Release 12.1
Part Number E13581-04
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This chapter discusses the organization forecasting functionality in Oracle Projects. Organization forecasting is a powerful management planning and reporting tool.
This chapter covers the following topics:
Organization forecasting provides you with a management planning and reporting tool. This tool enables you to generate organization-level financial forecasts for the revenue, cost, margin, margin percent, utilization, and headcount amounts associated with your project-level staffing plans. Organization forecasting also helps your operating managers plan and administer projects and project resources for their assigned areas of responsibility.
Related Topics
Organization Forecasting Concepts
Organization Forecasting Features
Using Organization Forecasting
The system calculates organization forecast amounts from project resource requirements and assignments that you define in Oracle Project Resource Management. The forecast generation process rolls up the forecast amounts and reports these amounts as a forecast version in an organization project that is created by the system. Organization forecasting also includes a manual adjustment feature that enables you to amend the system-generated amounts. These versioning and adjustment capabilities enable you to define multiple forecast views for an organization that reflect many different planning assumptions.
The system calculates forecast amounts only for project labor. By defining and enabling transfer price rules for your organizations, you can generate forecasts that reflect internal revenue and cost amounts attributable to borrowed and lent resources.
Organization forecasting supports your internally-focused operations planning and management reporting activities. While these features may also support your externally-focused, enterprise-level financial planning processes, organization forecasting is not intended to replace this type of strategic planning.
Organization Forecasting includes the following major features:
Roll-up of project-level revenue and cost amounts based on project resource requirements and assignments defined in Oracle Project Resource Management
Reporting of internal revenue and cost amounts based on defined transfer price rules
Reporting of either full forecast amounts, or forecast amounts that are factored (discounted) for project probability percentages
Calculation of margin and margin percent based on generated forecast amounts and net of transfer price amounts
Summarization of employee headcount information from Oracle Human Resource Management System
Calculation of scheduled utilization based on employee assignments
Manual adjustment capabilities for revenue, cost, headcount, and utilization
Reporting of forecast amounts in total and by major component
The following limitations apply to Oracle's organization forecasting functionality:
Forecasts include only project labor transactions. You cannot generate amounts for other items such as materials and usages.
The forecast generation processes create forecasts for a single organization in a single operating unit. You cannot roll up organization forecasts to a higher-level entity or across business groups.
The system creates forecasts in the project functional currency. You cannot view forecast amounts or enter adjustments in a currency other than the project functional currency.
Organization forecasting includes only projects that use a work-based revenue accrual method to calculate revenue. You cannot generate forecast amounts for projects that use a cost-based or event-based revenue accrual method..
This section describes how to use organization forecasting features.
Organization Forecasting Process Flow
Creating Organization Forecasts
Reviewing Organization Forecast Results
Organization forecasting includes the following processes:
Defining Prerequisite Forecast Information
Submitting Calculation Processes
Creating Versions and Generating Amounts
Reviewing Forecast Amounts
Adjusting Forecast Amounts
Submitting and Creating Baselines
Related Topics
Implementing Organization Forecasting, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide
Organization forecasting depends on several prerequisite activities that are not part of the core forecast processes. You must perform the following activities to define and maintain the underlying information that is required to calculate forecast amounts:
Entering New Pipeline Projects: The definition of new pipeline projects occurs as sales opportunities evolve into approved projects. Organization forecasting begins when you enter new pipeline projects in the system. Once you enter projects, you can proceed with the prerequisite activities of defining project resource requirements and assignments, and other project information required for organization forecasting.
For information on defining projects, see: Overview of Projects and Tasks.
Adjusting Project Probabilities: At a project level, probability percentages represent the likelihood that a project will be approved by the customer. When you enter probability percentages for your projects, the forecast calculation processes can factor (discount) forecast amounts for this expected likelihood. Definition of probability percentages is optional. If you specify probability percentages, periodically review and adjust the percentage values to ensure that they reflect your current expectations. For information on maintaining project probability, see: Project Information.
Maintaining Project Statuses: A new project status control called Include in Organization Forecasts has been added for organization forecasting. Project statuses with this status control enabled determine which projects are included in your forecasts. During your project planning cycle, periodically monitor and update project statuses to ensure that your projects are properly reported in your organization forecasts. For information on maintaining project statuses, see: Project Information.
Defining Project Resource Requirements and Assignments: To perform organization forecasting, you must define and maintain your project resource requirements and assignments in Oracle Project Resource Management. For more information, see: Project Requirements and Project Assignments, and the Oracle Project Resource Management User Guide.
Updating Bill and Cost Rates: Forecast calculation processes use project bill and cost rates to determine forecast amounts. Periodically review and update your bill and cost rates to ensure that they are consistent with your current forecasting assumptions. For more information on defining bill and cost rates, refer to the following sources:
Rate Schedule Definition, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide
Implementing Oracle Project Billing, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide
Implementing Forecasting Based on Staffing Plan, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide
Updating Transfer Price Rules: Similar to bill and cost rates, the system applies transfer prices during forecast calculations to determine the internal revenue and cost amounts attributable to borrowed and lent resources. Periodically review and update your transfer price rules to ensure that they are consistent with your current forecasting assumptions. For more information on defining transfer price rules, see: Cross Charge Processing Methods and Controls, Oracle Project Costing User Guide.
During implementation, your implementation team submits concurrent programs to calculate initial forecast amounts for all existing resource requirements and assignments, and to generate utilization percentages. After implementation, you must periodically submit the calculation programs to update your forecast amounts for new and changed resource requirements and assignments, and for changes in bill rates, cost rates, and transfer price rules. To view the list of concurrent programs for organization forecasting, see: Organization Forecasting Processes.
When you submit the forecast generation process during implementation, the system creates an organization project, creates an initial forecast version, and generates amounts. After implementation, you can periodically submit the generation process to create projects and generate forecasts for new organizations. You can also submit the generation process to create new forecast versions for existing organization projects. For more information, see: Creating a Forecast Version and Generating Amounts.
After the system generates a forecast version, you can review and analyze forecast amounts from summary-level and component-level view pages. These pages enable you to review forecast amounts in total and by period for revenue, cost, margin, margin percent, utilization, and headcount amounts. You can also view forecast amounts by component (for example, own revenue, borrowed revenue, internal revenue in, and internal revenue out). For more information, see: Reviewing Organization Forecast Results.
Organization forecasting enables you to enter manual adjustments to amend the system-generated forecast amounts. For more information on entering adjustments, see: Adjusting Generated Amounts.
When you are satisfied with the amounts reflected in a forecast version, you can submit the version and create a baseline. Creating a baseline enables you to preserve a forecast version by preventing further changes to forecast components and amounts. For more information, see: Maintaining Forecast Versions.
The following sections describe how to create forecast versions, generate amounts, maintain versions, and adjust generated amounts.
Creating a Forecast Version and Generating Amounts
You can create a forecast version and submit the forecast generation process online to create an organization forecast for a single organization. To perform these tasks online, navigate to either the Budgets and Forecasts page or the Maintain Versions: Organization Forecast page.
You can also submit the forecast generation process as a concurrent program to automatically create a version and generate amounts for one or more organizations. For information on submitting the forecast generation process as a concurrent program, see: Generate Organization Forecasts.
Log in using the Self Service Project Resource Management Organization Manager responsibility and choose the Project List menu option.
Note: The Project List page displays a complete list of projects, including organization projects, based on your authority. To enhance your ability to quickly locate organization projects on the Project List page, create a personalized view that displays only organization forecasts. To create such a view, use an attribute such as the organization forecast project type as a selection filter.
Select an organization project name to open the Project Home page.
Select the Financial tab to open the Budgets and Forecasts page.
Select the Organization Forecast plan type, then choose Create Plan Version to open the Create Plan Version page.
Enter a version name and optionally, a description.
Select Generate, then choose Go.
For information on creating a forecast version and generating amounts for a single organization from the Maintain Versions: Organization Forecast page, see: Maintaining Forecast Versions.
System-generated forecast versions are listed on the Maintain Forecast Versions page. This page lists all working and approved versions for an organization. Use this page to perform the following tasks:
create new forecast versions
submit and rework working versions
approve forecast versions
create a new version by copying an existing working or approved version
set a working version to current working version
regenerate amounts for existing working versions
enter adjustments for working versions
delete a working version
mark an approved version as the original approved version
update version names and descriptions
You can submit only the current working version for approval. Before approval, you can rework the submitted version. After approval, Oracle Projects automatically creates a new current working copy based on the approved forecast version. You can then update the new working version and submit it for approval.
You can permanently delete working versions of an organization forecast. You can also delete approved versions unless they are the original or current approved versions.
Related Topics
Generate Organization Forecasts
To manually adjust system-generated forecast amounts, open the Enter Adjustments page from the Maintain Versions: Organization Forecast page. You can enter adjustments by period for revenue, cost, utilization, and headcount.
The system determines the starting period for displayed amounts and the number of periods to display based on the period parameters for organization forecasting in Forecasting Implementation Options. You can override the default display parameters using the page display options.
To enter adjustments, select an adjustment reason from the pre-defined list, and enter amounts by period and forecast component.
Note: Adjustment reasons are defined during implementation. For more information, see: Defining Adjustment Reasons: Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.
You can use the Enter Adjustments page to query existing adjustment amounts by adjustment reason. To query for previously-entered adjustments, select an adjustment reason and choose Go.
When you update an existing adjustment amount, the system replaces the existing amount with the amount that you enter. Therefore, you must always enter the new amount that you want to reflect in your forecast. Additionally, when you choose to regenerate forecast amounts, the system overrides all existing amounts, including adjustments, with the regenerated amounts.
Organization forecasting includes a number of view pages that provide periodic views of the following base measures: revenue, cost, margin, margin percent, utilization, and headcount.
The Budgets and Forecasts page is the entry point for accessing organization forecast information. From the Budgets and Forecasts page you can create a plan version, generate amounts, view amounts for the current working and current baseline versions, and navigate to the Maintain Versions: Organization Forecast page.
Note: The system automatically adds the Organization Forecasting plan type to an organization project. You cannot add other plan types to an organization project.
Related Topics
Creating a Forecast Version and Generating Amounts.
Maintaining Forecast Versions.
Use the Organization Forecast Summary page to view total revenue, cost, margin, margin percent, headcount, and utilization percent amounts by period for a forecast version. You can view amounts for up to 6 GL periods or 13 PA periods at a time.
The system determines the starting period for displayed amounts and the number of periods to display based on the period parameters for organization forecasting in Forecasting Implementation Options. You can override the default display parameters using the page display options.
You can drill down to the components of each forecast amount with the exception of margin and margin percent. The system calculates margin and margin percent from forecast revenue and cost amounts. Select a forecast amount name link to drill down to the components of revenue, cost, utilization, and headcount amounts. When you view a components page, you can choose the View Adjustments option to drill down to adjustment amounts by adjustment reason.
For information on forecast calculations, see: Generating Forecasts, Oracle Project Management User Guide.
The following sections define the components the system can display for revenue, cost, utilization, and headcount.
A forecast can include the following revenue components:
Own Revenue: Revenue for work on projects owned by your organization that is generated by resources assigned to your organization.
Borrowed Revenue: Revenue for work on projects owned by your organization that is generated by resources assigned to other organizations.
Internal Revenue In: Revenue transferred into your organization for work on projects owned by other organizations that is performed by resources assigned to your organization
Internal Revenue Out: Revenue transferred to other organizations for work on projects owned by your organization that is performed by resources assigned to other organizations.
Revenue Adjustments: The total amount of manual revenue adjustments entered for your organization forecast.
Note: Total revenue equals the sum of Own Revenue, Borrowed Revenue, Internal Revenue In, and Revenue Adjustments, less the amount of Internal Revenue Out.
A forecast can include the following cost components:
Own Project Cost: Cost for work on projects owned by your organization that is generated by resources assigned to your organization.
Lent Resource Cost: Cost for work on projects owned by other organizations that is generated by resources assigned to your organization.
Unassigned Time Cost: Cost for unassigned time for resources assigned to your organization.
Internal Cost In: Cost transferred into your organization for work on projects owned by your organization that is performed by resources assigned to other organizations.
Internal Cost Out: Cost transferred to other organizations for work on projects owned by other organizations that is performed by resources assigned to your organization.
Cost Adjustments: The total amount of manual cost adjustments entered for your organization forecast.
Note: Forecast cost is based on burdened cost amounts. Total cost equals the sum of Own Project Cost, Lent Resource Cost, Unassigned Time Cost, Internal Cost In, and Cost Adjustments, less the amount of Internal Cost Out.
A forecast can include the following utilization components:
Scheduled Utilization (%): Total scheduled hours for all resources, weighted by utilization categories / Total capacity hours for all resources.
Utilization (%) Adjustments: The total amount of manual utilization adjustments entered for your organization forecast.
A forecast can include the following headcount components:
Beginning Headcount: Total headcount for the organization at the end of the previous period per the Oracle Human Resources Management System application.
Headcount Adjustments: The total amount of manual headcount adjustments entered for your organization forecast.
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