Burden Cost Ceilings

Enter, or use Lookup to select, the fiscal year to which the ceiling or override rate is applicable.  You can select a fiscal year only if you have defined it with a status of "O" (Open) in the Fiscal Years screen.

Enter, or use Lookup to select, an account number for which you want to enter a ceiling or override. This column can display any of the account numbers at any level (including summary levels) contained in the Account Group for the project, exclusive of the accounts that have a function code of "Revenue," "Billed," or "Unbilled-General."

If you do not select an account as part of the pool base in the Cost Pools screen (Projects\Maintain\Allocations), the system will display the following warning: "This account is not in the base of the pool specified."

Burden cost ceilings can be imposed on an account at any level, including the summary level.

This non-editable field displays the name of the account selected. Account names are defined in the Accounts screen.

Enter, or use Lookup to select, the pool number to which the ceiling or override rate is applicable. All pool numbers entered must have already been set up in the Cost Pools screen (Projects\Maintain\Allocations\Cost Pools) for the appropriate fiscal year, with the allocation group number equal to one.  

If you have not set up the allocation group number and fiscal year/pool number, the system will display the following warning: "The combination of Allocation Group No., Fiscal Year, and Pool Number must exist in the Cost Pools screen."

This non-editable field displays the name of the pool selected. The pool names are defined in the Cost Pools screen (Projects\Maintain\Allocations).

Enter the ceiling or override value. Ceilings can be positive or zero. If the cost pool is hour-based, the rate will is displayed as a currency amount. If the cost pool is cost-based, the rate is displayed as a whole number followed by a "%" in the Rate Format field.

This field displays the type of number in the Rate Ceiling field. If the pool is hours-based, this field displays "Amt/Hr," and if the pool is cost-based, it displays "%."

Enter a COM ceiling or override value. You can enter COM ceilings only if you selected the Apply Cost of Money Rates checkbox in the Basic Info screen in the Project User Flow (Projects\Maintain\Project). If the cost pool is hours-based, the rate displays as a currency amount.  If the cost pool is cost-based, the rate displays as a whole number followed by a "%" in the Rate Format field.

This field displays the type of number in the Cost of Money Ceiling field. If the pool is hours-based, this field displays "Amt/Hr," and if the pool is cost-based, it displays "%."

Enter a code specifying whether the rate entered is a ceiling, an override, or a fixed rate. The available codes are "Ceiling," "Override," or "Fixed."

A "Ceiling" code acts as a "not-to-exceed" rate. In revenue computations, it prevents revenue from being recognized on the burden above a specified rate. The indirect cost amount is not affected by the ceiling rate. In reports such as the Project Status Report, the actual or target burden still appears as though there was no ceiling. However, the revenue amount will have been reduced by the revenue lost from the burden over the ceiling.

In billing computations, if the ceiling rate is lower than the provisional rate, the ceiling rate is used for burdening. Otherwise, the provisional rate is used.

An "Override" is an alternate rate used in recalculating target and provisional burden only. In revenue computations, an override rate is ignored for calculations involving actual rates. For revenue computations involving target rates, the incurred burden cost amount is replaced by the override rate amount. This burden amount can be seen on reports such as the Project Status Report. This burden override amount would then be used in the revenue calculation. For billing computations, the burden override amount will replace the provisional rate amount on the bills.

An "Fixed" rate is similar to an override rate in that a specified rate will be used on revenue and billing computations. The difference between the two is that fixed rates do not change the burden amounts for cost computations like the override rates. You can use a specified burden rate for revenue computations without changing your costs. Fixed rates work the same way as override rates for billing computations.  The Fixed rate is applied only when you are using target or provisional rates. This type of ceiling is often used when the rate for revenue and billing is lower than the target or provisional rate.

Enter the code that determines whether the ceiling percent applies to the "Revenue," "Billing," or "Both" computations. Available codes include the following:  "Revenue," "Billings," "All," or "None."

Any rows that display a value in the Apply to R/B/A field will be saved. Rows that have a "0.00" Ceiling Percent entered and no Apply to R/B/A code will not be saved. To place a ceiling on a particular account, you must enter values in both the Rate Ceiling (and/ or COM Ceiling) and the Apply to R/B/A fields.