Novice Question...How To Set This Up Correctly?

[oceantracks]

I'm working on a DB that will deal with projects I do for clients who hire me. I in turn hire others to help me complete the project.

I am trying to figure out how to also use this DB to record expenses, some of which are project related, and others which are not.

A project related expense would be paying a musician to play on my project.

A non project related expense might be a piece of equipment I buy for my studio.

So I could have a table called Expenses, with an "ITEM" field, where I could type in "AKG Microphone" and record its cost, and assign it a category via choice list (Equipment, Studio Supplies, etc.)

But IF that "ITEM" was a musician, like "JOE SMITH," I would want to record what PROJECT this was for. No musician would ever incur a payment unless tied to a specific project.

At year's end I want to see totals for expenses in all categories, or by musicians name.

Hope I'm being clear and really appreciate any help. I'm almost here with this DB and it's quite exciting for a newbie!

Tom

[comment]

Your question is more of a business/accounting question, IMHO, than a database question. But you could simply leave the ProjectID field empty for your overhead expenses, or make overhead your project #1.

[oceantracks]

Your question is more of a business/accounting question, IMHO, than a database question. But you could simply leave the ProjectID field empty for your overhead expenses, or make overhead your project #1.

Thanks, I understand what you mean, but I'm trying to set up a DB so write now it's a DB question.

Sometimes simple is better, you're right, I could just leave the Project ID blank on those expenses, great and simple idea!

Thanks

Tom

[Vaughan]

I'd assign them to an "overhead" company, simply because if the project id field is empty (assigned to no project) then no project name will appear in the reports. Not a good look IMHO.

It is a business rule rather than a db design question because the decision has no impact on the data structure, only how data is entered.