Generate Quick Project WBS

In this example, default values are not retrieved from an existing project.

1. In the Project field in the Generate Quick Project WBS screen, enter a new level-one project number — "1000."

2. Complete the entry of information in the Basic Info block as needed.

3. At the bottom of the screen in the Project Levels Setup table, a row for level one displays the level number "1." Its length defaults from the Project Settings screen (Administration\Configure\Projects), and "1" displays as the number of nodes. Enter the description for this project level.

4. To add a second level to the project, place your mouse pointer in the Project Levels Setup table and select the New Record icon (Line\New Record).

5. In the new row, "2" defaults in the Level field. Enter "3" in the Length field, a description in the Description field, and "2" in the # of Nodes field.

6. To add a third level to the project, place your mouse pointer in the Project Levels Setup table and select the New Record icon (Line\New Record).

7. In the new row, "3" defaults in the Level field. Enter "2" in the Length field, a description in the Description field, and "3" in the # of Nodes field.

8. Click the Generate WBS pushbutton, and the following projects are created and become available in the Quick Project Setup screen (Projects\Maintain\Project):

1000

 

1000.001

1000.001.01

1000.001.02

1000.001.03

 

1000.002

1000.002.01

1000.002.02

1000.002.03

Project levels make up the structure of a project. They are the subdivisions within a project.

You set up default project levels (segments) in the Project Segment Length table window of the Project Settings screen (Administration\Configure\Projects).

The overall length of the project is 30 characters with a maximum of 15 levels (segments), including delimiters.

For example, you might set up the following default project levels:

Level 1: Default length = 4; # of nodes = 1.

Level 2: Default length = 3; # of nodes = 2.

Your projects are:

1000

1000.001

1000.002

 

1001

1001.001

1001.002

 

1002

1002.001

1002.002

1. Optional: Use the Generate Quick Project WBS application (Projects\Maintain\Project) to build all levels of a new project's work breakdown structure. After you generate a quick project and all its levels, open it in the Quick Project Setup screen to enter any additional project information and approve the project.

2. Enter a new project in the Quick Project Setup screen (Projects\Maintain\Project). Complete the fields on each tab.

3. Approve the quick project in either the Quick Project Setup screen or in the Approve Quick Projects screen (Projects\Maintain\Project).

4. Import the approved quick project in the Import Quick Project Information screen (Projects\Maintain\Project). The import process creates any higher level of the project not yet created. It removes the project information from Quick Project Setup and makes the project available in Project User Flow.

5. In the Costpoint client/server version, run the Update Contract and Funded Values and Update Period of Performance toolkits in the Cost and Revenue Processing module. This updates contract and funding values and period of performance dates at each project level in the Project Master.

New projects are normally set up in Project User Flow (Projects\Maintain\Project).

However, if you want more flexibility and control of the project setup data entry (which fields are required, which users can make entries in certain fields, and a project approval step) you may want to use Quick Project Setup. Entering a project in Quick Project Setup is optional.

Projects that are set up through Quick Project Setup are approved and then imported into the permanent Costpoint project database to become available in the Project User Flow screen. In Project User Flow, you continue to enter other project information, such as deliverables, government contract information, and more.

You import approved projects from Quick Project Setup to Project User Flow in the Import Quick Project Information screen  (Projects\Maintain\Project).

After importing, you must run the Update Contract and Funded Values and Update Period of Performance toolkits from the Costpoint client/server version in the Cost and Revenue Processing module. These toolkits update contract and funding values and period of performance dates at each project level in the Project Master.

If you use quick project setup templates, enter, or use Lookup to select, the identification number of the template that you want to use to set up a new project. The quick project template controls data entry required for a new project.

After you enter a template ID, its description populates here.

Enter up to 30 alphanumeric characters to identify a new quick project that you would like to initialize. Project IDs for each project must be unique. After you save the record, you cannot edit this field.

If you want to use an existing project as a template when you initialize a new quick project, enter, or use Lookup to select, an existing project. All that project's information displays in the Generate Quick Project WBS screen. In the blank Project field, enter the new top level quick project ID.

Enter up to 25 alphanumeric characters for the name of the project.

If you use quick project templates, after you enter a template ID in the Quick Project Setup screen, click the Load Template pushbutton to retrieve all the default values set up for the template ID.

When you create a new quick project, use this pushbutton to copy the setup from a project that already exists in Project User Flow to create the new project.

Steps:

1. In the Quick Project Setup screen, use Lookup to select a project from Project User Flow.

2. Click the Load Project pushbutton.

The project's setup information defaults in the Quick Project Setup screen. The Project field remains blank so you can enter a new project ID.

Enter, or use Lookup to select, the ID of the employee who is the project manager for this project.

After you enter a project manager, the project manager name populates the field to the right.

Enter, or use Lookup to select, the project type from the user-defined projects types list.

Generally, project types include: Cost Reimbursable, Fixed Price, Time & Materials, etc. but could be any "type" that you desire to track. No special processing is generated based on this type. Some reports (for example, the Revenue Summary Report) can be sorted by project type.

Enter, or use Lookup to select, the customer account for this project.

After you enter a customer account, the customer name populates in the field to the right.

Select a classification type. This drop-down box displays the system-defined classes of projects that will require separate treatment, due to the varying requirements of each classification. Separate treatment may include using special processes to cost labor or materials, or may simply mean that each of the classifications can be sorted separately for reporting purposes.

Available project classifications include: "BID & PROPOSAL," "COMMON INV," "DIRECT PROJECT," "INDIRECT," "INTER-CO MULTI," "INTER-COMPANY," "IR&D," and "WORK IN PROCESS."

The Project Status report and the Revenue Summary report can be sorted by project classification.

Enter up to 20 alphanumeric characters for the prime contract number (the number on the signed contract with the customer) for the project. This number can display on bills and selected to display on Impromptu reports.

Enter up to 20 alphanumeric characters for the subcontractor number (the number on the signed contract with the subcontractor) for the project.

Enter up to 20 alphanumeric characters for the customer's purchase order number for this project.

Select this checkbox if the project is active for charging purposes.

If this checkbox is not selected, project/account/org combinations in the Organization Links screen in Project User Flow (Projects\Maintain\Project) will automatically be set to "Inactive." However, both the flag on individual project/account/org combinations and this global flag are validated during transaction entry. Projects are usually inactive if the work on them has been completed.

You can still post revenue and cash receipts to inactive projects because you may need to adjust a project's revenue if the final actual rates are applied after work has been completed on the project. Outstanding receivables may exist on a project long after work on the project has ceased.

Do not use this checkbox to prevent charging at summary levels of the project. Use the Allow Charging checkbox to restrict data entry on certain project levels.

Select this checkbox to allow charging on the project. When this checkbox is not selected, no charging is allowed regardless of the status of the project/account/org combinations.

If the checkbox is selected, valid charging combinations can be charged. The Allow Charging checkbox should be enabled for all levels of the projects where charging will take place. If the project level is not a transaction level or billing/revenue level, you should not select the checkbox.

Select this checkbox to use the top level of this project for work force validation.

If this project is using the employee or the vendor work force, this option allows you to enter the authorized employees or vendors at the top level and have those selections be valid for all lower levels of the project. If you are using either work force, and plan on using the same employees or vendors for all branches of the project tree, you can save setup time by selecting this checkbox and entering the employees or vendors at the top level of the project.

This selection is available only for the top level of the project tree.

Enter, or use Lookup to select, an account group for the project. The account group determines the "set" of accounts that can be attached to the project. Only accounts belonging to the account group selected can be charged to this project.

Account groups are set up in the Costpoint client/server version in the Project Account Groups screen in the Project Setup module.

Because the account group controls how many of the functions will work in the revenue and billing computations, you should view the account groups as permanent once charging has started. Make changes only when absolutely necessary.

Enter, or use Lookup to select, the organization that "owns" the project. This is the "home" organization for the project.

This organization receives all revenue and profit, as well as billed and unbilled receivables if one of the following selections has been made:

• Owning Organization was selected in the Default Revenue Posting By group box in the Project Settings screen (Administration\Configure\Projects).

• Owning Organization was selected in the Post Revenue to the group box in the Basic Revenue Info screen (Projects\Maintain\Project\Project User Flow).

Enter a project level.

In the first row of the Project Levels Setup table, this field automatically displays "1," the first level of the project.

Enter the length for this segment or project level. The length of the first segment (top level) must correspond to the length for the level 1 segment in the Project Segment Lengths table window in the Project Settings screen. The length of the top level must be the same for all projects; only the lower levels can have varying segment lengths.

Enter up to 25 alphanumeric characters for the description for this level of the project. The description is used during report generation to display the name of the level selected for reporting.

Enter the number of project numbers that need to be generated for the project level.

A maximum of 100 nodes per level can be generated.

Each level's project number starts with 1 and increments by one.

For example, you have a top level project with a length of 4 and level 2 with a length of 2. If you want  5 projects at project level 2, enter 5 nodes for level 2. When you generate WBS, the following projects are created:

xxxx.01

xxxx.02

xxxx.03

xxxx.04

xxxx.05

Click this pushbutton after you finish entering project information in the Generate Quick Project WBS screen. The project then becomes available in the Quick Project Setup screen where you can review and approve it.