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Align Time-phased Dates

The Align Time-phased Dates process is designed to adjust time-phased resource record dates to make sure they match the dates in the modified fiscal calendar.

Cobra stores time-phased resource information for a project in the time-phased table. Generally, each record in the time-phased table corresponds with a period in the fiscal calendar. When the periods in the fiscal calendar are adjusted, the link between the periods in the fiscal calendar and the time-phased resources in the time-phased table can become invalid. This prevents Cobra from performing the correct summarization.

Cobra adjusts time-phased resource record dates to make sure they match the dates in the modified fiscal calendar by comparing the fiscal calendar containing the original dates used by the project and the current fiscal calendar assigned to the project containing the modified dates to establish which dates need to be changed, and updates the time-phased resources accordingly.

New Period Dates Later than Old Period Dates

The following principles apply to new period dates which have been moved to date later than the old period date:

Budget Data

If adjusting the time-phased date would result in the record falling after the control account/work package end date, the values in the time-phased record are added to the control account/work package end date record and the old record is deleted.

Forecast Data

If adjusting the time-phased date would result in the record falling after the control account/work package estimate end date, the values in the time-phased record are added to the forecast end date record and the old time-phased record is deleted. The process checks which estimate dates are used by the forecast data to establish the end date (schedule, early or late).

Actuals and Earned Value Data

Actuals and earned value records always fall on the period date, so period dates are adjusted based on the new dates.

Frozen Forecast Data

Frozen forecasts are not altered.

New Period Dates Earlier than Old Period Dates

When a new period is made earlier than the original period, the results can be an undesirable change to the data spread. Consider the following example:

Original setup with Sep 30 and Oct 30 periods and WP ends on Oct 29 with 100 hours for Sep and Oct periods.

The time-phased spread is as follows:
Sep 30 Oct 29
100 hrs 100 hrs

New setup with Sep 30 and Oct 28 periods and WP still ends on Oct 29.

When you view the time-phased table or run a report, Oct 28 displays a zero-value period.

Sep 30 Oct 28 Oct 29
100 hrs 0 hrs 100 hrs
The process resolves this problem by changing the date on the last record to match the new period date. When viewing time-phased data, the original spread will be maintained and a zero-value period is added to the end of the spread, as follows:
Sep 30 Oct 28 Oct 29
100 hrs 100 hrs 0 hrs
The following additional principles also apply:
  • Budget Data: The process compares the last period's date against the control account or work package scheduled finish date and makes the above adjustment as necessary.
  • Actuals and Earned Value: Actuals and earned value data are not affected by this issue because these records always fall on period dates.
  • Frozen Forecasts: No changes are made to frozen forecast data.

Use the Align Time-phased Dates Wizard when there is a change in the fiscal calendar of a project. To secure access to this wizard, click Tools > Align Time-Phased Dates in the EPM SA tool. You must create a new calendar with the new dates and assign it to the project before running this wizard.

The Align Time-phased Dates Wizard will adjust the time-phased resource records on the project and align them with the new calendar. Take note of the following before you run this wizard:

  • The original and current calendars must have the same number of periods; otherwise, Cobra will display a warning message and the process will not run.

  • You cannot move a period date earlier than the end of the previous period, or later than the end of the following period. If you do, Cobra will display a warning message and will not change any project data. For example, you have an original calendar with the last three periods as follows:

    30 Sep 2002

    30 Oct 2002

    30 Nov 2002

Assuming you change 30 Oct 2002 to 02 Dec 2002 and 30 Nov 2002 to 10 Jan 2003. The new date for 30 Oct 2002 is past the date for the following original period: 30 Nov 2002. In this scenario, the Align Time-phased Dates process will not continue and Cobra will display a list of invalid dates in the log.