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Professional Services

In the context of DYCE, this term refers to activities performed by specialists or experts in a specific field.

In IT and IT consulting, these are services provided by IT experts who support companies in the implementation and maintenance of IT systems. This also includes the deployment of IT specialists, employees in (technical) support, as well as companies in the fields of software development or managed service providers.

Other examples - outside of IT - include services provided by lawyers or legal advisors, or the activities of tax consultants or auditors.

Planning, Budgeting, and Billing for Services​

One of the goals of DYCE is to map the entire value creation process for services. Several DYCE apps work hand in hand to achieve this: DYCE Project Billing for administrative management, DYCE Time Tracking for recording time, DYCE Project & Resource Planning for scheduling projects and services, and optionally Jira and Azure DevOps as connected systems.

For recording and billing time, project tasks/planning lines are required to which the recorded times relate. The project tasks/planning lines can optionally be linked to a sales order or be independent. The times recorded against project tasks/planning lines can be invoiced, which is typically done on a periodic basis (e.g., monthly).

There are two options for time tracking. The first relates directly to the project task and is suitable, for example, for (non-billable) contractual services, small orders ("2 days of training"), or when billing is generally done against a large budget pool. The other is the reference to a work order, which makes it possible to split a project planning line into multiple sub-budgets.

Work Order​

In DYCE, time can be recorded directly on project tasks, which can be created with any level of detail within the projects.

However, especially in large projects with different budgets and multiple people involved, splitting the budget items of a sales order into numerous project tasks and planning lines can be cumbersome and prone to errors. This is where the so-called work orders come into play with DYCE Project Billing.

A work order is a central document that supports the execution and billing of a specific job, task, or service. It serves as a focal point for communication, planning, execution, and tracking of work packages of all kinds — from internal maintenance tasks to tasks in complex, billable customer projects.

In essence, a work order answers the fundamental questions about a task:

  • What is to be done?
  • For whom is the work being done?
  • Who is responsible for the execution?
  • When should the work take place?
  • How will the effort be billed?

Work orders are the link between planning (DYCE Project & Resource Planning), operational execution (time tracking in DYCE Time Tracking), and the subsequent commercial processing (DYCE Project Billing).

Integration of Jira and Azure DevOps​

In DYCE, work orders can exist on their own or act as a link to external systems like Jira and Azure DevOps.

The ITSM solution Jira Service Management / Software covers topics such as support, software development with change requests, approval of effort estimates, and external communication. Alternatively to Jira, service delivery can also take place in Azure DevOps (though without a portal in that case).

The system in which the users work is irrelevant - work orders are present everywhere:

  • in DYCE Time Tracking and DYCE Project & Resource Planning,
  • in Jira, the Issues (from 2025: Work Items) correspond to work orders; in Azure DevOps, they are the Work Items.

If an external system is used, work orders are derived and synchronized from it. The connection of other systems (e.g., other ITSM / helpdesk solutions) can also be realized via the work order and its related entities.

Further Information​

This page provides an overview of how services can be billed with DYCE.

Around this core, there are many other modules that cover further requirements. These include:

  • Long texts for task descriptions, internal notes, solutions, etc.
  • Centralized & visual scheduling (in DYCE Project & Resource Planning)
  • Time tracking on work orders (with different entry points)
  • Status to describe the state of a work order (Example: Time trackers can report completion)
  • Selection of work orders in billing according to various criteria, such as billing all completed work orders
  • Consideration of further details, such as effort estimates