CA PPM Tuesday Tip:Cost plan detail population and editing

[Tuan Tran]

Planned (editable) and unplanned (non-editable) line items that appear in the cost plan details are by design, as it depends on how the cost plan detail lines were populated.

 

There are two methods to populate cost plan details. Depending on which method is selected, the detail population will produce distinct sets of rows in terms of planned and actual hours/cost.

 

A1. Data displayed from Cost Plan "Populate from Team Allocation" method:

This action generates planned,editable rows for the following attributes within the TSV:

(planned) units = ALC (allocation)
(planned) cost = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES.actualcost (rate) x (planned) units
(planned) revenue = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES.rate (billing) x (planned) units

 

A2. Data displayed from Cost Plan "Populate from Task Assignments" method:

This action generates planned,editable rows for the following attributes within the TSV:

(planned) units = sum of total ETC (estimates) +  total ACT (actuals)
(planned) cost = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES.actual cost (rate) x (planned) units
(planned) revenue = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES..rate (billing) x (planned) units

 

B. Both population methods will show unplanned,uneditable units/costs from PPA_WIP.

(actual) units = PPA_WIP.quantity
(actual) cost = PPA_WIP_VALUES.totalcost
(actual) revenue= PPA_WIP_VALUES.amount

 

C. Both population methods will show the grouping attributes.

The row with ‘actuals’ will only be editable if a matching grouping attribute value is found for generating ‘planned’ values.
When the ‘actual’ transactions posted into WIP have different values for the attributes used in the Cost Plan Grouping Attribute properties, the plan will have ‘unplanned’ or ‘uneditable’ rows.  This means that it is a row showing ‘actuals’ but is not a row created by the ‘population’ of ‘planned’ data.  This is an automatic row that shows up because actual transactions exist with grouping values that do not match any of the ‘planned’ rows.

 

NOTE: To enable these ‘actual’ rows for planning (editing), click the "Add" button on the Cost Plan Details page and pick the same values as the ones in the grouping attributes for the unplanned (actuals) row.

[System]

Thanks for the tip Tuan!

TUAN TRAN wrote:

 

Planned (editable) and unplanned (non-editable) line items that appear in the cost plan details are by design, as it depends on how the cost plan detail lines were populated.

 

There are two methods to populate cost plan details. Depending on which method is selected, the detail population will produce distinct sets of rows in terms of planned and actual hours/cost.

 

A1. Data displayed from Cost Plan "Populate from Team Allocation" method:

This action generates planned,editable rows for the following attributes within the TSV:

(planned) units = ALC (allocation)
(planned) cost = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES.actualcost (rate) x (planned) units
(planned) revenue = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES.rate (billing) x (planned) units

 

A2. Data displayed from Cost Plan "Populate from Task Assignments" method:

This action generates planned,editable rows for the following attributes within the TSV:

(planned) units = sum of total ETC (estimates) +  total ACT (actuals)
(planned) cost = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES.actual cost (rate) x (planned) units
(planned) revenue = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES..rate (billing) x (planned) units

 

B. Both population methods will show unplanned,uneditable units/costs from PPA_WIP.

(actual) units = PPA_WIP.quantity
(actual) cost = PPA_WIP_VALUES.totalcost
(actual) revenue= PPA_WIP_VALUES.amount

 

C. Both population methods will show the grouping attributes.

The row with ‘actuals’ will only be editable if finds a matching grouping attribute value for generating ‘planned’ values.
When the ‘actual’ transactions posted into WIP have different values for the attributes used in the Cost Plan Grouping Attribute properties, the plan will have ‘unplanned’ or ‘uneditable’ rows.  This means that it is a row showing ‘actuals’ but is not a row created by the ‘population’ of ‘planned’ data.  This is an automatic row that shows up because actual transactions exist with grouping values that do not match any of the ‘planned’ rows.

 

NOTE: To enable these ‘actual’ rows for planning (editing), click the "Add" button on the Cost Plan Details page and pick the same values as the ones in the grouping attributes for the unplanned (actuals) row.

[mike2.2]

Excellent work. i will definitely be reusing this!

[navzjoshi00]

Thanks for this wonderful explanation, Tuan

 

NJ

[matej256]

Hi Tuan,

 

Very nice post, thank you. I'm just looking for some information about Populating Task/Team options in cost plan in Clarity handbooks but couldn't find anything!

 

You saved me a lot of work but still have one question. For some reason, for some projects this "Populate from Task Assignments" function works and for some not.

I'd like to know the conditions when it's calculated and when not. Do you know them? I've just created example project, everything is OK I think but when clicked on Populate function, nothing happens, or only remains 1 Transaction class:

 

Cost plan before population, then click on Populate:

 

"Nothing" happened, only Operating cost type remained:

 

I've set allocation in ETC for one resource (Tried also others but without success):

 

I've got also Matrix values for this resource:

 

Thank you very much for your hints.

 

Matej

[Liz Williamson]

Hello Matej,

 

When you Populate from Assignments it looks at the resources assigned to the task(s) and uses that information for the grouping.

 

You are grouping by Cost Type and Transaction Class.

 

In your first example you may have added additional Transaction Classes that are not associated with the Assignments.  Since Transaction Class is associated with the Resource and you appear to have only one resource I would assume the transaction class associated with that resource is External Labor.

 

When you populated over the existing cost plan all the other lines for the additional transaction classes got removed.

 

When you repopulated after adding ETC do you see cost for May?  If not, please add the Units attribute to your Time Scale View to see if the Units show as ETC.

 

If they do and you still have no cost, perhaps the match isn't being picked up in the rate matrix.

 

Let me know what you find.  If still no costs, you may need to open a case with support.

 

Note:  If you do have actual transactions to another transaction class, that line will still show in the cost plan though the line will not be editable.

 

 

 

Thank you,

 

Liz Williamson

[matej256]

Hi Liz,

 

Thanks for your response. As I could understand there are no conditions fro this and it should work everytime.

 

I've tried to add 2 more resources, assigned them to Capital task and added ETC but nothing happened.

Only 2 other blank transaction classes appeared more:

 

 

So only opening case would help I guess. Thanks a lot

 

Matej

[navzjoshi00]

Did a quick test, and attached are the results

 

NJ

Attachment(s)

Cost plan detail population and editing.docx   1.01 MB 1 version

[matej256]

Hi Navzjoshi,

 

Yes, this is like what it should work

I'll raise a ticket regarding this. Thanks to all for your help.

 

Matej

[navzjoshi00]

Welcome

 

Have a nice weekend

 

NJ

[Liz Williamson]

Hello Matej,

 

Yes please open a case if you are not seeing the ETC units.

 

If you change your view from Annual to Monthly Fiscal Periods does that help?

 

Thank you,

 

Liz Williamson

[matej256]

Hi All,

 

After some time I'm here with my issue back again...

Unfortunately opened case was not solved because even after some months we didn't find a root-cause...

 

So now I'm investigating it on my own and have some findings but also questions.

Could you please answer if somebody knows the answer? Thanks!

 

Steps I've done so far:

1.) Have found that data which are shown in Cost plan detail list (on Fin plans tab in Clarity) comes from fin_cost_plan_details table

2.) Enabled SQL trace and set log to the highest level

3) Found a piece of code where data are inserted into this table

 

4.) When retrieved some important columns form this table, I've got nulls as expected:

 

Question: Could somebody explain me which table/source all these Nulls comes from? In SQL trace log we can see they are inserted to fin cost plan details table.

                But from where they come from?  Is It possible to find it out? Many thanks for your hints!

 

Matej

[navzjoshi00]

Have you run any of the below in your environment ?

 

Import Financial Actuals job

Post Transactions to Financial job

 

NJ

[matej256]

Hi Navzjoshi,

 

Those jobs has no effect on this issue. I have tried all jobs I could run in Clarity with no success.

 

Matej

[Kathryn Ellis]

Hi Matej

 

If you see NULL in these fields it means that the row on the plan does not have any Units and if there are no units, there are no computations for revenue or cost.

 

Here is an example from my server:

So if you are populating the plan from Task Assignments, this means that there are no ETC values for that row, if you are populating from Team, it means there are no Allocations for that row.

[matej256]

Hi Kathryn,

 

Of course I have both (ETC and Allocation) for this project so that's not the case. As have mentioned before, sometimes it's working, sometimes not...

 

Matej

[Liz Williamson]

matej,

 

It would be interesting to see what the TRANSCLASS is on your query.

 

The Total Cost should show the costs calculated from the rate matrix.  I am not sure why you are not getting any quantity/cost on your plan.

 

Do you get any results if the resources have allocations and you populate from Team?

 

I see that the resource name is quite long and has a couple of special characters I am not sure if that could cause an issue.

 

You are not getting Error when populating that Rates cannot be found are you?

 

If you are still having issues please open a new case and reply back here so I get notification.

 

Thank you,

 

Liz Williamson

[matej256]

Hi Liz

 

Please find my answers below.

 

It would be interesting to see what the TRANSCLASS is on your query.

I'm using common Internal labour/External labour transclasses

 

The Total Cost should show the costs calculated from the rate matrix.  I am not sure why you are not getting any quantity/cost on your plan.

I think the same

 

Do you get any results if the resources have allocations and you populate from Team?

No

 

I see that the resource name is quite long and has a couple of special characters I am not sure if that could cause an issue.

It's not the case, I've used simple resources, also own matrixes, nothing helped

 

You are not getting Error when populating that Rates cannot be found are you?

No

 

If you are still having issues please open a new case and reply back here so I get notification.

I'll but don't think it helps.

 

Thanks

 

Matej

[Liz Williamson]

We can at least look at your trace.

 

 

 

 

 

Liz Williamson

Sr. Support Engineer

 

CA Technologies | 5465 Legacy Drive Suite 700 | Plano, TX 75024-3106

Office [phone] | [e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>

 

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[matej256]

Hi Liz,

If you want to see my trace log, just write me.

 

I've also opened a new case:

00212635: Populate from Task/Team not wo

 

My previous ticket regarding this topic:

00090868: Cost plan Populate Task Assign

 

Thanks

Matej

[Legacy User]

Is there any plan in the pipeline to add a line for planned Standard Costs?

[Tuan Tran]

Hi Dale,

 

There are no plans to add standard cost, as that is NOT used anywhere in CA PPM, however it can be used for reporting purposes.

 

https://www.ca.com/us/support/ca-support-online/product-content/knowledgebase-articles/tec444494.aspx

What is the difference between the use of 'Actual Cost' vs. 'Standard Cost'

[Damon Logiudice]

Thanks for the discussion folks and this ca community. TuanTran did you mean standard cost is not used anywhere in CA PPM?

It is only available for custom reporting.

 

The link above was also unavailable, sorry to report. Is this better?

http://www.ca.com/us/support/ca-support-online/product-content/knowledgebase-articles/tec444494.aspx

 

Thank you,
Damon

[Tuan Tran]

Hi Damon,

 

Yes, you are correct. I meant to state that "There are no plans to add standard cost, as that is not used anywhere in CA PPM, however it can be used for reporting purposes."

[juu]

Hi Tuan,

From Rate Matrix configurtion, There is Standard Cost and Acutal Cost column.

As your Tip stated that (planned) cost = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES.actualcost (rate). Does it mean value from Standard Cost ? Can we set 0 to actual cost ?

Regards,

Sununta

[Tuan Tran]

Hi Sununta,

 

ppa_matrixvalues.numval1 == rate
ppa_matrixvalues.numval2 == standard rate (not used)

ppa_matrixvalues.numval3 == actual cost rate

 

The standard rate is not used anywhere in the PPM UI.

 

If you set the ppa_matrixvalues.numval3 (which is the actual cost rate) to 0, you will get 0.00 actual cost.

[Pawel Krystosiak]

Dear All,

can somebody please explain to me, why "Populate from Task Assignments" (or "Populate from Assignments", as it is called now in the Modern UX) takes Actuals to update the Plan?

I am referring to the part in bold below:

(planned) units = sum of total ETC (estimates) +  total ACT (actuals)
(planned) cost = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES.actual cost (rate) x (planned) units
(planned) revenue = PPA_MATRIX_VALUES..rate (billing) x (planned) units

With this, if we used Assignments for planning some future expense in our project and then the actual cost is registered (through the Transaction Entry), the cost of that expense gets doubled in our Cost Plan.

In my view, plans are plans and actuals are actuals. These should not be mixed together.
Or I am missing something?

Thanks,
Pawel

[Liz Williamson]

Hi Pawel,

In your plan do you have ETC and actuals for that line?  Or is it just the actuals from the transaction entry?  I will test it.

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Liz Williamson
Principal Support Engineer - Clarity
Broadcom
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[Pawel Krystosiak]

Hi Liz,

thank you for your response. Here are the steps to recreate the issue:

1. Create (or make sure it exists) a Resource; enable it financially (in our case: Name = 'OPEX', Resource Type = Expense, Cost Type = 'OPEX')
2. Create (or make sure it exists) a Rate Matrix with a row matching the Resource (from step 1); set the Rate and Actual Cost to '1'
3. Create (or make sure it exists) a new project , enable it financially
4. Create (or make sure it exists) a new task (Charge Code = 'Project Cost')
5. Create (or make sure it exists) a new Cost Plan (with Charge Code; Cost Type; Resource as grouping attributes)
6. Add a Transaction Entry; use the project (from step 3), task (from step 4) and resource (from step 1)), set Quantity to '1', Cost to '1234.56', Rate to '1234.56', Cost Type to 'OPEX', Charge Code to 'DEFAULT'
7. Process the transaction – run "Post Transactions to Financial", "Post to WIP" jobs.
1. Make sure the transaction has been successfully processed and linked to the project – go to Project > Financials > Actual Transactions (in MUX) – the transaction should be displayed
8. Run the "Import Financial Actuals" job
1. See the Resource (from step 1) added to the project Staff and a new Assignment auto-created
9. Run the "Populate from Assignments" action on the Cost Plan (from step 5)

 

Expected behaviour:

Cost Plan should contain one row only – corresponding to the transaction (from step 6), with:

• (Planned) Cost          = 0
• Actual Cost                 = 12,345
• (Planned) Units         = 0
• Actual Units                = 1
• (Planned) Revenue = 0
• Actual Revenue        = 0

 

In other words, importing new transactions (actuals) should not affect our Planned Cost, Units or Revenue.

 

Actual behaviour:

Cost Plan contains two rows – one corresponding to the transaction and the other, corresponding to the auto-created assignment (from step 8a). In totals, we get:

• (Planned) Cost          = 12,345
• Actual Cost                 = 12,345
• (Planned) Units         = 1
• Actual Units                = 1
• (Planned) Revenue = 12,345
• Actual Revenue        = 12,345

 

See the screenshot below:

The other question could be: Why the Revenue is populated at all?

Do you think you could help me understanding what's happening here?

Thanks,
Pawel

[Liz Williamson]

Pawel,
You get two lines on the cost plan because one is an unplanned line as the charge codes don't match.
When you populate from assignments you will get the planned line with the one charge code 

The Cost is on the Project Cost charge code line which is from the tasks.
The Actual Cost is on the Default charge code line which is from the transaction.
I do not see that the costs are doubled.  One is planned, one is actual.

This is the expected behavior for Unplanned Lines

Clarity Unplanned Lines

As for the Revenue showing that is because on the transaction you entered a Rate.
Rate = Revenue
Cost = Cost on the plan

Per documentation:
Complete the following standard fields for your matrix rows:

• Rate

  Defines the billing rate to apply to a transaction for the row. A value of at least 0.00 is required. For equipment, materials, and expenses, rate is equal to the quantity. For example, if the cost of a single server is $1,000.00, then the rate is 1.
• Standard Cost

  The standard cost associated with any transaction matching the criteria established in the rate matrix. This attribute is generally not used elsewhere in the product but may be used in developing user-defined cost reporting.
• Actual Cost

  Defines the actual cost that is associated with any transaction matching the criteria established in the matrix. Actual Cost can be used in custom reporting.

Set Up a Financial Cost and Rate Matrix

And per the documentation when you create an expense entry the correct way is to make the quantity = cost and cost = 1.
Your matrix is set up correctly, but then you entered quantity = 1, then also entered rate and cost, which you should only enter the quantity and the matrix would be used to calculate the quantity * 1 (rate matrix) 

This would still created the 2 lines in the cost plan as the grouping attribute for charge code is different on the task vs the transaction.







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Liz Williamson
Principal Support Engineer - Clarity
Broadcom
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