Plan and Control Costs, Budget, Benefit, Revenues

Master Data

Information

• In order for costs and budgets to be planned and calculated in PLANTA project, different cost basic data (master data) must be created in the PLANTA software upfront (in addition to general master data like persons, users, resources, which are generally essential for software operation, etc.)
• Cost master data include:
  • conversion factors
  • cost types
  • cost type groups
  • cost centers
  • cost and revenue resources

Details

• Conversion factors are required for the calculation of costs and revenues. As a result, the resource effort (load) is converted into monetary values.
  • Conversion factors are created in the Conversion Factors module and are
  • assigned to resources in the Resource Date Sheet module and/or
  • assigned to cost types in the Cost Types module.
    • The conversion factors of the resources entered in the Resource Data Sheet or Cost Types modules are immediately used for cost calculation during scheduling (provided that the respective resources are planned in the project).
    • Please note: If, for a resource, one conversion factor is entered directly on the resource and one on the cost type of the resource, both conversion factors take effect additively when costs are calculated. See also "Calculation (Costs and Revenues)" section.
• Cost types serve to group costs for a more clear representation in planning and analysis modules.
  • Cost types are created in the Cost Types module and are
  • assigned to resources in the Resource Date Sheet module.
    • The cost type entered in the Resource Data Sheet module is a default cost type of the resource. It is copied to the resource assignment record when a resource is assigned to a task but can be changed on the resource assignment. Hence, the cost type on the resource assignment can deviate from the default cost type of the resource.
    • During the generation of load records, the cost type of the resource assignment (caution: not the default cost type of the resource) is written on the individual load records. The cost type can be changed retroactively per load record. The cost type on the load is the one which is eventually used for the subdivision of costs into cost type groups.
• Cost type groups are additionally required in order to summarize cost types in larger groups. In PLANTA project standard, budget, cost, and effort planning and analysis are carried out in many user modules (e.g. in the Budget module) on the basis of cost type groups. Cost type groups are
  • created in the Cost Type Groups module and
  • assigned to cost types in the Cost Types module.
• Cost centers are neither required for calculation nor for a display of the costs but are used for cost analysis anyway (see the Reporting chapter) as well as for Rights Management. Cost centers are
  • created in the Cost Centers module and
  • assigned to resources in the Resource Date Sheet module. 
  • assigned to the planning objects in the respective core data modules (Project Core Data, Proposal Core Data, Idea Core Data, Program Core Data).
• Cost and revenue resources are resources which are exclusively used for cost planning or revenue planning
  • Cost and revenue resources are resources which are not used for capacity planning but only serve to assign costs/revenues to tasks. Therefore, material costs, lease costs, external services, or sales revenues can be entered directly for the respective tasks.

Planning

• Costs and Revenues
  • PLANTA project distinguishes between initially planned costs/revenues (planned costs/revenues), actually incurred costs/revenues (actual costs/revenues), and remaining costs/revenues (remaining costs/revenues).
  • There are two modules for cost planning and management: Schedule and Budget, whereas each of the modules provides a substantially different view on costs and revenues. 
    • In the Schedule module, costs are mapped by project structure, i.e. per level: project, task, resource assignment, load. A certain knowledge of these planning types is relevant for the following descriptions.
    • In the Budget module, costs are displayed grouped by cost type groups.

• • In cost and revenue planning you can choose between two options: automatic or manual. The options can be selected via the settings of a model parameter. In PLANTA Standard, automatic cost calculation is preset.
    • Automatic option: Here, resources and their effort are planned in the Schedule module. Resources, on the other hand, have conversion factors (defined in master data) for the monetary conversion of effort. If you calculate the schedule of a project in the Schedule module, the effort planned on resources is converted to costs on the basis of the conversion factors and subsequently they are displayed in the Schedule and and Budget modules. See the Berechnung section.
      • Besides person resources, the costs of which are converted via the planned effort, PLANTA project also provides special cost and revenue resources which can be used to directly record costs or revenues on the tasks. Since such resources always use conversion factor 1, the effort allocated to these resources is also their respective costs or revenues.
    • Manual option: The input of costs (planned costs) and their adjustment as the project advances (remaining costs) are done manually in the Budget module.
  • Actual costs and revenues
    • In the "automatic" option, actual costs and revenues are calculated based on the hours worked of the person resources recorded in the Time Recording module. Since costs and revenueshave no hours worked, there are special modules (Post Costs and Post Revenues) in which actual costs or revenues can be recorded manually.
    • In the manual option, all actual costs and revenues are recorded manually in the Budget module.

• Budget
  • Budget is only planned in the Budget module. Since the Budget module also shows costs, they can be used as a basis for budget planning. In budget, requested and approved values are distinguished.
• Benefit
  • In the Project Core Data module, both planned and actual (achieved) benefit values are recorded manually per year. They are also displayed in the Budget module, in which the value summarized across all years is displayed in addition.

Notes

• The % allocation of budgets and costs to cost centers (DT819 Project/cost center) in the Project Core Data is not part of the actual cost and budget planning. Primarily, they serve to allocate costs when exporting to ERP systems.
• The % allocation of budgets and costs to systems (DT819 Project/systems) in the Project Core Data is not part of the actual cost and budget planning.

Calculation

Requirements

• In order for costs in PLANTA project to be calculated automatically, the following settings must be made in the Model and Model Parameters module:
  • Deactivate the manual cost input parameter
  • Set the Schedule calc. with costs parameter to "1".

Information

• If the above mentioned settings are made, costs and revenues are taken into account when calculating the schedule of a project (by clicking on the calculation button in the toolbar) or when replanning costs and revenues.
• Costs and revenues are calculated on the basis of the planned effort of the resources and their conversion factors. The calculated values are saved at the lowest planning level (load level). The values stored here are the basis on which values are summarized
  • to resource assignment (DT466), task (DT463), and project (DT461) level on one hand. This type of summarization takes place as part of the calculation of the schedule of a project.
  • to cost types and cost type groups on the other hand. This type of summarization is carried out by another mechanism (cost calculation and budget calculation) which runs after schedule calculation and can even be initiated independent of schedule calculation. For further information, please refer to the Overview: Calculation and Summarization Matrix chapter.

Calculation of the cost values at load level in schedule calculation

Summarization and Display of the Values at Different Project Levels

Costs and Revenues

Information

• The cost and revenue values calculated at load level are processed as follows:
  • In the Schedule module
    • Summarization
      • The cost and revenue values calculated at load level on a daily basis are summarized to the corresponding resource assignment; the values of all resources assigned to a task are summarized to the corresponding task and the values of all tasks are summarized to the project. As a result, costs and revenues are saved in the same columns at the two lowest levels (cost column) and at the task and project levels they are saved in different columns (costs in cost columns and revenues in revenue columns).
      • Additionally, cost and revenue values are summarized along the project structure (if there is one), from lowest subproject via further subprojects to main project level.
    • Layout objects
      • At load and resource assignment level, both costs and revenues are displayed. Resource type and name tell you whether they are costs or revenues.
      • At task and project level, only costs are displayed, however, they are hidden by default and must be unhidden by the user if required. Revenues (revenue columns) are not contained in the Schedule module at these levels by default. However, they can be incorporated in the customizing if necessary.

• • In the Budget module
    • Summarization
      • The cost values calculated at load level are summarized to the corresponding cost type group based on the cost type of the load records with time reference (per year). They will then be further summarized to the cost type groups across all years and subsequently across all cost types to the total value in the project.
        • The summarization of costs to cost type groups and their display in the Budget module is based on the cost type of the load records.
      • The revenue values calculated at load level are summarized to individual years.
      • Additionally, cost values are summarized along the project structure, from the lowest subproject via further subprojects to main project level.
    • Layout objects
      • Costs and revenues are displayed independent of one another.
      • Both costs and revenues have a total level and a yearly level.
        • At each of these levels, costs are displayed per cost type group; for revenues there is no division into cost type groups.
      • Both cost and revenue columns are contained twice in the Budget module: once for the values of the individual projects and once for the values of the project structure (project + all of its subprojects).
        • From the existence/non-existence of the addition ((w/o SP) = without subprojects) next to the column heading you can see whether they are values of the individual project or the values of the whole project structure.

Notes

• The project cost values in the Schedule and Budget modules usually coincide.
• If certain values in the Schedule deviate from those in the Budget module, this may have the following reasons:
  • The master data was not created or changed correctly, e.g. if a cost type group was deactivated after costs have been posted for it but the corresponding cost types were not put on.
  • The MAN load profile is used incorrectly for one or more planned resources. Further information

Budget

Information

• In PLANTA project, project budgeting is only carried out in the Budget module.

Benefit

Information

• The Planned benefit and Achieved benefit values are summarized from the Project Core Data module to the Budget module to the Benefits and Revenues area. In the Budget module, the benefit values cannot be edited.

Overview: Calculation and Summarization Matrix

Information

• In the first table below you will find a list of the use of different calculation functions which can be effected via the respective module buttons or menu items in different user modules. In the second table, the calculation functions are explained in more detail.

Explanations of individual calculation types :

Reports and Analyses

Information

• You will find analysis data on budget, costs, and revenues
  • per project in the
    • Cost Reports
    • Dashboard (in the Deviations section)
    • Info Board
    • Cost Trend Analysis
  • across projects
    • in the modules of the Cost Overviews module panel