Not Estimated Artworks Report

Overview

The Not Estimated Artworks Report is a compliance and quality control report that identifies packaging artworks across all active projects that have not been included in formal cost estimates. It serves as a critical checkpoint in the billing workflow, ensuring that all billable work has proper estimate documentation before invoicing.

This report bridges the gap between creative production and billing accountability by surfacing artworks that may be invoiced without having been formally quoted to clients. By providing visibility into estimation gaps, the report helps organizations maintain billing integrity and prevent potential revenue disputes.

The report displays artworks organized by invoice group, corporation, and project, with visual status indicators showing whether each artwork is estimated, billed but not estimated, or pending estimation. This hierarchical view enables managers to quickly identify which areas of the business have estimation backlogs and prioritize accordingly.

Location: Navigate to Reports from the main navigation menu, then select Not Estimated Artworks under the PROJECTS section.

URL: /reports/notestimatedartworks.aspx

Access Level: All authenticated staff users (Project Managers, Account Managers, Billing Staff, Administrators)

Business Value

For Project Managers

The Not Estimated Artworks Report provides essential oversight into estimation compliance:

• Estimation Gap Visibility: Instantly see which artworks across your projects lack formal estimates, preventing last-minute scrambles before billing
• Project-Level Status: Visual indicators show whether projects have some estimates, all estimates, or no estimates at all
• Direct Navigation: Click through to project pages to create missing estimates without searching
• Date-Range Analysis: Filter by invoice period to focus on artworks that will be billed in upcoming cycles

For Account Managers

Account managers gain client-centric oversight:

• Invoice Group Filtering: Focus on specific client billing groups to ensure all work for priority clients is properly quoted
• Corporation-Level View: Review estimation status across entire corporate relationships
• Billing Readiness: Verify that all artworks for upcoming invoices have supporting estimate documentation
• Client Communication Preparation: Identify potential billing discussions before they become disputes

For Finance and Billing Staff

The report directly supports billing accuracy:

• Pre-Billing Audit: Review artworks before invoice generation to identify items that may cause billing questions
• Compliance Verification: Ensure company policy of "estimate before bill" is being followed
• Dispute Prevention: Proactively address unestimated items before clients receive invoices
• Dollar Value Visibility: See the financial impact of unestimated work with dollar amounts for each artwork

For Operations Management

Leadership gains operational insight:

• Process Compliance: Monitor how well teams follow estimation requirements before billing
• Volume Analysis: Understand the scale of estimation backlog across the organization
• Client Relationship Risk: Identify accounts with high volumes of unestimated work that may face billing friction
• Resource Planning: Allocate estimation resources based on identified gaps

Business Benefits

1. Billing Integrity Protection - By systematically identifying unestimated artworks, the report prevents the organizational risk of billing clients for work that was never formally quoted. This protects client relationships and reduces billing disputes.
2. Revenue Cycle Efficiency - Estimates create Purchase Orders that lock pricing and invoice dates. Artworks without estimates lack this financial structure, potentially causing billing delays or requiring manual intervention to invoice properly.
3. Client Trust Maintenance - Professional services organizations are expected to quote work before billing. The report ensures this standard practice is maintained, demonstrating organizational discipline to clients.
4. Audit Trail Completeness - Estimates create formal records linking quoted amounts to actual work. Unestimated artworks represent gaps in the audit trail that may be questioned during financial reviews.
5. Proactive Problem Resolution - Identifying estimation gaps before billing cycles allows managers to address issues proactively rather than reactively responding to client inquiries about unexpected charges.
6. Process Compliance Monitoring - The report provides visibility into whether estimation workflows are being followed, enabling management to address process breakdowns before they impact revenue.
7. Resource Prioritization - By showing dollar values for unestimated work, the report helps prioritize which estimates to create first based on financial impact.

Usage Scenarios

Scenario 1: Pre-Billing Compliance Check

Role: Billing Coordinator

Before generating monthly invoices, a billing coordinator opens the Not Estimated Artworks Report and sets the date range to cover the upcoming billing period. They filter by corporation to focus on one business unit at a time. The report reveals several projects with artworks showing the "Billed, but not estimated" indicator. The coordinator notifies the responsible project managers to create retroactive estimates or document why the work proceeded without estimates.

Scenario 2: Account Health Review

Role: Account Manager

An account manager is preparing for a quarterly business review with a major client. They open the report and filter by the client's invoice group to see all unestimated work. Seeing several artworks without estimates, they proactively create the missing estimates before the meeting. This demonstrates organizational diligence and prevents potential awkward conversations about unbilled or improperly quoted work.

Scenario 3: New Project Manager Onboarding

Role: Department Manager

A department manager uses the report during new project manager onboarding to demonstrate the importance of estimation workflows. They show the new hire how to identify their projects in the report, understand the status indicators, and navigate to projects to create missing estimates. The report serves as both a training tool and an ongoing accountability mechanism.

Scenario 4: Month-End Estimation Cleanup

Role: Project Manager

On the last week of each month, a project manager makes it a habit to check the Not Estimated Artworks Report filtered for their invoice groups. They identify any artworks that will be invoiced in the coming cycle but lack estimates. By creating estimates before month-end close, they ensure smooth billing operations and avoid follow-up questions from the billing team.

Scenario 5: Historical Analysis

Role: Operations Analyst

An operations analyst investigates why a specific quarter had higher-than-normal billing disputes. They set the date range to that historical period and review which artworks were billed without estimates. The analysis reveals a pattern of rushed projects skipping the estimation step, leading to process improvements that require estimation before status advancement.

Scenario 6: Client-Specific Audit

Role: Client Services Director

A client has expressed concerns about billing transparency. The director opens the report and filters to show only that client's invoice group. They review all artworks, noting which are properly estimated and which are not. This analysis supports a client conversation about improving communication processes and demonstrates commitment to billing accuracy.

Industry Context

Standard Practice in Professional Services

Quoting work before billing is fundamental to professional services operations:

1. Advertising and Creative Agencies: Client service agreements typically require cost estimates for creative work before production begins, with change orders for scope modifications
2. Packaging Design Studios: Per-piece pricing models depend on upfront estimates to establish billing rates for different complexity levels
3. Marketing Service Providers: Retainer agreements often require pre-approval of work outside standard scope, documented through estimates
4. Print and Production Operations: Production work is typically quoted before execution, with variance reporting when actual costs differ from estimates

Why Estimation Compliance Matters

Client Expectations

• Enterprise clients often have procurement policies requiring pre-approved cost estimates
• Billing without estimates may violate client contract terms
• Professional reputation depends on transparent pricing practices

Financial Controls

• Estimates create Purchase Orders that establish billing boundaries
• Unestimated work operates outside normal financial controls
• Audit requirements may demand documentation of all billed amounts

Revenue Protection

• Estimates formalize pricing before work begins
• Disputes over unestimated work often result in write-offs
• Professional standard is to quote first, bill second

Per-Piece Billing Model Context

In per-piece pricing environments:

• Each artwork has calculated value based on packaging level and complexity
• Estimates aggregate these calculated values into client-facing quotes
• Without estimates, per-piece values exist but lack client acknowledgment
• Billing unestimated work relies solely on rate card agreements rather than project-specific quotes

The Not Estimated Artworks Report is essential in this model because:

• It surfaces the gap between calculated pricing and formal quotation
• It identifies work where the client has not explicitly approved the cost
• It highlights potential disputes where clients may question charges
• It supports the company's professional standard of quoting before billing

Key Features

Date Range Selection

• Start Date: Beginning of invoice date range to include
• End Date: End of invoice date range to include
• Default Behavior: When no dates selected, shows all available data

Organization Filters

Status Indicators Legend

The report includes a visual legend explaining the status icons:

Report Display Structure

Results display in a hierarchical format:

Invoice Group Level

• Invoice group name displayed as section header
• Contains all projects assigned to that billing group

Project Level

• Project ID with clickable link to project details
• Project name for identification
• Status indicator showing estimation completeness

Artwork Level

• Invoice date for the artwork's billing period
• Artwork name/number
• Packaging level classification
• Complexity designation
• Dollar value for the artwork
• Estimation status indicator

Interactive Navigation

• Project Links: Click project ID to navigate directly to project details page
• Filter Updates: Changing filter values automatically refreshes the display
• Real-Time View: Report reflects current estimation status, updating as estimates are created

Relationship to Other System Components

Project Estimates Tab

The Not Estimated Artworks Report identifies gaps that are resolved through the Project Estimates functionality:

• This Report: Surfaces artworks without estimates
• Estimates Tab: Where estimates are actually created
• Workflow: Report identifies problems, Estimates Tab provides solutions

Users typically navigate from this report to project pages to create missing estimates.

New Artworks Report

A companion report that approaches estimation from a different angle:

• New Artworks Report: Identifies artworks by the week they were added, supporting weekly estimation cadence
• Not Estimated Artworks Report: Identifies all artworks without estimates regardless of when added
• Together: New Artworks catches work at creation time; Not Estimated catches anything that slipped through

Time Tracking System

Dollar values in this report come from time tracking:

• Per-piece time records link artworks to billing amounts
• Invoice dates come from the time tracking invoice assignment
• Billed status reflects whether time has been invoiced

Purchase Order System

Estimates create Purchase Orders that affect billing:

• Estimated artworks get locked to PO date ranges
• Not estimated artworks lack this billing structure
• The report highlights artworks outside normal PO controls

Billing Approval Worksheet

Before approving invoices:

• Billing coordinators can check this report to verify estimation compliance
• Artworks appearing as "billed but not estimated" indicate process gaps
• Approval workflow may include estimation verification step

Summary

The Not Estimated Artworks Report is a compliance monitoring tool that ensures all billable artwork has proper estimate documentation before invoicing. By surfacing gaps between production activity and formal cost quotation, the report helps organizations maintain billing integrity and client trust.

Key Takeaways:

• Estimation Gap Identification: Instantly see which artworks across the organization lack formal estimates
• Billing Compliance: Verify that work is properly quoted before it appears on client invoices
• Status Visualization: Clear icons distinguish between estimated, unestimated, and billed-but-unestimated artworks
• Hierarchical Organization: Results grouped by invoice group, project, and artwork for easy navigation
• Flexible Filtering: Date range, corporation, and invoice group filters enable targeted analysis
• Direct Navigation: Click through to project pages to create missing estimates
• Dollar Visibility: See the financial value of unestimated work to prioritize estimation efforts
• Project-Level Indicators: Quickly identify projects with complete, partial, or no estimate coverage

The report serves as a critical quality gate in the revenue cycle, ensuring that the professional standard of quoting work before billing is maintained across all client relationships. By making estimation gaps visible, it empowers managers to address compliance issues proactively rather than reactively responding to billing disputes.