CASE 3: Some tasks, but not all, are only chargeable for labor expenditures
Only labor can be charged to the project. There are exceptions to this rule for specific tasks, which are configured using task transaction controls.
Scenario:
Project SF300 has been negotiated to perform an environmental study for the proposed site of a new housing development. You organize your project so you can easily manage its status and control the charges; the project work breakdown structure is as follows. All the tasks, except task 1, are defined as billable.
| Task 1
| Administration
|
| Task 2
| Purchases
|
| Task 3
| Analysis
|
| Task 3.1
| Onsite Analysis
|
| Task 3.2
| In-house Analysis
|
| Task 4
| Writeup
|
Most of the charges on the project are labor. All labor is billable, except for Administrative labor. Some tasks involve charges other than labor.
- All administration for the project, which includes only labor and computer usage, is charged to task 1. Donald Gray, the project manager, and Sharon Jones, his assistant, are the only people handling the administration of the project.
- You know that you must make a few purchases to perform the analysis for the project; you will monitor the charges for the supplier invoices in task 2.
- You have reserved Field Equipment and a van for the onsite analysis (Task 3.1), but know that your client will not reimburse vehicle charges on this project.
- You have arranged for Susan Marshall from the East Coast office to fly in for a week to help with the in-house analysis since she has done this type of analysis before. She will charge her expenses to the same task, but your client will not be invoiced for those expenses. No other expenses are allowed on that task.
In summary, the controls you want to define for your project are as follows:
Setup:
You create Project SF300 with your work breakdown structure. You enter the following transaction controls.
Level: Project
Level: Task 1 Administration (Task is non-billable)
You could also define the transaction controls as follows, with the same results.
Resulting Transactions: Task 1
Donald Gray and Sharon Jones can charge labor and computer use, both of which will be non-billable as defined by the billable field.
All other employees, other than Gray and Jones, cannot charge to the project. All other types of charges, including supplier invoices, expenses, and non-computer usages are not allowed because they are not listed in the transaction controls and the Limit to Transaction Controls is selected.
The project transaction controls are not evaluated for charges to this task, because the Limit to Transaction Controls is selected.
Level: Task 2 Purchases (Task is billable)
Resulting Transactions: Task 2
Only supplier invoice expenditures can be charged to this task. The charges are billable as defined by the billable field.
All other types of charges are not allowed. The project transaction controls are not evaluated for charges to this task, because the Limit to Transaction Controls is selected.
Level: Task 3.1 Onsite Analysis (Task is billable)
Resulting Transactions: Task 3.1
The only type of in-house recoverable expenditures allowed are Field Equipment and Vehicle. The only type of Vehicle charge allowed is the use of a van. The Van charges are non-billable as defined by the transaction control.
All labor can also be charged to this task. Expense report charges, supplier invoices, in-house recoverables other than Field Equipment and Vehicle usage of a Van, and other costs (such as Miscellaneous Transactions, Inventory, Work in Process, and Burden Transactions) cannot be charged to this task, as defined by the task transaction controls using Limit to Transaction Controls selected.
Level: Task 3.2 In-House Analysis (Task is billable)
Resulting Transactions: Task 3.2
Susan Marshall can charge travel expenses, which are non-billable as defined by the task transaction controls. No other employee can charge travel expenses to this task.
All labor can also be charged to this task. Because this task's Limit to Transaction Controls is set to No and no applicable transaction control was found at the task level for the following types of charges, the charges are evaluated based on the project transaction controls; these type of charges include: labor, supplier invoices, and in-house recoverables. Supplier invoices, in-house recoverables, and other costs are not allowed since they are not listed in the project level transaction controls.
Level: Task 4 (No Transaction Controls)
Resulting Transactions: Task 4
All labor can be charged to this task. All other charges are not allowed based on the project transaction controls.
All charges are evaluated based on the project transaction controls, because no transaction controls are entered for the task.
See Also
Project and Task Options
Entering Project and Task Options
Transaction Controls
Inclusive and Exclusive Transaction Controls
Determining if an Item is Chargeable
Determining if an Item is Billable
