Budgeting and Forecasting

Adding Plan Types to a Project

Creating Plan Versions

Planning for Cost and Revenue

Oracle Projects enables you to create different combinations of cost and revenue budgets and forecasts for a project. When you add a plan type to a project, you can choose whether the plan type is for cost amounts only, revenue amounts only, or both cost and revenue. If the plan type is for cost and revenue, then you can choose whether to plan for cost and revenue amounts together in the same plan version, or separately in different plan versions. For more information, see: Adding Plan Types to a Project.

Determining the Level of Detail for Budgets and Forecasts

The level of detail at which you enter, view, and report budgets and forecasts is determined by the following factors:

The planning level that you select for entering plan version amounts
Whether you choose to categorize plan version amounts by resources
The time phase that you select for entering plan version amounts, if any

Selecting Planning Levels for Budgets and Forecasts

A planning level represents the level of the project financial structure at which you enter budget and forecast amounts. Planning level options enable you to create different plan versions that capture budget and forecast amounts at different levels of detail. For example, you can create one budget version to capture detail cost amounts at the lowest task level, another to capture summary cost amounts at the top task level, and a third to capture total revenue amounts at the project level.

When you create budgets and forecasts that do not use budgetary control and budget integration features, you can choose to enter budget and forecast amounts at any level of the financial structure by selecting one of the following lowest level planning level options:

Project
Top Task
Lowest Task

When you choose the Lowest Task option, you can enter amounts at all levels of the financial structure including top tasks, middle-level tasks, and lowest tasks. You can also enter amounts at multiple task levels within the same branch of the financial structure. Oracle Projects treats the amounts that you enter at each task level as incremental amounts that roll up into the total amounts for the project.

When you create budgets that use budgetary controls and budget integration features, you can choose to enter budget amounts at one of the following planning levels:

Project
Top Task
Lowest Task
Top and Lowest Task

When you choose the Top and Lowest Task option, you can enter amounts in a combination of top tasks and lowest tasks. For example, you can set up some branches of the financial structure to enter amounts at the top task level and other branches to enter amounts at the lowest task level. You cannot enter amounts at both the top task and lowest task levels within the same branch of the financial structure.

Categorizing Budget and Forecast Amounts by Resources

You can enter detail budget and forecast amounts that are categorized according to a planning resource list, or you can enter uncategorized (or summary) amounts.

Categorized Amounts

Categorized amounts are amounts that you enter by planning resource. Planning resources are combinations of resources (the labor, services, equipment, and other items) that you define to plan and track project work.

Important: When you create budgets that use budgetary controls and budget integration, you cannot use a planning resource list to categorize budget amounts. Instead, you must use a standard, two-level resource list.

You can enter quantities for different planning resources in different units of measure. However, only quantities with a unit of measure of Hours are rolled up into the total. Oracle Projects rolls up hours for resources with the resource class People separately from hours for resources with the resource class Equipment.

You can choose to enter categorized amounts for any planning level, and you can select different planning resource lists for different kinds of projects. For example, you can enter labor by employee for small research and development projects, and by organization for large design projects.
Uncategorized Amounts

Uncategorized amounts are amounts that you enter in total at a project or a task level. When you enter uncategorized amounts, you enter one budget or forecast line for the project or for a task. An uncategorized amount may represent an amount for a single planning resource item or a total amount for several planning resource items (for example, labor, expenses, and usages). When you enter uncategorized amounts, Oracle Projects uses a unit of measure of Currency.

Note: When you enter uncategorized amounts for a budget that uses a planning resource list, you can enter amounts using a unit of measure of Hours. To enter amounts using a unit of measure of Hours for a planning resource, you must choose the People resource class.

Related Topics

Resources and Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Planning Resources and Planning Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Selecting Time Phases for Budgets and Forecasts

You can enter budget and forecast amounts in total for the duration of a project or task (also known as budget or forecast at completion), or you can enter amounts by time period. You can enter amounts by time period for categorized and uncategorized budgets and forecasts.

You can delineate a budget or forecast by one of the following time phases:

PA Periods: Established Oracle Projects periods
GL Periods: Established Oracle General Ledger periods
None (budget or forecast at completion)

Note: When you create budgets that use budgetary controls features, you cannot create budgets that use a time phased of date range.

Note: When you create budgets that use budget integration features, you must use a time phase of GL Period.

You can select a different time phase for each plan type in the context of a project and plan version. For example, you can create a detailed cost budget version by PA Period, a summary cost budget version by GL Period, and a revenue budget for the duration of the project.

Related Topics

Date Processing in Oracle Projects, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Using Period Profiles

You use period profiles to specify how Oracle Projects groups and displays time periods when you edit budgets and forecasts. Period profiles do not affect the time periods for which you can enter amounts. The periods for which you can enter amounts are determined by the start and end dates of the budget or forecast line.

Your implementation team creates a period profile by specifying whether the period profile is based on PA or GL periods, and by defining a range of periods. The period profile specifies the number of PA or GL periods to include in one or more period groupings. A period profile can consist of up to 1,000 period groupings of varying duration.

Note: Oracle Projects provides two predefined period profiles. One is based on PA periods and the other is based on GL periods. Both period profiles contain 52 single period groupings.

You can associate period profiles with projects at the project, plan type (in the context of a project), and plan version levels. The period profile you select for a project is the default period profile for all plan types that you add to a project. The period profile for a plan type is the default period profile for all plan versions that you create for a plan type. You can override the default period profile selections at the plan type and plan version levels.

Note: You cannot use period profiles to specify how Oracle Projects groups and displays time periods when you create budgets and forecasts that use budgetary controls and budget integration features.

For a comprehensive discussion of how Oracle Projects uses period profiles, see: Period Profiles, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

Related Topics

Using Spread Curves

Your implementation team creates spread curves to derive allocation factors that Oracle Projects uses to automatically distribute quantity, cost, and revenue amounts across a range of PA or GL periods. Oracle Projects uses spread curves to distribute budget and forecast amounts at the following times:

When you generate amounts for a budget or forecast version that is time-phased by PA or GL periods
When you enter amounts for a budget or forecast line for which no amounts have been entered previously

Note: If amounts already exist for a budget or forecast line, Oracle Projects automatically allocates the entered amounts across periods based on the existing period line amounts.
When you choose to redistribute existing amounts for a plan line on the Edit Budget Line or Edit Forecast Line page
When you include or implement the financial impact of change documents in a plan version that is time-phased by PA or GL periods

Note: Oracle Projects also uses spread curves to distribute planned quantities for workplan resource assignments. For more information, see: Defining Planned Quantity and Cost for Resource Assignments on Tasks.

Spread curves are associated with resource classes and planning resources. The spread curve associated with a resource class is the default spread curve for all planning resources for the resource class. You can override the default spread curve assigned to a planning resource when you edit details for a budget or forecast line.

Note: You cannot use spread curves to distribute budget amounts when you create budgets that use budgetary controls and budget integration features.

For a comprehensive discussion of how Oracle Projects uses spread curves, see: Spread Curves, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

Related Topics

Resource Classes, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Using Fiscal Calendar for Periodic Distribution

Apart from using the spread curve, you can also use the Fiscal Calendar to distribute the quantity, cost, and revenue among the periods. In this method the project calendar and the number of days in a fiscal period for which the resource is assigned is used to calculate the distribution.

This method is available only for a planning transaction, that is, for a task assignment, a budget line, or forecast line and not at the individual planning resource level.

While updating the spread basis using AMG API enter “10000” as the Spread Curve ID to select this method.

To use this method:

Navigate to the Update Resource Assignment, Update Budget Line Details, or Update Budget Line page in the project.
Select Fiscal Calendar as the Spread Basis.
Generate the budget or forecast.

The quantity, cost, and revenue for a planning resource will be distributed proportionately among the periods within the resource assignment duration.

Using Budgetary Controls and Budget Integration

You can set up budgets that use Oracle Projects budgetary controls and budget integration features. Budgetary controls enable you to monitor and control expense commitment transactions entered for a project based on a project cost budget. Budget integration features enable you to integrate your project budgets with budgets in Oracle General Ledger.

Important: To create budgets that use budgetary controls and budget integration features, you must follow the processes and procedures described in the section in this chapter titled Creating Budgets With Budgetary Controls and Budget Integration.

Related Topics

Using Budgetary Controls

Calculating and Adjusting Budget and Forecast Amounts

You can define budgets and forecasts in Oracle Projects to calculate raw cost, burdened cost, and revenue for each line in your budget or forecast. Oracle Projects calculates amounts based on the quantities and amounts that you enter, and rates from the rate schedules that you specify for cost and revenue in your budget or forecast rate schedule planning options.

You can choose to use either actual rates or planning rates to determine cost and revenue amounts for budgeting and forecasting. Actual rates are the rates that Oracle Projects uses to calculate actual cost and revenue amounts for expenditure items. Planning rates are rates that you define specifically for planning purposes. For a comprehensive discussion of how Oracle Projects determines and uses rates for financial planning, see: Using Rates for Workplan and Financial Planning, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

You can override the default rates used to calculate cost and revenue amounts (for example, raw cost rates and bill rates) for a budget or forecast line. You can also override the default calculation logic and define your own calculation rules using budget calculation extensions. For example, you can define calculation rules to calculate raw cost, burdened cost, or revenue when you enter a quantity. You can use function security and the amount entry options that you select in your plan settings to control whether you can manually update a calculated value.

You can use Oracle Projects budget and forecast adjustment features to update a budget or forecast version after you enter or generate amounts for the version. The adjustment features enable you to select a budget or forecast component that you want to adjust (for example, a burden rate), specify an adjustment percentage, and, optionally, create a new plan version to capture the revised amounts.

Note: You cannot use budget rate schedule planning options, override rates for budget lines, or apply percentage adjustments to budget versions when you create budgets that use budgetary controls and budget integration features.

Defining Plan Settings

Editing Budget and Forecast Amounts

Adjusting Version Amounts

Budget Calculation Extensions, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference

Options for Copying Budgets and Forecasts

Oracle Projects provides the following capabilities for copying budget and forecasts:

When you create a new project by copying a project template or existing project, Oracle Projects automatically copies the budgets and forecasts of the project template or existing project to the new project.
When you create or modify a plan version, you can copy amounts from another plan version on the same project.

Related Topics

Copying Budgets and Forecasts

Entering Budgets and Forecasts in Multiple Currencies

You can create budgets and forecasts that enable you to enter plan amounts in multiple transaction currencies. An exception exists for approved revenue budget versions. For related information, see Entering Amounts and Editing Plan Versions.

When you enter amounts in multiple transaction currencies, Oracle Projects automatically converts the transaction amounts to project currency and project functional currency based on conversion attributes that you define. You can define rate schedules in multiple currencies. If you enable your budget or forecast version for planning in multiple currencies, then Oracle Projects calculates the amounts using the rate schedule currency as the transaction currency.

Related Topics

Defining Currency Settings

Rate Schedule Definition, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Creating Baselines for Budgets and Approving Forecasts

Creating a budget baseline or an approved forecast version is the process of approving a budget or forecast for use in reporting or accounting. Before you can use a budget for project status reporting, project performance reporting, or project billing, you must submit a working budget version and create a baseline. Before you can use a forecast for project status reporting or project performance reporting, you must submit and approve a working forecast version. Oracle Projects maintains each baseline or approved forecast as a separate plan version.

Related Topics

Submitting Budgets and Forecasts

Understanding the Submit Process

Understanding Budget and Forecast Security

Oracle Projects uses role-based security and function security to control access to budget and forecast features. To access budgeting and forecasting features, you must be assigned a responsibility and have an Oracle Projects role to which the appropriate budgeting and forecasting functions are assigned.

You can perform functions such as editing budget and forecast versions, creating baselines, and approving forecasts based on whether the plan class of the plan type associated with a plan version is Budget or Forecast, and whether the plan type is designated as an approved budget or primary cost forecast. You can also control the update of budget and forecast amounts that are imported from external systems.

Edit and maintain security functions enable you to update and view budget and forecast information. If you do not have edit or maintain access, then you must be granted view access to view budgets and forecasts.

To control updates to approved budgets, you can also choose an option to either allow or disallow manual edits after an initial baseline is created. If the Allow Edit After Initial Baseline option is enabled for an approved budget financial plan type, then you can edit and submit a working version after the creation of an initial budget baseline. However, if this option is not enabled, then you can update an approved budget only by creating a change order that records the financial impact of the change and by implementing the financial impact of the change order in the budget.

Related Topics

Adding Plan Types to a Project

Financial Plan Types, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

API Controls, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Function Security in Oracle Projects, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Using Budgeting and Forecasting

This section describes the processes for creating budgets and forecasts that do not use Oracle Projects budgetary controls and budget integration features. For information on creating budgets that use these features, see: Creating Budgets With Budgetary Controls and Budget Integration.

Defining Planning Options

Planning options provide a template for the creation of budget and forecast versions. Planning options enable you to create budget and forecast versions quickly and without having to select plan settings, currency settings, rate schedules, generation options, and Microsoft Excel options each time that you create a new version.

To facilitate the definition of planning options for plan versions, Oracle Projects enables you to define planning options at the following levels:

Project Template and Project: Planning options that you define for a project template or project are the default planning options for plan types that you add to a project.
Plan Type: Planning options that you define for a plan type added to a project override the default planning options from a project template or project, and are the default planning options for plan versions that you create for the plan type.
Plan Version: Planning options that you define for a budget or forecast version override the default planning options from the plan type added to a project.

You can define planning options when you set up a project template or project. You can define and edit planning options when you add a plan type to a project, and when you create a plan version for a plan type.

Note: You can define budget and forecast generation options for a plan type within the context of a project, and for a plan version. You cannot define generation options for a project template or project.

In addition, you can specify a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet layout for a plan type within the context of a project template or a project. You cannot change a spreadsheet layout selection at the plan version level.

Changes that you make to planning options for a plan type affect only new plan versions that you create after the change. After you enter amounts for a plan version, you cannot change the resource breakdown structure associated with the plan type.

Important: If you intend to create budgets and forecasts that are time-phased by PA or GL periods, you must define period profiles for your project before you define planning options. See: Using Period Profiles.

Defining Plan Settings

Define plan settings to specify how to enter and view amounts for budget and forecast versions. Plan settings also determine whether you must define currency settings and select planning elements (tasks and planning resources). The options available when you define plan settings vary based on whether you are defining planning options for a project template, project, plan type, or plan version.

Approved Budget / Primary Forecast Designations

When your implementation team creates a financial plan type, they can optionally designate a budget plan type as an approved cost budget, an approved revenue budget, or as both. A forecast plan type can be designated as a primary cost forecast, a primary revenue forecast, or as both.

Important: You can update the approved budget and primary forecast designations only at the financial plan type level. You cannot change these designations when you add a plan type to a project template or project, or when you create a plan version for a plan type.

Also note, after you add a financial plan type to a project, you can update only the following information for the financial plan type:

Effective dates
Whether to use workflow for status changes
Conversion attributes
Change document types and statuses that can be included and implemented in the plan type

You cannot delete a financial plan type after you add it to a project.

For information about approved budget and primary forecast designations, see: Financial Plan Types, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide, and Adding Plan Types to a Project.

Amount Entry Options

When you add a plan type to a project or create a budget or forecast, you can select the fields for which you want to enter plan amounts. The fields available for selection depend on whether the plan type allows entry of cost amounts, revenue amounts, or both cost and revenue amounts.

Note: Even if you do not select a field for entry of plan amounts, you can calculate amounts for the field using rates you define using rate schedule planning options, and budget calculation extensions.

Display and Reporting Options

Use the following options to define how you want to display and report plan quantities and amounts:

Plan Amounts in Multiple Currencies

If the project currency and the project functional currency for a project are different, then the system automatically selects the Plan Amounts in Multiple Currencies check box. Otherwise, you can select this option at the project, plan type (in the context of a project), and plan version levels to enable the entry of budget and forecast amounts in multiple transaction currencies. For more information on selecting currencies, see: Defining Currency Settings.

Rounding Factor

The Rounding Factor setting controls how whole numbers are displayed when you view budget and forecast quantities and amounts. For example, if you select a rounding factor of 100, Oracle Projects will display a value of 25,000 as 250.

Report Cost Using

When you add a plan type to a project that allows entry of both cost and revenue amounts, you can use this option to choose whether to calculate margins based on either raw cost or burdened cost amounts.

This option also controls whether raw cost or burdened cost amounts are displayed in the Cost column on the Budgets and Forecasts page.

Report Quantity Using

If you plan for cost and revenue amounts in separate versions, then you can choose whether to report quantity amounts based on either the cost quantity or the revenue quantity.

Resource Breakdown Structure

You can select a resource breakdown structure to control how Oracle Projects rolls up and summarizes budget and forecast amounts for planning resources.

Plan Options

Cost and revenue plan options enable you to define the level of detail at which you enter plan amounts. You can select cost and revenue plan options at the project, plan type (in the context of a project), and plan version levels. You can select different options for cost and revenue plans, or you can use the same options for both cost and revenue plans.

To use the same plan options for cost and revenue, specify only cost plan options and select the Use Cost Plan Options for Revenue option on the Plan Settings page. When you select this option, Oracle Projects automatically selects revenue plan options based on the cost plan options.

Lowest Level

Select a lowest level planning level to specify the lowest level of the financial structure at which you want enter budget and forecast amounts. You can select one of the following levels:

Project
Top Task
Lowest Task

If you select Lowest Task, then you can plan at any level of the financial structure including lowest tasks, mid-level tasks, and top tasks. In addition, you can plan at multiple levels within the same financial structure branch. Oracle Projects treats the amounts that you enter at each task level as incremental amounts that roll up into the total amounts for the project.

For more information, see: Selecting Planning Levels for Budgets and Forecasts.

Resource Information

You can optionally select a planning resource list to enable the entry of plan amounts for planning resources. For more information, see: Categorizing Budget and Forecast Amounts by Resources, and Planning Resources and Planning Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

Time Phase

You can optionally select a time phase that enables you to enter plan amounts by PA period or GL period. When you select a time phase, you can also select a period profile (for the project template, project, plan type in the context of a project, and plan version) and the current planning period (for a plan type in the context of a project and plan version) to control how Oracle Projects displays amounts by time period. For more information about period profiles and selecting a current planning period, see: Using Period Profiles, and Period Profiles, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

If you do not select a time phase, then you must enter amounts for the duration of a project or task. For more information, see: Selecting Time Phases for Budgets and Forecasts, and Date Processing in Oracle Projects, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

Defining Currency Settings

You can define conversion attributes and add transaction currencies for budgets and forecasts on the Currency Settings page.

Conversion Attributes

Define conversion attributes for use in converting plan amounts in transaction currencies to project currency and project functional currency. When you plan for cost and revenue, you must define separate attributes for converting cost and revenue amounts.

The conversion attributes that you define for a financial plan type become the default conversion attributes for a plan type that you add to a project template or project. You can update conversion attributes within a project only at the plan type or plan version level. You cannot define conversion attributes for a project template or project.

Add Transaction Currencies

When entry of plan amounts in multiple currencies is enabled, you can enter amounts only for the currencies listed in the Add Transaction Currencies table on the Currency Settings page. Oracle Projects automatically lists the project currency and project functional currency. You can add additional transaction currencies at any time. You can add transaction currencies at the project, plan type (in the context of a project), and plan version levels.

Related Topics

Multi-Currency, Oracle General Ledger User's Guide

Selecting Rate Schedules

Rate schedule planning options enable you to select default cost and bill rate schedules to calculate cost and revenue amounts for budgets and forecasts that you either generate automatically or enter manually. You can choose rate schedule options at the project level, for plan types within the context of a project, and for plan versions.

If you select the option to use planning rates, then you can choose the cost and revenue rate schedules to use to generate amounts. If you do not select the option to use planning rates, then Oracle Projects automatically chooses the rate schedules that are used to calculate actual cost and revenue (bill) amounts.

You must specify rate schedules for resource class. When Oracle Projects is unable to determine the actual or planning rates to apply in a calculation, Oracle Projects automatically applies rates from the default rate schedules you specify for resource class.

For a comprehensive discussion of how Oracle Projects determines and uses rates for financial planning, see: Using Rates for Workplan and Financial Planning, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

Related Topics

Selecting Generation Options

You can select budget and forecast generation options to specify the default sources from which to generate quantities and amounts for budget and forecast versions. You can specify generation options for plan types within the context of a project and for plan versions.

You can indicate a primary generation source such as a staffing plan, a workplan version, or another financial plan (budget or forecast) version. If the plan version tracks revenue, you can specify a revenue derivation method for revenue generation. The project’s revenue accrual method initially determines the revenue derivation method. You can select another derivation method unless the revenue accrual method is Event.

You can indicate whether to include quantities and amounts from other sources including change documents, open commitments, and billing events. You can also specify whether Oracle Projects should retain user-specified plan lines when you generate or regenerate a budget or forecast version.

When you define forecast generation options for forecasts, you can also specify the period through which to include actual amounts in the generated forecast (for example, current period, last closed period, or prior period).

Related Topics

Implementing and Including Financial Impact in Budgets and Forecasts

Staffing Plan, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Defining Microsoft Excel Options

To use Microsoft Excel integration features for budgeting and forecasting, you must specify a default spreadsheet layout for a budget or forecast plan type. You can optionally specify spreadsheet layouts for plan types for both project templates and projects. You can also change the default spreadsheet layout specified for a plan type at the project template or project level. However, you cannot change the default spreadsheet layout selection at the budget or forecast version level.

Oracle Projects provides the following default spreadsheet layouts for budgeting and forecasting integration with Microsoft Excel:

Periodic budget
Non-periodic budget
Periodic forecast
Non-periodic forecast

To meet your business requirements, your implementation team can create additional custom spreadsheet layouts by duplicating the default layouts and then updating the duplicates. For more information, see: Implementing Integration with Microsoft Excel, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

You can select either one or two spreadsheet layouts for a plan type depending on whether the plan type allows entry of cost amounts only, revenue amounts only, or both cost and revenue amounts. For example:

If you are planning for cost only, revenue only, or cost and revenue together, then you can select only a single spreadsheet layout.
If you are planning for cost and revenue separately, then you can select a spreadsheet layout for a cost plan and a spreadsheet layout for a revenue plan.

For more information on specifying cost and revenue entry options for plan types, see: Adding Plan Types to a Project.

When you select a spreadsheet layout for a plan type, Oracle Projects displays a list of available amount types. You can choose from the list of amount types to define the columns displayed in a spreadsheet. When you select a spreadsheet layout for a budget or forecast plan type that is time-phased by periods, Oracle Projects enables you to select either a periodic spreadsheet layout, or a non-periodic spreadsheet layout. You can select only a non-periodic spreadsheet layout for a plan type that is not time-phased by periods.

Adding Plan Types to a Project

Plan types enable you to define the types of budgets and forecasts that you want to plan for (for example, an approved budget, a revenue budget, or a bid). You can add multiple plan types to a project by choosing from the list of financial plan types defined during implementation.

When you add a plan type, you must choose whether the plan type allows the entry of cost amounts only, revenue amounts only, or both cost and revenue. When you plan for both cost and revenue, you can choose whether cost and revenue amounts are entered in the same version or in separate versions. You cannot change the cost or revenue plan setup option after a plan version is created for a plan type.

Note: When you plan cost and revenue amounts together in the same plan version, Oracle Projects derives revenue each time that you update cost amounts. If you want revenue derivation to be independent of cost amount entry, then plan for cost and revenue in separate plan versions.

You must specify planning options for a plan type in the context of a project. The planning options that you define for a plan type are the default planning options for plan versions that you create for the plan type.

Note: If the Enable Workflow for Status Changes is enabled for a financial plan type, you cannot change this option when you add a plan type to a project.

A project can have only one budget plan type that is designated as an approved cost budget or as an approved revenue budget. You can either select a single plan type that includes both designations, or you can select a different plan type for each designation.

A project can have only one forecast plan type that is designated as a primary cost forecast or as a primary revenue forecast. You can either select a single plan type that includes both designations, or you can select a different plan type for each designation.

An approved budget designation enables you to use a baseline plan version for reporting and for project billing. It also enables you to implement the financial impact of an approved change order in a current working plan version. A primary forecast designation also enables you to use an approved forecast version for reporting. In addition, Oracle Projects automatically generates an initial forecast version for a primary forecast plan type, if none exists, when you create an initial baseline for an approved budget plan type.

Financial Plan Types, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Understanding Plan Types and Plan Versions

Creating Plan Versions

A plan version is a budget or forecast version and represents a specific planning instance or scenario for a budget or forecast plan type (for example, a cost budget that is based on a set of proposed contract terms, or a cost forecast that is based on an engineering estimate).

Plan versions enable you to model many different planning scenarios for a plan type. After you add a plan type to a project, you can create a working plan version. You must create a working budget or forecast version to enter amounts.

Note: If the Baseline Funding Without Budget feature is enabled for your project, then Oracle Projects automatically creates an approved revenue budget baseline version from the project funding. To enable the automatic creation of an approved revenue budget baseline version for a plan type, you must first create an approved revenue budget financial plan type and add the plan type to the project. In addition, you must not manually create any plan versions for the approved revenue budget plan type. When Oracle Projects creates an approved revenue budget baseline version from the project funding, a corresponding working version is not created.

If an approved revenue budget plan type does not exist for a project, or if plan versions already exist for an approved revenue budget plan type, then Oracle Projects instead creates an approved revenue budget baseline version for an approved revenue budget budget type.

Note: Oracle Projects automatically generates an initial forecast version for a primary forecast plan type, if none exists, when you create an initial baseline for an approved budget plan type.

After you create a plan version, you can optionally override the default planning options assigned from the plan type for all items except approved budget designations and amount reporting options. When you create a working plan version, you can choose to enter plan amounts by one of the following methods:

Generating the budget or forecast version
Copying amounts from another budget or forecast version
Entering amounts in Edit Budget and Edit Forecast pages
Downloading the version and entering the amounts in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet

When you are satisfied with your budget, you can submit the current working version and create a baseline. When you are satisfied with your forecast, you can submit the current working version and create an approved forecast. Oracle Projects creates budget baselines and approved forecasts as new plan versions.

Related Topics

Project Funding Inquiry Window Reference, Oracle Project Billing User Guide

Defining Plan Settings

Editing Budgets and Forecasts in Microsoft Excel

Copying Budget and Forecast Amounts Within a Project

Maintaining Plan Versions

After you create a plan version for a budget or forecast plan type, it is displayed on either the Maintain Budget Versions page or the Maintain Forecast Versions page as a working version. These pages display all plan versions for a budget or forecast plan type, and are the entry points for viewing and working with budget and forecast versions.

Note: If the Baseline Funding Without Budget feature is enabled for your project, then Oracle Projects automatically creates an approved revenue budget baseline version from the project funding. A corresponding working version is not created. Therefore, when Oracle Projects creates a budget baseline version for an approved revenue budget plan type, only baseline versions are displayed on the Maintain Budget Versions page for the approved revenue budget plan type.

In addition, if Oracle Projects is unable to create a budget baseline version for an approved revenue budget plan type, and instead creates a budget baseline version for an approved revenue budget budget type, the approved revenue budget baseline version is not displayed on the Maintain Budget Versions page. You can view budgets created for budget types only from the Budgets window.

To submit a working plan version, or to create a budget baseline or approved forecast from a working plan version, you must set the version to Current Working. You can set any working plan version to Current Working at any time.

You can rework a working version after it is submitted. However, you cannot rework a working version when a submit or baseline workflow process is in progress.

If the Allow Edit After Initial Baseline option is enabled for an approved budget financial plan type, then you can edit and submit a working version after the creation of an initial budget baseline. However, if this option is not enabled, then you can update an approved budget only by creating a change order that records the financial impact of the change and by implementing the financial impact of the change order in the budget.

Note: When you create a baseline or an approved forecast, Oracle Projects automatically creates a new Current Working version. To modify a budget or forecast after you create a baseline or an approved forecast, you can optionally update the new Current Working version and create a new baseline or approved forecast.

The system automatically marks the initial baseline plan version as the Original Baseline. The system automatically marks the latest baseline version as the Current Baseline version. You can set any baseline to be the original baseline at any time.

The system automatically marks the initial approved forecast version as the Original Approved Forecast. The system automatically marks the latest approved version as the Current Approved Forecast version. You can set any approved forecast to be the original approved forecast at any time.

When you delete a working plan version, the system permanently removes the version.

Maintenance Activities Allowed for Working Versions

You can perform the following activities for a working version:

Copy amounts from another plan version
Enter and update plan amounts
Include the financial impact of change documents
Maintain attachments
Set the version to Current Working

Note: When change documents exist that are not implemented, you cannot set another working plan version that uses a different time phase to be the Current Working version for an approved budget plan type.
Delete the version

Note: To enter the financial impact of a change document, a current working plan version must exist for an approved budget plan type. Therefore, you cannot delete the Current Working plan version for an approved budget plan type if financial impact exists for a change document on a project.
Submit the version
Rework the version
Create a budget baseline or an approved forecast (if workflow is not used)

Maintenance Activities Allowed for Budget Baseline and Approved Forecast Versions

You can perform the following activities for a budget baseline or approved forecast version:

Set the version to Original Baseline or Original Approved
View attachments
Delete the version

Note: You can delete any baseline version except the current budget baseline and original budget baseline, or any approved forecast except the current approved forecast version only if the function security associated with your responsibility is defined to allow deletion of these plan class and plan type combinations.

Maintenance Activities Allowed for Any Budget or Forecast Version

You can perform the following activities for any working, budget baseline, or approved forecast version:

Create a working copy of the version
View the financial impact of change documents included in the version, if any
View plan version details and amounts

Maintenance Activities Allowed for Deleted Versions

You can perform the following activities in the deleted version region:

View the header information of historical workplans and financial plans that are deleted.

Related Topics

Project Funding Inquiry Window Reference, Oracle Project Billing User Guide

Copying Budget and Forecast Amounts Within a Project

Including and Viewing Change Documents

Submitting Budgets and Forecasts

Creating Baselines for Budgets and Approving Forecasts

Implementing and Including Financial Impact in Budgets and Forecasts

Overview of Document Management

Generating Budgets

Oracle Projects enables you to automatically generate project budgets based on quantities and amounts captured in staffing plans, workplans, financial plans (other budgets and forecasts), and from other sources that you specify.

Overview of Budget Generation

To generate a project budget, you must define budget generation planning options to specify the sources from which to generate the budget. In addition, you must define rate schedule planning options to specify the sources of the rates Oracle Projects uses to calculate budget cost and revenue amounts.

The generation source provides the quantity, and, in certain cases, the amounts from which Oracle Projects derives quantities, cost amounts, and revenue amounts for budgets. You can also choose to include quantities and amounts from sources such as open commitments, change documents, and billing events.

When you select rate schedule planning options, you can choose either actual rates or planning rates to determine cost and revenue amounts for budgeting. Actual rates are the rates that Oracle Projects uses to calculate actual cost and revenue amounts for expenditure items. Planning rates are rates that you define specifically for planning purposes. For a comprehensive discussion of how Oracle Projects determines and uses rates for financial planning, see: Using Rates for Workplan and Financial Planning, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

Oracle Projects can calculate cost budget amounts by applying rates from the rate schedules you specify for cost generation. Oracle Projects can calculate revenue budget amounts based on the derived quantities and cost amounts, and the revenue derivation method selected for the budget.

You can generate a budget at the time you create a budget plan version and at any time after you create a budget version. After you generate a budget, you can manually adjust the generated amounts and regenerate the budget. Oracle Projects provides a concurrent program, PRC: Generate Financial Plan Amounts, which you can run on a periodic basis to generate new budget versions.

You can specify rate schedule planning options for projects, plan types within the context of a project, and plan versions. You can specify budget generation options for budget plan types and plan versions only.

Related Topics

Building Budgets

Selecting Generation Options

Billing Information, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Generate Financial Plan Amounts, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Determining Budget Sources

You can generate budgets from the following sources:

Staffing Plans: When you choose staffing plan, Oracle Projects generates budget amounts from the project-level resource assignments and requirements.
Workplans: When you choose a workplan, Oracle Projects generates budget amounts from the resource assignments associated with workplan tasks.
Financial Plans: When you choose an existing budget or forecast version, Oracle Projects generates budget amounts from the quantities, cost amounts, and revenue amounts in the source version.

Important: If workplan cost is not enabled in the plan settings for a workplan, then the following restrictions apply to the available generation sources:

If the revenue derivation method for the budget is Cost, then you cannot use workplan resources as one of the generation sources for a revenue budget.
If the revenue derivation method for the budget is Work and the source workplan version and the current plan type and version use different resource lists, then you cannot use workplan resources as one of the generation sources for a revenue budget.

You cannot generate a budget from a revenue-only financial plan version. You can generate a budget from a cost-only financial plan version, or a financial plan version in which cost and revenue are planned together.

Other Budget Generation Sources

In addition to generating budgets from staffing plans, workplans, and financial plans, you can optionally choose to include quantities and amounts from the following sources:

Open Commitments: You can enable this option for cost budget generation. When you use this option, Oracle Projects automatically adds amounts for any open commitments (for example, from purchase orders).

Note: When you choose to include open commitments, you must manually verify that the impact of open commitments is not included in any other budget source amounts.
Change Documents: If you enable this option, then Oracle Projects automatically includes the cost and revenue financial impact of all eligible change documents that are not included in any other budget source amounts.

Note: The option to include change documents is not available for approved budget plan types. You can only implement the financial impact of approved change orders in an approved budget version. In addition, you must implement the financial impact of a change order directly to an approved budget version from within the change order.
Billing Events: You can enable this option for revenue budget generation. When you use this option, Oracle Projects automatically includes all billing events and all deliverables with billing actions. When no billing event date exists, Oracle projects uses the deliverable action due date to determine the period in which the event occurs.

Note: This option is disabled if the revenue derivation method for the budget is Event, because in this case the billing events are the primary source for the budget generation.

Staffing Plan, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Generating Budget Amounts

This section describes how Oracle Projects determines quantities, and calculates cost and revenue amounts for budgets. This section also describes how Oracle Projects maps planning resource amounts across different planning resource lists, and from workplan structures to financial structures. In addition, this section describes options for updating and regenerating budgets.

Note: If the target budget version and the generation source use the same time periods, planning level, and planning resource list, then Oracle Projects generates the budget using the rates and periodic distribution of the budget source.

Important: If you choose to include Commitments in your budget, before you generate a budget you must submit the summarization processes for project performance and exception reporting. For more information see: Performance and Exceptions Reporting Processes, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

Generating Budget Cost

Oracle Projects determines quantity and cost amounts for generated budgets based on whether the planning resources associated with the budget source are rate-based or non rate-based. Oracle Projects considers a planning resource to be rate-based if it has a unit of measure other than currency.

If a planning resource is non rate-based, or if cost amounts exist in the source, then Oracle Projects uses the amounts from the source in the budget.
If the planning resources are rate-based and a cost amount is not available from the source, then Oracle Projects calculates budget cost amounts using the quantities derived from the source and the rates from the rate schedules you specify in your rate schedule planning options.

Generating Budget Cost from Workplans with Cost Disabled

Oracle Projects enables you to generate a cost budget from a workplan even though you do not track costs in the workplan. This enables you to generate a cost budget based on the workplan effort. You can generate a project cost budget from a workplan with cost disabled if the following conditions are met:

The workplan and financial structures are (fully) shared.
Both the source workplan and the target cost budget use the same settings for the following planning option attributes:
- Planning level (Lowest Level)
- Planning resource list
- Time phase
- Currency settings

Related Topics

Creating and Updating Workplans

Determining the Planning Level for Generated Budgets

Resource Classes, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Planning Resources and Planning Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Using Rates for Workplan and Financial Planning, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Generating Budget Revenue

Oracle Projects generates budget revenue amounts only for billable tasks and resources.

If the budget generation source is a workplan or financial plan, then Oracle Projects uses the billable status associated with each task in the target budget version to determine whether to generate revenue for the task.

If a target task is classified as billable, then Oracle Projects generates a revenue quantity and amount for the task.
If a target task is classified as non-billable and cost and revenue are planned together in the target budget version, then Oracle Projects generates a revenue quantity, but not a revenue amount.
If a target task is classified as non-billable and the target budget version is for revenue only, then Oracle Projects does not generate a revenue quantity or a revenue amount.

If the budget generation source is a staffing plan, then Oracle Projects uses the billable status of the work type associated with a project requirement or a project assignment to determine whether to generate revenue for the project requirement or assignment.

Note: You can manually create plan lines and enter budget revenue quantities and amounts for non-billable tasks and resources. If you enter only a quantity for a non-billable task or resource plan line, Oracle Projects does not calculate a revenue amount. However, if you manually enter both a revenue quantity and a revenue amount, Oracle Projects derives a rate for the plan line.

The method Oracle Projects uses to generate budget revenue depends on whether revenue amounts exist in the budget source and the revenue derivation method for the budget. If revenue amounts exist in the source, then Oracle Projects uses those revenue amounts in the budget. Else, Oracle Projects calculates budget revenue based on the revenue derivation method.

Cost-Based Revenue Accrual

When a budget’s revenue derivation method is Cost, Oracle Projects uses either the total revenue per the approved revenue budget, or the project total value for total budget revenue. Project total value is the pipeline project opportunity value defined for the project during setup.

Whether Oracle Projects uses the approved revenue budget or the project total value depends on whether you are generating a budget version for a plan type that is designated as an approved budget.

If you are generating revenue for an approved budget version, then Oracle Projects sets total budget revenue to the project total value defined for the project.
If you are generating revenue for a version that is not an approved budget version, then Oracle Projects sets total budget revenue to the total revenue of the approved revenue budget. If an approved revenue budget does not exist, then Oracle Projects sets total budget revenue to the project total value.

Oracle Projects calculates budget revenue for tasks based on the following formula:

(Budget Cost for the Task / Total Budget Cost) * Total Budget Revenue

Important: If workplan cost is not enabled in the plan settings for a workplan, and the revenue derivation method for the budget is Cost, then you cannot use workplan resources as one of the generation sources for a revenue budget.

Event-Based Revenue Derivation

When a budget’s revenue derivation method is Event, Oracle Projects generates budget revenue from all billing events and all deliverables with billing actions. When no billing event date exists, Oracle Projects uses the deliverable action due date to determine the period in which the event occurs.

Work-Based Revenue Derivation

When a budget’s revenue derivation method is Work, Oracle Projects calculates budget revenue either by applying rates from the bill rate schedule selected for budget generation to the quantities derived from the source, or by applying a markup or discount factor to the cost amounts derived from the source.

Note: If you use actual rates for budget generation, then Oracle Projects applies all of the overrides that you have specified at the project and task level in Oracle Project Billing.

When you generate a revenue budget from a staffing plan that includes bill rate overrides for any of the project assignments and requirements, Oracle Projects uses the override rates to calculate revenue amounts.

Important: If the revenue derivation method for the budget is Work and the source workplan version and the current plan type and version use different resource lists, then you cannot use workplan resources as one of the generation sources for a revenue budget.

Related Topics

Using Rates for Workplan and Financial Planning, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Project and Task Attributes, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Mapping Budget Amounts Across Different Planning Resource Lists

If the source and the budget use different planning resource lists, then Oracle Projects maps amounts from planning resources in the source to planning resources in the budget using system-defined precedence rules.

To map amounts from source planning resources to budget planning resources, Oracle Projects first identifies all resource formats in the budget planning resource list that correspond to the resource class of the source planning resource. Oracle Projects then searches for the planning resource beginning with the most-detailed resource format. If the planning resource exists in the most-detailed budget resource format, then Oracle Projects maps amounts from the source to that resource format

If a planning resource does not exist in the most detailed budget resource format, then Oracle Projects can automatically add the planning resource if the planning resource list is not centrally controlled. If Oracle Projects cannot automatically add a planning resource to a particular resource format, then Oracle Projects searches for the planning resource with the next most-detailed budget resource format.

Related Topics

Resource Classes, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Planning Resources and Planning Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Determining the Planning Level for Generated Budgets

Budget amounts are always recorded in the project financial structure. However, budget source amounts may be recorded in a separate project workplan structure. If the workplan and financial structures are shared (either fully or partially), then the source amounts may be recorded in the same structure and at the same planning level, or at a higher planning level than the budget.

The planning level at which quantities and amounts are generated in a budget is based on the following factors:

The planning level at which amounts are captured in the source
The extent to which the project workplan and financial structures are shared (applies only to a workplan source)
The planning level of the budget

The following topics describe how Oracle Projects determines the level at which amounts are generated in a budget based on the budget source.

Budgets Generated from Staffing Plans

Because staffing plans include only project-level planning resource assignments and requirements, Oracle Projects generates budgets for staffing plans at the project level.

Budgets Generated from Workplans

When you generate a budget from a workplan, Oracle Projects determines the extent to which tasks in the workplan structure and the financial structure are shared. When you create workplan and financial structures for your project, you can choose one of the following options to specify how the structures are shared:

Shared Structures
Partially Shared Structures
Non-Shared: Task-Based Mapping
Non-Shared: No Mapping

If the workplan structure and financial structure are (fully) shared, then the workplan tasks and the financial tasks are the same. In this case, Oracle Projects generates and rolls up budget quantities and amounts from the source workplan tasks based on the planning level of the budget.

If the workplan structure is partially shared with the financial structure, or is non-shared and uses task-based mapping, then Oracle Projects first rolls up the resource assignments associated with workplan tasks to a workplan task that is shared with or is mapped to a financial task. In this case, Oracle Projects determines the planning level of the generated amounts based on the following rules:

If the planning level of the source is at the same or a more detailed level than the planning level of the budget, then Oracle Projects generates budget amounts at the budget planning level.

For example, if the planning level of a source workplan version is Lowest Task, and the planning level of the budget is Project, then Oracle Projects generates budget amounts at the project level.
If the level of the source is at a more summary (or higher) level than the planning level of the budget, then Oracle Projects generates budget amounts at the planning level of the source.

For example, if the planning level of the source workplan version is Top Task, and the planning level of the budget is Lowest Task, then Oracle Projects generates budget amounts at the top task level.

If the relationship between the workplan and financial structure is non-shared and no mapping is defined for workplan and financial tasks, then Oracle Projects rolls up the generated budget quantities and amounts to the project level.

Budgets Generated from Financial Plans

The quantities and amounts from a budget or forecast source are recorded in the project financial structure. However, the planning level of the source may be different from the planning level of the budget. In this case, Oracle Projects determines the planning level of the generated amounts using the same rules as for partially shared workplan and financial structures.

Related Topics

Integrating Workplan and Financial Structures, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Determining Period Types and Defining Periods for Generated Budgets

If you are generating budgets for PA periods or GL periods, and the period type of the source and the target are the same, then Oracle Projects generates budget amounts for the time periods of the source. However, if the period types of the source and budget are different, then Oracle Projects sums the generated quantities and amounts and distributes the amounts across budget periods based on the period type specified for the budget, the spread curve associated with each planning resource, the start and end dates associated with each planning resource, and the start and end dates associated with each budget line.

If a budget is not time-phased by period, Oracle Projects rolls up the generated quantities and amounts to a single total for each planning resource.

Related Topics

Spread Curves, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Period Profiles, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Regenerating and Updating Budgets

After you generate a budget version, you can manually update the budget details. You can also regenerate the budget to take into account changes in the budget source.

You can perform the same edits and adjustments on a generated budget that you perform for a budget that you create by directly entering budget quantities and amounts. For example, you can directly enter different quantities and amounts for budget lines, adjust budget lines by a specified percentage, add tasks and resources, refresh cost and revenue rates, update cost and bill rates for budget lines, and redistribute the updated amounts across periods (if applicable).

Generating Forecasts

Oracle Projects enables you to automatically generate project forecasts based on to-date actual quantities and amounts entered for a project, quantities and amounts captured in staffing plans, workplans, financial plans (other budgets and forecasts), and from other sources that you specify.

Overview of Forecast Generation

Oracle Projects forecast generation features enable you to automatically combine information from project planning tools, such as workplans and staffing plans, with actual amounts to create a working financial plan that you can periodically update and adjust. Forecasting is an iterative process. As you move through the project life cycle, you can periodically regenerate your project forecast to include the latest actual and plan amounts. You can optionally override and adjust the generated amounts to achieve the best possible estimate of costs and revenues required to complete remaining project activities.

Forecast generation consists of the following major activities:

Retrieving to-date actual quantities and amounts entered for a project
Generating estimate to complete (ETC) quantities and amounts for the remainder of the project
Determining the estimate at completion (EAC), or total forecast quantities and amounts for a project

To generate a project forecast, you must define forecast generation planning options. Forecast generation options enable you to specify the period through which you want to include actual quantities and amounts. In addition, you also specify whether to generate the forecast using the project staffing plan as the ETC source, or to generate the forecast based on the ETC source selection you make at a task level. The ETC source provides the quantity, and, in certain cases, the amounts from which Oracle Projects derives ETC quantities, cost amounts, and revenue amounts. Forecast generation options also enable you to choose whether you want to include quantities and amounts from other sources such as open commitments, change documents, and billing events.

You must define rate schedule planning options to specify the sources of the rates Oracle Projects uses to calculate ETC cost and revenue. When you select rate schedule planning options, you can choose either actual rates or planning rates to determine cost and revenue amounts for forecasting. Actual rates are the rates that Oracle Projects uses to calculate actual cost and revenue amounts for expenditure items. Planning rates are rates that you define specifically for planning purposes. For a comprehensive discussion of how Oracle Projects determines and uses rates for financial planning, see: Using Rates for Workplan and Financial Planning, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

Note: In addition to defining an ETC source for tasks, you must also specify an ETC calculation method for each planning resource you want to include in your forecast. The ETC calculation method determines how Oracle Projects derives quantities and amounts for a planning resource.

To expedite forecast creation, Oracle Projects automatically generates an initial forecast version for a primary forecast plan type (if one does not already exist) when you create an initial baseline for an approved budget plan type. After you generate a forecast, you can manually adjust the generated ETC amounts and regenerate the forecast at any time. You cannot override or adjust the actual amounts included in a forecast. Oracle Projects provides a concurrent program, PRC: Generate Financial Plan Amounts, which you can run on a periodic basis to generate new forecast versions.

You can specify rate schedule planning options for projects, plan types in the context of a project, and plan versions. You can specify forecast generation options for forecast plan types in the context of a project and plan versions only.

Related Topics

Building Forecasts

Selecting Generation Options

Resource Classes, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Planning Resources and Planning Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Billing Information, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Generate Financial Plan Amounts, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Staffing Plan, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Determining Forecast Sources

When you define forecast generation planning options, you can specify the time period through which to include actual quantities and amounts (for example, the current, prior, or last closed period). You can also specify the source for ETC quantities and amounts.

Important: If workplan cost is not enabled in the plan settings for a workplan, then the following restrictions apply to the available generation sources:

If the revenue derivation method for the forecast is Cost, then you cannot use workplan resources as one of the generation sources for a revenue forecast.
If the revenue derivation method for the forecast is Work and the source workplan version and the current plan type and version use different resource lists, then you cannot use workplan resources as one of the generation sources for a revenue forecast.

You cannot generate a forecast from a workplan version that is not time-phased by PA or GL periods.

You cannot generate a forecast from a revenue-only financial plan version. You can generate a forecast from a cost-only financial plan version, or a financial plan version in which cost and revenue are planned together.

Determining the Source of Actual Amounts for Forecasts

Oracle Projects derives and summarizes actual amounts for forecasting from Oracle Projects costing and billing processes.

Important: Before you generate a forecast, submit the summarization processes for project performance and exception reporting to refresh and summarize the quantities and amounts used for forecasting. For more information see: Performance and Exceptions Reporting Processes, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

Defining ETC Sources

Oracle Projects determines the source of ETC quantities and amounts based on the ETC source you select in your forecast generation options, and the forecast ETC source you specify for a task.

When you define forecast generation options, you can choose one of the following ETC source options:

Staffing Plan: When you choose Staffing Plan, Oracle Projects generates ETC quantities and amounts from the project-level resource assignments and requirements defined in Oracle Project Resource Management.

When you use this option, Oracle Projects creates forecast information based on the defined staffing assignments and requirements. Each day of an assignment or requirement is treated as a potential forecast amount and is considered for forecast calculation based on the defined calculation period, such as GL Period or PA Period.
Task Level Selection: When you specify Task Level Selection, Oracle Projects determines the ETC source for each task based on the forecast ETC source option specified at the task level. You can specify a different ETC source for each task.

When you choose this option, Oracle Projects prompts you to also select a workplan version and a financial plan version. Oracle Projects uses the selected workplan or financial plan version to derive ETC quantities and amounts when the ETC source specified for a task is based on a workplan or financial plan.

Oracle Projects uses the ETC source that you specify for a task only when generating a cost forecast or when generating a forecast with cost and revenue amounts planned together.

Specifying a Forecast Generation Source for a Task

You can specify one of the following forecast ETC sources for a task:

Workplan Resources: When you choose workplan resources, Oracle Projects generates ETC quantities from the resource assignments associated with workplan tasks.

Note: When the ETC source is a working workplan version, you should apply the latest published progress to the workplan version before you generate a forecast.

In addition, when the workplan and financial structures are shared, the following restrictions apply:
- Once you publish the first version of the workplan, Oracle Projects does not mark the new tasks that you add to the workplan as financial tasks until you republish the workplan.
- You can only specify an ETC source for a financial task. As a result, you cannot specify an ETC source for new tasks that you add to the working workplan version until you republish the workplan.
- You will not be able to view forecast numbers for newly added tasks until you republish the workplan.
Financial Plan: When you choose an existing budget or forecast version, Oracle Projects generates ETC amounts from the planning resources associated with each task.
Average of Actual Transactions: When you choose this option, Oracle Projects generates ETC quantities and amounts based on an average of actual quantities and amounts for a range of time periods. You select the range of periods from which to calculate the averages, as well as the range of ETC periods over which to apply the average quantity and amount.
Work Quantity: When you choose a source of work quantity, Oracle Projects calculates an ETC quantity from workplan tasks based on the difference between the planned work quantity and the actual to-date delivered work quantity. Oracle Projects generates an ETC cost amount by applying the achieved cost rate to the ETC quantity.

The achieved cost rate is calculated by dividing the to-date actual cost amount by the to-date actual delivered work quantity for each task.
None: When you choose this option, Oracle Projects does not generate ETC amounts from the planning resources associated with each task. Use this option if you want to generate a forecast that is based only on the included actual quantities and amounts, or if you want to directly enter ETC quantities and amounts.

Note: Oracle Projects does not use the ETC source that you specify at the task level when generating a revenue forecast. You can specify on of the following forecast ETC sources for revenue forecast generation:

Staffing Plan
Financial Plan
Workplan Resources
Average of Actual Transactions
None

Other Forecast Generation Sources

When you define forecast generation options, you can optionally choose to include quantities and amounts from the following additional sources:

Open Commitments: You can enable this option for cost forecast generation. When you use this option, Oracle Projects automatically substitutes the amounts from any open commitments (for example, from purchase orders) for the generated ETC amount.

Note: If an open commitment exists for a task, and the commitment amount is less than the generated ETC amount for the task, then Oracle Projects substitutes an amount equal to the commitment for the generated ETC amount in the period that is associated with commitment's need by date.

If an open commitment exists for a task, and the commitment amount exceeds the generated ETC amount for the task, then Oracle Projects replaces the generated ETC amount with the commitment amount. Commitment amounts are generated in the commitment currency.
Change Documents: If you enable this option, then Oracle Projects automatically includes the cost and revenue financial impact of all eligible change documents that are not included in any other forecast source amounts.
Billing Events: You can enable this option for revenue forecast generation. When you use this option, Oracle Projects automatically includes amounts for unprocessed events, and all deliverables with billing actions. When no billing event date exists, Oracle projects uses the deliverable action due date to determine the period in which the event occurs.

Note: This option is disabled if the revenue derivation method for the project is Event, because in this case billing events are the primary source for the forecast generation.

Note: To use an existing plan as the source, you must select the Copy ETC from Plan option. Plan option is enabled for a Time-Phased and Cost Only plan in which Task Level Selection is set as the ETC Source. When you select this option the Open Commitments and Change Document options are disabled. Similarly, when you select Open Commitments or Change Document the Copy ETC from Plan option is disabled.

Generating Forecast Amounts

This section describes how Oracle Projects determines ETC quantities, and calculates ETC cost and revenue amounts for forecasts. This section also describes how Oracle Projects maps planning resource amounts across different planning resource lists, and from workplan structures to financial structures. In addition, this section describes options for updating and regenerating forecasts.

Verifying and Specifying Forecast Generation Options

When you choose the action to generate a forecast, Oracle Projects first displays the Generate Forecast Amounts page. This page displays all default forecast generation options values. The options displayed vary depending on whether you are generating a forecast for cost amounts only, revenue amounts only, or when cost and revenue amounts are planned together in the same plan version.

You can use this page to verify and optionally update the default forecast generation planning options for the forecast version, and to specify the time periods to use when Oracle Projects calculates ETC quantities and amounts based on an ETC source of Average of Actuals.

You can use the Collect Actuals options available on the Edit Forecast page to collect the actual amounts for a Time Phased and Cost Only plan in which the Task Level Selection and Copy ETC from Plan options are selected. You can use this option to see the impact of the actual amounts on the ETC and EAC. Oracle Projects also allow you to generate the forecast without having to view the impact of the actuals on the ETC and EAC amounts.

Note: Before you use the Collect Actuals option, submit the following summarization and update processes in the following order:

PRC: Distribute Labor Costs
PRC: Update Project and Resource Base Summaries
PRC: Update Project Performance Data

For more information see Processes in Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

Generating Forecast Cost

The method that Oracle Projects uses to calculate ETC quantity and cost varies based on the ETC source.

Note: Oracle Projects distributes ETC quantities and amounts across periods based on the spread curve associated with a planning resource. When Oracle Projects derives spread curve allocation factors for ETC amounts, Oracle Projects only uses the spread curve points that correspond to the ETC time period.

Staffing Plan: Oracle Projects calculates ETC cost amounts from staffing plans by applying rates from the cost rate schedules that you specify for forecast generation to the labor hours for the ETC time periods. For requirements, the forecast cost rates are obtained from the job assigned to the role in Oracle Project Resource Management. For assignments, this information is obtained directly from the assigned employee.
Workplan Resources and Financial Plan: The calculation of ETC quantity and cost from workplan resources and financial plans varies depending on whether a planning resource is rate-based on non rate-based, as described below:
- Rate-Based Planning Resources: If planned quantity is available, Oracle Projects first calculates the ETC quantity based on the ETC calculation method associated with each planning resource from the source workplan or financial plan. Oracle Projects then calculates the ETC cost amount by applying rates from the source. If no rates are available from the source, then Oracle Projects uses actual or planning rates based on the forecast options.
  
  If planned quantity is not available (only planned amount is available), Oracle Projects calculates the ETC amount only.
- Non Rate-Based Planning Resources: Oracle Projects calculates the ETC cost amount based on the ETC calculation method.
Note: You can also use the Estimate to Complete Generation Method client extension to calculate ETC amounts for workplans and financial plans. Oracle Projects always calls the client extension at the completion of the generation and calculation process. You can use the client extension to perform additional calculations and to override the calculated amounts.

Important: When Workplan Resources is the ETC source for a cost forecast, you must track costs in your workplan to ensure that you have accurate forecast numbers. To track costs, you must enable the Enable Workplan Cost option in the plan settings for the workplan.

If you do not intend to track costs in your workplan and need to generate a cost forecast based on the effort entered in the workplan, then generate a cost budget from the workplan effort and use the cost budget as the ETC source to generate the cost forecast.
Average of Actual Transactions: Oracle Projects generates ETC quantities and amounts based on an average of actual quantities and amounts for a range of time periods. When you choose the action to generate a forecast, you can use the Generate Forecast Amounts page to select the range of periods from which to calculate the averages, as well as the range of ETC periods over which to apply the average quantity and average amount.
Work Quantity: Oracle Projects calculates ETC quantity based on the difference between the total planned work quantity and the actual delivered work quantity per the workplan tasks. Oracle Projects generates an ETC cost amount by applying the achieved cost rate. The achieved cost rate is calculated from the ratio of the to-date actual cost and the to-date actual delivered work quantity for the workplan task.

Related Topics

Using Rates for Workplan and Financial Planning, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Resource Classes, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Planning Resources and Planning Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Spread Curves, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Estimate to Complete Generation Method Extension, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference

ETC Calculation Methods for Planning Resources

If you choose the ETC source option Task Level Selection and select either workplan or financial plan as the source, Oracle Projects determines ETC quantities and amounts for planning resources based on the ETC calculation method specified for each planning resource in the workplan or financial plan. You can choose one of the following ETC calculation methods for a planning resource:

Remaining Plan
Plan to Complete
Earned Value
Copy ETC from Plan

Remaining Plan

This method determines ETC amounts by calculating the difference between total planned amounts from the forecast source and to-date actual amounts. This method is typically used to calculate ETC amounts for material.

Oracle Projects uses the following formula to calculate ETC quantity and cost based on the Remaining Plan calculation method:

ETC = Budget at Completion - Actual Cost

For forecast generation, Budget at Completion is the total of either planned quantities or planned cost amounts from the ETC source (for example, the total workplan cost). Actual Cost is the total of either actual quantities or actual cost amounts up through the actual amounts through date specified in the forecast generation options (for example, current, prior, or last closed period).

Plan to Complete

This method relies on percent complete and the total planned amounts from the forecast source to calculate ETC amounts. This method is typically used to calculate ETC amounts for expenses.

Oracle Projects uses the following formula to calculate ETC quantity and cost based on the Plan to Complete calculation method:

ETC = Budget at Completion - Budgeted Cost of Work Performed

For forecast generation, Budget at Completion is the total of either planned quantities or planned cost amounts from the ETC source (for example, the total workplan cost). Budgeted Cost of Work Performed is an estimate of either the planned quantities or planned cost amounts consumed to date based on the ETC source. Budgeted Cost of Work Performed is determined from the following formula:

Budgeted Cost of Work Performed = Budget at Completion * Percent Complete

Note: If the ETC source is workplan, then Percent Complete is derived from the physical percent complete for the planning resource per the latest published progress. If the ETC source is financial plan, then the source of Percent Complete is determined from the financial percent complete for the financial structure.

Earned Value

This method uses percent complete and to-date actual amounts to calculate ETC amounts. The calculation first derives a total planned amount, or estimate at completion, based on the percent complete and to-date actual amounts. The calculation then determines ETC by calculating the difference between the estimate at completion and to-date actual amounts. This method is typically used to calculate ETC amounts for labor and equipment classes of resources.

Oracle Projects uses the following formula to calculate ETC quantity and cost based on the Earned Value calculation method:

ETC = Estimate at Completion - Actual Cost

Estimate at Completion is an estimate of either the total planned quantity or total planned cost that is derived from the Actual Cost and Percent Complete. Estimate at Completion is determined by the following formula:

Estimate at Completion = (Actual Cost / Percent Complete)

By applying this formula to the formula for Earned Value, the formula to calculate ETC quantity and cost can be restated as follows:

ETC = (Actual Cost / Percent Complete) - Actual Cost

Copy ETC from Plan

In this method values from the initial base plan are used to generate the forecast. This method can be used only for time-phased and cost-only plans in which the Task Level Selection option is enabled in the Edit Planning Option page, and either Financial Plan or Workplan Resource is selected as the ETC Source.

In this method the cost plan is created by copying the values from the initial base plan, and the EAC and ETC values for the current and previous periods are updated based on the actual values collected. In case of current and previous periods, the EAC amount is the actual amount collected for that period and the ETC value is set to zero. Thus, if the actual amount for the current period is zero, the ETC and EAC amounts for current period are also zero.

For a future period, if you update the ETC amount, then the EAC amount gets updated according to this new ETC amount. All changes made to the ETC amounts are retained unless you change the base plan and generate forecast. If you update the base plan and use it to calculate the forecast, the ETC and EAC values for the future periods will be automatically updated from the updated values in the base plan.

Related Topics

Earned Value Management

Managing Progress

Resource Classes, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Planning Resources and Planning Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Generating Forecast Revenue

Oracle Projects generates forecast revenue amounts only for billable tasks and resources.

If the forecast generation source is a workplan or financial plan, then Oracle Projects uses the billable status associated with each task in the target forecast version to determine whether to generate revenue for the task.

If a target task is classified as billable, then Oracle Projects generates a revenue quantity and amount for the task.
If a target task is classified as non-billable and cost and revenue are planned together in the target forecast version, then Oracle Projects generates a revenue quantity, but not a revenue amount.
If a target task is classified as non-billable and the target forecast version is for revenue only, then Oracle Projects does not generate a revenue quantity or a revenue amount.

If the forecast generation source is a staffing plan, then Oracle Projects uses the billable status of the work type associated with a project requirement or a project assignment to determine whether to generate revenue for the project requirements or assignments.

Note: You can manually create plan lines and enter forecast revenue quantities and amounts for non-billable tasks and resources. If you enter only a quantity for a non-billable task or resource plan line, Oracle Projects does not calculate a revenue amount. However, if you manually enter both a revenue quantity and a revenue amount, Oracle Projects derives a rate for the plan line.

Oracle Projects calculates forecast revenue based on the revenue derivation method associated with the forecast.

Cost-Based Revenue Derivation

When a forecast uses a cost-based revenue derivation method, Oracle Projects uses either the total revenue per the primary revenue forecast, or the project total value for total forecast revenue. Project total value is the pipeline project opportunity value defined for the project during setup.

Whether Oracle Projects uses the primary revenue forecast or the project total value depends on whether you are generating a forecast version for a plan type that is designated as a primary forecast.

If you are generating revenue for a primary forecast version, then Oracle Projects sets total forecast revenue to the project total value defined for the project.
If you are generating revenue for a version that is not a primary forecast version, then Oracle Projects sets total forecast revenue to the project total value.

Oracle Projects calculates forecast revenue for tasks based on the following formula:

(ETC Cost for the Task / (Total Forecast Cost - Inception to Date Actual Cost)) * (Total Forecast Revenue - Inception to Date Actual Revenue)

Important: If workplan cost is not enabled in the plan settings for a workplan and the revenue derivation method for the forecast is Cost, then you cannot use workplan resources as one of the generation sources for a revenue forecast.

Event-Based Revenue Derivation

When a forecast uses an event-based revenue derivation method, Oracle Projects generates forecast revenue from all unprocessed events, and all deliverables with billing actions. When no billing event date exists, Oracle Projects uses the deliverable action due date to determine the period in which the event occurs.

Work-Based Revenue Derivation

When a forecast uses a work-based revenue derivation method, Oracle Projects calculates forecast revenue either by applying rates from the bill rate schedule selected for forecast generation to the quantities derived from the source, or by applying a markup or discount factor to the cost amounts derived from the source.

Note: When you generate a revenue forecast from a staffing plan that includes bill rate overrides for any of the project assignments and requirements, Oracle Projects uses the override rates to calculate revenue amounts.

Important: If the revenue derivation method for the forecast is Work and the source workplan version and the current plan type and version use different resource lists, then you cannot use workplan resources as one of the generation sources for a revenue forecast.

Related Topics

Using Rates for Workplan and Financial Planning, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Project and Task Attributes, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Mapping Forecast Amounts Across Different Planning Resource Lists

If a source and the forecast use different planning resource lists, then Oracle Projects maps amounts from planning resources in the source to planning resources in the forecast using system-defined precedence rules.

To map amounts from source planning resources to forecast planning resources, Oracle Projects first identifies all resource formats in the forecast planning resource list that correspond to the resource class of the source planning resource. Oracle Projects then searches for the planning resource beginning with the most-detailed resource format. If the planning resource exists in the most-detailed forecast resource format, then Oracle Projects maps amounts from the source to that resource format.

If a planning resource does not exist in the most detailed forecast resource format, then Oracle Projects can automatically add the planning resource if the planning resource list is not centrally controlled. If Oracle Projects cannot automatically add a planning resource to a particular resource format, then Oracle Projects searches for the planning resource with the next most-detailed budget resource format.

Related Topics

Resource Classes, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Planning Resources and Planning Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Determining the Planning Level for Generated Forecasts

Forecast amounts are always recorded in the project financial structure. However, forecast source amounts may be recorded in a separate project workplan structure. If the workplan and financial structures are shared (either fully or partially), then the source amounts may be recorded in the same structure and at the same planning level, or at a higher or lower planning level than the forecast.

The planning level at which quantities and amounts are generated in a forecast is based on the following factors:

The planning level at which amounts are captured in the source
The extent to which the project workplan and financial structures are shared (applies only to a workplan source)
The planning level of the forecast

Oracle Projects applies the following logic to determine the level at which amounts are generated in a forecast:

Forecasts Generated from Staffing Plans

Because staffing plans include only project-level planning resource assignments and requirements, Oracle Projects generates forecasts for staffing plans at the project level.

Forecasts Generated from Actual Amounts

If the source of the ETC amounts is actual amounts, then Oracle Projects generates forecasts based on the planning level specified for the forecast.

Forecasts Generated from Workplans

When you generate a forecast from a workplan, Oracle Projects determines the extent to which tasks in the workplan structure and the financial structure are shared.

When you create workplan and financial structures for your project, you can choose one of the following options to specify how the structures are shared:

Shared Structures
Partially Shared Structures
Non-Shared: Task-Based Mapping
Non-Shared: No Mapping

If the workplan structure and financial structure are (fully) shared, then the workplan tasks and the financial tasks are the same. In this case, Oracle Projects generates and rolls up forecast quantities and amounts from the source workplan tasks based on the planning level of the forecast.

If the planning level of the source is at the same or a more detailed level than the planning level of the forecast, then Oracle Projects generates forecast amounts at the forecast planning level.

For example, if the planning level of a source workplan version is Lowest Task, and the planning level of the forecast is Project, then Oracle Projects generates forecast amounts at the project level.
If the level of the source is at a more summary (or higher) level than the planning level of the forecast, then Oracle Projects generates forecast amounts at the planning level of the source.

For example, if the planning level of the source workplan version is Top Task, and the planning level of the forecast is Lowest Task, then Oracle Projects generates forecast amounts at the top task level.

If the relationship between the workplan and financial structure is non-shared and no mapping is defined for workplan and financial tasks, then Oracle Projects rolls up the generated forecast quantities and amounts to the project level.

Forecasts Generated from Financial Plans

The quantities and amounts from a budget or forecast source are recorded in the project financial structure. However, the planning level of the source may be different from the planning level of the forecast. In this case, Oracle Projects determines the planning level of the generated amounts using the same rules as for partially shared workplan and financial structures.

Related Topics

Integrating Workplan and Financial Structures, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Regenerating and Updating Forecasts

After you generate a forecast version, you can manually update and adjust the ETC forecast details. You cannot manually adjust actual amounts. However, you can periodically regenerate the forecast to update the actual quantities and amounts, as well as to update the forecast for any changes pertaining to quantities and amounts from the ETC source.

You can perform the same edits and adjustments for generated ETC quantities and amounts that you perform for ETC amounts that you enter directly. For example, you can directly enter ETC quantities and amounts for forecast lines, adjust ETC quantities and amounts by a specified percentage, add tasks and resources, refresh cost and revenue rates, update cost and bill rates, and redistribute the updated amounts across periods (if applicable).

Important: Before you regenerate a forecast, submit the summarization processes for project performance and exception reporting to refresh and summarize the quantities and amounts used for forecasting. For more information see: Performance and Exceptions Reporting Processes, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

You can enter and adjust amounts, select and update planning elements (tasks and planning resources), and update planning options for budget and forecast versions from the Edit Budget and Edit Forecast pages. You can add all newly-added but unbudgeted tasks and planning resources as planning elements.

You can enter and adjust quantities, rates, costs, and revenue amounts in total for planning elements (tasks and planning resources). If a budget or forecast is time-phased by PA or GL periods, then you can enter and adjust budget and forecast line details for each planning element by period.

You can optionally enter budget and forecast amounts in multiple transaction currencies for all plan types except an approved revenue budget plan type. You must enter amounts for an approved revenue budget version in project functional currency. If entry of plan amounts in multiple currencies is enabled for a version, then you can enter amounts in any transaction currency that is defined in currency settings for the version. When you edit a budget or forecast that is entered in multiple transaction currencies, Oracle Projects displays the total amounts for each transaction currency in a separate line.

Note: You can update currency conversion attributes at the budget and forecast line level.

When you edit a budget or forecast version, you can perform the following tasks:

Copy amounts from another plan version
Edit planning options
Edit the version in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet
Generate or regenerate the version
Review amounts in View Budget and View Forecast pages
Selectively adjust amounts by a percentage
Submit a current working version

You can delete any published workplan version except the latest published or baseline, unless the workplan version is included in a program hierarchy. There is also a public API for deleting a workplan.

Distribution of Initial Quantities and Amounts: When you initially enter quantities and amounts for planning elements on a budget or forecast version that is time-phased by PA or GL periods, Oracle Projects automatically distributes the entered quantities and amounts for each budget or forecast line to plan periods. Oracle Projects distributes the line amounts based on the spread curve that is associated with each planning resource. If necessary, you can manually adjust the distributed quantities and amounts for each period.

Note: You can update the default spread curve for a planning resource at the plan-line level.

Distribution of Updated Quantities and Amounts: When you update existing quantities and amounts for planning elements on a time-phased budget or forecast version, Oracle Projects automatically distributes the adjustment for each budget or forecast line to plan periods based on the distribution of the existing quantities and amounts across periods.

Note: When some periodic lines for a budget or forecast line have only revenue amounts, Oracle Projects distributes the new raw cost amount to all periodic lines (including empty periodic lines) based on the spread curve. It then calculates burdened cost and revenue amounts for each periodic line without considering existing cost or revenue distributions across periods.

If you want an adjustment to affect only specific periods, then you must enter the adjustment by period. You can optionally redistribute amounts across periods for a budget or forecast line using the spread curve associated with a planning resource, either before or after you enter an adjustment. If the budget or forecast line does not contain quantity information, then the amounts are redistributed based on raw cost amounts. If there are no raw cost amounts, then the redistribution of amounts is based on revenue amounts.

Related Topics

Copying Budget and Forecast Amounts Within a Project

Viewing Budgets and Forecasts

Submitting Budgets and Forecasts

Period Profiles, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Spread Curves, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Selecting Planning Elements

Planning elements are the tasks and planning resources you select for a budget or forecast version. You select tasks and resources according to the planning level selection and planning resource list, if any, that you specify in plan settings for cost and revenue plan options.

Note: If you select a planning level of project and do not use a planning resource list to categorize plan amounts, then you do not need to select planning elements.

Selecting Tasks

The list of tasks from which you can select planning elements for a budget or forecast version is based on the Lowest Level planning level selection you specify in plan settings for cost and revenue plan options. If you specify Top Task, then you can choose to enter amounts for top tasks. If you specify Lowest Task, then you can choose to enter amounts at any level in the task hierarchy.

Note: In addition to task-level entry, both the Top Task and Lowest Task options enable you to enter amounts at the project level.

When you choose Lowest Task as the planning level for a plan version, you can plan at all task levels of the project financial structure, and you can plan at multiple task levels within a single branch of the financial structure. You can add a task as a planning element either by selecting it directly, or by selecting planning resources for the task.

Note: You can deselect a task as a planning element only if no amounts have been recorded for the task.

Selecting Planning Resources

You can select planning resources for a budget or forecast version from the planning resource list you specify in plan settings for cost and revenue plan options.

If you are planning at the project level or at a task level, then you must select the project or a task before you can select planning resources. If you want to use the same planning resources for several tasks, you can first select all of the tasks for which you want to add planning resources before you choose the option to select planning resources.

If the planning resource list you are using does not contain a planning resource that you want to plan for, you can optionally add planning resources to the planning resource list if it is not centrally controlled. In this case, Oracle Projects adds the resources to the resource list only in the context of the current project.

Related Topics

Defining Currency Settings

Planning Resources and Planning Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Editing Budget and Forecast Amounts

You can manually update budget and forecast versions, including generated quantities and amounts, either by directly updating the quantities and amounts, or by updating the attributes that are used to determine amounts. You can directly update summary quantities and amounts associated with planning elements, and detail quantities and amounts associated with periodic budget and forecast lines.

You can override rates used to calculate cost and revenue amounts (for example, raw cost, burden cost, and bill rates), and update currency conversion attributes for individual budget or forecast lines. For forecasts, you can initiate changes to forecast line amounts by changing the spread curve and the ETC calculation method associated with planning resources at the forecast line level.

Override rates that you enter on a budget or forecast line are apply while the line is retained. Oracle Projects uses the override rates on budget and forecast lines as default rates for new periodic lines, and propagates changes to the override values to periodic lines.

Note: When you edit a forecast version, you can only update ETC quantities and amounts. You cannot update actual quantities and amounts included in a forecast.

When you enter an amount for a rate-based planning resource and leave the quantity blank, Oracle Projects uses the entered amount, but the resource remains rate-based. If you enter a quantity later, Oracle Projects recalculates the resource on that task..

If planning resource is not rate-based, you can enter cost or revenue amounts only (not quantity or rate).

When you update a budget or forecast line, you can update a single component or simultaneously update several line-level components. When you update a budget or forecast line component that is used to derive other components, (for example, a quantity or a rate), or a component that is derived from other components (for example, a cost amount or a revenue amount), Oracle Projects recalculates all associated amounts using system-defined precedence rules.

The following table shows the calculation precedence rules that Oracle Projects follows when you update budget or forecast components.


Changed Components	Precedence Rule
Quantity, rate, or both	Calculate amounts based on the quantity and corresponding rate
Amounts or a combination of amounts and quantity	Calculate rate from quantity, when available, and amounts
Rate and amounts	Calculate quantity from rate and amounts
Quantity, rate, and amounts	Calculate amounts based on the quantity and corresponding rate

For example, if you update both the quantity and the cost amount for a budget or forecast line, Oracle Projects recalculates the rate using the updated quantity and cost amounts.

Editing Budgets and Forecasts in Microsoft Excel

You can export the details of a budget or forecast version to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet by selecting the Edit In Excel option. When you choose this option, Oracle Projects automatically populates an Excel spreadsheet with the planning elements (tasks and planning resources) and plan amounts (quantities, costs, and revenues) for the selected version.

You can perform the following activities in Microsoft Excel:

Edit and enter budget or forecast lines

You can edit existing budget or forecast lines and add new lines together with all necessary information including descriptions, change reasons, and conversion attributes.

Note: If a field is disabled for amount entry in the Amount Entry planning options, you can still enter an amount for the field in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. However, Oracle Projects will ignore the amount when you upload the spreadsheet back to Oracle Projects.
Enter amounts in multiple currencies

To enter amounts in a different transaction currency, first insert a new row into the spreadsheet. Next, copy the appropriate planning elements and attributes from an existing budget or forecast line to the new row. After you copy the planning elements and attributes, select a currency for the new line and enter the budget or forecast amounts.

Note: Before you can add a line in another transaction currency, you must define the new currency in the Add Transaction Currencies table on the Currency Settings page for the plan version.
Delete budget or forecast lines

You can edit the following budget and forecast information in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet:

Budget/forecast quantity and amounts
ETC quantity and amounts
Cost and bill rates
Dates for new budget or forecast lines for non-periodic plan versions
Currency conversion attributes for project currency and project functional currency
Change reason codes and descriptions for non-periodic plan versions

Note: You cannot edit actual quantity or actual cost amounts included in a forecast version.

When you download a budget or forecast version to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Oracle Projects includes the following planning resource attributes for information purposes only:

UOM
Spread Curve
Cost Type
ETC Method

You cannot modify planning resource attributes within a spreadsheet. When you upload new budget or forecast lines from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to Oracle Projects, Oracle Projects derives attribute values for the new plan lines based on the default values associated with each planning resource.

You cannot modify the start or end date for existing planning element in Microsoft Excel spreadsheet

You can edit a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet in either online or offline mode.

In online mode, you are connected to Oracle Projects and can make use of lists of values to populate certain key fields such as Task, Planning Resource, and Currency.
In offline mode, you must enter values for all required fields.

Downloading Plan Versions to Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets

You can download budget and forecast versions to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet at either the plan version or project level. You can download a budget or forecast version for a project from the Project Home page. When you choose to download a budget or forecast from the Project Home page, Oracle Projects selects either the current working version of an Approved Budget plan type, or the current working version of a Primary Forecast plan type, as appropriate.

Warning: After you download a plan version from Oracle Projects to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, do not make changes to the plan version in Oracle Projects prior to uploading the spreadsheet from Microsoft Excel back to Oracle Projects. If you update a plan version in Oracle Projects after downloading the plan version to a spreadsheet, then Oracle Projects does not allow you to upload the spreadsheet from Microsoft Excel back to Oracle Projects.

Oracle Projects enables you to download periodic budget and forecast lines to a non-periodic spreadsheet layout. When you download periodic lines to a non-periodic layout, Oracle Projects sums all periodic lines into a single, non-periodic plan line for each task, planning resource, and currency combination. When you upload non-periodic lines from Microsoft Excel back to an Oracle Projects plan version that is time-phased by period, Oracle Projects automatically distributes the amounts for each line across periods based on the spread curve associated with each planning resource.

Note: You cannot download non-periodic budget or forecast lines to a periodic spreadsheet layout.

Uploading Microsoft Excel Spreadsheets to Oracle Projects

When you complete your updates to a plan version in Microsoft Excel, upload the spreadsheet to Oracle Projects by choosing the Oracle > Upload menu option from the Microsoft Excel menu. Oracle Projects validates all attributes and amounts during the upload process.

When you choose to upload a spreadsheet, Oracle Projects performs the upload either as an online step, or by submitting the concurrent program PRC: Upload Financial Plan Data from Microsoft Excel. Oracle Projects determines whether to perform the upload online or as a concurrent program based on the settings of the following two profile options:

PA: Process MS Excel Data
PA: Process MS Excel Data Threshold

Related Topics

Defining Microsoft Excel Options

Upload Financial Plan Data from Microsoft Excel, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Budget Change Reasons, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Implementing Integration with Microsoft Excel, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

PA: Process MS Excel Data, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

PA: Process MS Excel Data Threshold, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Adjusting Version Amounts

When you edit a budget or forecast version, you can use the Adjust feature to apply a percentage adjustment to all quantities and rates that are used to calculate cost and revenue amounts. You can use this feature to adjust cost rates, burden cost rates, bill rates, raw cost, burdened cost, and revenue either for all budget or forecast lines, or selectively for certain planning elements.

You can specify either a positive or negative adjustment factor and enter a percentage of up to three digits with a precision of up to two decimal places (for example, 110.00% or -12.50%). When you apply an adjustment, Oracle Projects multiplies the specified percentage amount times all values that you select.

When you enter adjustment parameters, you can optionally specify whether you want to create a new version. When you choose this option, Oracle Projects creates a new budget or forecast version containing the adjusted amounts. The existing plan version is retained with no changes.

Copying Budgets and Forecasts

Oracle Projects enables you to copy existing budgets and forecasts when you create a project by copying a project template or project. You can also copy amounts to a plan version from another plan version within the same project.

Copying Budgets and Forecasts from a Project Template or Project

When you create a new project from a project template or by copying an existing project, Oracle Projects automatically copies the budgets and forecasts of the project template or existing project (source) to the new project (target). The system also copies the project planning options, and the planning options for each plan type and plan version.

If one exists, the system copies the Current Baseline plan version for each plan type. If a current baseline plan version does not exist, then the system copies the Current Working plan version. After the target project is created, you can modify the amounts, as necessary, for each new plan version.

If the status of a source current working plan version is Submitted, then the system sets the status of the target current working plan version to Working. The system does not copy any other working plan versions from a project template or project.

Related Topics

Creating a New Project from a Project Template or Existing Project, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Copying Baseline Plan Versions from Project Templates and Projects

When you create a project by copying a project template that has baseline plan versions, the system creates the versions in the target project as baseline versions. In addition, the system creates a corresponding current working version for each baseline version.

Note: If the project template has a plan type with a revenue baseline plan version but no cost baseline plan version, and the target project has a revenue accrual method that accrues revenue using the ratio of actual cost to budgeted or forecasted cost (Cost/Cost, Cost/Event, or Cost/Work), then the system creates the revenue plan version for the new project as a current working plan version, not a baseline plan version.

When you create a project by copying another project that has baseline plan versions, the system creates the new plan versions in the target project as current working versions.

Copying Dates or Periods for Time-Phased Budgets and Forecasts

If the budgets and forecasts in a source project template or project are time-phased, Oracle Projects creates time-phased plan versions in the target project. New periods are based on the PA or GL periods of the target project and task start dates, as described below.

When copying plan information, Oracle Projects verifies whether start dates are available for the source project (or project template) and the target project. If the source project or template does not have a date or you have not entered a start date in Project Quick Entry for the target project, then Oracle Projects copies the budget or forecast to the target project without adjusting the budget or forecast periods. However, if both the source project or template, and target project have start dates, then Oracle Projects performs the following actions:

Calculates the number of periods between the following:
1. The period that contains the start date of the source project template or project
2. The period that contains the start date of the target project
Derives the start period for each budget or forecast line in the target project by adding the number of periods determined above to the period of the new start date

Consider the following example:

The source project has a start date of September 1, 2002 and plan amounts entered in P09-2002, P10-2002, and P12-2002.
The target project has a start date of December 15, 2002.
Oracle Projects creates plan amounts for the target project in P12-2002, P01-2003, and P03-2003.

Note: Oracle Projects assumes that all periods are equal. If your periods are of different lengths, then you may get unacceptable results. In such a case, you must update plan amounts in the target project.

Copying Budget and Forecast Amounts Within a Project

You can use the Copy Amounts page to copy amounts within a project from one plan version to another. In addition, you can adjust the copied amounts by specifying a percentage amount by which to increase or decrease the amounts.

Note: You cannot use the Copy Amounts page to copy amounts between cost and revenue plan versions. Additionally, you cannot copy plan version amounts between different projects, and you cannot copy actual amounts to a plan version. To create a version containing actual amounts, create a new forecast version and use the Generate Forecasts feature to generate a forecast version that only includes actual amounts.

Copying Amounts Between Plan Versions

You can copy amounts from one plan version to another plan version even if the versions are for different plan types. For example, you can copy amounts from a plan version for a cost budget plan type to a plan version for a cost forecast plan type.

Warning: Use caution when you select a source plan version when copying amounts to a plan version where costs and revenues are planned together. If you select a source plan version that contains only cost amounts, then Oracle Projects copies the cost amounts to the target plan version and ignores the revenue amounts. Conversely, if you select a source plan version that contains only revenue amounts, then Oracle Projects copies the revenue amounts to the target plan version and ignores the cost amounts.

When you copy amounts from one plan version to another, Oracle Projects overwrites the plan settings and planning elements of the target plan version with the plan settings and planning elements of the source version. Thus, the target plan version inherits the planning level, resource list, time phase, tasks, and resources of the source plan version.

When you copy amounts from a plan version for which entry of amounts in multiple currencies is enabled to a plan version for which entry of amounts in multiple currencies is not enabled, the target plan version inherits the currency settings of the source plan version.

When you copy amounts from a plan version for which entry of amounts in multiple currencies is not enabled to a plan version for which entry of amounts in multiple currencies is enabled, the system copies the amounts in project currency and the currency settings of the target plan version are not changed.

Including and Viewing Change Documents

Change documents include change requests and change orders.

A change request is initiated when one or more parties to a project encounters an event or condition that they believe may result in a change to any aspect of the project (for example, the project scope, value, or duration). One or more approved change requests may be grouped or included in a change order.
A change order is a formal document that, when approved and implemented, will result in a change to a project.

Change requests and change orders may or may not have a financial impact on a project. A financial impact can affect cost only, revenue only, or both cost and revenue. Cost implementation can occur separately from revenue implementation, based on the status of the change document. In addition, you can implement part of the change document revenue impact into approved revenue budgets. Oracle Projects can automatically update a budget or forecast for the financial impact of a change document based on the following rules:

You can only include the financial impact of a change order or change request in a plan version once.
You can only include the financial impact of approved change orders in plan versions designated as approved cost budgets or approved revenue budgets.
You can include the financial impact of a change order or change request of any status in plan versions (including forecasts) that are not approved cost or revenue budgets. In the case of a forecast that is time-phased, you can include the financial impact of an approved change order into a forecast only in the periods after the actuals amounts through date. The amounts included depend on whether the change order is time-phased, as described below:
- If the change order is time-phased, Oracle Projects ignores amounts for periods before the actuals amounts through date.
- If the change order is not time-phased, Oracle Projects includes the entire financial impact of the change order after the actuals amounts through date.
You can create a baseline for your budgets and forecasts while implementing financial impact.

The change document types and change document statuses that you can implement and include in a budget or forecast version are determined by the financial plan type. For more information, see: Financial Plan Types, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

For more information on change documents, see: Overview of Change Management.

Manually Including the Impact of a Change Document

Oracle Projects cannot automatically include the financial impact of a change document in a plan version if the following conditions are true:

The time phase of the plan version and the change document differ in the following scenarios:
- The plan version is time phased by GL period and the change document is time phased by PA period.
- The plan version is time phased by PA period and the change document is time phased by GL period.

When Oracle Projects cannot automatically include the financial impact of a change document in a plan version, the system will display the View Financial Impact page for the change document. To include the financial impact of the change document in a plan version in this instance, choose Printable Page on the View Financial Impact page to print the document information. Use the printed information to manually update the plan version.

If you manually update a plan version to include the financial impact of a change document, then use the Mark as Included option on the View Financial Impact page. This option prevents the change document from being included in a plan version more than once, and enables the change document information to be displayed in the View Included Change Documents page for a plan version.

Viewing Budgets and Forecasts

Oracle Projects provides you with flexible options for viewing summary and detail information for budgets and forecasts. You can view total quantity and amount information for current working and current baseline versions at a plan type level. From there, you can drill down and to view budget and forecast information at a plan version level for tasks, resources, and periods. You can use the period parameter to specify the range of periods for which you want to view budget and forecast information.

Viewing Plan Types

You can view a summary of total quantities and amounts by plan type from the Budgets and Forecasts page. This is the first page displayed when you navigate to budgets and forecasts for a project. This page lists all plan types added to a project and displays total amounts for either the Current Working or Current Baseline plan version for each plan type.

In addition to providing information for plan types, this page is the primary start point from which you can navigate to all other budgeting and forecasting pages and features. You can perform the following activities from this page:

Add plan types to your project.
Create new plan versions for a plan type.
Delete a plan type.
Edit cost and revenue amounts.
Edit planning options for a plan type.
Maintain all budget or forecast versions for a plan type.

Note: The Maintain Plan Versions page lists all working and baseline plan versions for a budget or forecast plan type. From this page you can navigate to View Budget and View Forecast pages to view detail amounts for plan versions.

Viewing Budget and Forecast Versions - Task Options

You can use the View Budget (Task Summary) and View Forecast (Task Summary) pages to view amounts in total by task for budget and forecast versions. Depending on the (lowest-level) planning level that you select for a budget or forecast version, you can view amounts at the project level, top task level, or at all levels of the financial structure. When you are viewing the task summary pages, you can select a task that you want to update and navigate directly to either the Edit Budget or Edit Forecast pages, and to the Adjust page.

When you are viewing the task summary pages, you can also select a task and navigate to either the View Budget (Resource Analysis) or View Forecast (Resource Analysis) pages, and the View Budget (Periodic Analysis) or View Forecast (Periodic Analysis) pages. The resource analysis pages enable you to view budget and forecast amounts by resource for a selected task. You can also select a task and navigate directly to either the Edit Budget or Edit Forecast pages, and to the Adjust page.

The periodic analysis pages enable you to view budget and forecast amounts by period for a selected task. This page provides a high-level summary of amounts by period. The periodic analysis pages display total quantities by period for people effort and equipment effort, and amounts for cost, revenue, margin, and margin percent.

These pages enable you to analyze budgets by tasks, resources, or time and to view this information at summary and detail levels. You can also compare one budget or forecast version with another version from the same or a different plan type. You can compute variances and perform trend and comparative analysis using graphs.

Viewing Budget and Forecast Versions - Resource Options

You can use the View Budget (Resource Summary) and View Forecast (Resource Summary) pages to view amounts in total by resource for budget and forecast versions. These pages display resource amounts based on the resource breakdown structure selected for the budget or forecast version. When you are viewing the resource summary pages, you can select a resource that you want to update and navigate directly to either the Edit Budget or Edit Forecast pages, and to the Adjust page.

When you are viewing the resource summary pages, you can also select a resource and navigate to either the View Budget (Task Analysis) or View Forecast (Task Analysis) pages, and the View Budget (Periodic Analysis) or View Forecast (Periodic Analysis) pages. The task analysis pages enable you to view budget and forecast amounts by task for a selected resource. You can also select a task and navigate directly to either the Edit Budget or Edit Forecast pages, and to the Adjust page.

The periodic analysis pages enable you to view budget and forecast amounts by period for a selected resource. This page provides a high-level summary of amounts by period. The periodic analysis pages display total quantities by period for people effort and equipment effort, and amounts for cost, revenue, margin, and margin percent.

Viewing Plan Versions When Cost and Revenue Are Planned Separately

When you view a cost or revenue version for a plan type in which cost and revenue are planned separately, the system uses the following logic to select the corresponding revenue or cost plan version to display:

If you select a working cost version, then the system selects the current working revenue version, if one exists.
If you select a working revenue version, then the system selects the current working cost version, if one exists.
If you select a baseline cost budget version, then the system selects the current baseline revenue budget version. If a current baseline revenue budget version does not exist, the system selects the current working revenue version, if one exists.
If you select a primary cost forecast version, then the system selects the current primary revenue forecast version. If a current primary revenue forecast version does not exist, the system selects the current working revenue version, if one exists.
If you select a baseline revenue budget version, then the system selects the current baseline cost budget version. If a current baseline cost budget version does not exist, the system selects the current working cost version, if one exists.
If you select a primary revenue forecast version, then the system selects the current primary cost forecast version. If a current primary cost forecast version does not exist, the system selects the current working cost version, if one exists.

Viewing Workplan Cost and Effort

For information about viewing workplan effort and cost, see: Reviewing Workplan Cost and Effort.

Submitting Budgets and Forecasts

When you submit a current working plan version, Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification extension. If the plan version passes the extension rules, then the system changes the budget or forecast status to Submitted. If the plan version does not pass the extension rules, then the status remains set to Working.

If the Use Workflow for Status Changes option is enabled for the plan type at the financial plan type level, then the system changes the plan version status to Submitted when the version is submitted. After approval, the system changes the status of a budget to Baseline and the status of a forecast to Approved.

You can use the plan version status to inform individuals or groups who have different responsibilities with regard to budgets and forecasts. For example, if project managers create plan versions and the accounting department is responsible for creating baselines, the plan version status informs users when a plan version is ready for their use.

You can choose to Rework a working plan version after it is submitted if you need to make changes before you create a baseline or approve a forecast (for example, if you accidentally submit the plan version or find errors). However, you cannot enter amounts or make changes to a plan version while Workflow is active.

You can submit a current working version from either the Maintain Budget Versions or Maintain Forecast Versions page or the Edit Budget or Edit Forecast page. For more information on submitting plan versions, see: Maintaining Plan Versions.

Understanding the Submit Process

When you submit a current working plan version, the following events occur:

Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification extension.

By default, the Budget Verification extension does not include any submission requirements. You can customize the extension to match your company's rules for budget and forecast submission.

The Budget Verification extension has two possible outcomes:
- If the submission requirements are not met, then Oracle Projects issues an error message and no status change is made.
- If the submission requirements are met, then Oracle Projects proceeds to the next step.
The system must determine whether to invoke Workflow. The system invokes Workflow if the Enable Workflow for Status Changes option is enabled for the financial plan type.
- If Workflow is not invoked, then Oracle Projects changes the status of the plan version to Submitted.
- If Workflow is invoked, then Oracle Projects proceeds to the next step.
Oracle Projects invokes the Workflow process indicated in the budget workflow extension.
- If the plan version fails the Workflow process, then Oracle Projects issues an error message and no status change is made.
- If the plan version passes the Workflow process, then Oracle Projects proceeds to the next step.
Oracle Projects applies the standard budget baseline and forecast approval requirements to the plan version.
- If the plan version fails the standard budget baseline/forecast approval requirements, then Oracle Projects issues an error message and no status change is made.
- If the plan version passes the standard budget baseline/forecast approval requirements, then Oracle Projects proceeds to the next step.
Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification extension again to verify that the plan version still passes the budget baseline/forecast approval rules.
- If the baseline/approval rules are not met, then Oracle Projects issues an error message and no status change is made.
- If the baseline/approval rules are met, then Oracle Projects changes the plan version status to Baseline or Approved.

Related Topics

Adding a Plan Type to a Project

Budget Workflow, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Financial Plan Types, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Budget Verification Extension, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference

Budget Workflow Extension, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference

Creating Baselines for Budgets and Approving Forecasts

Creating a baseline or approving a forecast is the process of approving a submitted, current working plan version for use in reporting and accounting. For security reasons, this process can be performed by a different project member than the person who entered and submitted the working plan version.

When the budget baseline/forecast approval function is called, Oracle Projects changes the status of the Current Working plan version to either Current Baseline or Current Approved, and copies it to create a new current working plan version. All previous baseline or approved plan versions become historical versions.

If the Use Workflow for Status Changes option is enabled for a financial plan type, then the system automatically creates a budget baseline or an approved forecast after the Current Working plan version is submitted, and if it passes all Workflow approvals and other submission requirements. See Understanding the Submit Process.

For contract projects in Oracle Project Billing, the baseline function verifies that the plan version amounts for a financial plan type that is designated as an approved revenue budget equal the total funding for the project or the top tasks within the project (if task-level funding is used). If this check is successful, then the system creates a new baseline plan version for the approved revenue budget plan type. If the amounts are not equal, then Oracle Projects issues an error and does not create a new baseline.

Rules for Non-Time-Phased Plan Versions

If you create a plan version that is not time-phased (uses a time phase of None), and if you use the default start and end dates from the project or the project tasks, then the following rules apply:

If you are planning at a project level and you change the start or end date of the project, then you must create a new budget baseline or approved forecast to reflect the new dates.
If you are planning at a task level and you change the start or end date of a task, then you must create a new budget baseline or approved forecast to reflect the new dates.

Prerequisites for Creating a Baseline or Approving a Forecast

Before you can create a budget baseline or approved forecast from a current working plan version, you must submit the plan version. See: Submitting Budgets and Forecasts.

Before you can create a baseline for a plan type on a contract project that is designated as an approved revenue budget, you must enter a funding amount that is equal to the plan version amounts. If you are funding at the top task level, then you must enter revenue amounts at the top task or lowest task levels. If the baseline process fails for an approved revenue budget plan version because the funding does not equal the plan version amounts, then you must change either the plan version amounts or the funding amounts before you can successfully create the baseline.

You can create a budget baseline or approved forecast for a submitted, current working plan version from the Maintain Budget Versions or Maintain Forecasts versions page. For more information, see: Maintaining Plan Versions.

Understanding the Baseline/Forecast Approval Process

When you create a budget baseline or approved forecast, the following events occur:

Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification extension

By default, the Budget Verification extension does not include any budget baseline or approved forecast requirements. You can customize the extension to match your company's rules for creating a budget baseline or approved forecast.
The Budget Verification extension has two possible outcomes:
- If the plan version fails the baseline/approval requirements, then the system issues an error message and no status change is made.
- If the plan version passes the baseline/approval requirements, then Oracle Projects changes the plan version status to Baseline or Approved.

Related Topics

Budget Verification Extension, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference

Creating Budgets With Budgetary Controls and Budget Integration

The following sections describe the processes for creating budgets and forecasts when you want to use Oracle Projects budgetary controls and budget integration features. You must use the procedures in this section to define, enter, and process budgets and forecasts to access the windows that enable you to use budgetary control and budget integration features.

You can enter and submit budget drafts, and create budget baselines from the Budgets window.

Related Topics

Using Budgetary Controls

Calculating Budget and Forecast Amounts

Implementing Budgetary Controls, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Implementing Budget Integration, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Budget Entry

The following illustration shows an overview of the budget entry process flow.

Overview of the Budget Entry Process

the picture is described in the document text

To create or revise budgets, perform the following steps:

Create the project and WBS. When you define the work breakdown structure, consider how you want to track cost and revenue. See: Control Functions by Project and Task Level, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Note: The start and end dates for a non-time-phased budget are automatically set to equal the start and completion dates of the project or task.
Enter or revise a draft budget for the project. See: Entering or Revising a Budget Draft.
Enter budget amounts in the draft budget using any of the following methods:
- When you first create the project you can copy the budget from the project template or project you are copying. See: Copying Budgets from a Project Template or Existing Project.
- Enter the budget cost and/or revenue amounts directly. See: Entering Budget Lines.
- Copy the budget from an earlier version of the project's budget (if you are revising a baseline budget version). See: Copying Budget Amounts from Earlier Budget Versions.
- Copy the actual amounts to the budget amounts. See: Copying Actuals to Budget Amounts.
Submit your budget to indicate that budget entry is complete. See: Submitting a Draft.
Create a baseline. See: Creating a Baseline for a Budget Draft .
Revise the current budget to reflect changes in the project or to correct data entry errors. See: Revising a Budget Baseline, Revising an Original Budget.

Related Topics

Budget Types, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Budget Entry Methods, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Resources and Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Entering or Revising a Budget Draft

A budget draft is a holding area for budget data that is currently in process. You enter or revise the budget amounts for a project in a draft. The status for a draft is Working.

You have a draft for each budget type used on the project. You cannot report against a draft or use it to compare budgeted to actual amounts.

Budgets Window

Navigate to the Budgets window. Choose the project for which you want to enter or revise budget amounts. You must enter a valid project number before you can enter a budget type.
Budget Type

After you have selected a valid project, the budget type field will be enabled.

Choose the budget type. The budget type field enables you to have more than one series of budgets for a project. The budget type determines whether the budget is a revenue budget or cost budget. See: Budget Types, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

Note: The list of values displays only active budget types. However, if a budget was created earlier for your project using a budget type that is now inactive, the inactive budget type can be entered.
Find Draft

Choose the Find Draft button.

Note: If you select an inactive budget type and choose Find Draft, no draft budget will be displayed.
Version Name

Enter the version name.
Budget Status

The budget status will be displayed, indicating where the budget is in the submission or baseline process. The budget status can have the following values:
- Working A draft that you are entering and updating.
- Submitted A draft that is submitted for baseline. If you want to change make changes in a budget that has a Submitted status, you must first select the Rework button, which returns the status to Working.
- Baselined A baseline budget version. The Budget Version History window in the Budgets form displays baseline budget versions.
Change Reason

Enter a change reason. The change reason identifies the reason for changing a budget version from a previous version. See: Budget Change Reasons, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.
Description

You may enter a description for the budget version.
Budget Entry Method

You can accept or override the default budget entry method (BEM), which determines the level of detail for the budget.
- If you are entering the first draft for the budget type, the default BEM is determined by the project type of the project.
- If a prior version of the budget type exists, the default BEM is the budget entry method of the project's current budget for the budget type.
You can choose a categorized or uncategorized budget entry method. See: Categorizing Budget and Forecast Amounts by Resources.

You can change the BEM at any time, even after you have created a baseline version for the budget type. When you change the BEM, the system will delete the existing draft budget lines. You can then enter a new draft.

Note: If you select a categorized BEM for the first draft budget of any type, all subsequent draft budgets of that type (after the first draft budget baseline is created) must also use categorized BEMs. The same is true for uncategorized BEMs. The list of values of BEMs will show only valid BEMs for a budget.

See: Budget Entry Methods, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.
Resource List

The resource list is the set of resources that can be used as budget categories for a categorized (detail) budget. These resources will be displayed on the list of values for resource when you are entering budget lines.

If you are entering the first draft for the budget type, you may accept or override the default resource list. If you change the resource list after you have entered budget lines for the budget version, the system will delete the draft lines and you must enter a new draft. You cannot change the resource list after you create a baseline budget version for the budget type.
Original

This field displays the version name of the current original budget for the project budget type. You can view the original and other historical budgets in the Budget Version History window (choose History from the Budgets window).
Was Original

This flag indicates if the budget currently displayed was previously an original budget. Oracle Projects creates such budget versions when you revise the original budget. You can view this value in the Budget Version History window.
New Original

Use this check box if you want to indicate that this draft, when a baseline is created, will become the revised original budget.
History

You can choose History to review the details of previous budget versions of the selected budget type. Historic budgets can be viewed for active and inactive budget types.
Labor Hours, Raw Cost, Burdened Cost, Revenue

These fields display the sum of the labor hours, raw cost, burdened cost, and/or revenue entered for the budget version.

Entering a Project or Task Level Budget

You can budget at the project, top task, or lowest task level.

Note: If you are using top task funding for your contract project, you must enter revenue budgets at the top task or the lowest task levels.

To enter a project-level budget, perform the following steps:

Navigate to the Budgets form.
Choose a budget entry method set up with a project entry level.
Choose the Details button to open the Budget Lines window.
Enter the budget lines.
Save your work.

To enter a task-level budget, perform the following steps:

Choose a budget entry method set up with the appropriate task entry level (Top Tasks, Lowest Tasks, or Top and Lowest Tasks).
Choose the Details button to open the Task Budgets window, which displays different levels of tasks, depending on the budget entry method you enter. Choose from the available list in the tasks list of values to view different task level combinations. See: Defining Your Financial Structure, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.
Choose the task for which you want to budget.
Choose Budget Lines.
Enter the budget lines in the Budget Lines window.
Save your work.

Entering Budget Lines

A budget line contains information about how much of a resource is needed. The information in a budget line can include a unit of measure and amounts for quantity, raw cost, burdened cost, or revenue.

Note: If you plan to use the cost-to-cost revenue accrual or invoice generation method for your project, you must enter burdened costs in your cost budget and revenue amounts in your revenue budget. Otherwise, Oracle Projects cannot successfully generate revenue or invoices using the cost-to-cost method. For more information about these processes, see: Accruing Revenue for a Project, Oracle Project Billing User Guide and Invoicing a Project, Oracle Project Billing User Guide.

You can enter and delete budget lines for a budget. You can delete budget lines in a draft. You cannot delete budget lines from a budget baseline.

To enter budget lines, perform the following steps:

Navigate to the Budgets window.
Enter or choose the Find Draft button to find the draft for the appropriate budget type.
To navigate to the Budget Lines window, choose Details.

If you are entering a project level budget, the Budget Lines window will open.

If you are entering a task level budget, the Task Budgets window will open. Select a task, then choose Budget Lines to open the Budget Lines window.

Entering Budget Lines for Period-Phased Budgets

If you are entering a budget that is period-phased (time-phased by PA period or GL period), the matrix entry Budget Lines window will be displayed for budget lines entry. The matrix entry window opens automatically when you navigate to the Budget Lines window for a period-phased budget.

The type of time-phasing of the budget is determined by the Budget Entry Method selected for the budget.

Using the matrix entry window, you enter budgeted amounts for an amount type and a period. The amount type is either quantity, raw cost, burdened cost, or revenue.

Each line in the matrix displays amounts for a resource and an amount type. You select the resource and the amount type for a given budget line. You then enter the amounts for the period range specified.

The Earliest Budget Period and Latest Budget Period fields display the earliest and latest period for which budget amounts have been entered. You control which periods to display by specifying the First Budget Period.

To enter budget lines in the Budget Lines window, perform the following steps:

Enter the First Budget Period (either PA or GL period, depending on the budget entry method of the budget version). The period you select will be the earliest period, displayed in the window.

Use the left and right arrow buttons to change the periods displayed in the window. When you choose an arrow, the periods will shift forward or backward by one full screen (the number of periods displayed in the window).
Enter the resource you want to budget.
Select the amount type.

You control the amount types that you can select by your selection in the View Lines For field in the upper region of the window. If the View Lines For is set to All, you can select any amount type allowed by the budget entry method and budget type. If View Lines For specifies an amount type, then you can only enter budget lines for the amount type specified.

Following are the selections displayed for the View Lines for field:
- Unit of Measure (UOM) the resource, if the resource has a UOM
- Raw Cost (for cost budgets, if raw cost entry is allowed by the budget entry method)
- Burdened Cost (for cost budgets, if burdened cost entry is allowed by the budget entry method)
- Revenue (for revenue budgets, if revenue entry is allowed by the budget entry method)
Enter the budget amounts for the resource, amount type, and periods displayed.

Amount Type Lines Automatically Created:

In the matrix entry Budget Lines window, when you create a budget line for one amount type, Oracle Projects will create budget lines for other amount types. The other amount types will be the amount types that are enterable fields for the budget entry method being used. See: Budget Entry Methods, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

For example, if you enter an amount for Miles (amount type) for Auto Use (resource), lines will also be created for the amount types Raw Cost and Burdened Cost for the same resource, if the budget entry method in use for the budget includes raw cost and burdened cost as enterable fields.

You can view all the lines by selecting All in the View Lines For field.
If you want to enter a change reason, comment, or descriptive flexfieldfor the resource and time period, navigate to the overflow region. You navigate to the overflow region by using the tab key or by clicking the mouse, depending on the setting of the profile option PA: Tab to Budget Matrix Comments Fields. See: PA: Tab to Budget Matrix Comments Fields, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

The overflow region displays the resource and period for which you are currently entering or viewing the change reason, comment, and descriptive flexfield.

The overflow region fields apply to a resource and time period, and are shared across amount types. For example, if you enter a change reason for the labor resource for raw cost for January, the same change reason applies for the labor resource for hours for January.
Enter more resources for the same periods or shift the periods displayed for entry by entering a new First Budget Period or by using the Period arrows.
Save your work.

Viewing Calculated Budget Amounts

If you are using budget calculation extensions to calculate raw costs, burdened costs, or revenue amounts based on the quantity or raw cost that you enter, you will be able to see the calculated amounts when you re-query the field. To re-query, click in the field whose value you want to see.

If you are calculating amounts for which you are not allowed to enter values as defined in the budget entry method, then you cannot see the budgeted amounts in the matrix entry form.

To review the budget amounts, use the View Lines For field to select which budget lines of a given amount type you want to review. The default selection is All. You can select from any of the following amount types that are allowed by your budget entry method and budget type class (cost or revenue).

All
Labor Hours (resources that are tracked as labor hours)
Quantity (all quantities regardless of unit of measure)
Raw Cost
Burdened Cost
Revenue

For example, you may want to view only budget lines for Raw Cost. If, in addition, you select Raw Cost in the View Totals For field, you can review budget amounts that comprise the displayed budget totals.

To review the budget totals, use the View Totals For field to select the amount type you want to display in the Total fields. You can select from any of the following amount types that are allowed by your budget entry method and budget type class (cost or revenue).

Labor Hours
Raw Cost
Burdened Cost
Revenue

You can review the resource totals for a range of periods by changing the Periods for Totals. These totals are displayed down the right hand side of the window under Period Totals. After you change the Periods for Totals, the totals are displayed when you navigate to the lines region.

Related Topics

Budget Calculation Extensions, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference

Entering Budget Lines for Non-Time-Phased or Date Range Budgets

If you are entering a budget that is non-time-phased or is time-phased by date range, the row entry Budget Lines window will be displayed for budget lines entry.

The row entry Budget Lines window has columns for Resource, Period Name, UOM (Unit of Measure), Quantity, Raw Cost, Burdened Cost, and/or Revenue. Budget lines are displayed sorted by resource.

To enter budget lines, perform the following steps:

Enter the resource.
Enter the period or dates.

If the budget is non-time-phased, you do not enter dates. The dates are automatically set to equal the start and completion dates of the project or task.
Enter quantity and amounts for each budget line as defined in the budget entry method that you selected. You can enter a quantity only if the resource has a unit of measure specified. See: Resources and Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

If you are entering task level budgets, use the up or down arrow buttons to display the next top or lowest level task in the list.
Enter a budget Change Reason and Comment for each budget line.
Save your work.

Revising Budget Lines

To assign a budget line to a different resource, if you have already saved your work, then you must delete and reenter the line.

To delete a budget line, you must perform the following steps:

Choose the budget line you want to delete and choose the Delete Record button from the toolbar.
In the Budget Matrix Entry window, deletion of a budget line for a resource and an amount type will only delete the amounts for the periods that are currently displayed. It will not affect amounts for any other periods.

To fully delete a budget line for a resource, you must enter zeros for all amounts and for all periods for that resource.

Example:

A budget line exists for the Labor resource with the following amounts:
- Quantity = 10 for periods January through December
- Raw Cost = 100 for periods January through December

To fully delete the budget line (so that it is no longer displayed), you must change the amounts to zero for quantity and raw costs for periods from January through December.

Copying Budgets from a Project Template or Existing Project

When you copy a project template or project, Oracle Projects automatically copies the budgets of the source project template or project to the new, or target project.

Oracle Projects creates a draft budget using the current budget of the source template or source project. If the source template or source project does not have a current budget, then Oracle Projects uses the draft.

The new project has a draft for each budget type entered for the source template or source project. After you copy the project, you can modify the budget amounts if necessary.

If the status of the budget in the source template or project is Submitted, then the system sets the status of the target budget is Working.

Copying Budget Baselines

If you create a project by copying a project template that has budget baselines, then the system creates the new budgets as baseline versions. In addition, the system creates a corresponding current working version for each baseline version.

Note: If the source project template has a revenue budget baseline, but no cost budget baseline, and the new project has a revenue distribution rule that accrues revenue using the ratio of actual cost to budgeted cost (Cost/Cost, Cost/Event, or Cost/Work), then the revenue budget for the new project is created as a working version, not a baseline version.

If you create a project by copying another project, the budgets created are draft, (not baseline).

Copying Project Actual Amounts to the Budget of a New Project

When a new project will have a budget identical or similar to the actual amounts on an existing project, you can easily copy the actual amounts on the existing project to the new project budget as you create the new project.

To copy actual amounts to a new project budget, perform the following steps:

Create a special budget type for this purpose, such as prototype. See: Budget Types, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.
In the existing project, copy the project actual amounts to the prototype budget (or whatever you have chosen to call the special budget type). See: Copying Actuals to Budget Amounts.
Create the new project by copying the existing project. See: Creating a New Project from a Project Template or Existing Project, Oracle Projects Fundamentals
In the new project, review and revise the prototype budget. When it is ready, copy it to the approved cost or approved revenue budget (whichever is appropriate). At this step, you can use the Amount Adjustment field to increase or decrease the amounts in the new budget by a percentage. See: Copying Budgets from Earlier Budget Versions.

Copying Dates or Periods for Time-Phased Budgets

When copying time-phased budgets from a project template or project, Oracle Projects adjusts the dates or periods of the budget lines based on the new dates that you specify in Project Quick Entry, according to the following rules:

If the source project template or project has no start date, then the budget and budget periods are copied to the new project without any adjustment to the budget periods even if a start date is entered in Project Quick Entry for the new project.
If the source project template or project has a start date, but no start date was entered in Project Quick Entry, then the budget and budget periods are copied to the new project without any adjustment to the budget periods.
If the source project template or project has a start date and a start date was entered in Project Quick Entry, and the budget entry method is GL or PA period, then Oracle Projects performs the following actions:
- calculates the number of periods between (a) the first budget period entered for the source project template or project, and (b) the period that contains the project start date
- derives the new start period for each budget line by adding the number of periods determined in the preceding action to the period of the new start date

If the source project template or project uses budget periods, then the new project will also use budget periods. The budget periods are based on the PA or GL period of the new project and task start dates. For example:

The source project has a start date of September 1, 2002 and budget amounts entered in P09-2002, P10-2002, and P12-2002.
The new project has a start date of December 15, 2002.
The system will create budget amounts for the new project in P12-2002, P01-2003, and P03-2003.

Note: The copy process assumes all periods are equal in length. If your periods are not of uniform length, then you may get unacceptable results. This may require you to manually update your budget amounts.

Related Topics

Creating a New Project from a Project Template or Existing Project, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Copying Budgets from Earlier Budget Versions

You can create a new draft by copying any existing budget version of the same project. You can copy from one budget type to another for the same project; for example, you can copy from a cost budget type to another cost budget type. You cannot copy between cost and revenue budget types, nor can you copy budget versions between projects (except when copying the project from another project).

When you copy a prior version you can specify an increase or decrease factor, which increases or decreases the copied budget amounts, but not the budgeted quantities, optionally rounded to the precision you choose. The new budget amounts override any data that exists in the draft.

To copy budget amounts from an earlier budget version:

Navigate to the Budgets form.
Enter the Project Number and Budget Type that you want to copy.

Note: You must enter a valid project number before you can enter a budget type.
Choose History.
In the Budget Version History window, select the budget Version that you want to copy.
Choose Copy To.
Choose the Budget Type that you want to copy to. Change the Amount Adjustment and Rounding Precision if you want to adjust the budget amounts when you copy the budget.

Note: When you copy a budget, the To Draft Budget Type field is set to the budget type you enter in Step 2. However, if the From Baselined budget type is an inactive budget type, the field is left blank.
Choose OK. Oracle Projects automatically displays the new draft in the Budgets window.
Revise the budget amounts as necessary.

Copying Actual Amounts to Budget Amounts

You can build a draft for a period-based budget based upon actual past expenditures. You cannot copy actual amounts for time-phased budgets that use date ranges, or for non-time-phased budgets.

Oracle Projects uses the budget entry method and resource list that you specify for the draft when copying actual amounts to the budget amounts. If you specify a budget entry method that uses both top and lowest task budgets, the budget lines are created at the lowest task level, using the resources in the resource list to which the actual amounts are mapped. Oracle Projects copies the actual amounts using the lowest level in the resource list, if resources are used; otherwise, it uses the resource groups. The resources are used even if you have budgeted at the resource group level. See: Resources and Resource Lists, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide, and Summarizing Actuals and Commitments by Resource.

The resulting new draft reflects the actual amounts incurred. If a resource was previously budgeted, but no actual amounts were incurred, this resource is not copied to the new draft budget. If an actual amount was incurred but was not previously budgeted, a new budget line is created in the budget to reflect the actual amount that was incurred.

The following table shows an example of actual amounts copied to budget amounts. In this example, you enter the following actual amounts for a resource, and associate the resource list with Project X.

Actuals

Enter the following actual amounts:


Period	Employee	Amount	Resource	Quantity
PA 1	Marlin	100	Professional	2 hours
	Vincent Business Supply	77	Supplies
PA 2	Marlin	150	Professional	3 hours
	Gray	10	Computer Services	1 hour
	Robinson	50	Clerical	1 hour

Resource List

Associate the following resource list (Expenditure Type by Expenditure Category) with Project X:


Resource Group	Resource	Resource Type
Labor	Professional	Expenditure Type
Labor	Clerical	Expenditure Type
Asset	Computer Services	Expenditure Type

Resulting Draft

When you copy actual amounts from Project X, the following resulting budget lines are created:


Period	Resource Group	Resource	Quantity	Amount
PA 1	Labor	Professional	2	100
	Uncategorized	Uncatergorized		77
PA 2	Labor	Professional	3	150
	Labor	Clerical	1	50
	Asset	Computer Services	1	10

To copy actual amounts to budget amounts:

Run the Update Project Summary Amounts concurrent program for the project and the periods for which you want to copy actual amounts. Oracle Projects uses the project summary amounts when copying actual amounts to budget amounts. See: Updating Project Summary Amounts

Note: Only actual amounts from periods whose ending dates are earlier than the current date will be copied to budget amounts.

Navigate to the Budgets window.
Choose the project and budget type into which you want to copy actual amounts.
Choose Find Draft.
Choose Copy Actuals.
Enter the period range for which you want to copy actual amounts. Enter GL periods if you are budgeting by GL period, or PA periods if budgeting by PA period.

The default start period is the earliest period for which the project has summarized actual amounts for the resource list used on the budget. The default end period is the current reporting period.
Choose OK.
Revise the budget amounts if necessary.
Save your work.

Using a Concurrent Program to Copy Actual Amounts

You can submit the concurrent program PRC: Copy Actuals to copy actual amounts to budget amounts instead of copying them from the Budgets window. The concurrent program runs in the background and enables you to continue working while it is copying.

Note: You must create the working budget version for the project and budget type combination before you submit the concurrent program.

For additional information about the concurrent program, see: Copy Actual Amounts, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

Deleting a Draft

Find the draft you want to delete. Choose the Delete Record button from the toolbar, and choose OK to delete the draft. Oracle Projects deletes all budget lines associated with the budget version.

You can then create a new draft and enter any new lines by choosing Find Draft and navigating to the Budget Lines window.

Related Topics

Revising Budget Lines

Submitting a Draft

When you complete budget entry, you can submit your draft to indicate that it is ready for review and baseline.

When you submit a draft, Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification extension. If the draft passes the rules in the Budget Verification extension, the budget status changes to Submitted. If the draft does not pass the rules in the Budget Verification extension, its status remains set to Working. See: Budget Verification Extension, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference.

If the budget type of the budget uses Workflow to process budget status changes, the budget status changes to In Progress when a draft is submitted. After a successful submission, the budget status changes to Baselined. While the budget Workflow is active for a budget, no data entry is allowed for the budget and the buttons are disabled when the budget is displayed.

You can use the status information to inform individuals or groups who have different responsibilities with regard to budgets. For example, if project managers create draft budgets and the accounting department is responsible for baselining the budgets, the status informs users when a budget is ready for their use.

You can change a submitted budget back to the status Working if you need to make changes to the draft. For example, change the status to Working if you accidentally submitted the budget, or you found errors in the budget.

While the budget Workflow is active for a budget, you cannot change the status using the Budget window.

You cannot change the status to Working after you have baselined the budget.

If you want to make changes to the budget that after you create a baseline, you must create a new baseline. See: Revising a Budget Baseline.

Prerequisites

Enter a draft. See: Entering a Draft.

To submit a draft:

Find the working draft that you want to submit in the Budgets window. Choose Submit.

To change a submitted budget status from Submitted to Working:

Find the submitted draft that you want to change in the Budgets window. Choose Rework. Update the draft, as necessary and save your work.

After you have completed the changes, you can resubmit the draft.

Note: You cannot choose Rework if a workflow is active for the budget.

The Submit Draft Budget Process

The following illustration shows the submit draft budget flow.

The Submit Draft Budget Flow

the picture is described in the document text

When you choose Submit from the Budgets window, the following events occur:

Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification extension. The procedure is called pa_client_extn_budget.verify_budget_rules.

By default, the Budget Verification extension does not include any budget submission requirements. You can customize the extension to match your company's rules for budget submission.

The Budget Verification extension has two possible outcomes:
- If the budget submission requirements are not met by the draft budget, an error message is issued and no status change is made.
- If the budget submission requirements are met by the draft budget, Oracle Projects proceeds to the next step.
The system must determine whether to call Workflow. The field Use Workflow for Budget Status Change in the Budget Type window determines whether Oracle Projects calls Workflow for the draft budget submission.
- If Workflow is not called, Oracle Projects changes the status of the draft budget to Submitted.
- If Workflow is called, Oracle Projects proceeds to the next step.
Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification extension to determine whether the budget passes the budget baseline rules.

By default, the Budget Verification extension does not include any budget baseline requirements. You can customize the extension to match your company's rules for creating a baseline.
- If the budget fails the budget baseline rules, an error message is issued and no status change is made.
- If the budget passes the budget baseline rules, Oracle Projects proceeds to the next step.
Oracle Projects calls the Workflow process indicated in the budget workflow extension.
- If the draft budget fails the Workflow process, an error message is issued and no status change is made.
- If the draft budget travels successfully through the Workflow process, Oracle Projects proceeds to the next step.
Oracle Projects applies the standard budget baseline requirements to the budget.
- If the budget fails the standard budget baseline requirements, an error message is issued and no status change is made.
- If the budget passes the standard budget baseline requirements, Oracle Projects proceeds to the next step.
Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification extension again, to verify that the budget still passes the budget baseline rules.
- If the budget fails the budget baseline rules, an error message is issued and no status change is made.
- If the budget passes the budget baseline rules, Oracle Projects changes the budget status to Baselined.

Related Topics

Budget Workflow, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Budget Verification Extension, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference

Budget Workflow Extension, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference

Creating a Baseline for a Budget Draft

Creating a baseline for a budget draft is the process of approving a budget for use in reporting and accounting. When the baseline function is called, the system copies the draft amounts into a new baseline budget version.

The most recent baseline version is named the Current Budget, which is used for reporting. All prior baseline budgets are historical baseline versions. The Current Budget, and all other baseline budget versions, have a status of Baselined.

For security reasons, this process is usually performed by a different project member than the person who entered and submitted the budget.

If a budget type uses Workflow for budget status changes, a baseline for a draft budget is automatically after it is submitted, if it passes all the Workflow approvals and other requirements. See Submitting a Draft.

For contract projects in Oracle Project Billing, the baseline function verifies that the budget amounts for the budget type Approved Revenue Budget equals the total funding for the project or for the top tasks within the project, if using task level funding. If this check is successful, a new budget version is created. If the amounts are not equal, Oracle Projects displays an error and does not create a new budget version.

Creating New Baselines for Budgets That Are Non-Time-Phased

If you create a budget that is not time-phased, and you used the default start and end dates (from the project or task start/end dates) when you create the budget, be aware of the following caveat:

Project Budget: If you change the start or end date of the related project, you must re-baseline the budget to reflect the new dates.
Task Budget: If you change the start or end date of the related task, you must re-baseline the budget to reflect the new dates.

Prerequisites:

Enter and submit a draft. See: Entering a Draft.
For contract projects in Oracle Project Billing with budgets using the budget type Approved Revenue Budget, enter the funding amount equal to the budget amount. If you are using top task funding, you must enter revenue budgets at the top task and/or the lowest task levels.

To baseline a draft:

Find the submitted draft that you want to baseline. Choose Baseline.

Note: If the baseline function fails for the Approved Revenue Budget because the funding does not equal the revenue budget, then you must change the budget or the funding amounts before you can successfully baseline the budget.

The Draft Budget Baseline Process

The following illustration shows the draft budget baseline flow.

The Draft Budget Baseline Flow

the picture is described in the document text

When you choose Baseline from the Budgets window, the following events occur:

Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification API. This program checks for standard rules that a budget must pass before it can be baselined. For example, an approved revenue budget amount must equal the project funding.
Oracle Projects calls the Budget Verification extension. The procedure is called pa_client_extn_budget.verify_budget_rules.

By default, the Budget Verification extension does not include any budget baseline requirements. You can customize the extension to match your company's rules for baselining a budget. See: Budget Verification Extension, Oracle Projects APIs, Client Extensions, and Open Interfaces Reference.
The Budget Verification extension has two possible outcomes:
- If the draft budget fails the baseline requirements, an error message is issued and no status change is made.
- If the draft budget passes the baseline requirements, Oracle Projects changes the budget status to Baselined.

Creating a Baseline for an Integrated Budget

When you create a baseline version for an integrated project budget, Oracle Projects performs the following activities:

Validates the submitted budget version.
Creates a baseline for the new budget version.
Validates funds.

For top-down integrated budgets, Oracle Projects validates existing approved transaction amounts (at resource, resource group, task, top task and project levels) against the project budget.
Generates accounting events to reverse the accounting for the most recent baseline version, if one exists, and to create accounting for the new baseline version.

For bottom-up budget integration, Oracle Projects generates accounting events to create budget journal entries.

For top-down integrated budgets, Oracle Projects generates accounting events to create encumbrance journal entries.
Create accounting in final mode for the accounting events in Oracle Subledger Accounting.
Validates funds.

For bottom-up budget integration, Oracle Projects validates the budget amounts against an organization-level Oracle General Ledger budget.

For top-down integrated budgets, Oracle Projects validates budget amounts against the General Ledger Funding Budget and then validates existing approved transaction amounts (at account level) against the project budget.

Note: If the budget fails funds validation, then the baseline process removes the accounting entries it created from Oracle Subledger Accounting and updates the submitted budget version to Rejected status.

You run the process PRC: Transfer Journal Entries to GL to transfer the journal entries to Oracle General Ledger. When you submit the process PRC: Transfer Journal Entries to GL, you can optionally choose to have the process post the journal entries. Otherwise, you can manually post the journal entries in Oracle General Ledger.

Note: The baseline process updates funds balances in Oracle General Ledger. The process PRC: Transfer Journal Entries to GL does not affect funds balances.

For non-integrated budgets with budgetary controls, Oracle Projects validates the submitted budget version, creates baseline version, and validates existing transaction amounts against the project budget. Oracle Projects does not generate and process accounting events for non-integrated budgets.

Note: When you use the PA: Budget Workflow to control budget status changes, Oracle Projects performs funds validation only after the budget is approved. See: PA: Budget Workflow, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

You cannot post journal entries in Oracle General Ledger if the journal entry violates the defined budgetary controls. Funds validation in Oracle General Ledger depends on the type of budget integration as follows:

For bottom-up budget integration:

Oracle General Ledger funding budgets define spending limits for accounts. You can enable budgetary controls to ensure that actual plus encumbrance balances for an account do not exceed the account budget balance. If a project budget is integrated with a Oracle General Ledger funding budget that has budgetary controls enabled, then Oracle Projects performs a funds check against the funding budget as follows:
- To perform a funds check for the initial baseline version, Oracle Projects sends all project budget lines for the draft budget version for funds check.
- To perform a funds check when a prior baseline version exists, Oracle Projects sends all project budget lines for both the most recent baseline budget version (credits) and for the new budget version (debits) for funds check.
Note: Oracle Projects cannot generate funds check failures when you create the initial baseline version for a top-down integrated budget. In this case, the budget journal entries that you transfer from Oracle Subledger Accounting to Oracle General Ledger are only adding amounts to the organization-level budget in Oracle General Ledger. Oracle Projects can generate funds check failures when you create subsequent baseline versions for the budget. In this case, Oracle Projects creates reversal budget journal entries for the most recent baseline version and new budget journal entries for the new baseline version. Budget reductions in the new version can result in an overall reduction in the organization-level budget balances in Oracle General Ledger. The funds check fails if the changes reduce the budget balance for an account to a value that is less than the current total cost for the account (actual cost plus encumbrances).

If funds are not available in the Oracle General Ledger funding budgets for all amounts to be transferred, then the baseline process fails.
For top-down budget integration:

The baseline process in Oracle Projects performs a funds check against the General Ledger Funding Budget. Oracle Projects performs a funds check against the funding budget as follows:
- To perform a funds check for the initial baseline version, Oracle Projects sends all project budget lines for the draft budget version for funds check.
- To perform a funds check when a prior baseline version exists, Oracle Projects sends all project budget lines for both the most recent baseline budget version (credits) and for the new budget version (debits) for funds check.
If funds are not available in the General Ledger Funding Budget for all amounts to be transferred, then the baseline process fails.

Troubleshooting Baseline Failures

If the Oracle Projects baseline process fails as a result of a funds check failure, you can use the By Account tab of the Budget Accounts Details window to identify the project budget amounts that generated the funds check failure. In addition, the Workflow notification provides information about the failure.

You can use the Transactions Funds Check Results form to review funds check failures that occur during baseline processing. You can also use this form to review funds check failures that occur during transaction processing.

Related Topics

Troubleshooting Baseline Failures for Integrated Budgets

Integrating with Oracle Subledger Accounting, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Oracle Projects Navigation Paths, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Transfer Journal Entries to GL, Oracle Projects Fundamentals

Revising a Budget Baseline

After you create a budget baseline, you can modify the following descriptive fields for a baseline version:

Version Name
Change Reason
Description
Comment

You cannot directly change the amounts or structure of a budget baseline. If you need to make changes to a budget baseline , you must update the draft and create a budget baseline for that version.

After you baseline a budget, the draft is the same as the last current budget version.

Related Topics

Entering a Draft

Creating a Baseline for a Budget Draft

Revising an Original Budget

The first time you baseline a budget, that budget becomes the Original Budget. The Project Status window displays information in the Original Budget and the Current Budget.

You may want to modify the Original Budget to correct data entry errors or scope changes which you want to include in the original budget amounts.

Oracle Projects uses the latest revised original budget as the Original Budget in reporting.

To revise an original budget:

Choose the New Original box in the Budgets window.
In the Budget Lines window, enter the revised budget amounts for the draft.
Submit the budget for baseline processing. See: Submitting a Draft.
Choose Baseline. Oracle Projects creates a new version which is identified as the new Current Budget and the new Original Budget.

Reviewing a Budget

Oracle Projects maintains budget history by retaining each budget version for each budget type, including summary and detail information.

To review budget history online:

Navigate to the Budgets form.
Choose the project and budget type for which you want to review budget history.
Choose History.
Review the budget versions in the Budget Version History window.
Choose Details to review the details of a budget version.

You can also run reports that compare actual amounts to the current budget. See: Comparing Budget to Actual and Commitment Amounts.

Reviewing and Overriding Budget Account Details for Integrated Budgets

You can review and optionally override default accounts, or an account segment, generated by the Project Budget Account workflow when budget integration is in use.

Note: Do not update the account for the budget line if the budget line is associated with transactions. Updating the account causes the baseline process to fail.

If you define your own detailed accounting rules in Oracle Subledger Accounting, then Oracle Subledger Accounting overwrites default accounts, or individual segments of accounts, that Oracle Projects generates using the Project Budget Account Workflow. In no transactions exist for a budget line, then Oracle Projects updates the budget line with the new account when you manually update accounts on the Budget Accounts Details window and when you define account derivation rules in Oracle Subledger Accounting to overwrite accounts.

Important: If you update account derivation rules for budgets in Oracle Subledger Accounting, then you must carefully consider the affect of the updates on existing integrated budgets. The baseline process fails if a revised account derivation rule overwrites accounts for budget lines that are associated with transactions.

See also, Project Budget Account Workflow, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide.

To review budget account details:

Navigate to the Budgets window.
Choose the project and budget type for which you want to review budget history.
From the Tools menu, select Review Budget Accounting to open the Budget Account Details window.
Choose the By Budget Line tab to review the account details by budget line. You can also override General Ledger accounts in this window.
Choose the By Account tab to review the account details by General Ledger account.

When you override GL accounts on the By Budget Line tab, you can use one of the following options to view the account summary information on the By Budget Account tab:

Select the Check Funds button to initiate a funds check for the budget lines

Note: You can check funds for a draft budget version in either working or submitted status. The funds check option is not enabled for baseline budget versions, budget versions where the budget integration workflow has a status of In Process, and for budget versions for project templates.
Select the Generate Accounting option from the Tools menu
Submit the budget
Create a budget baseline

To enter overrides for default accounts in the Budget Account Details window, the budget version must be in Working status. If the budget version is in Submitted status, then you must first choose to rework the budget to return it to Working status.

The By Budget Line tab displays the account generated for each budget line. You can use this tab to enter manual account overrides. Because budget lines are created for each budget period, you must enter account overrides for all applicable periods. To enable this window for entry of manual overrides, you must set the PA: Allow Override of Budget Accounts profile option to Y (Yes) and enable override function security for your user responsibilities.

Important: If you have entered account overrides manually, the system automatically replaces them with a generated account when the Project Budget Account workflow is activated using the Generate Budget Accounting option. If you add budget lines to an integrated budget after you have entered manual overrides for the budget, then allow the budget submission process to generate accounts for the new lines.

For more information about budget integration, see: Integrating Budgets.

Troubleshooting Baseline Failures for Integrated Budgets

The By Account tab of the Budget Account Details window displays budget line amounts summarized by account and budget entry period. The upper (header) region displays the summarized account line totals and the lower (Budget Details) region displays the budget lines summarized in the selected header line.

For a given account, the Prior amount fields display the amounts from the previous baseline budget version. The Current amount fields display the new budget amounts. The Accounted Amount field (viewed using the horizontal scroll bar) displays the amounts to be transferred from Oracle Projects to Oracle Subledger Accounting and, in turn, from Oracle Subledger Accounting to Oracle General Ledger when you create the new baseline. Negative values in the Accounted Amount field indicate decreased or deleted budget line amounts.

Use the Check Funds button to identify the budget lines that caused a funds check failure. When you select this button, the system performs a funds check against the General Ledger funding budget for all accounts with an accounted amount greater or less than zero. The funds check process returns a funds check result for each account line. Use the vertical scroll bar to view the results. You can view the budget lines assigned to an account by selecting an account line. The budget lines for the selected account are displayed in the Budget Details region.

Note: Before you create a baseline for a project budget that is integrated with a General Ledger funding budget, you can use the Check Funds button to ensure that the amounts to be interfaced do not violate budgetary controls defined for the funding budget.

Using Budgetary Controls

Budgetary controls enable you to monitor and control expense commitment transactions entered for a project, based on a project cost budget. Expense commitment transactions are transactions for non-inventory items. Oracle Projects enforces budgetary controls for:

Project-related purchase requisitions and purchase orders entered in Oracle Purchasing
Contingent worker purchase orders entered in Oracle Purchasing
Supplier invoices entered in Oracle Payables
Project-related prepayments not matched to a purchase order and the application of unmatched prepayments to supplier invoices

Budgetary Controls for Expense Reports

Budgetary controls are enforced for supplier invoices entered in Oracle Payables. However, because expense reports are generally entered after costs are already incurred, budgetary controls are not enforced for project-related expense reports entered in Payables. Therefore, you should ensure that your procedures for approving expense report expenditures include verification of available funds according to your business requirements.

Budgetary Control For Prepayments

Oracle Projects enforces budgetary controls only for unmatched prepayments and for applications of unmatched prepayments to supplier invoices.

Budgetary and Transaction Validation

You can optionally define budget accounts for project budget lines at a higher level than transaction accounts. You must ensure that transaction accounts roll up to budget accounts within the budget account hierarchy in Oracle General Ledger. Similarly, if you define your own rules in Oracle Subledger Accounting to overwrite accounts, then you must ensure that the rules derive transaction accounts that roll up to budget accounts.

Note: Oracle General Ledger does not allow you to post encumbrance journal entries to summary accounts.

Online Funds Checking

When budgetary controls are enabled for a project, a funds check is performed for all project-related expense commitment transactions before the transactions are processed. After a transaction is approved, the funds check process immediately updates the funds available balances to account for the approved transaction.

The funds available for a transaction are calculated by subtracting the actual and commitment balances from the budget amounts for a given budget category. The funds check process is based on the budgetary control settings.

Budget and Encumbrance Journals Inquiry

You can view budget and encumbrance subledger journal entries from the Oracle Subledger Accounting Inquiry menu in Oracle Purchasing, Oracle Payables, and Oracle Projects.

From the Oracle Subledger Inquiry menu, choose Subledger Journal Entries. From the Subledger Journal Entries page you can choose how you want to run the inquiry. If you choose to view data when any option is met, you must minimally specify either the ledger or GL date. You can choose either Budget or Encumbrance as the Balance Type. You can select additional options as needed.

For additional information about encumbrance event classes and event types, see: Integrating with Oracle Subledger Accounting, Oracle Projects Fundamentals and Data that Oracle Projects Predefines for Oracle Subledger Accounting, Oracle Projects Fundamentals.

Note: You cannot drill down from the subledger accounting level to see details of the journal entries.

Related Topics

Implementing Budgetary Controls, Oracle Projects Implementation Guide

Creating Budgets With Budgetary Controls and Budget Integration