The initial setup lesson creates the choices needed by the main example. This branch teaches how to maintain those choices over time. A department’s hierarchy, a job classification’s group, and the departments allowed to use it are separate decisions.

Before you begin

You need Manage departments and Manage job catalog. Use a practice organization with history beginning no later than January 1, 2027. Reserve Practice Operations, Practice Services, Practice Clinic, and Practice Coordinator as unused names. Choose a top-level department you can manage when a parent is required. Record the original configuration before changing a shared setting.

Move a department from a later date

  1. In Settings > Departments, create Practice Operations and Practice Services under the agreed parent, starting January 1, 2027.
  2. Create Practice Clinic under Practice Operations on that same date.
  3. Choose Department tree, expand the parent departments, and locate Practice Clinic. Switch to Flat list, search for its exact name, and open it.
  4. Record a change of parent to Practice Services from July 1, 2027. Enter the required explanation if your organization asks for one.
  5. Review June 30, 2027, then July 1, 2027. Practice Clinic should appear under different parents on those dates while keeping the same department identity.
  6. Open Structure changes. Use its date and search controls to locate the July 1 change, then open the affected department.
  7. Open the shared Activity history clock beside the page actions. Identify the person who recorded the change, the recorded time, and the separate July 1 effective date.

Run Department Hierarchy for each date to retain a comparison. Moving the department does not transfer its positions to another department. Review inherited access, approvers, and financial classifications before using a similar reorganization outside practice.

Organize a job classification

  1. Open Settings > Job catalog. Create a Job function named Practice Patient Services, a Job family named Practice Coordination under it, and a Job subfamily named Practice Scheduling under that family.
  2. Create Practice Coordinator in Practice Scheduling, starting January 1, 2027. Leave its optional external ID blank, or use an unused practice ID if your organization requires one.
  3. Switch between Flat list and Job catalog tree. Use Collapse all, then search for Practice Coordinator and confirm it can still be found inside a collapsed group.
  4. Open the classification’s Job group tab and choose Add change. Change its primary group to Practice Coordination from July 1, 2027, then save.
  5. Compare June 30 and July 1. The same classification should have the earlier subfamily on one date and the later family on the other.
  6. Run Job Classification Catalog for each date. Expect one classification row with its applicable group context, rather than a new classification created by the move.

You can use fewer group levels in a real catalog. Only the classification is selected on a position; the groups organize it.

Check direct and inherited department availability

  1. Open the Practice Coordination job family and its department availability. Make it available to Practice Services from July 1, 2027. This is the family that Practice Coordinator joins on July 1.
  2. On Practice Coordinator’s Department availability, choose Add change and give it a direct selection of Practice Clinic from July 1.
  3. Review Eligible Departments. Practice Clinic can now be covered directly and through its parent Practice Services. Read each Source rule line and distinguish Direct from Inherited.
  4. On Practice Coordinator’s Department availability, record a change from August 1, 2027 removing the direct Practice Clinic selection. Confirm that Practice Clinic remains eligible through Practice Coordination’s inherited rule on that date.
  5. Open a new position form for Practice Clinic on a covered date. Confirm Practice Coordinator is offered. Cancel the form without saving a duplicate position.
  6. Try Practice Operations, which is outside those rules. The classification should not be offered there. Return to the intended department and date.

When a choice remains available after removing one selection, inspect every contributing source before adding or removing more rules. A reporting filter can show Historical use for a previously used classification without making it available for a new position.

Correct an entry and retire a choice

Use Practice Coordinator’s separate Availability tab to avoid changing the department selections above. Add an unavailable entry from September 2, 2027, then use that row’s Correct entry to correct the intended date to September 1, 2027. Compare August 31 and September 1 and inspect Activity history. Treat this unavailable entry as a practice mistake: use Void entry when offered, then confirm the previous available value applies again. The first entry cannot always be voided, which is why this exercise uses a later entry.

For a real retirement, add a future unavailable value through Availability. Review current and future use before saving. Earlier records should retain the classification or department they used; an unavailable choice should no longer be offered for new work on that date. Restore future availability only if the choice should become available again.

Add financial classifications when included

In Workforce Budgeting, follow Department financial classifications to create the account parts Fund and Cost center, values 100 and 420, and a complete GL string. Assign it to Practice Services from July 1, 2027. Review Practice Clinic on July 1 and confirm that it inherits this value through its new parent. Create a second Cost center value, 430, and combine it with Fund 100. Assign that different GL string directly to Practice Clinic from August 1, 2027, then compare July 31 with August 1.

Open each department’s Details > GL string for those dates and explain which value is direct and which is inherited. Keep classification and budget separate: a valid GL string supplies account information, while a labor budget rate supplies the money used in calculations. Position Control learners skip this financial exercise.

Finish and repeat

Keep the practice records and their history for later reports. Make unused practice choices unavailable only after checking their future use. Repeat with a new reserved name and new dates; do not delete recorded history or rename an old choice to give it a different meaning. Explain one hierarchy change, one group change, and one availability change using both the dated view and Activity history.