Task Categories
In PeopleSoft Financials, a task is the equivalent of a schedule entry, such as an appointment or assignment. Resource tasks are managed with a set of predefined task categories that are delivered with PeopleSoft Resource Management, and user-definable categories that are available for tasks that are specific to the organization. There are two main types of task categories: assignment task categories, such as billable external and non-billable internal, and appointment task categories, such as meeting and holiday.
Every entry on a resource's schedule must be associated with a task category. Task categories are used to distinguish between different types of tasks on a resource's schedule, for both informational purposes and in the Resource Matching Availability factor fit score calculation. Each task category is assigned a flexibility percentage, which is used in Resource Matching to identify how easily a task in that category can be rescheduled. Tasks that are in a category with a high flexibility percentage are considered more likely to be rescheduled. Resources with high flexibility tasks on their schedules are considered to be more available than resources with low flexibility tasks.
Note:
Tasks in PeopleSoft are not the same as tasks that appear on a task pad or to-do list, such as those offered by Microsoft Outlook and other calendar management tools.
The assignment process adds assignment tasks with a status of reserved, pending approval, and assigned to the schedule. For assignment task categories, the basic flexibility percentage that you assign applies to assignments with a status of pending approval or assigned. You can also indicate a reserved status flexibility for assignment task categories, which assigns a different—usually higher—flexibility for assignment tasks that are in that category with a status of reserved. For example, if the basic flexibility percentage for the task category of billable external is zero percent, the reserved flexibility percentage of the billable external task category can be set to 50 percent.
The following table identifies:
-
Each delivered task category and description.
-
The basic (default) flexibility percentage.
-
The flexibility percentage for the task category with a reserved assignment status.
-
Whether the task category is available for an assignment (Y) or an appointment (N).
| Task Category | Description | Basic (Default) Flexibility | Reserved Status Flexibility | Assignment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
BE |
Billable External |
0.00 |
0.50 |
Y |
|
BI |
Billable Internal |
0.25 |
0.75 |
Y |
|
CORPORATE |
Corporate Event |
0.00 |
0.00 |
N |
|
EDUCATION |
Education - College/Univ |
0.25 |
0.25 |
N |
|
HOLIDAY |
Company Holiday |
0.00 |
0.00 |
N |
|
LEAVE |
Planned Leave |
0.00 |
0.00 |
N |
|
MEETING |
Meeting |
0.50 |
0.50 |
N |
|
NE |
Non-billable External |
0.25 |
0.75 |
Y |
|
NI |
Non-billable Internal |
0.50 |
1.00 |
Y |
|
PERSONAL TIME |
Personal Time Off |
0.50 |
0.50 |
N |
|
SCHEDULED HOLIDAY |
Scheduled Holiday |
0.00 if Do not Schedule Assignments on Holidays is selected on the Installation Options - Resource Management page. 1.00 if Do not Schedule Assignments on Holidays is not selected on the Installation Options - Resource Management page. |
0.00 if Do not Schedule Assignments on Holidays is selected on the Installation Options - Resource Management page. 1.00 if Do not Schedule Assignments on Holidays is not selected on the Installation Options - Resource Management page. |
N |
|
TRAINING |
Corporate Training |
0.75 |
0.75 |
N |
|
VACATION |
Vacation |
1.00 |
1.00 |
N |
For each delivered task category, you can modify the default flexibility percentage and change the type value to Y (assignment) or N (appointment), with the exception of the Scheduled Holiday task category. The default flexibility percentage for the Scheduled Holiday task category is editable only when the Do not Schedule Assignments on Holidays option is not selected on the Installation Options - Resource Management page. The Do not Schedule Assignments on Holidays option appears on the Installation Options - Resource Management page only if PeopleSoft Program Management is not installed.
For assignment task categories, you can also modify the reserved status flexibility percentages.
You can create additional task categories for appointment types or assignment types. You can rename any task category that you create; however, you cannot rename the delivered task categories. Two task categories, OTHER and OTHER2, are delivered as examples.