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.

Project costs are an exception. They are always included based on the value in their Recognition Method field, whether or not you use the integration with Revenue Management. For more information, see Project Cost.

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 must meet the following criteria to be included:

• The Type field in the Time Period lookup must have a value of Month.
• The time period set on the EVA must fall between the project start and end date, or overlap one of those dates.

• Depending on whether you are using static or dated resource cost rates, the assignment relating to the EVA records must meet one of the following criteria:

  • When using static cost rates, the Cost Rate field must not be zero or null.
  • When using dated resource cost rates, the Use Dated Resource Cost Rates checkbox must be selected, and a cost rate card must be specified.

Note:

If Use Dated Resource Cost Rates is selected on an assignment, dated resource cost rates are used to calculate the record's cost. Any custom cost rate fields on the active services forecast setup record, and static cost rate fields on the record, are ignored. For more information about dated resource rates, see Dated Resource Rates Overview.

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 Cost Rate is Daily Rate checkbox is deselected)
• Estimated Days - Actual Days (if the 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 * Cost Rate

When using static rates, the cost rate used is the value in the Cost Rate Amount field on the assignment record. When using dated resource cost rates, the scheduled costs are calculated using the dated resource cost rates associated with the cost rate card that is linked to the assignment. For more information about rate cards, see Rate Cards Overview.

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 using static rates, PSA uses the Cost Rate Amount field on assignment records 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 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 Amount 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 services 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 services 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.

Project costs records that meet the following criteria are included:

• The project cost's Recognition Method field is set to "Deliverable".
• The project cost is associated with a project.
• The project cost has an end date that falls within the associated project's start and end dates.

Note:

Project costs are always included based on the value in their Recognition Method field, whether or not you use the integration with Revenue Management.

A deliverable project cost is forecasted based on its end date. The Approved for Forecast Actuals checkbox on the cost project record determines whether the cost amount contributes to actuals or scheduled costs, as follows:

• If the Approved for Forecast Actuals checkbox is selected, the cost is considered an actual cost and contributes to the Costs Pending Recognition field on the cost forecast for the monthly time period that contains the end date, whether that date is in the past or future.
• If the checkbox is deselected, the cost is considered a scheduled cost and contributes to the Scheduled Costs field. If the monthly time period the cost contributes to is closed for forecasting, the scheduled cost is lost. The amount is recorded as an unfulfilled scheduled cost and contributes to the Unfulfilled Scheduled Costs field.

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

• The value in the Cost Category field represents the cost category on the related project cost records. A separate cost forecast type record is generated for each cost category. For project costs with no cost category, the Cost Category field on the cost forecast type record is set to "Other Cost".
• The Cost Source field is set to "Deliverable: Project Cost".
• The Costs Pending Recognition field contains the sum of the values in the Amount field for all related project cost records that contribute to actuals for a specific cost category within a given month.
• The Scheduled Costs field contains the sum of the values in the Amount field for all related project cost records that contribute to scheduled costs for a specific cost category within a given month.
• The Cost Type field is set to "Actuals" for related project records where the Approved for Forecast Actuals checkbox is selected. It is set to "Forecast" for project records where the Approved for Forecast Actuals checkbox is deselected.

For more information about the fields on a project cost record, see Project Cost Fields. For more information about the fields on a cost forecast type record, see Cost Forecast Type Fields.

Identifying the Currency

The currency on the project cost record is used. If the project cost currency differs from the project currency, the cost is converted to the project currency using the exchange rate for the project cost's end date.

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

Costs on resource requests are calculated in the same way as revenue, but a single cost rate field is used instead of multiple bill rate fields when using static rates. 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.

When using dated resource cost rates, costs are calculated using the dated resource cost rates associated with the cost rate card that is linked to the resource request. For more information about rate cards, see Rate Cards Overview.

Note:

If Use Dated Resource Cost Rates is selected on a resource request, dated resource cost rates are used to calculate the record's cost. Any custom cost rate fields on the active services forecast setup record, and static cost rate fields on the record, are ignored. For more information about dated resource rates, see Dated Resource Rates Overview.

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: this is different depending on whether you are calculating resource request costs on an opportunity or project:

  • For opportunities, the cost source is Opportunity.
  • For projects, the cost source is Deliverable: Resource Request.
• Cost Type: Forecast.

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

For projects, 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 must meet the following criteria to be included in cost forecast calculations:

• The resource request must overlap with the project.

• Depending on whether you are using static or dated resource cost rates, the resource request must meet one of the following criteria:

  • When using static cost rates, the Average Cost Rate Number field must not be zero or null.
  • When using dated resource cost rates, the Use Dated Resource Cost Rates checkbox must be selected, and a cost rate card must be specified.

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

When using static rates, the cost rate used is the value in the Average Cost Rate Number field on the resource request. When using dated resource cost rates, the dated resource cost rates in effect across the resource request's date range are applied and the amounts calculated for each applicable rate are then summed.

Example:

A resource request has 35 requested hours and its date range spans seven days. The hours are spread equally across the seven days (5 hours per day). On the fourth day, the cost rate increases from $50 to $75. The cost amount is therefore calculated as: ($50 * 15) + ($75 * 20) = $2,250.

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.

If probability from opportunities is included (the Exclude Probability from Opportunities field is deselected on the active services forecast setup record), the monthly costs for each resource request are calculated in the following way:

Average Hours per Day * Number of Days in the Month * Cost Rate * (Opportunity Probability / 100)

Records with an Associated Schedule

For resource requests with an associated schedule, records must meet the following criteria to be included in cost forecast calculations:

• The Preferred Schedule field must look up to a schedule showing hours.
• The resource request must overlap with the project.

• Depending on whether you are using static or dated resource cost rates, the resource request must meet one of the following criteria:

  • When using static cost rates, the Average Cost Rate Number field must not be zero or null.
  • When using dated resource cost rates, the Use Dated Resource Cost Rates checkbox must be selected, and a cost rate card must be specified.

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:

Number of Hours in the Month from Schedule * Cost Rate

When using static rates, the cost rate used is the value in the Average Cost Rate Number field on the resource request record. When using dated resource cost rates, the dated resource cost rates in effect on the working days set out in the schedule are applied. The amounts calculated for each applicable rate are then summed.

Example:

A resource request spans one week (Monday - Friday) with no schedule exceptions, and works 8 hours per day. On Wednesday, the cost rate increases from $100 to $120. The cost amount is therefore calculated as: ($100 * 16) + ($120 * 24) = $4,480.

For opportunities, if probability is included (the Exclude Probability from Opportunities is deselected on the active services forecast setup record), the monthly costs for each resource request are calculated in the following way:

Number of Hours in the Month from Schedule * Cost Rate * (Opportunity Probability / 100)

Notes

The following are excluded from project and opportunity forecast calculations:

• Hours that are within the date range of the project or opportunity but outside the resource request date range.
• Hours that are within the date range of the resource request but outside the project or opportunity 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 whether the resource request uses either static or dated resource cost rates. If the resource request currency differs from the project or opportunity currency, the total cost for each monthly time period is converted into the project or opportunity currency.

For unheld resource requests, the exchange rate from the day the forecast is run is used. For held resource requests, the exchange rate from the end date of each monthly time period is used.

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 or opportunity 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.