Understanding Project Trees
PeopleSoft Tree Manager is a PeopleTools utility that is useful with many PeopleSoft applications, including Project Costing. Project trees define how projects are related to one another. The relationships between projects determine the level of detail achieved when tracking and reporting costs.
See PeopleTools: PeopleSoft Tree Manager
A project can be hierarchically related to as many projects as necessary to achieve the necessary degree of cost tracking and analysis. The project structure determines how costs are accumulated, tracked, and reported.
Create a project tree to track project costs in as much detail as is required. The more detailed your project tree is, the greater the detail at which you can track your costs. In the tree shown in the following diagram, you can track costs for the entire program or for each project:
Example of a program that has two projects, project A and project B. Project A has two activities, activity 1 and activity 2. Project B has one activity and one project, activity 3 and project C. Project C has one activity, activity 4. Transactions are created from the activities.
The costs for Project A include all costs from Activity 1 and Activity 2. The costs for Project B include all costs for Activity 3, as well as the cost for Project C (which includes Activity 4). Keep in mind that project trees are node-oriented—or winter trees—and do not display activities. You can, however, access the Project Definitions - General Information page by clicking the Edit Data icon for project trees in the Tree Manager page.
At the top of a project tree, you can create a single program into which all of the projects for the entire tree can be rolled up. This type of project is called a program or summary project. Programs are created by selecting the Program check box in the Project Definitions - General Information page. You cannot assign activities directly to a program. The allocation process, however, can spread costs, such as overhead, to these programs. All of the costs for a project tree, including activities assigned to all of its child projects, can be rolled up into the program.
Each project tree is keyed by business unit and effective date and has its own individual structure and security. Changes that you make to project trees are implemented throughout the Project Costing database.
PeopleSoft Tree Manager supports business unit trees. SetIDs are not coupled with the project business unit or used as a key in Project Costing and its related activity and transaction tables. The SET_OVERRIDE field links the general ledger business unit to Project Costing. This streamlines the data structure without the loss of any features.
Project Costing delivers three tree structures. This table lists the key differences between these tree structures.
|
Structure |
Node Table |
Detail Table |
Page Access from PeopleSoft Tree Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
|
PROJECT_BU |
PROJECT |
None |
PROJECT_GEN_01A page |
|
PROJECTS_ALL |
PROJECT |
PROJ_ACTIVITY |
PROJECT_GL page |
|
PROJECT_GL |
TREE_NODE_TBL |
PROJECT |
PROJECT_GL page |
You can use project trees for:
Row-level security.
Reporting, particularly nVision reports.
Analysis.
Allocations.
Report summarization options.
Combination editing.
This table can serve as a reference when you decide which structure best meets your needs, based on your use of project trees:
|
Structure |
Security |
Tree API |
Allocation |
Report Summary Option |
Project Level nVision Report |
Activity Level nVision Report |
Combo Editing |
Tree Loader |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
PROJECT_BU |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
Yes |
|
PROJECTS_ALL |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
PROJECT_GL |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
The nVision reports use project trees extensively. The PROJECT_BU tree is a node-oriented (winter) tree, so there are no details. The PROJECTS_ALL tree (which is a dynamic detail tree) has ACTIVITY as details, and consequently it is the best choice for nVision reports to nPlode to the activity level.
Because the SET_OVERRIDE field is used as the link in the PROJECT_FS record and because the project ID is unique across the system, projects can be added from different business units to a single tree based on the PROJECTS_ALL tree structure.
When you create a new project from PeopleSoft Tree Manager for a PROJECTS_ALL tree, the project business unit is the same as the SetID of the tree. (This is similar to the functionality that exists in the PROJECT_GL page.) Existing projects, however, can be added from different business units as nodes if the set override of those projects matches the SetID of the tree.
For example, if BUILDING E is a project within business unit US003, BUILDING F is a project within business unit US004, and both projects have the same set override of SHARE, then you can add both projects to an existing PROJECTS_ALL tree with the SetID of SHARE (even though they are from different business units).
Note: The PROJECT tree structure is no longer used. All previous and existing PROJECT functionality is included in the PROJECT_BU tree structure.