Phase header fields are located at the top of the Maintain Phases window. This is where you enter information about the project such as the phase ID, description, and status.
Phase ID: Enter an ID to represent the phase of a job.
There are advantages to carefully considering your Phase IDs. Drop-down lists and reports list information numerically first and then alphabetically; therefore, a numeric phase ID will make it easiest for you to access and keep track of your information. For example it could be confusing if the phase ID for electrical wiring came before the phase code ID for site preparation. Another example is P01, P02, and so on. with P standing for phase and the number representing the phase of the job. Or you can use a word that describes the phase, such as Buy, Asem, Dist for the phases: purchase materials, assemble into an item, and distribute the item.
If you want, Sage 50 can create an ID for you based on the Description you enter. You simply have to check the Automatically create IDs on maintenance windows box in Global Options. Tell me more about this.
Here is some other important information on phase IDs:
Description: Enter a description of the phase. This description can be up to 30 characters long.
Inactive: If you plan to purge this phase during year-end processing, select this check box. If you have finished a job, you may want to make the phase inactive. If you try to post any transactions to an inactive phase, a message warns that the phase is inactive. You can still update the phase information in the Maintain Phases window, if needed. Important: After closing the fiscal year, phases that are not associated with existing transactions and are tagged as inactive will be eligible to purge.