Deliverable Recognition Method for Cost Forecasting

If you are using the integration between PSA and Revenue Management, records looking up to a template in Revenue Management of type "Deliverable" that fall within the monthly time periods spanning the project duration are included, with the exception of unheld resource request records.

Tip:

To configure the template in Revenue Management, use the Actuals Recognition Template setting in the Revenue Management Settings custom setting. For more information, see Managing Custom Settings in the Revenue Management Help.

If you run a forecast after costs have been recognized, the costs are displayed in the Costs Recognized to Date field on the cost forecast record for the monthly time period that corresponds to the date the costs were recognized in Revenue Management.

If you are not using the integration between PSA and Revenue Management, Cost Forecasting looks at the Recognition Method field on a record, which must have a value of "Deliverable".

Includes scheduled hours for the resources assigned to the project, taking into account the hours and cost rates associated with those resources.

Assignments are forecasted using underlying EVA records. EVA records that meet the following criteria are included:

• The Type field in the Time Period lookup has a value of Month.
• The time period set on the EVA falls between the project start and end date, or overlaps one of those dates.
• For EVA records generated for assignments, the assignment record in the Assignment lookup has a value in the Cost Rate field that is not zero or null.

The fields on the cost forecast type records show the following:

• Cost Category: this depends on the related resource:

  • If the resource is internal, the cost category is Internal Cost.
  • If the resource is external, the cost category is External Cost.

  A separate cost forecast type record is generated for each cost category used.

• Cost Source: Deliverable: Assignment.
• Cost Type: Forecast.

For assignments, the following calculations are used to work out the number of scheduled hours or days:

• Estimated Hours - Actual Hours (if the Scheduled Cost Rate is Daily Rate checkbox is deselected)
• Estimated Days - Actual Days (if the Scheduled Cost Rate is Daily Rate checkbox is selected)

Notes:

If the value in the Actual Hours field is less than zero, it is treated as zero for the purposes of the calculation.

The currency in the Cost Rate Currency Code field on an assignment is used and is converted to the project currency if it differs from the project currency.

The following calculation is used to work out the scheduled costs:

Scheduled Hours or Scheduled Days * Scheduled Cost Rate

For held resource requests, Cost Forecasting calculations use the value in the Resource Request Hours field multiplied by the value in the Resource Request Cost Rate field.

The value in the Scheduled Costs field on each cost forecast type record is calculated using values taken from the monthly EVA records that fall within the same time period as the cost forecast.

For more information about the fields on an EVA record, see Estimates Versus Actuals Fields.

Tip:

To exclude EVA records that relate to specific assignments or resource requests from the forecast, you can set up PSA to exclude records that have the checkbox you nominate selected. EVA records generated for assignments and resource requests for use in fixed fee forecast calculations are unaffected. For more information, see Excluding Selected Assignments and Resource Requests (Deliverable and % Complete).

When calculating the costs for assignments, PSA uses the Cost Rate field on an assignment record by default.

If required, you can configure PSA to use the value in a different field on an assignment record instead of the default field. This affects the forecasts in the following way:

• Only EVA records containing a value or zero in the nominated field are included.

• The following calculation is used to work out the costs for a monthly time period:

  Total hours or days on the EVA record * Value in the nominated assignment field

For information on how to set up PSA to use a nominated field instead of the default Cost Rate field, see Specifying the Fields to Use Instead of Bill Rate on Assignments and Resource Requests (Deliverable).

Expense records that meet the following criteria are included:

• The Approved checkbox is selected.
• The value in the Expense Date field falls within a monthly time period of a cost forecast.

The Costs Pending Recognition field on each cost forecast type record contains the sum of the values in the Amount field for all expense records in a given month. The value in the Costs Pending Recognition field uses the project currency. For information on how the value is rounded, see Rounding.

The fields on the cost forecast type records show the following:

• Cost Category: this depends on the Resource field on the expense:

  • If there is no resource or the resource is internal, the cost category is Internal Cost.
  • If the resource is external, the cost category is External Cost.
• Cost Source: Deliverable: Expense.
• Cost Type: Actuals.

Tip:

If you do not want the Effective Date field on an expense record to determine the month in which expense costs are placed, you can create a custom field and add it to the Custom Date for Deliverable Expenses field on the revenue forecast setup record. For more information, see Determining the Month Deliverable Expense, Milestone, and Misc Adjustment Costs and Revenue are Added To.

For more information about the fields on an expense record, see Expense Entry Page Fields.

For completed milestones, milestone records that meet the following criteria are included:

• The Approved checkbox is selected.
• The value in the Actual Date field falls within a monthly time period of the cost forecast.

For scheduled milestones, milestone records that meet the following criteria are included:

• The Approved checkbox is deselected or the Actual Date field is blank.
• The value in the Target Date field falls within a monthly time period of the cost forecast.

The fields on the cost forecast type records show the following:

• Total Approved Costs: Contains the sum of the values in the Costs Recognized to Date and the Costs Pending Recognition fields for all completed milestone records in a given month.
• Scheduled Costs: Contains the sum of the values in the Milestone Cost field for all scheduled milestone records in a given month.
• Cost Category: If Log Milestone Cost as External is selected on the milestone record, the cost category is External Cost. Otherwise, the cost category is Internal Cost.
• Cost Source: Deliverable: Milestone.
• Cost Type: If the milestone is approved and has an actual date, the cost type is Actuals. Otherwise, the cost type is Forecast. For records with a cost type of Actuals, the value in the Milestone Cost field is added to the value in the Costs Pending Recognition field.

Tip:

If you do not want the Actual Date or Target Date fields on a milestone record to determine the month in which PSA places approved or scheduled milestone costs, you can create a custom field and add it to the Custom Date for Deliverable Milestones field on the revenue forecast setup record. This works in the same way as for Revenue Forecasting. For more information, see Determining the Month Deliverable Expense, Milestone, and Misc Adjustment Costs and Revenue are Added To.

For more information about the fields on a milestone record, see Milestone Fields.

Miscellaneous adjustment records that meet the following criteria are included:

• The value in the Effective Date field falls within a monthly time period of a cost forecast.

• The value in the Transaction Category field matches one of the following:

  • Internal Cost
  • External Cost
  • Expense Cost
  • Other Cost

The fields on the cost forecast type records show the following:

• Cost Category: matches the transaction category on the related miscellaneous adjustment records. A separate cost forecast type record is generated for each transaction category used.
• Costs Pending Recognition: contains the sum of the values in the Amount field for all related miscellaneous adjustment records within a given month.
• Cost Source: Deliverable: Misc Adjustment.
• Cost Type: Actuals for approved miscellaneous adjustment records and Forecast for unapproved miscellaneous adjustment records.

If a miscellaneous adjustment record is approved, the Costs Pending Recognition field on the cost forecast type record contains the sum of the values in the Amount field for all approved miscellaneous adjustment records in a given month.

If a miscellaneous adjustment record is not approved, the Scheduled Costs field on the cost forecast type record contains the sum of the values in the Amount field for all unapproved miscellaneous adjustment records in a given month and in any future months.

Note:

If the effective date on an approved miscellaneous adjustment record is in a future month, the costs are added to the current month.

For more information about the fields on a miscellaneous adjustment record, see Miscellaneous Adjustment Fields.

Costs on resource requests are calculated in the same way as revenue, except a single cost rate field is used, instead of multiple bill rate fields. The cost rate is the value in the Average Cost Rate Number field on the resource request record. For information on how revenue is calculated for resource requests, see Resource Request.

The fields on the cost forecast type records show the following:

• Cost Category: this depends on the Resource field on the resource request:

  • If there is no resource or the resource is internal, the cost category is Internal Cost.
  • If the resource is external, the cost category is External Cost.

• Cost Source: Deliverable: Resource Request.
• Cost Type: Forecast.

Costs for unheld resource requests are included in the Unscheduled Costs field on the cost forecast type record. For held resource requests, the costs are included in the Scheduled Costs field.

For information about the fields on a resource request record, see Resource Request Fields.

Records with No Associated Schedule

For resource requests without an associated schedule, records that meet the following criteria are included in cost forecast calculations:

• The value in the Average Cost Rate Number field is valid (greater than 0).
• The resource request overlaps with the project.

The costs for each resource request are calculated in the following way and added to the Unscheduled Costs field on the cost forecast record:

Average hours per day * Number of days in a month * Cost rate

The costs are split equally across the days that are within the resource request's date range (based on the resource request start and end date).

Records with an Associated Schedule

For resource requests with an associated schedule, records that meet the following criteria are included in cost forecast calculations:

• The Preferred Schedule field looks up to a schedule showing hours.
• The value in the Average Cost Rate Number field is valid (greater than 0).
• The resource request overlaps with the project.

The schedule determines how many hours there are within each monthly time period. The monthly costs for each resource request are calculated in the following way and added to the Scheduled Costs field on the cost forecast record:

Number of hours in the month from schedule * Cost rate

Notes

The following are excluded from project forecast calculations:

• Hours that are within the date range of the project but outside the resource request date range.
• Hours that are within the date range of the resource request but outside the project monthly time period.

Excluding Resource Request Records

You can configure Cost Forecasting to exclude specific records that have the checkbox you nominate selected. This works in the same way as for Revenue Forecasting. For more information, see Excluding Selected Assignments and Resource Requests (Deliverable and % Complete).

Identifying the Currency

The currency in the Average Cost Rate Currency Code field on a resource request is used. If the resource request currency differs from the project currency, the total cost for each monthly time period is converted into the project currency using the exchange rate from the day the forecast is run. Currency conversion is applied up to the end date of any associated resource request schedule. Any changes made to the resource request currency are not supported.

If the Average Cost Rate Currency Code field is blank, the project currency is used and no conversion is required.

For more information on currency conversions in Forecasting, see Exchange Rates.

Timecard split records that meet the following criteria are included:

• The value in the Status field matches one of the values displayed in the Timecard Statuses field on the Est Vs Actuals custom setting.
• The values in the Start Date and End Date fields fall within a monthly time period of a cost forecast.

The Costs Pending Recognition field on each cost forecast type record contains the sum of the values in the Total Cost field for all timecard split records in a given month. The value in the Costs Pending Recognition field uses the project currency. For information on how the value is rounded, see Rounding.

The time period uses the end date on the timecard split record. If the end date is outside the project time period, the record is excluded.

The fields on the cost forecast type records show the following:

• Cost Category: this depends on the related resource:

  • If the resource is internal, the cost category is Internal Cost.
  • If the resource is external, the cost category is External Cost.

  A separate cost forecast type record is generated for each cost category used.

• Cost Source: Deliverable: Timecard.
• Cost Type: Actuals.

Note:

The cost rate on an assignment associated with a timecard cannot be zero.

For more information about the fields on a timecard split record, see Timecard Split Fields.