Cost Management - Issues

[mkmatheis]

Hi there - 

I have three problems that I have run into and need some support finding workarounds:

1. The internal budget transfer does not let you enter the number of hours that you want to transfer; it only lets you enter a dollar amount. So, if I want to move hours from one labor cost code to another (as hours), I have to do the conversion (from one hourly rate to another) and then enter the dollar amount.

That seems like a simple formula reversal - but there is no customization or settings for the "internal budget transfer" dialog box.

There also isn't any helpful information in that box. When I want to move the hours (and when doing the conversion myself), I have to close the box to see the hourly rates because they come up as zeros.. And even when you want to enter information into the fields within the box, they just zero out and THEN populate when you enter the final value. 

2. I thought I could use some custom columns to find a workaround for this internal budget transfer issue.

I thought that if there was a custom column, I could enter the number of hours I wanted to deduct from one cost code, and then have a formula column do the math for the deduct. Then, in that same column, under the other cost code, I could enter the number of hours I want to add and have the same formula column do the math.

The only problem is I can't use a custom column because there isn't a custom column with editable fields. There are only custom columns with fixed values or are determined by other columns' values.

The only columns you can EDIT within the budget while in EDIT MODE are the as-sold values. Which I could replace, but then I would have to find a way to set the as-sold budget when I start a new job. 

3. With some outside help, I started to evaluate the option of using the "input" values.

The first issue with this option is that we have to edit those values within other modules (namely, the forecast module). Not that big of a deal, we can get around that. 

The second issue is that this will eliminate my potential option to use these to actually forecast the job.

This might work because I figured I could use the cost/time forecast as my forecast - but I can't do that because our standard schedule is set up based on the project's 30-60-90 phases. (Multiple departments must contribute to each milestone, so mechanical engineering tasks appear in each 30-60-90 milestone.)

And within the cost/task forecast module, I can't link multiple schedule line items to ONE cost code.

I can link many cost codes to one schedule line. But I can't do the opposite. Only one-third of the input time is forecasted if I operate under this method.

All I need is one EDITABLE column - that while in "edit mode", I can update the value. And can be used in other formula columns. I need to be able to use that number, multiply it by the hourly rate, and give a total. I need to be able to take the number of hours and compare it to the as-sold and provide me with variance. I need to be able to use that number throughout the budget. 

Is there any viable workaround for these issues? Can I re-purpose the as sold column? Can I find a way to make an input column work? How can I forecast using the schedule of I have multiple task lines within the schedule for one cost code? 

Thanks

[ian_turner]

Hi Marie, sorry for the late response. Do you have some training or support for your implementation?

1. Input qty is where you add the labor hrs. 

2. Here we create a budget transfer for 10k with 200 associated hrs

3. I added custom columns to the Budget overview to show orig input, transfer input and revised input hrs

2. You can use 'number' custom attributes in custom budget columns 

3. Would need some more explaining, I'll message you