Variances & Change Orders

A build never matches the estimate exactly. Variances capture cost differences against an existing PO. Change Orders capture buyer-driven changes that may also need a price adjustment.

At a glance

• A Variance is a cost deviation from an existing PO — extra material, substituted resource, late price change.
• A Change Order is a buyer-driven modification after contract acceptance — adds/removes options, modifies plan, generates Variances on already-issued POs.
• A VPO (Vendor-substituted PO) is cut when a vendor swaps one resource for another mid-build (RequestType 100).
• Variances move EstimateActivity.VariancesRecorded and Lot.VariancesUnrecorded; the original Estimate dollars stay put.

Variance

A Variance is a deviation from the original PO — extra material, a substituted resource, or a late price change.

Variance table reference and CSR scripts

Table	What
Variance	Header per variance.
VarianceDetail	Per-line breakdown.
VarianceEntry, VarianceEntryResource	Capture during PM entry.
VarianceNotification (utility)	Emails the right approvers.

Helpful CSR scripts:

• AddVariancesBackdoor_ByPO.sql
• ChangeVarianceReasons.sql
• Variances Incl Plan Category.zip

Change Order

A Change Order is the buyer asking for something different after contract acceptance. A change order can update Chosen Options, modify the Plan or Lot Premium, adjust Selections, generate Variances on already-issued POs, and/or create new POs for added Resources.

Change Order table reference

Table	What
ChangeOrder	The change-order record.
vwChangeOrder	Reporting view.

Helpful: ChangeOrders.sql, ChangePlanOnRatifiedContract.sql.

VPOs (Vendor-substituted POs)

When a vendor substitutes one resource for another mid-build, a VPO can be cut. See RequestType 100 (VPO Substitute).

VPO scripts

• Add Estimate Activity so VPO Can be created.sql
• VPOs for Past Stage Options.sql
• VPOsIssuedWithUser.sql

Where in the apps

• SMART → Project Management → Variance Entry / Change Orders.
• SMART 2.0 → production/, accounting/.
• Trade Portal: a vendor sees the result (a PO line) but not the variance itself.