Estimate Builder Overview

The Builder subtab contains the Estimate Builder component, which enables you to build your estimate using estimate products, line sets, tasks, and role requests.

Note:
  • You must have the appropriate permissions for the fields to display in the Estimate Builder component. Contact your administrator.
  • To view a record's details in a new tab, on the row of a record, click View Additional Actions then View Details.
  • To export the Work Breakdown and Hours Breakdown views of the Estimate Builder to a CSV file, click Export to CSV File in the toolbar. Only the data in the expanded rows of the Builder are included in the CSV file. For more information, see Estimate Builder Lightning Component Properties.

Hierarchy of Estimate Records

Records on an estimate employ the following hierarchy:

  1. Estimate Products
  2. Line Sets
  3. Tasks
  4. Role Requests

Each record can exist alone, but they will always exist in the outlined hierarchy if the records are related to each other. Any changes to records will have an effect on their parent and child records. If a parent record is deleted, its child records will also be deleted.

Tip:

You can reorder and reparent records by dragging and dropping the rows. However, the new location of the records must still respect the hierarchy, and records can't be moved into or out of estimate products.

Customizing the Estimate Builder

You can customize the Builder in the following ways:

  • Right-click a column header to show a menu with options to hide columns.
  • Use drag-and-drop to reorder columns.
  • Use Drag and Drop to reorder rows.
  • Use the fill handle to copy cell values by clicking and dragging one or more cells and dropping them into other cells.
Tip:

You can also copy and paste specific cells by right-clicking the cell, then click Copy Cells, Cut Cells, or Paste. Keyboard shortcuts are also available to use when copying or pasting cells. For more information, see Estimate Builder Keyboard Shortcuts.

Note:

You cannot use the fill handle in the following scenarios:

  • When dragging cell values from the Discounted Bill Rate column
  • When dragging cell values from the Bill Rate and Discount (%) columns simultaneously
  • When cells are read-only
  • When dragging across different record types
  • When dragging horizontally in the Work Breakdown view
  • When dragging horizontally in the Name and Total Hours columns in the Hours Breakdown view

Your customizations are only applied for your user and are retained if you use the same browser on the same device. Your scroll position and collapsed state of estimate records are also retained for your most recently viewed estimate, provided you only have one estimate open.

Expanding or Contracting the Estimate Builder

The Estimate Builder can be viewed in full-screen by clicking Expand. To return the Builder to its original size, click Contract.

Using Fill Handle on Start and End Dates

The following rules apply when changing or amending record dates in a hierarchy:

  • The end date cannot occur before the start date
  • Child start and end dates cannot be set outside of parent start and end dates if the Automatically Adjust Dates custom setting is set to true
  • Changing a start date adjusts the corresponding end date to maintain the same duration
Note:

You cannot use the fill handle to drag more than one start and end date.

Moving Dates in the Estimate Builder

When you change the start or end dates of parent or child records, the system adjusts related records to maintain data integrity. The following rules explain how these date changes affect the entire record structure.

Forward:

  • The child record's end date moves forward to match, keeping the duration the same.
  • The parent record's start date is not affected.
  • The parent record's end date will be affected only if the child's new end date extends beyond the parent's current end date. In this case, the parent's end date will update to match the new, later child end date.
Note:

If you subsequently move the child's end date backward, the parent's end date will not follow suit. A discrepancy will exist between the child and parent end dates.

Backward:

  • The child record's end date moves backward to match, keeping the duration the same.
  • If the parent's start date previously matched the child's, the parent's start date also moves backward. The parent's end date remains unchanged, which increases the parent's duration.
  • If the parent's start date was before the child's, and the new child start date is still after or the same as the parent's start date, the parent's start date remains unaffected.

Forward:

  • The parent record's end date moves forward to match, keeping the duration the same.
  • All child records' start dates and end dates move forward to maintain the data structure and their durations.

Backward:

  • The parent record's end date moves backward to match, keeping the duration the same.
  • All child records' start dates and end dates move backward to maintain the data structure and their durations.

Forward:

  • The child record's start date remains the same, increasing its duration.
  • The parent record's end date will only move forward if the child's new end date extends beyond the parent's current end date. The parent's duration will also increase.
  • If the parent's end date is already after the child's, and the child's new end date is still on or before the parent's, the parent's end date remains unchanged.

Backward:

  • The child record's start date remains the same, decreasing its duration.
  • The parent record's end date is not affected.

Forward:

  • The parent record's start date remains the same, increasing its duration.
  • The children records' end dates are not affected.

Backward:

  • The parent record's start date remains the same, decreasing its duration.
  • The children records' end dates are not affected.
Notes:
  • You cannot set a parent record's end date that is earlier than any of its child records' end dates.
  • These date adjustment rules apply when the Automatically Adjust Estimate Dates custom setting is enabled. If you disable this setting, the system will not automatically update related start and end dates. You will need to manually change all dates for both parent and child records.

Using Dated Resource Rates

When using dated resource rates in the Estimate Builder, consider the following:

  • When you move a role request that has a dated resource bill rate from a Time and Materials estimate product into a fixed price estimate product, the Use Dated Resource Bill Rates checkbox is automatically deselected. This is because Fixed Price estimate products are not compatible with variable, time-based rates.
  • If a role request uses dated resource bill rates, discounts cannot be applied to the role request, any associated record, or the related estimate.
  • Dated resource bill rates can only be used with the default Time and Materials pricing method. They are not compatible with Cost Plus or custom pricing methods. Dated resource cost rates can be used with any estimate pricing method.
  • You cannot apply rate overrides or rate uplifts to role requests that use dated resource bill rates.
  • When dated resource rates are applied to an estimate, the Bill Rate Card and Cost Rate Cards fields are read-only.

Using Full-Time Equivalent (%)

You can update the full-time equivalent (%) of a role request in the Hours Breakdown and Work Breakdown views of the Estimate Builder. A work calendar is required on a role request to edit the FTE (%) field. You must use either FTE (%) or the Hours Multiplier to calculate the hours of a role request. If you want to use FTE (%), set the value in the Hours Multiplier column of the associated estimate product to 1. If you want to use the Hours Multiplier, the FTE (%) field is read only.

If you have multiple work calendars associated with a role request, you can change the value of the Default Work Calendar Hierarchy configuration setting in PSA. For more information, see Resource Settings.

You can choose whether to prioritize full-time equivalent or hours when calculating hours on a role request. You can do this by selecting an option from the Scheduling Strategy field on the Details tab of an estimate.

If hours can't be calculated using full-time equivalent, the default spread of hours is used.

Note:

Full-time equivalent can't be calculated if:

  • There is no work calendar associated with the role request.
  • There is no start or end date on the role request.
  • There are no available hours on the role request's work calendar.
Tip:

We recommend giving the same permissions to all users using full-time equivalent. This is to prevent FTE (%) from getting out of sync. For example, if a user without adequate permissions changed a value that affected the full-time equivalent value, this change would not be reflected in the FTE (%) field. This means that users with the correct permission would then see inaccurate data.

Warning:

In some cases, full-time equivalent or hours can be calculated to be a recurring decimal number. When saving recurring decimal values, some detail is lost due to the way decimals are saved on the Salesforce platform. Making subsequent changes to the hours, full-time equivalent, or recalculating the schedules using the Recalculate Hours action, can result in full-time equivalent and Hours being modified. These changes will be reflected as unsaved changes in the Estimate Builder.

For example, if a role request with a duration of two weeks has 72 available hours (due to having a single day holiday) and the total hours of the request is set to 40, the full-time equivalent will be calculated as 40 / 72 = 55.555555555%.

Allocation (%)

This feature provides visibility into both the planned (Target) and realized (Actual) percentage-based allocation of work or hours for individual role requests on your estimate. When applying hours at the Estimate Product Instance level, the Target Allocation (%) on templates automatically splits the EPI hours across the respective roles.

The allocation percentage is a metric that compares the hours for an individual role request to the total hours of the associated estimate product.

  • The Target Allocation (%) represents the planned or desired percentage of hours for the role.
  • The Actual Allocation (%) is the currently calculated percentage based on the split of hours of the estimate.

The visibility of the two columns is determined by the estimate type. The Target Allocation (%) column is displayed on a template estimate and the Actual Allocation (%) column is displayed on any non-template estimate. If this feature is enabled, one of these columns will always be displayed. Both columns are not shown simultaneously.

The target allocation value, shown on the template, can be manually set by a user. The actual allocation value, shown on non-template estimates, is read-only as it is automatically calculated and updated by the hours on the role requests in the estimate.

There are indicators to highlight if the actual allocation is above or below the target allocation. This enables users to immediately identify and address any significant deviations. No indicators are displayed when the target and actual allocation match.

When no target allocation is set on a template, but the feature is enabled, editing hours at Estimate Product level is disabled.

When deleting a role request from a product using Allocation, the actual Allocation will stay as 100%.

Example:

When deleting a role request on a product using the Allocation feature, the following is expected:

Before deleting a role request from an estimate product:
Estimate Product Role Request Hours Allocation
Product One   300 100%
  Consultant 150 50%
  Trainer 150 50%
After deleting a role request from an estimate product:
Estimate Product Role Request Hours Allocation
Product One   150 100%
  Consultant 150 100%
Notes:
  • Both allocation percentage fields work seamlessly with copy, paste, and the fill handle.
  • This feature is disabled by default.
  • This feature does not support using multiple templates on one estimate product.
  • You can edit both the target allocation and hours on an estimate template, but these values do not affect one another.
Warning:

When using this feature alongside other calculation tools, specifically the Hours Multiplier, Calculating Hours, and the delete role requests feature, you cannot edit the hours on the Estimate Product Item (EPI). This restriction ensures data integrity when multiple calculation methods are in play.

You can set the hours for an estimate product in Guided Scoping. The hours of all role requests on the estimate product in a scoping session will be distributed according to the Target Allocation as defined on an estimate template. For more information, see Guided Scoping Overview.

Filtering Records in the Estimate Builder

The Estimate Builder includes a Filters panel that enables you to quickly narrow down and focus on specific data in your estimate. This provides you greater control and visibility, helping you analyze estimate details without having to scroll through large amounts of data. All filters are applied at the role request level, and they are displayed alongside their related parent records.

Applied filters are effective across both the Work Breakdown and Hours Breakdown views. Your selected filter values persist on the panel and keep the grid filtered when switching views or refreshing. Filters are only cleared on a full page reload.

Notes:
  • The Undo and Redo buttons are disabled in the Estimate Builder when a filter is applied.

  • To filter by any custom field or the fields listed below, contact your administrator to add them to the Estimate Builder Filter Panel Fields field set:

    • Discount (%)
    • Estimate Line Set
    • Estimate Product
    • External Resource
    • Task

For more information, see Filtering Records in the Estimate Builder.

Lookup Filters in the Estimate Builder

Your administrator can configure lookup filters to help refine results displayed in columns in the Estimate Builder. For more information about configuring lookup filters, see the Salesforce Help.

To use this feature, you must be assigned the View Setup and Configuration permission. For more information, contact your administrator.

Warning:

The following is not supported:

  • Operators other than 'AND'
  • Current User objects such as User, User Profile and User Role
  • Fill handle
  • Copy and paste
  • Any filter referencing a Current Record field that is not available as a column in the Estimate Builder
  • Filter criteria that include the Current Record and a value