Evaluate Cost, Hours, Revenue and Progress from Connected Objects

Explanation

Perform this activity to view the details of the objects connected to project activities, and to evaluate their performance. Important information include the cost, hours and revenue values from these activity connected objects and the cost/revenue elements to which these values are reported. The progress of the connected objects and their contribution to Earned Value can also be viewed. A variety of object types, such as Purchase Orders lines, Shop Orders, Work Orders, Sales Contracts, Document Packages, Tasks, Resources etc. can be connected to activities. The type of information updated to the activity depends on the object type and also the status of the object. As the connected objects are executed, the activity is updated with relevant information which should be regularly analyzed and evaluated in order to identify deviations from the project plan and budget so that corrective action can be taken when necessary.

Project Navigator/Connections and Activity/Connections tabs list the objects connected to the selected activity. Information about the connected object is shown including object type, description, status, progress, earned value as well as estimated, planned, baseline, planned committed, committed, used and actual values for both cost and hours. Additionally, used and actual costs are reported on the object when connected voucher(s) exist, and it is possible to drill down to the voucher information from the object. Revenue information including estimated, planned, preliminary, posted and actual values may also be shown for the connected object. In these forms, the cost and revenue values will always be reported from the connected objects in base and transaction currency. If multi-currency and/or project currency have been enabled for Budgeting and Forecasting purposes for the project, then cost and revenue will also be reported in base currency using the fixed Budgeting and Forecasting rate and/or the project currency.

The Project Navigator/Project, Project Navigator/Sub Project, Project Navigator/Activity/Cost, Project Navigator/Activity/Hours, Project Navigator/Activity/Revenue, Activity/Cost, Activity/Hours, Activity/Revenue tabs display cost/hours/revenue information from the objects summarized up to selected level per cost/revenue element. The values in these tabs are displayed in base currency.

The Activity and Activities windows and the Project Navigator/Activity and Project Navigator/Activity List tabs display the total Calculated Cost Progress and Calculated Hours Progress for the activity.

For detailed information about each object type, please refer the following documents:

• About Activity Connections - lists the objects that can be connected to an activity.
• About Cost, Hours and Revenue Reported to Activity   - describes how different objects retrieve cost, revenue and hours through the processing of the objects, as well as how they are reported to the activity. An example of how these values can be viewed and evaluated is also included.
• About Earned Value and Progress  - describes how progress and earned value is retrieved and calculated.

Note: The Planned Cost Driver, Progress Method, and Earned Value Method of the activity will effect the calculation of the total progress and earned value on the activity.


IFS Business Analytics can be used to create, display and analyze information based on the activity connection data available in IFS Applications. For more information refer About Information Sources in IFS Business Analytics.
 

Prerequisites

• The activity shall be released and have connected objects in order to get cost/hours/revenue and progress values for the activity.
• Cost/revenue elements should be predefined in Accounting Rules.

System Effects

• N/A

Window

Project Navigator
Activity
Activities
Project Connections

Related Window Descriptions

Project Navigator/Activity
Project Navigator/Activity List
Project Navigator/Connections
Project Navigator/Project
Project Navigator/Sub Project
Activity/General
Activity/Connections
Project Navigator/Resource Planning
Project Connections
 

Procedure

Note:

• The Planned Cost Driver, Progress Method and Earned Value Method of the activity will effect the activity values. Consider the setting for the activity when evaluating the connected objects of the activity.

 Analyze and evaluate activity connected objects in the Project Navigator/Connections or the Activity/Connections tab:

1. Open the Project Navigator window and query for the project you which to analyze; select the required activity in the project navigator and click on the Connection tab. Alternatively you can go to the Activity/Connections tab.
2. Select an object connection line in the upper table and observe the object's related cost/revenue elements in the in the lower table.
3. For each cost/revenue element line, evaluate the cost, revenue, hours, progress and earned value information of the object.
4. Optionally, navigate to the connected object from the object connection line by right clicking on the required line in the upper table and select the Object Details menu option.
5. Additionally, to view the voucher connected to the object, if it exists, right-click on that object and then select the Connected Vouchers menu option.

Analyze and evaluate activity connected objects in the Project Connections window:

1. Open Project Connections window and query for the records you wish to analyze. For example, it is possible to query a project ID, specific activities, object types or cost/revenue elements.
2. Evaluate the cost, hours, progress and earned value for each connected object and project cost element.
3. Evaluate the revenue for each connected object and project revenue element.
4. Optionally, navigate to the connected object from the object connection line by right clicking on the required line and select the Object Details menu option.
5. Additionally, to view the voucher connected to the object, if it exists, right-click on that object and then select the Connected Vouchers menu option.

Analyze and evaluate activity connected objects in the Project Navigator/Activity tab or the Activity window:

1. Open the Project Navigator window and query for the project you which to analyze, select the required activity in the project navigator and click the Activity tab. Alternatively you can go to the Activity window and query the required activity.
2. Observe the progress of the activity in the Calculated Cost Progress and Calculated Hours Progress fields.
3. In the Activity/Cost tab, observe the costs, progress and earned value for each connected object and project cost element.
4. In the Activity/Hours tab, observe the hours, progress and earned value for each connected object and project cost element.
5. In the Activity/Revenue tab, observe the revenue for each connected object and project revenue element.
6. Optionally, select a cost or a revenue element in the table, right-click and select the Project Connections menu option. This will list all the activities within the project with the selected cost/revenue element.
7. Optionally, go to the Activities window to get an overview of the activities in the project.

Analyze and evaluate activity connected objects in the Project Navigator/Project or the Project Navigator/Sub Project tab.

1. Open the Project Navigator window, query for the project you wish to analyze and select the Project tab.
2. Observe the cost, hours and progress of the activity connected objects that have been summarized for the project according to the project cost element.
3. Observe the revenue of the activity connected objects that have been summarized for the project according to the project revenue element.
4. Click on the required subproject in the navigator and the Sub Project tab will open.
5. Observe the cost, hours and progress of the activity connected objects that have been summarized for the sub project according to the project cost element.
6. Observe the revenue of the activity connected objects that have been summarized for the sub project according to the project revenue element.