Importing Cost Data

Acumen allows you to import cost data from a Deltek Cobra data file, a .cvs file, and/or Work Authorization Document (WAD).

You can view Cobra status, dollars, and hours for the selected control account or work package, as well as work authorization details for the selected control account.

In order to import cost data:

• The cost data file must have a .dcde or .csv extension and the Work Authorization Document must have an .xls or .xlsx extension, and
• The Deltek Cobra / Cost Data and WAD option on the Platforms (Deltek) page of the Deltek Acumen Options dialog box must be selected.

You can import cost data in one of two ways:

• On the S1 // Projects tab, in the Get External Data From menu group, click Cost Data to start the Cost Data Import Wizard.
• On the S1 // Projects tab in the Projects pane, right-click on a project or snapshot and click Import Cost Data to start the Cost Data Import Wizard.

Snapshots and Cost Data

If you have imported cost data, when you create a new snapshot, the cost data is copied from the parent project (or previous snapshot) to the new snapshot. You do not need to run the Cost Data Import Wizard to import the cost data again if nothing has changed. If you need to update cost data from a different cost data file, you can run the wizard again. When you run the wizard, all of the settings and files that were selected when you ran it previously are selected by default.

If you create additional snapshots, the cost data is copied from the snapshot that was last created.

Loading Cost Data without Schedule Data

The DCMA DECM metrics are designed to work on integrated cost/schedule data. Some of the metrics can be used on cost data without schedule data. You can import cost data on its own or add imported cost data to an existing snapshot. This allows you to import the cost data without having an existing schedule or activities.

To add data to an existing schedule snapshot, before you start the import, select the snapshot to which you want to add the data. On the first page of the wizard, confirm that Add data to selected snapshot is selected and complete the import process. The control account and work package structure is created within the selected snapshot.

To import cost data without adding it to a schedule snapshot, on the first page of the wizard, confirm that the Add data to selected snapshot is not selected. A new snapshot is created in the currently selected project hierarchy. Acumen creates one activity for each work package in the cost data so that the cost data can be show in the Gantt chart.

.CSV File

You can import cost data from other programs into Acumen. The Acumen installation includes a comma separated values (.csv) template file called CSV Template.csv and some sample DECM files that are located in the Acumen > DECM Samples folder. For more information about the file structure that you need to use, see Cost Data CSV Structure.

Work Authorization Document (WAD)

The Work Authorization Document (WAD) is an open format. Some people use Excel spreadsheets or Word documents; some use simple text, and so on. To import WAD information into Acumen, the data must be in an Excel spreadsheet format (extension .xls or .xlsx). The WAD data in the spreadsheet must include the following:

• ID — This is the column that you select in the Acumen cost import wizard that matches the project control account ID. You can enter any name for the column.
• WBS — This is the WBS to which the control account is tied.
• OBS — This is the OBS to which the control account is tied.
• Description — This is a short description of the WAD.
• Scope — This is the body of the WAD where most of the textual data is defined.
• BaselineStart — This is the WAD baseline start date.
• BaselineFinish — This is the WAD baseline finish date.
• Total_Dollars and Total_Hours