Interactive Project Budget Worksheet Overview

Audience

The Advantage Interactive Project Budget Worksheet, while primarily designed for use by Project Managers, is available to anyone with responsibility for budgeting project labor and/or expenses.

Purpose

The Interactive Project Budget Worksheet (IPBW) is a modeling tool that you can use for running hypothetical budgeting scenarios. You view the effect on the total budget and budgeted profit as you enter the budget or percent complete for each labor code and expense account. The IPBW offers the full functionality of its predecessor, the standard Project Budget Worksheet. You can use it to:

•	Define budgets for your labor codes and/or expense accounts.

•	Enter cost and/or billing budgets for your labor and expense accounts.

•	Estimate percent completes for labor and expense accounts.

•	Enter budget summary information.

•	Recalculate the Project Budget Worksheet.

Analyzing the results of a "what-if" scenario lets you see if the project is meeting profit goals, before it is too late to make changes. The importance of budgeting may depend on the type of contract for the project; see Contract Types and Project Budgets for more information.

How the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet Differs from the Standard Version

The primary difference between the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet and the standard one is that the IPBW is installed separately from the other Advantage applications. This separation makes it possible for a project manager, for example, to have access to the IPBW without having access to Advantage as a whole. By providing wider access to budget information and modeling tools, IPBW encourages more active project budget management, more accurate and complete data collection, and more knowledgeable decision-making.

Wider access does not mean the loss of privacy or security. Each user has an IPBW security profile, similar to the security settings for Advantage Interactive Project Reporting. The profile determines the specific Advantage data the user can see and update.

Access

To open this application, select Processing, Interactive Project Budget Worksheet.

What do you want to do?

Review conceptual information about:

•	labor budgets

•	expense budgets

•	estimates (ETC and EAC values)

•	percent completes

Establish security.

Create or update a budget.

Copy a budget from another project.

Review field definitions:

•	Summary Tab Field Descriptions

•	Labor Tab Field Descriptions

•	Expense Tab Field Descriptions


Contract Types and Project Budgets

The relative importance of a project’s budget can depend on the terms set forth in the project’s contract:

Contract Type	Importance
Fixed-fee Contract	Budgeting is very important. Cost overruns cannot be recovered. An example of this type of contract is a lump sum or percentage of construction costs.
Hourly Contract with Maximum	Budgeting is important. You may also share in savings if the final cost is less than the maximum. An example of this type of contract is a multiple of direct personnel expense.
Hourly Contract without Maximum	Budgeting is less important, but may help if your client has cost expectations.


Labor Budgets

Labor is the most significant cost of any project and, as such, the most important element to budget and track. On the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet, you can budget:

•	Labor hours

•	Labor cost

•	Both labor hours and cost

Because a project can be under budget in hours, yet over budget in cost, we recommend that you budget both hours and cost.

Use the Labor tab to budget labor for your project or tasks.

Budgeting by Labor Code

You budget labor by labor code, at the labor code level most appropriate to the size and complexity of the project.

Summary-level Labor Budgets

For most projects, you may find it unnecessary and too time-consuming to create budgets to a  third level of detail. Instead of entering budgets for staff levels, you can use a general code (for example 00) in place of the third labor code level.

Another option is to create a multi-level labor code solely for budgeting (for example, BU000) and enter entire project labor budgets using that code.

That’s why we recommend, when you create your labor code structure, that you include a general code for each labor code level.

Overrides

Note that you can override the percent completes on the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet. For example, you can specify an overall percent complete for the entire project. See percent completes for information.


Expense Budgets

Direct and reimbursable expenses, particularly consultant expenses, represent a significant project cost.

On the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet, you can enter a budgeted amount for each direct and reimbursable account that will receive postings from a project.

Use the Expense tab to budget expenses for your project or tasks.

Summary-level Budgets

Some firms build summary-level expense budgets by using budget accounts. They create a budgeting account for each category of expenses—for example:

•	519.99 Reimbursable Consultant Budgets

•	599.99 Reimbursable Expense Budgets

•	619.99 Direct Consultant Budgets

•	699.99 Direct Expense Budgets

Then you can enter budgets for just these accounts.

Overrides

Note that you can override the percent completes entered on any of the Project Budget Worksheet tabs. For example, you can specify an overall percent complete for the entire project. See percent completes for information.


Estimating ETC and EAC Values

This page describes estimates that you may need to enter on the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet.

Column	Description
EAC Hours	Estimate at Completion Hours Your estimate of the total number of hours expended at the completion of the task or project.
EAC Amount	Estimate at Completion Amount Your estimate of the total cost at completion of the task or project. You can enter EAC amounts by:   •  project, task, and labor code for labor   •  project, task, and account for expenses
ETC Hours	Estimate to Complete Hours Your estimate of the total additional hours required to complete the task or project.
ETC Amount	Estimate to Complete Amount Your estimate of the total additional cost required to complete the task or project.  You can enter ETC amounts by:   •  project, task, and labor code for labor   •  project, task, and account for expenses


Percent Completes Overview

The overall percent complete provides you with an overall assessment of project or task status. Advantage calculates the weighted average overall percent complete that displays in the Overall % Complete fields on the Project Summary and Task Summary tabs of the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet, using this equation:

(All Percent Completes * Their Budgets) / Total Project Budget

This figure is based on all the record-level percent complete figures unless you specify overrides.

If you do override the value Advantage calculates, the percent completes that you enter should be the project manager’s estimate of how far a labor or expense component has actually progressed.

The percent complete should not represent the progress that should have taken place. In other words, if your firm has already used 75% of its travel budget for a project but has only completed 50% of the expected travel, the percent complete for travel expenses should be 50%, not 75%.

Procedures

You have these options for entering percent completes:

•	You can enter an overall percent complete for the entire project or task. This percentage overrides the overall percent complete that Advantage calculates. See these topics:

Enter an overall percent complete for the project.

Enter an overall percent complete for the task.

•	You can enter a labor percent complete and/or expense percent complete that represents the total progress of all labor and expense components. This approach is useful if all labor components or all expense components are progressing at roughly the same pace. You can enter these percent complete values at the project or task level. See these topics:

Enter a labor percent complete and/or expense percent complete for the project.

Enter a labor percent complete and/or expense percent complete for the task.

•	You can enter percent completes for individual labor codes and expense accounts. This approach is useful if individual components are at very different stages of progress. See Enter percent completes for individual labor and expense records.

For information about the hierarchy Advantage uses in deciding which percent complete to apply, see Percent Complete Hierarchy.


Percent Complete Hierarchy

Advantage uses the following hierarchies in determining how to apply overrides to percent complete figures. In general, Advantage looks first at the project, then at the task.

Anytime you enter a percent complete in a field higher up in the hierarchy, it overrides all percent complete numbers at a lower level of the hierarchy.

Hierarchy for Labor Percent Completes

1.	Overall percent complete for the project.

2.	Overall percent complete for the task.

3.	Labor percent complete for the project.

4.	Labor percent complete for the task.

5.	Percent complete for the labor code (Labor tab).

Hierarchy for Expense Percent Completes

1.	Overall percent complete for the project.

2.	Overall percent complete for the task.

3.	Expense percent complete for the project.

4.	Expense percent complete for the task.

5.	Percent complete for the expense account (Expense tab).


Enter an Overall Percent Complete for the Project

You can enter an overall percent complete for a project. If you do so, the percentage you enter takes precedence over all other percent complete values for the budget.

To enter an overall percent complete for the project:

1.	Click Processing, Interactive Project Budget Worksheet to open the worksheet.

2.	In the Project field, select the project.

3.	In the Overall % Complete field in the worksheet’s Project section, enter the overall percent complete value for the project.

4.	Click Save on the toolbar or select File, Save to save your work.


Enter an Overall Percent Complete for the Task

You can enter an overall percent complete for a task. If you do so, the percentage you enter takes precedence over any labor percent complete or expense percent complete values for the budget.

To enter an overall percent complete for a task:

1.	Click Processing, Interactive Project Budget Worksheet to open the worksheet.

2.	In the Project field, select the project.

3.	In the Task field, select the task.

4.	In the Overall % Complete field in the worksheet’s Task section, enter the overall percent complete value for the task.

5.	Click Save on the toolbar or select File, Save to save your work.


Enter a Labor Percent Complete or Expense Percent Complete for the Project
Enter a Labor Percent Complete and/or Expense Percent Complete for the Project

You can enter a labor percent complete and/or expense percent complete for the project. If you do so, the percentage you enter takes precedence over any percent complete values entered at the task level, or for individual labor or expense records.

To enter a labor percent complete and/or expense percent complete for the project:

1.	Click Processing, Interactive Project Budget Worksheet to open the worksheet.

2.	In the Project field, select the project.

3.	In the worksheet’s Project section, enter values in one or both of these fields:

•	Labor % Complete

•	Expense % Complete

4.	Click Save on the toolbar or select File, Save to save your work.


Enter a Labor Percent Complete or Expense Percent Complete for the Task
Enter a Labor Percent Complete and/or Expense Percent Complete for the Task

You can enter a labor percent complete and/or expense percent complete for a task. If you do so, the percentage you enter takes precedence over any percent complete values entered for individual labor or expense records.

To enter a labor percent complete and/or expense percent complete for a task:

1.	Click Processing, Interactive Project Budget Worksheet to open the worksheet.

2.	In the Project field, select the project.

3.	In the Task field, select the task.

4.	In the worksheet’s Task section, enter values in one or both of these fields:

•	Labor % Complete

•	Expense % Complete

5.	Click Save on the toolbar or select File, Save to save your work.


Enter Percent Completes for Individual Labor And Expense Records

You can enter percent complete values for individual labor and/or expense records on the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet. If you do so, any percent complete values entered at a "higher" level in the worksheet—in the Task section or Project sections of the worksheet—take precedence over these record-level values.

To enter percent completes for individual records:

1.	Click Processing, Interactive Project Budget Worksheet to open the worksheet.

2.	In the Project field, select the project.

3.	In the Task field, select the task.

4.	On the Labor tab, enter values in the Pct Compl field for each record (labor code) you are budgeting.

5.	On the Expense tab, enter values in the Pct Compl field for each record (expense account) you are budgeting.

6.	Click Save on the toolbar or select File, Save to save your work.


Establish Security

To check security settings, select Utilities, Security Maintenance from the Advantage main menu.

Settings on the Row Level tab determine which records you are allowed to see on the worksheet.

You also need to check two security options on the Privileges tab:

•	Interactive Project Budget Worksheet—this option controls which columns you can see on the worksheet.

•	Project Budget Worksheet—this option controls what you can do on the worksheet.

The following table explains how these two security options work together:

Interactive Project Budget Worksheet	Project Budget Worksheet	What you can do on the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet:
No Access	(not applicable)	You do not have access to any functions related to the IPBW.
General User	Review	You can view all the data but you cannot make any changes.
	Percent Completes	You can modify: • Overall, labor, and expense percent completes in the Project or Task sections of the worksheet. • Percent completes specified in the labor and/or expense budget detail lines.  You cannot enter or delete a budget record.
	Budgets	You can change existing budgets, add or delete budget records, and enter percent completes.
	Full	You can change existing data; add, modify, or delete budget records; enter compensation, consultant fees, and reimbursable allowance amounts; and enter percent completes.
Hours Only (with billing amounts)	Review	You can view hours data. You can view the Billing Budget Amount and the Billing JTD Spent Amount but you cannot view the following amounts: • Cost Budget Amount  • Cost JTD Spent • EAC Amount • ETC Amount You cannot make any changes on the worksheet.
	Percent Completes	You can modify: • Overall, labor, and expense percent completes in the Project or Task sections of the worksheet. • Percent completes specified in the labor and/or expense budget detail lines.  You cannot enter or delete a budget worksheet record.
	Budgets	You can change billing budget amounts but you cannot change cost budget amounts.
	Full	You can add, modify, or delete IPBW records; enter Billing Budget Amounts and JTD Spent Amounts; enter hours, compensation, consultant fees, and reimbursable allowance amounts; and enter percent completes.  You cannot view or change the following amounts: • Cost Budget Amount  • Cost JTD Spent • EAC Amount • ETC Amount
Hours Only (no labor amounts)	Review	You can view hours data but you cannot view the following amounts: • Cost Budget Amount  • Cost JTD Spent • Billing Budget Amount • Billing JTD Spent • EAC Amount • ETC Amount You cannot make any changes on the worksheet.
	Percent Completes	You can modify: • Overall, labor, and expense percent completes in the Project or Task sections of the worksheet. • Percent completes specified in the labor and/or expense budget detail lines.  You cannot enter or delete a budget worksheet record.
	Budgets	You cannot change labor budget amounts.
	Full	You can add, modify, or delete IPBW records; enter hours, compensation, consultant fees, and reimbursable allowance amounts; and enter percent completes.  You cannot view or change the following amounts: • Cost Budget Amount  • Cost JTD Spent • Billing Budget Amount • Billing JTD Spent • EAC Amount • ETC Amount


Toolbar Buttons

The buttons in the toolbar across the top of the form perform the following functions. You can also access many of the same functions from the File menu options and Modify menu options, as noted in the following table:

Button	Menu option	Use this option to:
Open	File, Open	Open an existing budget worksheet. You can have as many worksheets open at one time as your workstation’s memory can support. Please note that Advantage only supports one worksheet for each project/task. (Use the Window menu options to layer or cascade multiple worksheet displays.)
Save	File, Save	For the types of changes you are authorized to make, clicking the Save button saves all changes you made to the worksheet since it was opened or since it was last saved. The database is updated with all modifications, additions, and deletions. If you have any question about the types of changes you are authorized to perform, see your System Administrator to discuss your security settings.
Print	File, Print	Prints the worksheet.
Insert	Modify, Insert	Inserts a new detail line, beneath the current row, on the Labor tab or the Expense tab.
Copy	Modify, Copy	Copies the budget amounts from the current detail line on the Labor tab or the Expense tab into a new row. (Percent complete values are not copied.)
Delete	Modify, Delete	Deletes the current detail line on the Labor tab or the Expense tab.
Help	Help, Contents	Opens the Help Contents window.


File Menu Options

Use the File menu options to perform the functions listed here. Many of these functions are also available via toolbar buttons. Related functions are listed on the Modify menu.

Option	Use this option to:
Open	Open an existing budget worksheet. You can have as many worksheets open at one time as your workstation’s memory can support. Please note that Advantage only supports one worksheet for each project/task. (Use the Window menu options to layer or cascade multiple worksheet displays.)
Close	Close the worksheet. If you use this option without first saving your work, Advantage displays a message asking if you want to save changes before closing the file. If you continue without saving your changes, the system discards any edits you have made to the worksheet since last saving your work.
Save	Save all changes made to the worksheet since it was opened or since it was last saved. The database will be updated with all modifications, additions, and deletions. If you have any question about the types of changes you are authorized to perform, see your System Administrator to discuss your security settings.
Print	Print the worksheet.
Printer Setup	Select the printer you want to use and, optionally, the paper size and orientation.
Exit	End the current budgeting session. If you select this option without first saving your work, Advantage displays a message asking if you want to save changes before closing the worksheet(s) that are currently open. If you continue without saving your changes, the system discards any edits you have made to the worksheet since last saving your work.


Modify Menu Options

Use the Modify menu options to perform the functions listed here. Many of these functions are also available via toolbar buttons. See related options on the File menu.

Option	Use this option to:
Insert	Insert a new detail line, beneath the current row, on the Labor tab or the Expense tab.
Copy	Copy the current detail line on the Labor tab or the Expense tab into a new row.
Delete	Delete the current detail line on the Labor tab or the Expense tab.
Copy Budget	Display the Copy Budget dialog, which you use to copy  budget data from a different project (and task, if applicable) to the one you’re currently working on. See Copy a Budget for the procedure.
Column Selection	Display the Column Selection dialog, where you select the columns that will appear on the Labor tab and Expense tab, as well as on the Project Budget Worksheet report.


Create or Update a Budget

If you have an existing project budget on which you’d like to base a new project budget, see the related procedure Copy a Budget.

To create or update a budget:

1.	 Click Open on the toolbar or select File, Open to open a worksheet.

When you first open the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet, the window is empty.

•	To learn or review the functions available via the buttons at the top of the worksheet, see Toolbar Buttons.

•	To learn or review the general procedure for creating and modifying budgets, see Creating or Updating a Budget.

Please note that Advantage only supports one worksheet for each project/task, though you can have more than one worksheet open at a time.

2.	In the Project field, select the project.

•	If the project has tasks, you must choose a task. Go to step 3.

•	If the project does not have tasks, Advantage removes the Task section of the worksheet from the worksheet display, and loads the worksheet with the project’s current budgeting data.  Go to step 4.

3.	In the Task field, select the task.

4.	In the Budget Type field, select the budget type, Cost or Billing.

5.	Design your worksheet by selecting and sorting data.

6.	Optional. Complete or update the project section and the task section.

7.	Select the level at which you want to view or work with data:

•	Summary level—you can enter fee budgets that are calculated and tracked in addition to the detail cost budgets, or simply view summary-level data.

•	Detail level—you use the Labor and Expense tabs to enter budget detail. As you work on budget detail, Advantage simultaneously recalculates the budget’s data and updates the corresponding summary data.

To add a new detail line, click [image] or select Modify, Insert.

To copy a detail line, click [image] or select Modify, Copy.

To delete a detail line, click [image] or select Modify, Delete.

To see the JTD Hours and JTD Spent columns, select View All.

8.	Optional. To see only those transactions with labor codes that have been entered in the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet, select the Edit Budgets option.

9.	Click Save on the toolbar or select File, Save to save your work.

10.	Optional. When you’re finished working on the current budget, you may want to print the worksheet.


Copy a Budget

Once you copy information into a project, that project’s existing budget (if any) is overwritten. You can never return to the original budget. Be certain that you want to override an existing budget prior to copying information into the project.

To create or update a budget:

1.	 Click Open on the toolbar or select File, Open to open a worksheet.

2.	In the Project field, select the project to which you are copying data budget data.

•	If the project has tasks, you must choose a task. Go to step 3.

•	If the project does not have tasks, Advantage removes the Task section of the worksheet from the worksheet display, and loads the worksheet with the project’s current budgeting data.  Go to step 4.

3.	In the Task field, select the task.

4.	Select Modify, Copy Budget to display the Copy Budget dialog.

5.	In the From Project field on the dialog, enter the name of the project from which you are copying budget data. Double-click in the From Project field to display the Project Lookup List if you are not sure of the name for the project you seek.

6.	Optional. If the project you selected has tasks, you can use the From Task field on the dialog to specify the name of the task from which you are copying budget data, thus  narrowing the amount of budget data copied.

7.	Optional. Select the Copy budget hours and amounts option to include hours and amounts in the data copied.

•	For labor budgets, Advantage copies the labor codes. If you select the Copy budget hours and amounts option, Advantage also copies budgeted hours and amounts for both billing and cost budgets.

•	For expense budgets, Advantage copies the account number and vendor. If you select the Copy budget hours and amounts option, Advantage also copies budgeted amounts for both billing and cost budgets.

8.	Click OK. Advantage displays the Confirm Copy Budget dialog, asking you to confirm both the "to" and "from" projects.

9.	Click OK to proceed. Advantage deletes any existing budget data for the "to" project, then copies in budget data from the "from" project.

10.	Click Save on the toolbar to save your work.

11.	Update the budget data, as necessary.

If you cannot edit fields that you need to change, check with your System Administrator to make sure that the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet option in Security Maintenance is set correctly.


Select the Project

This is step 2 in the procedure for creating or updating a budget, but you can use this procedure at any time to select a project for the Project Budget Worksheet.

To select the project:

•	Enter the project’s number in the Project field.

•	Use the Project lookup list to find the project.

What’s next?

If you are creating or updating a budget, what happens next depends on whether or not the project you’ve selected has tasks:

•	If the project has tasks, you must budget at the task level. See Select the Task.

•	If the project does not have tasks, Advantage removes the Task section of the worksheet from the worksheet display, and loads the worksheet with the project’s current budgeting data. You must then select the budget type.


Select the Task

This is step 3 in the procedure for creating or updating a budget, but you can use this procedure at any time to select a task for the Project Budget Worksheet.

To select a task:

Enter the task number in the Task field.

When you select the task, Advantage loads the current task’s budget data. The project-level fields still appear in the Project section of the worksheet, and you can still use them to apply changes to the project as a whole.

Once you select a task, however, the fields on the Labor tab and Expense tab apply only to the current task.

What’s next?

If you are creating or updating a budget, you need to select the select the budget type.


Select the Budget Type: Cost or Billing

This is step 4 in the procedure for creating or updating a budget.

Are you using the Refresh Project Billing Extensions utility?

Billing and cost rates for project reporting are defined at the time of posting. To update changes to billing terms, you run the Refresh Project Billing Extensions utility. You should run this utility:

•	When you create or change the billing terms for any projects in Billing Terms Table Maintenance, after you have posted transactions for these projects during the period.

•	If you posted items in the current period that now reflect a zero billing rate on the project reports, due to inaccurate or no billing terms.

If your firm uses the Refresh Project Billing Extensions utility, you may also view your worksheet based on the billing value. If you do so, Advantage uses the billing terms in place in the Advantage Billing application to calculate the billing value for each project.

Use billing extensions?	Set the Budget Type field to
yes	Cost or Billing
no	Cost
If you are not sure if your firm uses the billing extension utility, see your System Administrator.

Budgeting by Cost Rates

If you enter budgets at cost rates, you are presenting the planned costs of a project, including labor, direct and reimbursable expenses, and overhead. The difference between the contract value and budgeted cost is the budgeted profit. Cost-based budgets also include a profit percentage, which is calculated by dividing profit on services by the sum of compensation and consultant fees for the project.

If you’re running a cost-based project report in Advantage and want to analyze budgeting information on the Project Budget Worksheet, select Cost in the Budget Type field. The worksheet includes overhead and profit amounts.

Budgeting by Billing Rates

If you enter budgets at billing rates, all labor and expense amounts are the amounts that will be billed to the client. The billing-based budget shows the planned expenditures for labor, direct, and reimbursable expenses at their billing value. The contract value is often equal to the sum of all billing budgets.

If you’re running a project report based upon billing rates in Advantage and want to analyze budgeting information on the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet, select Billing in the Budget Type field. The worksheet shows any variance between expected compensation and budgeted billing amounts.

What’s next?

You may continue in one of the following ways:

Design the worksheet.

Select the level, summary or detail, for budgeting.


Design the Worksheet: Select and Sort Columns

This is step 5 in the procedure for creating or updating a budget.

Designing both Onscreen and Printed Worksheets

When you decide how to select and sort columns for the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet, you are simultaneously designing how the worksheet appears on the screen and how it looks when you print it.

When you exit a worksheet session, Advantage stores the current selection criteria for the worksheet so that these same criteria will be in effect when you begin a new budgeting session.

Selecting Data

To select the types of data that display on the Labor tab and the Expense tab as well as on the report, select Modify, Column Selection from the main menu. This displays the Column Selection dialog. Click the checkboxes for the columns you want to include.

To resize any column, move the cursor over the line between two columns until the cursor takes on this shape:    Then you can use the cursor to change the column’s size.

Sorting Data

To sort data onscreen and on the printed report, click on a column heading, such as Labor Code or Budget Hours. You can click on the heading a second time to toggle between ascending and descending sorts.


Column Selection Dialog

Use the Column Selection dialog to determine which types of data display on the Labor tab and the Expense tab of the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet, as well as on the printed report.

To display this dialog, select Modify, Column Selection from the main menu. To select columns for inclusion on the tabs and the report, select the appropriate option from the dialog:

Option on Column Selection Dialog	Labor Tab Columns	Expense Tab
Description	Description	Description
Vendor	(not applicable)	Vendor
Vendor Name	(not applicable)	Vendor Name
% Complete	Pct Compl	Pct Compl
Budget	Budget Hours  Budget Amount	Budget Amount
ETC	ETC Hours  ETC Amount	ETC Amount
EAC	EAC Hours  EAC Amount	EAC Amount
Dates	Start Date  End Date	Start Date  End Date
Spent	JTD Hours  JTD Spent	JTD Spent


Complete the Project Section

This is step 6 in the procedure for creating or updating a budget.

Purpose

Use the Project section of the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet to specify:

•	Overall percent completes (for the whole project, for all of the labor on the project, or for all of the expenses on the project).

•	Start and end dates for the project’s budget.

You can use the Project section of the worksheet to determine or modify project-wide settings for the budget, even if you are budgeting at the task level on the Labor tab and Expense tab.

Field Descriptions

The following fields appear in the Project section of the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet:

Project

Overall % Complete

Labor % Complete

Expense % Complete

Start

End


Complete the Task Section

This is step 6 in the procedure for creating or updating a budget.

Purpose

Use the Task section of the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet to specify:

•	Overall percent completes (for the whole task, for all labor on the task, or for all expenses on the task).

•	Start and end dates for the task’s budget.

Field Descriptions

The following fields appear in the Task section of the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet:

Task

Overall % Complete

Labor % Complete

Expense % Complete

Start

End


Select the Level: Summary or Detail

This is step 7 in the procedure for creating or updating a budget.

Budgeting at the Summary Level

You can use the Project Summary tab and Task Summary tab to:

•	enter fee budgets

•	review the budget’s summary data

The fee budgets you enter are calculated and tracked in addition to the detail cost or billing budgets you create.

Some of the fields displayed on these tabs change when you change the setting in the Budget Type field. For example, the cost version includes the profit amount, while the billing version includes the variance amount.

See Summary Tab Field Descriptions for more information.

Budgeting at the Detail Level

If you want to specify greater detail, use these tabs to enter and modify your budget:

•	Labor tab

•	Expense tab

As you work on budget detail, Advantage simultaneously recalculates the budget’s data and updates the corresponding summary data.


Summary Tab Field Descriptions

The following fields are available on both the Project Summary tab and the Task Summary tab. Shaded fields contain display-only information, provided by or calculated by Advantage.

Compensation

Consultant Fee

Labor Budget

Overhead (Cost)

Direct Consultants

Other Dir. Expenses

Profit on Services (Cost)

Profit Percent (Cost)

Labor and Direct (Billing)

Variance (Billing)

Variance Percent (Billing)

Reimb. Allowance

Reimb. Consultants

Other Reimb.

Total Budget

Total Hours

Overall % Complete

Budget Type


Labor Tab Column Descriptions
Labor Tab Columns Descriptions

The columns listed below are available on the Labor tab. See Column Selection dialog to learn how to select the columns that appear on the Labor tab.

As you enter amounts, hours, or rates, Advantage automatically updates the corresponding values in the other fields. For example, if you enter hours and amounts, Advantage calculates the rate.

Shaded fields on this tab contain display-only information, provided by or calculated by Advantage.

Procedures

•	To add a new detail line, click [image] or select Modify, Insert.

•	To copy a detail line, click [image] or select Modify, Copy.

•	To delete a detail line, click [image] or select Modify, Delete.

Field Descriptions

Labor Code

Description

Pct Compl

Budget Hours

Labor Rate

Budget Amount

ETC Hours

ETC Amount

EAC Hours

EAC Amount

Start Date

End Date

JTD Hours

JTD Spent

Edit Budgets

View All


Expense Tab Overview
Expense Tab Columns Descriptions

The fields listed below are available on the Expense tab. See Column Selection dialog to learn how to select the columns that appear on the Expense tab.

Shaded fields on this tab contain display-only information, provided by or calculated by Advantage.

Procedures

•	To add a new detail line, click [image] or select Modify, Insert.

•	To copy a detail line, click [image] or select Modify, Copy.

•	To delete a detail line, click [image] or select Modify, Delete.

Field Descriptions

Account

Description

Vendor

Vendor Name

Pct Compl

Budget Amount

ETC Amount

EAC Amount

Start Date

End Date

JTD Spent

Edit Budgets

View All


Print the Worksheet

To print the Project Budget Worksheet, click on the Print [image] toolbar button or choose File, Print.

To select the printer you want to use, the paper size, or the orientation, choose File, Printer Setup.


Project Field

To select a project for budgeting on the worksheet, either enter the project’s number in the Project field or use the Project lookup list to find the project.


Task Field

To select a task for budgeting on the worksheet, enter the task number in the Task field.

When you select the task, Advantage loads the current task’s budget data. The project-level fields still appear in the Project section of the worksheet, and you can still use them to apply changes to the project as a whole.

Once you select a task, however, the fields on the Labor tab and Expense tab apply only to the current task.


Overall % Complete Field

This number provides you with an overall status assessment for the project or task.

You can use this field to override all percent complete numbers entered or calculated at a lower level, thus making it possible to update this aspect of your budget without updating all the detail-level fields involved.

To learn about the hierarchy Advantage uses in determining how percentage of completion overrides are applied, see Percent Complete Hierarchy.


Labor % Complete Field

Enter the labor percent complete for the project or task. This is your estimate for the percentage of work effort completed. Before entering this percentage, you need to assess the progress made on required deliverables.

You can use this field to override all percent complete numbers entered or calculated at a lower level.

To learn about the hierarchy Advantage uses in determining how percentage of completion overrides are applied, see Percent Complete Hierarchy.


Expense % Complete Field

Enter the expense percent complete for the project or task. You can use this field to override all percent complete numbers entered or calculated at a lower level.

To learn about the hierarchy Advantage uses in determining how percentage of completion overrides are applied, see Percent Complete Hierarchy.


Start Field

Enter the expected start date of the project or task. You can use the Calendar lookup to select a date for this field.


End Field

Enter the expected end date of the project or task. You can use the Calendar lookup to select a date for this field.


Compensation Field
Compensation

The amount your firm expects to bill as the fee for the project or task.

You can enter a new amount in this field. If you do so, Advantage updates both the current  budget and the Project table with the new amount.


Consultant Fee Field
Consultant Fee

The amount your firm expects to bill for consultant expenses for the project or task.

You can enter a new amount in this field. If you do so, Advantage updates both the budget on this worksheet and the Project table with the new amount.


Labor Budget Field
Labor Budget

Display only.  The sum of the budgeted labor.


Overhead Field
Overhead

Display only.  Budget type = cost.

The calculated budgeted overhead amount, based on the budgeted labor and the project/task’s budgeted overhead percentage.


Direct Consultants Field
Direct Consultants

Display only.

The sum of all budgeted dollar amounts for all accounts in the direct consultant range for the project or task. (Direct Consultant accounts fall in the 600.00 to 619.99 range in the Standard Chart of Accounts.)


Other Dir. Expense Field
Other Dir. Expense

Display only.

The sum of all budgeted dollar amounts for all accounts in the other non-reimbursable expense range for the project or task. (Other Direct Expense accounts fall in the 620.00 to 699.99 range in the Standard Chart of Accounts.)


Profit on Services Field
Profit on Services

Display only. Budget type = cost.

The reported profit on services for the project or task, calculated as:

(compensation + consultant fee) – (labor + overhead + direct consultants + other direct expenses)


Profit Percent Field
Profit Percent

Display only. Budget type = cost.

The profit percent for the project or task, calculated as:

profit on services / (compensation + consultant fee)


Labor and Direct (Billing)

Display only. Budget type = billing.

The calculation for this field is:

Labor Budget + Direct Consultant + Other Dir. Expenses


Variance Field
Variance

Display only. Budget type = billing.

The variance amount is the difference between the expected compensation (compensation + consultant fee) and the budgeted billing amounts.


Variance Percent Field
Variance Percent

Display only. Budget type = billing.

The variance amount divided by the expected compensation (compensation + consultant fee)  for the project or task.


Reimb. Allowance Field
Reimb. Allowance

The amount your firm expects to bill for reimbursable expenses for the project or task, including reimbursable consultant charges.

You can enter a new amount in this field. If you do so, Advantage updates both the current budget and the Project table with the new amount.


Reimb. Consultants Field
Reimb. Consultants

Display only.

The amount of reimbursable consultant charges budgeted for the project or task.

(Reimbursable Consultants accounts fall in the 500.00 to 519.99 range in the Standard Chart of Accounts.)


Other Reimb. Field
Other Reimb.

Display only.

The sum of all budgeted dollars for all accounts in the reimbursable expense range, except reimbursable consultants accounts.


Total Hours Field
Total Hours

Display only.

The sum of all budgeted hours for all labor codes in the project or task.


Total Budget

Display only.  Budget type = billing.

The total budget amount, calculated by adding the following amounts:

Labor Budget + Direct Consultants + Other Dir. Expense + Reimb. Consultant + Other Reimb.


Overall % Complete

Display only.

This number provides you with an overall status assessment for the project or task. Advantage calculates the weighted average overall percent complete and displays this number in the Overall % Complete field. The calculation is:

all percent completes * their budgeted amounts / total budget = overall % complete


Labor Code Field
Labor Code

You enter labor budgets by labor code. If you do so, this field is required.

You can insert a new row to add a new budget line for any valid code.

If you are adding a row, you can:

•	Enter a labor code in this field.

•	Use the Labor Code lookup list to select a labor code.


Description Field
Description

Display only.

The descriptions associated with the labor codes.


Pct Compl Field
Pct Compl

The estimate of how far work has progressed on the project or task for this labor code. We recommend that you update the percent complete on a regular basis.

To learn about the hierarchy Advantage uses in determining how overrides to percent complete figures are applied, see Percent Complete Hierarchy.


Budget Hours Field
Budget Hours

The number of hours budgeted for this labor code.


Labor Rate

The job-to-date budgeted rate for work to be performed under the labor code for the project.


Budget Amount Field
Budget Amount

The dollar amount budgeted for this labor code.


ETC Hours Field
ETC Hours

The estimate of total additional hours required to complete the work for this labor code.


ETC Amount Field
ETC Amount

The estimate of total additional cost or billing amount required to complete the work for this labor code.


EAC Hours Field
EAC Hours

The estimate of the total number of hours that will have been worked at the completion of the task or project, as reported for this labor code.


EAC Amount Field
EAC Amount

The estimate of the total cost or billing amount that will have been incurred at the completion of the task or project, as reported for this labor code.


Start Date Field
Start Date

The start date for work on this labor code. You can use the Calendar lookup to select a date for this field.


End Date Field
End Date

The end date for work on this labor code. You can use the Calendar lookup to select a date for this field.


JTD Hours Field
JTD Hours

Display only.

The actual hours reported to date for this labor code, as calculated at the most recent posting.


JTD Amount Field
JTD Spent

Display only.

The actual cost or billing amount spent to date for this labor code, as calculated at the most recent posting. Advantage calculates billing amounts based on the billing terms in effect at the time of the posting.


Edit Budgets

Select this option to see only those transactions with labor codes that have been entered in the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet. The labor codes do not necessarily have amounts charged against them.

When you select this option, the JTD Hours and JTD Spent columns are not available on the tab.


View All

Select this option to see all transactions with labor codes that have charges against them, whether or not the labor codes were also budgeted.

Please note, however, that the JTD Hours and JTD Spent columns are available for you to review only if your security settings allow you to see them. Check with your System Administrator if you have questions.


Account Field
Account

Your expense budgets are based on account numbers.

You can insert a new row to add a new budget line for any account number that is valid for the current project or task. If you are adding a row, you can enter an account in this field or click on the drop-down button provided to select an account from a list of valid accounts for the project/task.

Also, you can select the account status on the Account field of the Expense tab. If an account is inactive, you will receive a warning but still be allowed to continue and save any changes. If an account is dormant, an error message will appear and you will not be able to access the account.


Description Field
Description

Display only.

The account description associated with the entered account.

To resize any column, move the cursor over the line between two columns until the cursor takes on this shape:

Then you can use the cursor to change the column’s size.


Pct Compl Field
Pct Compl

The estimate of how far work has progressed on the project or task for this account. We recommend that you update the percent complete on a regular basis.

To learn about the hierarchy Advantage uses in determining how overrides to percent complete figures are applied, see Percent Complete Hierarchy.


Budget Amount Field
Budget Amount

The dollar amount budgeted for this account.


ETC Amount Field
ETC Amount

The estimate of total additional cost or billing amount required to complete the work for this account.


EAC Amount Field
EAC Amount

The estimate of the total cost or billing amount that will have been incurred at the completion of the task or project, as reported for this account.


Start Date Field
Start Date

The start date for work on this account. You can use the Calendar lookup to select a date for this field.


End Date Field
End Date

The end date for work on this account. You can use the Calendar lookup to select a date for this field.


JTD Amount Field
JTD Spent

Display only.

The actual cost or billing amount spent to date for this account, as calculated at the most recent posting.

Advantage calculates billing amounts based on the billing terms in effect at the time of the expense posting.


Edit Budgets

Select this option to see only those transactions with expense accounts that have been entered in the Interactive Project Budget Worksheet. The accounts do not necessarily have amounts charged against them.

When you select this option, the JTD Amount column is not available on the tab.


View All

Select this option to see all transactions with expense accounts that have charges against them, whether or not the accounts were also budgeted.


Vendor

The vendor’s number, taken from the vendor record in your Advantage database.


Vendor Name

The vendor name that corresponds to the vendor number; taken from the vendor record in your Advantage database.