Cobra 8.3 Help System

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Audit Logging

Audit logging prompts you to enter comments and change numbers associated with any operation that affects the set baseline in Cobra. Tracking transactions with comments and change numbers provides you with a change control procedure for your projects. The information logged is also used in many standard Cobra reports.

Cobra logs these types of changes:

  • Contract funding transactions that are made directly through the project’s log.
  • Changes that affect the project's budget. These changes can occur when you update the project's budget directly or when you run processes that have an effect on the project's budget.

The logged information is used in Cobra reports including IPMR Format 3, Change Management, Burn Down, and Contract Log reports. You can also see the change comments/numbers and affected accounts through the Edit Comment and Change Number function in the Project Audit wizard.

When a change occurs that affects the project's budget, the change displays the Log Change Comment dialog box, where you enter a comment and/or change number for the affected amount. When the Log Change Comment dialog box displays depends on the level (control account, work package, resource) at which the changes are set to be logged. This setting is defined in the project log.

For changes at the project level, the Log Change Comment dialog box is not displayed. Project level changes occur only when you make direct updates to the project's log. These changes are logged at the project level. The comments and change numbers that reflect the change in funding for the project are entered on the Change Comment/Number page in the Project Audit wizard.

If a process runs at the master project level, the Log Change Comment dialog box will display only once and all projects under the master project will have the same change comment and number applied. The changes are logged at the master project level but are applied to the individual projects and accounts that are affected.

Note: A value change must be greater than .01 to be saved in the project log.
Changes can occur when you use the following features:
  • Recalc
  • Reclass
  • Replan
  • Respread
  • Top-down Planning
  • Project Slip
  • Apportionment Calculations
  • Integration Wizard — Loading Budget
    • Project Data > Resource Assignments > Load budget
    • Project Data > Resource Assignments > Activity Field Mapper
  • Assignment Export/Import

The following information is saved when a change is logged:

  • Project name
  • Amount of change
  • Status date
  • Date/time change is made
  • User name/ID that made the change
  • Control account
  • Work package — If the log is set to log changes at the work package level
  • Resource — If the log is set to log changes at the resource level
  • Change number
  • Log comment
  • Distributed budget
  • Undistributed budget
    • If a positive budget change is made, the distributed budget balance increases by that amount, and the undistributed budget/management reserve/over target accounts decrease by that same amount.
    • If a negative budget change is made, the distributed budget balance decreases by that amount, and the undistributed budget/management reserve/over target accounts increase by that same amount.
  • Over target baseline

    If the budget change is made against the OTB class and a positive change is made, the OTB balance increases and the over target account decreases.

  • Management reserve