Consultant Tab of Project Planning

Use the Consultant tab to enter or review consultant expense information for the current plan.

You can budget consultants at any level in the Work Breakdown Structure (WBS). If you budget consultant costs at a lower level in the WBS, then the higher level line items summarize the expenses of their descendants. For example, budgeted consultant costs at the task level roll up to the phase level. Project Planning summarizes consultant budget data.

This tab displays if you select the Enable Consultant Planning option on the General tab of Planning Configuration.

Contents

Grid Options

Field	Description
Collapse Parent Dates	This option only displays when the Start and Finish dates of the parent WBS level do not align with the start and end dates of the child WBS level tasks. Normally, Vision allows the Start and Finish dates of the parent WBS level to begin earlier or end later than the dates of the associated child WBS levels. For example, when the parent WBS level starts on May 1, 2015 and ends on December 1, 2015, the child WBS level tasks could start on June 1, 2015 and end on August 1, 2015. In this situation, the dates are not aligned but it is not an issue in the plan. However, when you use the Schedule tab of Project Planning to schedule task dependencies, the parent WBS start and end dates must align with the start and/or the end dates of the child WBS level tasks. If not, Vision changes the font color of the date fields to blue to indicate that there is a discrepancy: . If you select the Schedule tab of Project Planning when there is a discrepancy between dates, Vision displays a prompt to alert you of the condition. You must select the Collapse Parent Dates option to collapse the dates such that the parent WBS level's Start and Finish dates adjust to match the start and end dates of the child WBS level tasks. When these dates match, the color of the Start and Finish dates change to black and the Schedule tab is accessible.
Insert	Click this option to open a new row in the grid and display in the Description field. Click to open the Account Lookup dialog box, where you can select a consultant expense account.
Search	Click this option to display the Account Lookup dialog box, where you can select an expense account.
Delete	Click this option to delete the current row from the plan.
Cut	Click this option to cut the current Account row and places it on the clipboard.
Copy	Click this option to copy the current Account row and places it on the clipboard.
Paste	Click this option to paste the current row from the clipboard as a phase or task's child row.
Shift	Click this option to shift the current row's data.

Consultant Planning Grid

Use the Consultant planning grid to establish the consulting budget for your plan. You can assign consultants to the plan, by account. You can also copy and paste existing rows as you assign consultants. Right-click the small arrow to the left of a row to access the pop-up menu and select the copy or paste options.

To change the columns that display on this grid, use the Consultants Tab of Planning Grid Configuration.

To collapse the start and end dates on the grid rows for the periods that contain planned data, select the Collapse Start/End Dates before Save from the Planning Options menu. The start and end dates collapse before the plan is saved so you do not need to manually set the dates for each row. When you select this option, Vision automatically changes the start and end dates to match the minimum and maximum dates set on the top-level task row.

Field	Description
Plus sign or Minus sign	The + (plus) and - (minus) signs follow standard Windows User Interface Conventions. The + sign in a grid row indicates the task is a parent task that contains related child units. Click the + to view the child units. The + changes to a - when the child units are open. Click the - to close the child units.
Description	Enter an identifier for the WBS element. This is also the field in which you assign consultants. Click Insert to open a new row and then enter a consultant account in this field or click Search to display the Accounts lookup and select an account. The consultant account that you specify is assigned to the WBS element in the row directly preceding it on this grid. Text color indicates the account type: Brown text = reimbursable account Green text = direct account
Overflow	When the accordion calendar is outside the plan's date range, an Overflow column is added to the beginning of the calendar's grid. This column holds the amounts that apply to the dates that are outside of the range.
WBS Level	This field displays the level of the WBS element, as specified on the Labor tab.
Project	This field displays the project identifier, as specified on the Labor tab.
Phase	This field displays the phase identifier, as specified on the Labor tab.
Task	This field displays the task identifier, as specified on the Labor tab.
Account	This field displays the account number of the consultant account specified in the Description field. Click and select an account from the Account lookup to assign a different account to the consultant, if necessary. If the account is a reimbursable or a direct billing account, Vision automatically calculates the billing amount.
Vendor	This field displays the name of the vendor associated with this consultant expense.
Start	This field displays the start date for the consultant expense. If you created the plan from an Opportunity template, the start date displays the start date that originated with the opportunity. If the Start date does not align with the start date of the child WBS level task, the date displays in blue. You must select the Collapse Parent Dates option to collapse the dates before you can use the Schedule tab of Project Planning to schedule task dependencies.
Finish	This field displays the finish date for the consultant expense. Right-click to select Set finish date by duration. The Duration dialog box displays. Enter the number of business days to use to set the finish date. Vision automatically adds the number of business days to the Start date. If you created the plan from an Opportunity template, the finish date automatically displays the end date that originated with the opportunity. If the Finish date does not align with the end date of the child WBS level task, the date displays in blue. You must select the Collapse Parent Dates option to collapse the dates before you can use the Schedule tab of Project Planning to schedule task dependencies. See the Collapse Parent Dates field description for additional information.
Planned Cost	Enter the estimated or forecast cost amount by expense account (and vendor). You can also right-click this cell to access the options for spreading amounts across the grid.
Planned Bill	Enter the estimated or forecast billing amount by expense account (and vendor). You can also right-click on this cell to access the options for spreading amounts across the grid.
Percent Complete Cost	This field displays the percent complete of consultant expense costs for the WBS element in this row. If the Percent Complete Formula option on the General tab is set to User-Entered Percent Complete, you can enter a percent complete here. For any other setting, Vision calculates the value for you.
Percent Complete Bill	This field displays the percent complete of consultant expense billing for the WBS element in this row. If the Percent Complete Formula option on the General tab is set to User-Entered Percent Complete, you can enter a percent complete here. For any other setting, Vision calculates the value for you.
Job to Date Cost	This field displays the job-to-date actual cost for the current consultant expense, resulting from consultant expense postings. You see a value in this field only if the current plan is mapped to the Info Center.
Job to Date Bill	This field displays the job-to-date actual billed amount for the current consultant expense, resulting from consultant expense postings. You see a value in this field only if the current plan is mapped to the Info Center.
Estimate to Complete Cost	This field displays the Estimate to Complete cost amount for the consultant expense. The ETC is calculated based on the application, Vision or iAccess for Vision, in which the plan was created. See the How Planning Calculates ETC online help topic for additional information.
Estimate to Complete Bill	This field displays the Estimate to Complete billing amount for the consultant expense. The ETC is calculated based on the application, Vision or iAccess for Vision, in which the plan was created. See the How Planning Calculates ETC online help topic for additional information.
Estimate at Completion Cost	This field displays the Estimate at Completion cost amount for the current WBS element.
Estimate at Completion Bill	This field displays the Estimate at Completion bill amount for the current WBS element.
Plan - Estimate at Completion	This field displays the variance between the planned consultant expense cost amount and the Estimate at Completion consultant expense cost amount for the current WBS element.
Plan - Estimate at Completion Bill	This field displays the variance between the planned consultant expense billing amount and the Estimate at Completion consultant expense billing amount for the current WBS element.
Planned Revenue	This field displays the revenue amount expected for the current WBS element.

Accordion Calendar Grid

An accordion calendar grid displays on the right side of the Consultant tab. It works in conjunction with the Consultant planning grid to display individual line items for the WBS, as well as dates and scales, for the current plan. After you enter information on the Consultants Planning grid, you may record specific details about each line item and its respective dates on the accordion calendar grid.

Configuration settings determine which rows, dates, and time scales display on the accordion calendar grid.

Field	Description
Baseline Cost	This field displays the baseline or budget cost, by line item.
Planned Cost	This field displays the forecast cost, by line item. Rather than enter cost information in each cell of the Consultant grid, Vision can automatically spread cost across a specified time period within the grid.
Actual Cost	This field displays the actual cost reported in Vision Accounting.
Baseline Bill	This field displays the baseline billing amount, by line item.
Planned Bill	This field displays the forecast billing amount, by line item.
Actual Bill	This field displays the actual billing amounts reported in Vision Accounting.
Overflow	When the accordion calendar is outside the plan's date range, an Overflow column is added to the beginning of the calendar's grid. This column holds the amounts that apply to the dates that are outside of the range.