AllocationSource Pool Amount: How It's Calculated

You can create the allocation source pool from a fixed amount, open projects including resources within a project, and ledger account balances. Unless you define each source project and task individually, the results can change each time you process the allocation.

Settings That Affect Source Pool Amount

The allocation sources must be defined because the allocation generation uses the source pool amount for allocating the costs. The project sources, ledger source, a fixed source amount, and other aspects of the sources determine the calculation of the allocation source pool amount.

If you don't specify a particular project and task combination on a source line, then the rule derives source amounts from all eligible projects and tasks based on the source line criteria.

How Source Pool Amount Is Calculated

The allocation source pool amount is derived based on what's specified in the sources. Some of the aspects that determine the calculation of source pool amount are:

• Allocation pool percentage

• Fixed source amount

• Amount class

• Project sources

• Amount type

• Resource details

• Ledger sources

The allocation rule accumulates the amounts for the source pool during a specific period of time. The end date of that time period is based on the amount class. The amount class is the period or periods during which the amounts are accumulated. The start date is determined by both the allocation period type and amount class. The allocation period type options such as accounting period or project accounting period determine amount class options. The amount class determines the eligible source amounts. For example, if the period specified at generation is August 2010 and the source amount class is Period-to-Date, then only those amounts posted to August 2010 ledger sources or summarized actual amounts for the ledger period August 2010 project sources are eligible.

The allocation pool percentage specifies the percentage of the total eligible source pool amount to allocate to target projects and tasks.

At least one source is defined to derive the source pool amount. Depending on the allocation source, costs are collected against that source. For project sources the actual cost transactions are summarized. For ledger account sources, the journal entries are posted.

All source projects and tasks must be open and in the same business unit that owns the allocation rule.

For project sources, the source amount type determines the types of costs that are eligible to be included into the source pool. For example, include only raw costs or burdened costs.

The project source amount can be derived even from a subset of resources by specifying the resource breakdown structure and its resources. For example, you can derive project source amounts only from the actual labor costs. For resource, enter the resource or resource group and the percent you want to include. To exclude a specific resource, you must select the Exclude option on the appropriate line.

You can optionally limit the resources that are used to determine the source amounts from project sources. If you don't limit the resources, the rule uses all of the resources in the specified project in the source pool amount. If you specify an allocation pool percentage, then the allocation rule multiplies the percentage specified in the Allocation Pool Percentage to the percentage specified against the resource.

For allocations which use ledger sources, the allocation generation considers the posted amounts for a ledger account when calculating source pool amounts. You can't use the ledger summary accounts for the source amount. You can specify the percentage of account balance that you want to include for ledger sources. To subtract the amount in the ledger account from the source amount you use the Subtract option.

The application calculates the source pool amount based on the following formula:

fixed source amount + project sources amount + ledger source amount * source pool percentage = source pool amount