellow box is the status of the selected entry. The second yellow box is the Account's description from the General Ledger. The third yellow box is a total for all the hours. Finally, the fourth box shows the sum of the Hours x Rate. See the Time Cards page for more information.
 

Service History

An example of the Service History window is shown below.

The purpose of this window is to keep track of how often maintenance is done and how much it has cost. This is useful when selling the vehicle. It provides the needed history when trying to prove a proper maintenance schedule was followed. It can also give insight into which vehicles are costing too much and should soon be replaced. 

Adding, Editing, and Deleting Service Records

To add a new record, simply fill in the fields along the bottom blank row. The service pull down list contains codes from the Service Codes form. You do not need to enter a description especially if it is the same as the service code's description. Unlike committed time cards, editing of service entries can be done at any time. If you put a service record against the wrong machine, you can delete it by clicking on its grey record selector button on the far left then pressing the Delete key on the keyboard.  Next, find the right machine and re-enter the data there.
 

Recent Service

This window, shown on the right, shows the most recent data from the Service History window. Each type of service that appears on the Service History window will be shown once. Included will be the most recent date of that type of maintenance.  As well, some service types are perpetual. These will included a due date for the next time that type of service will be required.