Setting and tracking project estimates

You can assign hours and cost estimates to each project you manage. You can compare these values to the actual hours and costs for projects in reports. If you use Replicon for resourcing, you can also track actuals against allocated hours estimates.

Assigning project and task estimates

To enter hours, cost, or expense estimates for the project as a whole:

1. Go to Project Management, and select a project. Or, click Add New Project.
2. Select the Project Info button.

3. Enter values in the estimate fields at the bottom of the dialog.

4. Click Save.

To enter hours and cost estimates for each task:

1. Go to Project Management, and select a project. Or, click Add New Project.
2. Click the Tasks tab.

3. Select either Add a Task or the icon in an existing task row.

4. Click the Show more link at the bottom of the bubble that displays.

5. Enter estimates in the Estimated Cost and Estimated Hours fields.

6. Click Save.

Tracking actuals against project and task estimates

In Reports

Reports based on the Project and Task Time, Expense, Cost & Billing templates provide the most comprehensive comparison of estimates and actuals for projects and tasks. They include the data outlined below.

Estimates entered at project or task level

• Project or Task Estimated Cost and Hours

Estimates entered at project level only

• Project Progress

Estimates based on resource hours allocated for the entire project

• Estimated Cost and Hours¹
• Estimated CapEx and OpEx Cost (All Dates)

Actuals

• Actual Cost and Hours¹
• Actual Normalized Cost and Hours
• Actual CapEx and OpEx Cost¹ and Hours
• Actual CapEx and OpEx Normalized Cost and Hours

Refer to Replicon's Reports Field Matrix for a detailed breakdown of what fields are included in each report template.

In the Project Management section

You can also view graphs of actual hours and costs versus estimates in the Project Management section of Replicon. These estimates are based on allocated project hours and costs.

To view graphs:

1. 1. Go to Project Management, and select a project.
   2. On the Summary tab, select either the Hours or Cost button to view graphs.

Using the Project/Task Estimates timesheet validation rule

When you set up this validation rule, which can be applied to any configurable timesheet template, you choose completion thresholds that will trigger a warning or error message to display on the timesheet. The percent complete is the actual hours worked as a percentage of hours allocated to the project.

For example, you could set a warning message to display on timesheets that include a project that has reached 80% of its resource estimate.

The warning or error displays when managers access the timesheet. Therefore, they could adopt a practice of checking for errors when approving time.

Using task progress graphs

Within each duration-based timesheet template, you can enable progress bars that display beside each row in the timesheet. They show the total hours worked for all workers on a project or task as a fraction of the estimate entered for that task.

This graph displays when managers access the timesheet. Therefore, they could routinely check a project’s progress when approving time.

FAQs

Do project cost graphs show actual costs or actual normalized costs?

Graphs show actual costs that have not been normalized.

Are user costs calculated using their currently assigned cost rate, or the rate they were assigned when they entered the hours?

User costs are always calculated using the cost rate they were assigned on the day they worked. This value is given in the Hourly Cost Amount field in reports. The user’s assigned cost rate on the day the report is run is given in the Current Hourly Cost field.

Are only submitted or approved hours included in the Actual Hours field?

All hours saved in a timesheet are included. Not Submitted Hours and Not Approved Hours fields are available in the Project and Task Time, Expense, Cost & Billing templates and in the Timesheet Day report templates – you can subtract these values to find how many hours have been submitted and approved.

Can I be alerted if my project is nearing its estimate?

We don't have a notification for this. However, you can use scheduled reports to prompt you to view progress, or make a habit of looking at task progress bars or looking for Project/Tasks estimates validation messages when approving timesheets, to keep up to date with project statuses.