Financial Assignments
This article shows how to add and modify financial forecasts and actuals for all projects in the current data set, and how to post labor financials to the Financial Assignments page.
Description
Financial Assignments Overview
Non-labor and labor costs come from different pages:
- Non-labor financial assignments are created on the financial Assignments page. (Refer to the section below: Add a non-labor financial assignment)
- Labor financial assignments are derived from labor assignments by using labor rates tables or rate data. (Refer to the section below: Post Labor Costs)
Financial Assignment Page Locations
There are two financial assignment page locations:
- the global Financial Assignments page where the financial assignments of all projects in the current data load are present
- Project workspace Financial Assignment page where the financial assignments of the single workspace page are present
The descriptions and guidelines in this article apply to both pages with one exception: Post Labor Cost is available only on the project workspace Financial Assignment page.
Display Financial Data
Financials can be displayed on the Financials Rollup page and in custom reports developed in the ResourceFirst-QlikView environment.
Labor cost can be displayed on the Labor Assignments page using the data type drop-down at the right of the page toolbar.
Features on the Financial Assignment page
From left to right along the grey ribbon near the top of the page:
- “+” – create a new financial assignment.
- Copy – copy the selected financial assignment row(s) to the same or a different project.
- Trash – select the row(s) to delete.
- Post Labor Cost – on the project workspace financial page, create calculated labor financial assignments using labor forecast and the labor rates defined in the environment.
- Add to Scenario – add the selected assignment rows to a scenario.
- Show Project Schedule – show a GANTT bar above the period data columns for the project on the selected assignment row.
- Filter icon:
- Custom Filter – define a custom filter for the page.
- Clear all Filters – remove all filters on the page.
- Filter Zero Rows – show only rows with period data values in the current date range.
- Hide empty rows
- Filter on Unsaved Changes – show only rows that have been changed since the last Save.
- View selection drop down – use this to select the view you would like to use.
- Edit Views icon – add, remove, or re-order the columns in your view and create new views.
- Save – save your changes
- Import – import from a .csv file.
- Export – create an export .csv
- Forecast/Actual/Actual-Forecast – change the values displayed on the page.
- Actual financials can be entered or imported and saved when Actual is selected.
[NOTE: In current versions of ResourceFirst there is no distinction between actual and forecast values in the grid. You can identify the range of actual values only by displaying actuals and observing the populated date periods.]
[Note: “Revenue” items are excluded from totals on the Financial Assignments page.]
Tips & Tricks for Financial Assignments
- The Get Data Filter reveals the financial assignment data in the timeframe that you filter for. (For more on using the Get Data Filter, refer to: Setting Global Filters and Date Parameters)
- Important Note: The financial date range is independent of the labor date range used in Labor Assignments. You can be working with Week or Month granularity on skill or resource assignments and with Quarter or Year granularity on financial pages.
- Rights: Access to financial assignment data is driven by being granted with the appropriate rights which permit you to add, modify, and delete financial assignments. (For more on Rights, refer to: Administering Rights and Privileges)
- To Post Labor Costs, go to the project’s workspace>Financial tab to do this.
- You can import financial forecasts and actuals from a .csv file. Copy-Paste to a range of cells is on the roadmap. (For more on Importing, refer to: Export and Import Data)
- IMPORTANT: For all rates entered in ResourceFirst, a zero (“0”) in the field counts as a rate. Be careful to leave the rate blank if you do not want a zero rate to override any other rates for the item.
How To
Access the financial assignment page
Step 1: Click the “$” icon at the middle of the left icon group of the blue toolbar.
Users who do not have financial rights, will not see the “$” icon.
(See your ResourceFirst administrator.)
Access the individual project workspace financial assignment page
Step 1: On any page with the project name field, click a project name cell.
This drills down to the workspace of the selected project.
Step 2: Click the workspace Financials tab.
Create a financial assignment
Step 1: Click the “+” icon at left of toolbar.
Step 2: Make selections in the Add Financial Assignment dialog.
Select the project.
Select the organization (OBS) node responsible for this financial item.
Select 1 or more financial items to assign.
Step 3: Click the Add or Add & Close button.
Add creates the assignment row(s) on the financial page, but
leaves the dialog open for creating more assignments.
Add & Close executes the add and closes the dialog.
Step 4: Enter the period financial forecasts.
Be sure that the value type at the far right of the page toolbar is set to Forecast.
Copy financial assignments
Step 1: Select any cell in the assignment rows to be copied EXCEPT the project name cell.
Click in the project name cell to drill down to the project workspace.
Step 2: Select the destination project and click the Copy button.
The Copy operation creates new assignment rows for the source copy rows; it does NOT add period data values if there is an identical existing assignment.
Delete a financial assignment
Step 1: Select any assignment rows to be deleted.
Step 2: Click the trash can icon toward the left of the page toolbar.
Post Labor Cost
Step 1: Drill down to the workspace of the specific project.
Click the project name cell in any row referencing the project.
Step 2: Click the Post Labor Cost button toward the left of the page toolbar.
Step 3: Select a start date for calculating labor cost and click the Post button.
See section Post Labor Cost Description below.
Add to Scenario
Step 1: Select any assignment rows you want to add to a scenario.
Step 2: Click the Add to Scenario button toward the left of the page toolbar.
Step 3: Select the destination scenario in the Scenario dialog.
Step 4: Click the Add button at the bottom right of the dialog.
Show Project GANTT Bar
Step 1: Select any assignment row.
Step 2: Click the Options icon at the right of the left group of icons on the page toolbar.
Step 3: Check the Show Project Schedule checkbox.
Display/Modify Forecast/Actual/Actual-Forecast
Step 1: Select the value type you want to display and/or modify.
[NOTE: Enter actuals in Actual mode, forecasts in Forecast mode.]
[NOTE: In current versions of ResourceFirst there is no distinction between actual and forecast values in the grid when displaying Actual-Forecast. You can identify the range of actual values only by displaying actuals and observing the populated date periods.]
Manage Financial Page Filters
See XXXXX
Select / Edit View
See XXXXX.
Save
See XXXXX.
Import / Export
Financial forecasts and actuals can be exported and imported.
Import Financial Forecasts or Actuals from a Corporate Financial System
ResourceFirst can import financial forecasts or actuals from most external corporate financial systems. Contact your PDWare representative about creating an automated interface that loads financial forecasts and actuals from the external financial system.
Post Labor Cost Description
This feature is currently available only on the project workspace Financial page.
Post Labor Cost calculates labor cost by applying the labor rate table to forecast level of effort on all skill and resource assignments. The built-in functionality posts only forecast.
If posting of actuals is desired, contact your PDWare representative for options.
For more on labor rates and cost calculations, see Understanding Labor Rates.