Use this workaround when you need to allocate labor costs to jobs in Adaptive but are not using QuickBooks time activities or Adaptive Time sheets.
This method creates a zero-net expense so labor costs can be assigned to jobs and cost codes in Adaptive without changing your overall accounting totals.
Important: If you use QuickBooks time activities or Adaptive Time sheets, use the Labor Tracking workflow instead.
Additional note: Do not use this workaround for QuickBooks payroll or job-costed payroll already tracked in QuickBooks. Using both methods may duplicate labor costs in Adaptive.
1. Create an Adjustment Job
First, create a job to hold the offsetting labor entry.
To create the job:
Go to Jobs.
Click Create new job.
Name the job Adaptive Adjustments.
Save the job.
This job acts as a central place for offsetting labor allocation lines.
2. Create a New Expense
Next, create the expense that will allocate the labor cost.
To create the expense:
Go to Expenses or Receipts.
Click New expense or New receipt.
Enter the expense date.
Leave Vendor name blank if this is only an internal adjustment.
Select a Payment account, if required for your workflow.
Note: The payment account does not change the purpose of this workflow. The offsetting line keeps the total entry at $0.
3. Add Labor Allocation Lines
In the Items section, add one line for each job or cost code where labor should be allocated.
For each allocation line:
Select the correct Job.
Select the correct Cost code / Account.
Enter the labor amount as a positive number.
4. Add the Offsetting Line
Add one final line to offset the labor allocation.
For the offsetting line:
Select the Adaptive Adjustments job.
Select a Cost code / Account.
Enter the total allocated labor amount as a negative number.
Example Entry Table:
Line Item | Job Code | Cost Code | Amount |
1 | L.W Homes | Landscaping & Paving | $1 |
3 | Adaptive Adjustments | Cancel Entry | -$1 |
The total expense should equal $0.
5. Review and Save
Before saving, confirm that:
Each labor allocation line has the correct Job.
Each labor allocation line has the correct Cost code / Account.
The offsetting line is assigned to Adaptive Adjustments.
The total expense equals $0.
Then save the expense.
6. Verify the Job Costing
After saving, open the job where labor was allocated.
Confirm that the labor cost appears under the correct cost code or budget category.
Use the Adaptive Adjustments job to review the offsetting entries when needed.
Summary
Use this workaround only when labor costs need to be allocated in Adaptive and are not already tracked through QuickBooks time activities, Adaptive Time sheets, QuickBooks payroll, or job-costed payroll.
The key requirement is that the expense nets to $0: positive lines allocate labor to the correct jobs, and one negative line offsets the total through the Adaptive Adjustments job.
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