Before you Begin

This 30-minute tutorial shows you how to plan for project expenses using driver-based assumptions and direct input expenses. The sections build on each other and should be completed sequentially.

Background

With Projects, you can bridge the gap between project planning systems and the financial planning process. You can assess the impact organizational projects and initiatives have on overall corporate resources and ensure they align with short and long term financial targets.

Projects supports these types of projects:

  • Indirect, or internal projects—Projects that are run internally by your company, such as IT, RD, and marketing projects.
  • Contract projects—Projects that generate revenue; used by companies such as those that make money from contract projects.
  • Capital projects—Projects that manage capital investments; used by companies that invest in capital assets. For example, a company building a new facility can manage costs, labor, equipment, and so on to manage capitalization of assets.

Projects provides these components that you can enable incrementally to best meet your project planning needs:

  • Project Summary
  • Expense
  • Revenue
  • Analysis

You can plan for projects using these methods:

  • Driver-based—Enter global rate assumptions and other assumptions (for example revenue drivers or expense drivers) to take advantage of built-in accounts and calculations to drive the planning process.
  • Direct Entry—Directly enter data, for example if your planning and forecasting does not have historic trends or specific business drivers. When you use this planning method, no built-in logic is used.

In this tutorial, you plan for project expenses by entering driver-based assumptions and direct input expenses.

Note:

The Planning application used in this tutorial includes an indirect project: Digital Web Mobile. You will be planning for expenses for this project. To learn more how the project was added, see the Adding Indirect Projects tutorial.

What Do You Need?

An EPM Cloud Service instance allows you to deploy and use one of the supported business processes. To deploy another business process, you must request another EPM Enterprise Cloud Service instance or remove the current business process.

  • Have Service Administrator access to an EPM Enterprise Cloud Service instance. The instance should not have a business process created.
  • Upload and import this snapshot into your instance.
  • Download this file (DirectEntry.xlsx) to a local folder.

Note:

If you run into migration errors importing the snapshot, re-run the migration excluding the HSS-Shared Services component, as well as the Security and User Preferences artifacts in the Core component. For more information on uploading and importing snapshots, refer to the Administering Migration for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud documentation.

Reviewing User Variables

User Variables were added when the business process was created. User variables act as filters in forms, enabling planners to focus only on certain members. In this section, you review the values set for user variables.

  1. Click Navigator (Navigator), then under Tools, click User Preferences.
    User Preferences
  2. On the left, click User Variables.
    User variables
  3. Review the selected members for each dimension:
    User variables with selected Members
  4. Return to the home page. On the upper right, click Home icon (Home).

Navigating to Project Expenses

In this section, you navigate to the Expenses card to start planning for project expenses using the out-of-the-box dashboards and forms.

  1. On the home page, click Projects, and then Expense.
    Project Expenses

    The Expense card initially opens the Expense Overview dashboard.

    Expense Overview
  2. Review the data point-of-view (POV) and click the Project dropdown list to display its options.
    POV

    The POV members are taken from user variable values. The Project dropdown lists individual projects, as well project types.

    Note:

    The Planning application used in this tutorial includes an indirect project: Digital Web Mobile. You will be planning for expenses for this project. To learn more how the project was added, see the Adding Indirect Projects tutorial.
  3. Click and review the following vertical tabs:
    Indirect horizontal tabs

    • Expense Overview—displays a high-level dashboard-type view of project expenses.
    • Driver Based—enables you to perform driver-based planning by setting up expense assumptions.
    • Direct Input—enables you enter expenses directly in a spreadsheet-like grid format and plan project benefits.
    • Review Project Expense—enables you to review overall expenses for a project.
    • Assumptions—enables you to review global rate assumptions that drive project financials.

Entering Driver-Based Expense Assumptions

In this section, you enter and calculate driver-based expenses for the Digital Mobile Web indirect project.

  1. From the vertical tabs on the left, click Driver Based (Driver Based).
  2. In Expense Assumptions, verify that the Project is set to Digital Mobile Web.
    Expense Assumptions
  3. In the grid, enter or select the following labor assignments:
    Expense driver values
  4. Click Save.
  5. At the information message, click OK.
    Information message

    The background color of the "dirty" (yellow) cells turn white after data is saved.

    Data is saved
  6. In the grid's empty corner cell above Line 1, right-click and select Calculate Expenses.
    Calculate Expenses

    The calculation process takes a moment to complete.

    Calculation status
  7. At the information message, click OK.
    Information message

    The form is updated with calculated data.

    Updated form

Entering Direct Input Expenses

  1. From the vertical tabs on the left, click Direct Input (Direct Input).
  2. In Expense Direct Entry, verify that the Project is set to Digital Mobile Web.
    Direct Entry
  3. Expand FY22 - Year Total and enter or select the following Expense Type Assumptions and Monthly values:
    Direct Entry for FY22

    Note:

    The Quarterly and Year Total values should automatically calculate when you enter the monthly values.

    Tip:

    You can copy and paste or refer to values from the DirectEntry.xlsx file into the grid.
    DirectEntry.xlsx
  4. For FY23, FY24, and F25 Year Total, enter the following values:
    Other Year Data
  5. Click Save.
  6. At the information message, click OK.
    Information message

    Data is saved to Planning.

    Data is saved
  7. In the grid's empty corner cell above Line 1, right-click and select Calculate Expenses.
    Calculate Expenses

    The calculation process takes a moment to complete.

    Calculation status
  8. At the information message, click OK.
    Information message

Reviewing Project Costs

In this section, you review the overall project costs on the Project Expenses form and Overview dashboard.

  1. From the vertical tabs on the left, click Direct Input (Direct Input).

    Review Project Expenses opens with the Review and Adjust Expenses horizontal tab displayed.

    Review Projet Expenses
  2. Click the Project Expense horizontal tab.
  3. Review the project costs for the Digital Web Mobile project.
    Project costs
  4. From the vertical tabs on the left, click Direct Input (Overview).
  5. From the Project page dropdown list, verify that Digital Mobile Web is selected.
    POV
  6. Review expenses on the Expense Overview dashboard.
    Expense Overview dashboard

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