How Clarity Calculates Costs?

[Legacy User]

I need some information to understand how Clarity calculates costs – essentially, what is referenced and when to result in a cost being calculated, or recalculated if underlying information changes.

 

For example, if I assign a resource to a task today and this is the first task they’ve ever been assigned to, when will I see a cost for them? What is the calculation flow, e.g. does Clarity reference the rate matrix extraction tables to get the rate, or does it pick it up from elsewhere? If it was the rate matrix extraction tables, then these wouldn’t have rate data for this resource until after the rate matrix extraction job had run? More broadly, what is the purpose of the rate matrix extraction job and associated tables – what do they update?

 

If the process gets the rate directly from the rate matrix (via the resource class on the resource record) and we update the resource record to point at a different resource class but didn’t re-run rate matrix extraction job then presumably any costs calculated directly would be different to those calculated via the rate matrix extraction tables? So, when we update a rate for a resource – by moving them to a different resource class – what is the process for recalculating costs for the resource; again, does it reference the rate matrix extraction tables?

 

I believe the granular assignment data (hours and cost) is stored in a blob – how do the costs within the blob get updated when there is a rate change?

 

When we change the rates at year end i.e. change the end date from 31/12/2025 to 31/122015 and introduce a new row for 01/01/2016 to 31/12/2016, what recalculation will occur and how? Will only costs from 2016 recalculate, or everything in the blob?

 

I realise that actual costs in WIP won’t change, I’m thinking more of actual costs that haven’t been posted and estimates from current date onwards.

 

Thanks,

Jonathan

[Kathryn Ellis]

First read the following article:

 

What does the Rate Matrix Extraction job do and how is it used?

Document ID:  TEC474741

Rates and costs are used from the Rate Matrix Extraction table at the time the actual transactions are posted and when baselines are created or updated.  When a Cost Plan is populated, the rates come from the live matrix rows.

 

The 'blob' fields are a sliced into slice records.  The assignment blob for actual cost is updated at the time a timesheet is posted and uses the rates from the Rate matrix table.  Also, it can be updated when new financial actual transactions from WIP are imported back into the project from the 'import financial actuals' job runs.

If the rate changes after an actual transaction is posted from a Timesheet, you will need to make an adjustment at the source - on the timesheet entry being sure to use the old rate, change the rate and make a new adjustment with the new rate.

After changing Rate Matrix rows, what is the best way to correct rates for transactions already posted to WIP?

Document ID:  TEC439527