Creating Actuals

You can create new actuals, or import actuals from outside MPM.

Inserting New Actuals

To insert a new actual, complete the following steps:

  1. To indicate the WBS element to which you want to add actuals, click anywhere in its grayed row.

  2. To add a new resource, click the Resource tab. To add a new EOC, click the EOC tab.

  3. To insert a new block (the six rows inserted are referred to as a block in this document), press the Insert key or click Edit » Insert. MPM adds a new actuals block after the last block for the current WBS element, and puts the entire block (six rows) in edit (blue) mode.

  4. Select the Resource/EOC code using the drop-down list box in that cell.

  5. Enter actual values for the Resource/EOC in the right grid, in the row appropriate for the units you are entering (Hours/Units, Prime, Overhead, GA, COM, Fee), and in the column for the month(s) in which the actuals were accrued.

For example, to enter $5,000 Prime dollars for October 2008, find the Prime row, the Oct 08 column, and enter 5000 in that cell.

Importing Actuals from Outside MPM

Actuals can also be imported in batch mode from a batch file provided by your accounting system. The import file must be in a CSV, comma delimited format. Actuals entered in import mode can be manually overwritten. Actuals are imported by month; MPM computes cumulative totals. If collecting Actuals by Resource, you can optionally auto-burden them. See Importing Actuals for a detailed explanation.

Saving the Data

When you are finished editing the Resource/EOC actuals, you can save the edits by doing one of the following:

If you click outside the six-row block, or insert another cell, MPM prompts you to save the current six-row block, unless the Resource/EOC is still set as <Required>, in which case MPM prompts you to fill the <Required> fields before your data can be saved.

To discard changes you have made to an actuals block, or remove a newly added actuals block, press Esc. MPM prompts to discard changes to the actuals.

Rollup Processing

Your Resource/EOC entries are rolled up as you enter them into the Actuals window. If you have a large amount of data, this may slow down data entry. You can optionally suspend automatic processing by turning off the Rollup Processing toggle.

See Setting Rollup Processing for instructions on using the toggle.

The Rollup Processing Toggle suspends rollup processing of entries until you manually choose to process the rollups. If Rollup Processing is turned OFF, MPM stores all actual values you enter, but does not rollup or accumulate the values into the totals until you choose to do the processing. This simplifies input of high volumes of estimate and/or actuals data with improved performance, especially if you have an extensive or complex WBS Tree. But you must later run the rollup processing, or your totals will be incorrect!

There are two settings which you can turn off: EOC and Summary processing.

To see the current setting, check View » Rollup Toggle Status. You must have been granted access to this toggle to be able to change it.

To change the EOC or Summary toggle, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the Project Maintenance window.

  2. Click View » Rollup Processing.

  3. Check or uncheck the desired toggle.

To perform the Rollup Processing for Actuals when you have set the EOC or Summary toggle OFF, complete the following steps:

  1. Open the Project Maintenance window.

  2. Click View » Rollup Processing.

  3. Select the Actuals option from the Rebuild box, and click OK.