Multiproject Guidelines

To perform a multiproject operation, you start by creating a new project to be used as the master “shell” project. This shell project does not contain any control account or work package data.

The primary purpose of the master project is to group similar projects together for reporting and analysis, such as in the Cobra Explorer, during Reporting and using Analyze, and for processing, such as Advance Calendar, Integration, and Update Codes.

These are the guidelines you should follow for multiprojects.
  • The master project cannot contain another associated master project.
  • The master project and all of the sub-projects must contain the same key fields.
  • Similarly, if you are creating a master project to post actual costs, you only need a master rate file and a resource file if you intend to calculate derived costs when you post actual costs.
  • If you create a WBS structure with multiple top levels, you can use the project ID for the top code and share the WBS structure with all sub-projects. This allows you to use Analyze process with all projects and produce reports with each sub-project rolled up to a single line.
  • If you intend to produce IPMR report or produce the IPMDAR export from the master project, make sure that the contract values that you enter for the master project are left empty. The CTC and other information found in the header of the IPMR are summarized from each of the sub-projects for a single master IPMR report or IPMDAR export. Therefore, when you set the baseline for your sub-projects, use the CTC for the portion of data contained in that sub-project.
  • The options selected for the master project are used for all sub-projects when processing at the master-project level. Also, processes such as loading actual costs will use the resource file assigned to the master project.